Contending issues in the practice of democracy and federalism in Nigeria

Abstract

In a federal system, the levels of government must be in coordination with one another, while simultaneously functioning on an independent level. These two factors are fundamental to the sustenance of any federally designed administration. The Nigerian federal system falls short of this criterion, such that it has become contentious to categorise Nigeria as a true federal system. The sub-national units lack autonomy and the majority depend solely on federally allocated revenue to fund their administration, while internal security of the vast country depends almost entirely on poorly funded federal police. Democratisation has enabled several aggrieved groups to express their angst and displeasure with the way the country is structured. This study interrogates these contending issues in the practice of democracy and federalism in Nigeria. The study employed theoretical analysis of the concept of federalism from the perspective of the devolution of power and formulated a deductive hypothesis about the potential consequences of the concentration of power in a diverse country. It identified the prevalence of minority marginalisation, over-riding legislative power of the federal over state governments, federal dominance in the economic management of the country and unitarily structured police as contending issues in the polity. To conclude, the study recommends an equitable distribution of economic opportunities, devolution of powers and the creation of multi-level policing as viable solutions to addressing these concerns.

To cite: Ashindorbe, K. (2019). Contending issues in the practice of democracy and federalism in Nigeria. Journal of Management & Administration (2019/1), 25–43. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-16466098f7