POLITICAL ECONOMY OF NIGERIAN FEDERALISM AND THE RESTRUCTURING DEBATE

Abstract

The paper is premised on the contention that the Nigerian political debacle is structural, systemic and economicespecially, the failure to deal properly with the realities of the political economy of Nigerian diversity. Ab initio,the colonial administration which contrived the geo-political structure called Nigeria deliberately established iton a weak foundation. The union was foisted on the ethnic nationalities that constitute the country without theirinitiative negotiation or agreement. This situation was festered and compounded by periodic militaryinterventions in the governance of the country followed by the usual despotic and deceptive transitionalexperiments in constitution-making, which culminated in the fraudulent promulgation of the 1999 Constitutionof the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thus, the democratic deficit baggage of the 1999 Constitution and its failureto properly address the problem of plurality are the major causes of the Nigeria’s political quandary. However,the inarticulate provisions of the constitution continue to be exploited by the successive unpatriotic andunaccountable Nigerian ruling class to their advantage and to the detriment of the ruled. Today, Nigeria isdrifting towards avoidable political crises that could degenerate to the collapse of the Nigerian structure, if notproperly managed. Against the above background, the paper deconstructs the hybrid system of governmentunder the cosmetic 1999 Federal Constitution and argues that fundamental restructuring which establishes anideal or true federal constitution remains imperative for Nigeria to concretely and effectively address itsexistential challenges.