ABSTRACT
The Nigerian Federalism has always
exhibited peculiar and irregular characteristics. The Nigerian federation was
not created by the coming together of separate independent states that became Nigeria,
but was the subdivision of a country which had been ruled as a single unit by
the erstwhile colonialists. From the conventional perspective of comparative federalism, the primary
anomaly in Nigerian federalism is the domination of the country’s politic by
centralizing military elites who have ruled for more than two third of the
period since independence from Britain in 1960. This military factor, among
other things explains the peculiarities and pathologies of Nigerian federalism.
More so, the unifying impact of the
civil war, which produced a much stronger central authority, and the
overwhelming domination of the Nigerian economy by federally collected allocated
revenue and its attendant interventionist and centralizing tendencies, have
reduced Nigeria into a “unitary state in federal disguise”. Nigeria federalism
is therefore not truly federal.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
OF STUDY
Nigeria is a country of extraordinary
diversity and as such, one of extraordinary complexities. These complexities
are a reflection of the avalanche of ethno-cultural and religious groups
co-habiting the territory and the intricacies of interaction among them.
Indeed, Nigeria adventure into pluralism of religious and ethnic diversities
owes its origin to colonial conquest which permitted the entire continent of
Africa beginning from the early 19th century. In the case of Nigeria, the
amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorate made Nigeria a multi-
ethnic and multi lingual country
Perhaps cognizance of the existence of
latest threats to the future political stability of the emergent nation-state,
the founding fathers were desirous of a system of government that would
neutralize the political threats and accommodate the divergent interest of the
various ethno-cultural groups. This desire eventually found expression in the
federal system of government as a diversity management technique. But it must
be stated here that, with the advent of the 1979 and 1999 constitution, there
has been a profound change in the practice of federalism in the country in the
sense that, the system has been practice in an awkward manner and this has
called for into question whether Nigeria is truly operating a true federal
system. This question has further accentuated by recent damming report of the
national intelligence council of the United State Government which forecasted
that by the year 2020, Nigeria might cease to exist as a nation-state.
Given this Background and against the
fact that the operation of the system per se started far back in 1914, what is
the continue relevance of the federal idea in Nigeria? This is against the
background of hiccups experience so far with the system and its attendant
implications for political stability. Further to the above question, what are
the sources of the present worry over adaptability of the system of Nigeria’s
situation and what are the future hopes for politically stable Nigeria through
the practice of federalism?
STATEMENT
OF PROBLEMS
In terms of
the federalism debate in Nigeria, the picture mainly indicates that in spite of
Nigeria’s unsuitability for the practice of federalism, federalism is generally
accepted by many as necessary for managing the country’s ethnic diversity as
reflected in the adage ‘unity in diversity’. Indeed, there has been an upsurge
in the literature on federalism in Nigeria in recent times. The views expressed
mainly take a composite or specific approach to addressing the myriad of issues
surrounding Nigeria’s federalism, though most stress the ‘integrative needs of
the state’. An important aspect of the debate, however, revolves around the
central ‘mobilisational orientations’ of a federalist ideology in respect of
whether this should be ‘centralist’, ‘decentralist’ or ‘balanced’. The major
institutional design problem has been over the division of powers and functions
at the various levels of government (federal, state, and local government). It
has been a case of how to strike a balance between opposing demands for
centralisation or de-centralisation of power.
There is the problem of how to design the federation in such a way as to
prevent an ethnic group or a combination of ethnic groups, or one state or a
combination of states, from perpetually dominating and imposing their will on
other ethnic groups. In Nigeria, one cannot discuss federalism outside its
implications for the country’s ethnic diversity. For instance, federalism was
introduced in Nigeria more as an instrument of divide and rule than as a
mechanism for promoting unity-in-diversity which it eventually came to
represent in the post-colonial era. Variously discussed in the debate have been
the impacts of prolonged military rule on federalism and the resultant operational
defects.
This paper
grapples with the question of Nigeria’s federal practice. It argues that there
is a need to re-examine federalism in the country with a view to restructuring
the system so that it reflects the ethnological and political realities on the
ground. It proposes the de-concentration or decentralisation of the powers of
the central government, which increased astronomically during military rule to
the disadvantage of the component units—the states. In addressing this subject matter,
the paper critically examines the theoretical basis for the notion of federalism,
seeking to determine Nigeria’s suitability as a federal state in the first
instance. A historical overview of the origin of Nigeria’s federalism—alongside
a discussion of present-day predicaments—is presented in the preliminary
analysis. Subsequently, the persisting problems in Nigeria’s federalism—like
the monopoly of state power, revenue allocation, state creation and federal
character—are re-visited with a view to determining the situation in the
post-transition democratic environment.