Political Restructuring, Federalism and Democratic Sustainability in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has undergone a long process of restructuring in terms of the number of geo-political administrative areas called states or regions constituting the country. This process is popularly referred to as “state creation”, that is the process whereby new geo-political units/constituents known as “states” in most federations are created out of existing or old ones. The outcome of this process is usually an increase in the number of states constituting the Nigerian federation. Nigeria is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world with well over 250 ethno linguistic groups, some of which are bigger than many independent states of contemporary Africa. The Nigerian federalism is a creation of the British. Before the arrival of British colonialists, the area now known as Nigeria was inhabited by peoples who belonged to different Empires, kingdoms and societies, which were traditionally administered. The arrival of British and other European explorers, merchants and religious missionaries introduced slave trade and conflicts and then consequently bringing a new system of governance that executed the organized and transparent institutions and governments that had existed before the balkanization of Africa. This suggests that the formation, evolutionary process and unification of Nigerian political and administrative systems did not represent the interest and aspirations of the natives or ethnic groups. The early pre-independence constitutional development is an example of this misrepresentation of the native consent on what type of system Nigeria will run- whether a federation, a confederation, unitary or not. After the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914, the country was more or less run as unitary colony with twenty four provinces (12 in the North and 12 in the South) until the establishment of the federal order by the Richards constitution of 1946. Thereafter, ethnic politics (otherwise known as tribalism) and regionalism have become definitive features of Nigeria federalism. The aim of this paper was therefore, to examine the origins and sequences of events on restructuring that creates the contemporary Nigerian state including the structure and features of Nigerian Federalism and it traces. The paper revealed that some of the challenges facing Nigerian federalism are; revenue sharing formula among the tiers, state creation, resource control and power sharing. This all have cumulated in placing the democratic rule in the country at a disadvantaged position. Consequently, the dividends of democracy have seized to reach the hands of the common people. It is on the bases of this some policy recommendations were made.