FEDERALISM IN NIGERIA

NIGERIAN FEDERALISM
Origin of Nigerian Federalism; federalism is a system of government in which government power that exist in a country are shared between a central government that represents the whole country and government of components regions or states, so that each governments is legally and constitutionally independent and autonomous.
Nigerian Federalism can be traced far back to 1914, when the Northern and southern protectorates then amalgamated though with unitary form of administration, since then, governmental powers that existed in Nigeria started to be shared between the central governments headed by the Governor-General and the governments of Northern and southern protectorates headed by the lieutenant Governors. Therefore with the existence and recognition of two near autonomous parts of Northern and southern provinces, the administrative system outlook of a federalism

MAJOR CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCES THAT LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERALISM IN NIGERIA
it was lyttenton constitution of 1954 that finally entrenched the features of federal system of government in Nigeria and the two constitutional conference that led to the promulgation of the constitution were
(1) The London Constitutional Conference
(2) The Lagos Conference of 1954
LONDON CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE OF 1953
Due to the defects of McPherson Constitution some of which were: the constitution vested too much veto and reserved power on the Governor; it limited the power of the regions in making laws and also, the law made by them had to be approved first before they could be allowed to operate, e.t.c “to provide for greater regional autonomy and for removal of power of intervention by the centre”. Nigeria leaders were invited by the Secretary to London to review the constitution. A team of 19 delegates, which comprised six representatives from the Cameroon’s were sent to London. The conference which sat down between July 30 and August 22, 1953 reached, many agreements among which were
(1) That Her Majesty’s Governments could grants self-governments to those regions, which desired it in 1956.
(2) That legislative power should be shared between the federal state and the federating units.
(3) That a conference to be held in Lagos in 1954, should ratify a separate regional administration in the cameroons if the people of the territory expressed their desire through a referendum
(4) That Lagos should be separated from the Western Region and made a neutral federal territory.
(5) That the Region Lieutenants-Government should be called Governor while the Governor of Nigeria should be called Governor-General.


THE LAGOS CONFERENCE OF 1954
In order to settle some unresolved political problems by the 1953 London Conference, the Lagos Conference, met in January 1954, under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the state for the colonies. The conference published in December 1953 and arriver at the following decision.
(1) That the public service should be regionalized
(2) That the judiciary should be regionalized
(3) Accept in principle the proposals put forward by the fiscal commission on the allocation of financial resources to the federal and regional government
(4) That though southern cameroons should remain part of Nigeria Federalism as a quasi-federal territory it should have a legislatures of its own.
(5) That autonomy should be granted to the southern cameroons

FACTORS NECESSITATING FEDERALISM IN NIGERIAN
(1) To protect the interest of minority groups
(2) The large population and wide geographical are of Nigeria
(3) To ensure rapid and even development of all part of Nigeria
(4) To bring government nearer to the people of Nigeria
(5) To expand the local market
(6) Differences in culture, region, language, custom, tradition, etc among different ethnic group
(7) The fear of one ethnic group dominating other necessitated the establishment of federalism in Nigeria
(8) To make it possible for diverse law that will suit the diverse communities in Nigeria
(9) In order to preserve the local independence or autonomy of every ethnic group in Nigeria
(10) In order to form a common and stronger government to secure the sovereignty of Nigeria

FEATURES OF NIGERIAN FEDERALISM
(1) Adoption of a written and rigid constitution.
(2) The supremacy of the constitution
(3) The supremacy of the federal government
(4) Existence of bicameral legislature in Nigerian
(5) Constitution repudiation of secession
(6) The division of Nigerian into unequal regions/states

PROBLEMS OF NIGERIAN FEDERALISM
• Revenue Allocation: Revenue allocation refers to the sharing of revenue and other resources generated in the country among the federal and state government. These revenue are shared among the three tiers of governments according to their constitutional responsibilities
• Minority issues and creation of state: Due to the multi-ethnic nature of Nigeria which brought about the issue of minorities has constituted one of the problems militating against the development of the country; Nigerian has three major ethnic group of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba and multiplicity of minor ethnic groups.
There were political agitations for creation of states by minority groups especially those in the mid-western region, the Middle Belt or Northern Region and the Calabar, River Niger Delta and Ogoja of the Eastern Region as a panacea to domination of the minorities.
• Inter-ethnic Rivalry: Since Nigeria is made up of multi-ethnic, the rivalry among Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba has been a serious issue. The major issue that brings about rivalry is the question of leadership of the country, none of the three major ethnic group wants to concede the leadership of the country to the other because they are aware that who ever gets political power first, all other things shall be added unto them. The creation of more state in the country has not in any way reduced the intensity of inter-ethnic rivalry.
• Issue of secession: The inter-ethnic rivalry in Nigeria contributed a lot in delaying the independent of the country, which should have taken place in 1956. This rivalry especially when the country should be granted the status of an independent nation led to the threat of secession by the Northerners.