ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACING THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA’S FEDERAL SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper examines the issues and challenges facing the restructuring of the contemporary Nigeria’s federal system. Restructuring of the Nigerian unitary system disguised into a false federal system today calls for regional autonomy or restructuring into true-federalism. Indeed, the continuous agitation for an outright breakup of Nigeria through referendum by ethnic nationalities seems to have emanated from a thought to expose and reveal the trend of current falsity and reality in the country. Since the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 and the independence of the country in 1960, as well as the experience of the Nigerian civil war, 1967-1970 and the frequent military intervention in Nigerian politics which emanated obnoxious laws that stopped and abandoned true federalism, Nigerian has been with one national crisis or the other. It is made clear by many Nigerian patriots, Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, an Igbo socio-cultural group, and Oduduwa People’s Congress, a Yoruba socio-cultural group, that fiscal federalism with autonomous regions was the only condition under which they would exist within the Nigerian state. This study is an evaluation of how restructuring is the best for Nigeria, the demand for true federalism to replace the unitary faulty structure is gathering support every day. The findings of this paper include that restructuring as called for today means that the states and regions will not depend on the central government, but would be encouraged by healthy competition and growth among themselves within the Nigerian state. The study adopted the descriptive design. It drew upon primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include oral information and testimonies. Newspapers and magazines reports were also used in conjunction with official records in government publications. Secondary sources include relevant books. The researcher also made use of direct observation method. All the pieces of information so gathered were subjected to critical historical analysis.