Restructuring And Clamour For True Federalism In Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis (original) (raw)

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

IJASSH, 2018

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 multilingual 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.

Investigating the Practicality of True Federalism in Nigeria: A Review Literature

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCES AND EDUCATION JOURNAL ( ISSEJ ), 2023

The growing frustration among different disenchanted regions of Nigeria raises the question of whether Nigeria’s current federal structure is delivering the full benefits of citizenship to every region. This study investigates the practicability of Nigeria’s federalism, taking stock of different challenges confronting the nation-state, which are mainly economic and political. The study adopts descriptive analysis, which allows us to identify and describe the topic in a clear and in-depth way. The data for the study were gathered from secondary sources such as journal articles, internet sources and textbooks. The inclusion of these sources was evaluated based on the relevance of their input to the discourse, providing information helpful to the understanding of the topic and supporting the argument of the paper. The study revealed that the current system of federalism fails to meet the standards of true federalism. This is based on the idea that the autonomy advocated for states and regions is not respected in law or practice. The study, therefore, recommends restructuring and autonomy, which are meant to give every state and region a sense of belonging, improve unity, create healthy competition and help citizens achieve their aspirations. This will safeguard against a heavyhanded and unfair central government, which will allow states to maintain a degree of autonomy and make decisions that they believe best serve local interests. The study concludes that Nigeria must focus on restructuring and autonomy to drive a decentralized governing structure, which creates balance, preserve the country's national unity and cohesion

Re-Examining Federalism in Nigeria: Some Reflections

NASHERJ Vol. 11, No. 1 (June, 2013)58-65, 2013

The practice of federalism in Nigeria has come a long way. In its chequered history that has spanned through some six decades, Nigerian federalism has thrived amidst problems and prospects. Although the system has been sustained over the years despite obvious contradictions and challenges, there is no gainsaying the platitude that it is has been so for everything but true federalism. In this study, an attempt is made to reexamine the practice of federalism in Nigeria from the standpoint of some of its observable historical, structural and operational specificities with the view to proffering refreshing understanding on the essence of the practice. The paper recommends, among other things, urgent convocation of supreme national conference as an avenue to addressing and resolving nagging federalist questions in the interest of the nation.

NIGERIAN FEDERALISM: AN OVERVIEW OF ITS IMPERATIVES AND IMPEDIMENTS

Journal of International Studies, UUM, 2021

This article provides an overview of Nigerian federalism in relation to the imperatives and impediments of its practice, which it has been grappling with since the constitutional enactment of the system in October, 1954. This study utilized qualitative research method by way of analyzing historical archives and documents, including secondary data sources. Historical documentation method was used as the principal analysis tool in this study. The study found that federalism remains the most viable system for Nigeria based on the past and present experiences amongst the former Nigerian military regimes, politicians, British colonialists, nationalists and founding fathers of the Nigerian state. However, there has yet to be a nationally accepted arrangement to be used in operating the country's federal system. This is based on the heterogeneous nature and character of the Nigerian state. There are, however numerous impediments to the effective and efficient practice of federalism, including prolonged military rule, manipulation of religious differences and regional diversity, revenue and resource allocation politics and conflict, including poor intergovernmental relations. Thus, the search for a viable federal arrangement and its advancement continues to be explored.

Nigerian Federalism and the Unending Clamour for Restructuring: Which Way Forward? 1 2

Journal, 2023

federal system entails coming together either wittingly or unwittingly of various nations of distinct socio-cultural and historical backgrounds, exploiting common geographical Apr oximity to form a strong national government. The Nigerian experience however, appears that, the regional geographical entities that made up the Nigerian state were deliberately fused together by the British Colonial Authority for a vested interest. Although one thing that appears interesting in a federal system, is the constitutional division of powers between the central government on one hand and the governments of the federating units on the other. In the Nigerian model, the provision of the constitution has made the central government stronger being the only tier with powers to enforce the exclusive or national matters and correspondingly, makes the federating units weak and subordinates rather than coordinates. This arrangement perhaps made some people to see Nigerian federal structure as skewed and a quasi-form of federalism. This by and large ignited a clamour for restructuring as an option for a redress. The paper examines this phenomenon utilizing elite theory, with data largely obtained from secondary sources. The study adopts qualitative method of analysis with a finding revealing that poor leadership rather than the federal structure arrangement is mainly responsible for groups' agitations on restructuring Nigerian state. Consequently, the paper recommends that good governance rather than restructuring provides immediate solution to the problems associated with Nigerian federalism.

‘True’ Federalism in Nigeria: A Political Discourse

The call for certain changes and reforms that would allow the federating units to have full authority and autonomy, structure and design a system of local council administration, have more revenue, insure equitable representation in the federal appointments, and establish separate police force, which means re-allocation of powers and functions has brought into focus argument for the strengthening of Nigerian federalism by strengthening the states, what has been termed “true federalism”. This paper argue using the process view of federalism that conditions, factors or forces which are conducive to federal stability, or rather to the successful operation of federal polity is peculiar to a particular environment. Thus, there are no clearly definable dimensions of what makes a ‘true federalism’. Federalism is rather a process, undergoing continuous modifications to fit the peculiarities of the environment in which it is being practiced. Therefore we suggest that a radical redistribution of power and resources is required to stabilize Nigerian federal system. In fashioning the acceptable form of power sharing, the interest of the citizen must be of utmost concern.

Federalism, Democratic Governance and the Issues of Restructuring in Nigeria

Nigeria has a long history of federal-democratic experience in Africa faced with many challenges such as prevalent insecurity, economic downturns, ethnic rivalry, corruption, minority outcry, as well as poor state of governance, which are duty bound on government to act swiftly and manage. Therefore, restructuring the federal system in the country is a reality check, in which the need for its call could be used to make a point in order to address the many factors that pose threat to the practice of democratic governance and sustenance of federal system of government in Nigeria's Fourth Republic. The objective of this paper is to interrogate the issues of restructuring federalism and justify its inevitability in the country. The theory of government which seeks to explain government as institutional activity is adopted as the framework of analysis. Documentary sources of data collection in which information are sourced from books, journals and government publications including constitution are employed. Thematic analysis is adopted in the paper and found out the unanswered questions which make issues of restructuring contentious in the country. It concludes that restructuring federalism in Nigeria is a timely exercise for the survival of the country as an indivisible political entity and recommends for the culture of patriotism on 'Country first' as imbibed and institutionalized in developed and some developing countries should be introduced and practiced in the country. Therefore, for having 'Nigeria first' in all ramifications-political, social, economic and administrative spheres would help to manage conflict, promote national integration and enhanced the practiced of democratic governance. By so doing, Nigeria will be a better place for Nigerians and the future generations.

Is There Any True Federalism? Revisiting the ‘True Federalism’ Debate in Nigeria

This paper is an examination of the political contestations over ‘true federalism’ in Nigeria. The paper posits that the demand for ‘true federalism’ continue to pose serious challenges to the corporate existence of Nigeria, especially since the return to democracy in May 29, 1999. It contends that the contestations over the quest for the adoption of ‘true federalism’ render prejudicial the conceptualization and contextualization of federalism. The paper concludes that there is no ideal federalism anywhere, as no federal system is ‘true’ or ‘false’, despite the differences across many countries practicing federalism. The paper suggests that inclusive and competitive federalism rather than ‘true federalism’ should be the watchword in the discourse of federalism in Nigeria. Keywords: True federalism, Multiculturalism, Resource control, Colonialism, Nigeria.