Nigeria (Con)Federal Structure?

Emmanuel O. Ojo ()
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Emmanuel O. Ojo: University of Ilorin

Chapter Chapter 8 in Nigerian Politics, 2021, pp 165-183 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Nigeria, like several other plural and deeply divided societies, is a federation. The choice of federalism for Nigeria is a function of both historical antecedents combined with her peculiar existential realities. The ultimate aim of the founding fathers was definitely to weld together the disparate ethnic groups that constitute the federation. It is against this background that Nigeria’s federalism is regarded as a ‘catch-all management strategy’. However, contemporary developments in Nigeria’s convoluting federalism are indeed a pointer to serious problem of achieving national integration thereby truncating the aspirations of the founding fathers. More so, that the travails of federalism in Nigeria are getting exacerbated as a result of the mismanagement of the system. Hence, Nigerians and non-Nigerians are calling for alternative system(s). The most popular one brandished in public discourses is confederacy. Thus, this paper critically discussed con(federal) option for Nigeria. The paper however posits that a reorganized and balanced fiscal federalism with imbued democratic ethos such as, fair play, justice and equity is more pragmatic than the present warped federal arrangement that may eventually go the way of disintegrated Soviet federation.

Keywords: Federalism; Confederacy; Pluralism; Travails; Restructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:aaechp:978-3-030-50509-7_8

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50509-7_8

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