Nigeria’s Federalism and a Decade of Political Transformations

Federalism is a political arrangement that seeks to satisfy all conflicting interests by uniting diversities through a doctrine of autonomy and cooperation. Many countries in the world today practice federalism in a variety of structures and institutions, each unique in its own characteristics, culture, history, and aspirations. Of the 195 countries in the world, 40 are designated as federal states, but they account for 40% of the total world population. Nigeria is one of these federal states, and Nigerian federalism has emerged from the historical antecedents of colonial despotism and the vicissitudes of necessity arising from its destiny of being a united nation with seemingly contradictory and irreconcilable differences. Before colonization by the British, there were multitude of kingdoms, chiefdoms, federations, and organizations in various states in what is now Nigeria. The colonial balkanization, artificial territorialization, and deterritorialization submerged the various entities and states of precolonial Nigeria into a forceful marriage that left the colonizers and the early nationalists with no option but the adoption of federalism. The first practice was a British parliamentary system of government with a federal structure, which was later discarded and replaced with a US pattern of presidential federalism. This chapter asks many questions about why the Nigerian experience of federalism is unique compared to other federal states in the world. What has gone wrong so far with the Nigerian Federation? Has the replacement of parliamentary federalism with presidential federalism succeeded in mitigating the effects of dissatisfaction that led to threatening turmoil that nearly tore the country apart? How can Nigeria achieve the maximum benefit of nationhood and the advantages of federal diversities? The chapter reflects on the various challenges of Nigerian federalism throughout its historical and political journey to determine what went wrong and what can make it right. Data was sourced from documented materials, including books, journal articles, reports, archives, and internet sources. The method of analysis employed content analysis, subjecting various works of literature to the rigors of academic techniques to explore a gap and an area of contribution.