The Literature on Nigerian Federalism: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

There is a large body ofliterature on federalism in Nigeria covering such major issues as the origins ofNigerianfederalism, requisites offederalism,federalism versus otherforms ofassociation, the number of state units in the system, fiscal issues, political parties, distributional issues, and intergovernmental relations. However, a number of issues have received relatively little scholarly attention, including the economic aspects ofNigerianfederalism, population movements and the arrangement, language policies,federal ethics, and various critical governmental and nongovernmental institutions. There is a need to establish institutions for the study offederalism in Nigeria and to reduce ethnic and ideological biases in research on Nigerian federalism. The fact that Nigeria is regarded as Africa's only federal state commands the interest not only of political scientists but also of policymakers and all those concerned with the future of constitutional government in Africa. At the same time, however, the political history of the country (e.g., a civil war, periodic coups d'etat aimed at civilian and military leaders, a declining economy, and the fact that many scholars see Nigeria as a unitary state) dilutes one's enthusiasm about the Nigerian system. Nevertheless, a large literature has accumulated on the Nigerian experience, authored both by Nigerians and by non-Nigerians from various perspectives. A fairly comprehensive, even though dated, listing can be found in