POLITICAL ECONOMY OF NIGERIAN FEDERALISM AND THE RESTRUCTURING DEBAT

Abstract

The paper is premised on the contention that the Nigerian political debacle is structural, systemic and economic especially, 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 it on a weak foundation. The union was foisted on the ethnic nationalities that constitute the country without their initiative negotiation or agreement. This situation was festered and compounded by periodic military interventions in the governance of the country followed by the usual despotic and deceptive transitional experiments in constitution-making, which culminated in the fraudulent promulgation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thus, the democratic deficit baggage of the 1999 Constitution and its failure to 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 and unaccountable Nigerian ruling class to their advantage and to the detriment of the ruled. Today, Nigeria is drifting towards avoidable political crises that could degenerate to the collapse of the Nigerian structure, if not properly managed. Against the above background, the paper deconstructs the hybrid system of government under the cosmetic 1999 Federal Constitution and argues that fundamental restructuring which establishes an ideal or true federal constitution remains imperative for Nigeria to concretely and effectively address its existential challenges.