Contradictions of Nigeria’s Federalism; Investigating the Implicationsof Geographical Imbalance on Secessionist Agitiations And Tensionsin Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria’s federalism has been contending with severe working and constitutional/institutional challenges. These challenges which range from political to economic and social has resulted in the vociferation for the political restructuring and rearrangement of the country. The inability of the country to espouse
and practice federalism effectively which is indicated in the over-centralization of powers/functions on the central government has brought ethnic conflicts, political turmoil, marginalization of some ethnic groups, corruption, lack of good governance instead of peace, development and administrative ease. This study, therefore, investigates if the failure to address the geographical imbalance in representation accounts for the rise in secessionist agitations and tension in Nigeria, with its focus on the separatist agitations amongst the Igbo indigenous group in south-eastern Nigeria. The modern classic theory of federalism was adopted as our theoretical framework. The documentary method of data collecting and the qualitative descriptive approach of data analysis were both used in the study. This study revealed that although Nigeria federalism was purposely adopted by the foundational policymakers to purportedly eradicate ethnic dominance and inspire the component units to progress and advance at a different speed, The establishment of an unjust, imbalanced, and hypercentralized federal structure during the previous military administration did countless harms to the foundational elements of Nigeria’s federal system by promoting ethnic dominance and submitting the constituent units to the financial hegemony of the center. The Igbos of the South-East region of Nigeria hasb een the victim of this hyper-centralized federal structure and ethnic subjugation over the years, hence, the incessant rise in the emergence and activities of separatist and pro-independence movements in the region. Consequently, the study recommended an all-inclusive restructuring and reorganization of the political system of Nigeria by adopting a firm, even and appropriate Federal composition that will encompass state or regional independence and autonomy when it concerns governmental powers and fiscal resources.