Federalism in Nigeria – Problems, Prospects and the Imperative of Restructuring

Abstract

Across the globe, Federalism has emerged as one of the most preferred form of government based on its integrative capability to approximate the heterogeneous political life of multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic societies. However in the Nigerian situation, the practice of federalism has remained a foreboding nightmare due to the skewed nature of federal practice which has led to serious contestations among the constituent nationalities thus resulting in endless tinkering and attempts at dissolution. The problem Nigeria has had to grapple is how to secure an efficient central government that would help preserve national unity while allowing free scope for the diversities of the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual constituent units. Despite the expansion from the colonial federal legacy of three political regions to a union of 36 states and 774 Local Governments, pressures for fundamental federal reforms have remained a persistent, intense and divisive feature of contemporary Nigerian politics. Thus, the paper utilized secondary (including historical) sources of data to show that notwithstanding the existence of other forms of logic, the main drive towards political restructuring in Nigeria is the recognition that existing state institutions, particularly at the center, are inadequate to apprehend, comprehend and resolve emerging challenges. It concludes on the note that the ability  of Nigeria’s post-civil war federalism to prevent state disintegration or a recurrence of large-scale ethno-secessionist violent movements has waned considerably, thus, the center would not hold much longer except the polity undergoes political, economic, structural and functional restructuring.

Keywords: Federalism, Restructuring, Democracy, National Question, Nigeria.