The Niger Delta Conflict in Nigeria: Could Federalism Be the Cause?

Nigeria is challenged by massive economic and national developmental stripes. These trials comprise of but are not restricted to political unpredictability, dangerous poverty, high rate of joblessness, limited economic progress, shortage of infrastructure and a decline of the country’s Gross Domestic Product as well as militancy, agitations and/or resentment, insurgency, and corruption. This paper is a theoretical attempt to assess the role of Federalism in the Niger Delta Conflict. Federal political orders are desirable as an answer aimed at creating cohesion among the people divided by ethnic, religious, economic, and cultural cleavages like in the case of Nigeria, but not in the total control of the natural resources of the sub-states. The chapter used document analysis as the research methodology and concludes that all the laws or decrees enacted by the previous military junta, like the Petroleum Act of 1969 and the Land Use Act of 1978 must be dismantled by the National Assembly. This will give room for the practice of true Federalism as the one practised in the United States of America, where the sub-states independently manage and control their resources without the direct interference of the federal government in Washington DC. The true practice of Federalism will help checkmate the institutionalization of the practices of corruption across the board in Nigeria. The practice of Federalism similar to the one practised in the United States of America will encourage productivity among the states, especially those in Northern Nigeria, instead of allowing the poor practice of Federalism to perpetuate conflict, dismantle the country’s economy, and unsettle peace.