GEOPOLITICAL EQUITY IN NIGERIA IN PRESIDENT BUHARI’S GOVERNMENT

Abstract

This study was conducted in response to perceived ethnic rivalries in Nigeria. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari is bedeviled with ethnic strife and disgruntled voices against federalism due to the perceived superiority of one ethnic group over another in a plural federal state like Nigeria. Against this backdrop, the study evaluates perceptions of equity among indigenous peoples in southern Nigeria. The peoples of the south-east and south-south dominated the call for restructuring due to the skewered arrangement of the nation. This paper's theoretical framework is based on the foundation of John Lock's social contract, especially his treatise on the extent and end of civil government. The sample size was 1352 using a quantitative and qualitative survey. Data were collected quantitatively and qualitatively. The instruments of data collection consisted of a structured questionnaire and an unstructured interview. The data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that 992 participants, which represented more than three-quarters of the sample, disagreed that ethnic groups are treated fairly; 735 also held that unfair treatment is a recipe for disunity. The Chi Square estimate, x2 81.5; p<0.005, tested for ethnic treatment and national unity, was significant, and treatment determines national unity. The study also indicates that indigenous peoples expressed concerns about a failed state that undermined the current federal state. The study therefore recommends that the National Assembly's legislative role be strengthened in making federal appointments to strategic positions. This could possibly alleviate mistrust about treatment by the federal government.