Secession, Self-Determination and the Quest for ‘True Federalism’ in Nigerian Federation

Abstract

Federalism as a governmental system became popular as a means of nation-building at the end of the Second World War. In the post-Cold War era, there was an increased interest in the federal system, as it was increasingly conceived as a tool of conflict management in war-torn countries. Given its utility in multi-dimensional ways, federalism is adopted for different reasons by different countries, in response to disparate situations. This paper focuses on how the unequal distribution of Nigeria’s wealth has contributed to the fear of marginalization, which has resulted in conflicts and ultimately, political instability. In this paper, effort is made to discuss the series of the threat of secession and agitations for self-determination, as well as the actual attempt by the then Eastern Region, populated mainly by the Igbo ethnic group to secede. Discussing the civil war also contributes to our understanding of the part the war economy played in the excessive centralization that presently characterizes the federal system. This paper also focuses on issues related to increasing agitations in the period following the re-establishment of liberal democratic government in 1999 for a more functional federal system that fairly distributes the national wealth. This paper stresses that there seems to be a consensus among political commentators that the practice of federalism in Nigeria does not conform to the fundamental principles of federalism because of the many conflicts within the system. This paper, therefore, examines the mounting debate over ‘true federalism’ and ‘restructuring’, which have increasingly taken an ethno-regional dimension. It concludes by demonstrating that the inadequacy that characterizes Nigeria's distributive politics is at the root of the tensions that continue to jeopardize the multinational federation's viability.