“The Black’s Man Burden”: The Nigerian Federation as a Paradox

Federalization of Nigeria was not an authentically developed process since it was initiated in 1914 by the British colonial administration. The interests of the local population were not taken into account in these transformations, and local elites did not feel the peacemaking potential of federalism. By assigning each of the country's three leading ethnic groups its own territorial entity, the British created the preconditions for a future internal conflict. The positive work of federal mechanisms in Nigeria began only after the reconstruction of the basic foundations of the original model: the fragmentation of three hegemonic ethnic groups assigned to different subjects of the federation radically reduced the intensity of interethnic confrontation. Nigerian federalism remained ethnic, but the ethnic principle ceased to be dominant. However, the Nigerian federation still faces very significant challenges. “True federalism,” the discussion of which in modern Nigeria is becoming more active and widespread, could adapt the federation to new challenges.