Federalism Flashcards
Historical Perspectives
The adoption of the federal system of government for Nigeria could not have been by mistake in view of the historical antecedent of the British rule in the country. There were two contending forces on this issue viz: The Federalist and the Unitarian Schools of thought. They both advanced various views on the type of Constitution or political structure desirable for Nigeria. But the question may be asked that why did we choose one of these two types of Constitution or administrative structure in preference to the other? Apart from certain features such as geography, contiguity and economies of scale accruable, the issue of diversity is very germane to this discussion and should be given special mention.
One historical fact that lends credence to the origin of federalism in Nigeria was that the
conquest of each Nigerian nationality, kingdoms, empires, princedoms and village republics took different forms and at different times. Therefore, from 1900 to 1913, what is now known as Nigeria was ruled as two different colonial territories known as the Lagos Colony and the Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria which were separately ruled and administered. From the period of amalgamation (1914) to the Clifford’s era in 1922, there were two distinct Legislative authorities for Nigeria. For the Colony of Lagos, it was the Legislative Council that served as the Legislative authority while it was the Governor advised by the Nigerian Council for the Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria. However, the North was ruled by proclamation because it was not represented in the Nigerian Council.
The only period when Nigeria was ruled as one country was between
1946 and 1951 during which the North became integrated and had delegates in the central Legislature under the Richard s Constitution.
British Colonial Officials Inferences
An early official reference by the colonial officials, to the idea of federalism in Nigeria was made in 1928 at an Executive Council meeting, See Okafor (1981:131). H. R. Palmer, (See Proceeding of the Executive Meeting) the Lieutenant-Governor for the Northern Provinces, while contributing to the discussion on whether the Ordinances enacted by the legislature should be applicable to the North held that: The general assumption that Nigeria as a whole could be freely legislated for was wrong. In Nigeria, there were three separate units which more and more would require separate legislation for their different needs. To legislate on a steam roller basis for the whole country would result in eventual upheaval. In the end there would have to be a separate federal Council for each of the three units as in the Federated Malay States. The three units would consist of areas east of the Niger, the North and the Yoruba country. Another colonial voice in support of federation in Nigeria was that of G. J. Lethem who wrote a confidential report, Impressions of a Tour in the Eastern Province (See Lethem, Memorandum). In it, he advocated for decentralization while ascribing the problem of Nigeria s development to its size, population of the dependency and the diversity in the social organization of the various communities. Sir Donald Bourdillon, Governor of Nigeria (1935-1943) could not have concurred the more with Lethem when, in 1939 he divided the country into three administrative units North, East and West and summarized his views on the future relationship between the central legislature in a Memorandum on the Future Political Development of Nigeria (See Bourdillon, B., Memorandum) in which he postulated a building of a federal structure with regional legislatures in the North, East and West, and a central legislature in Lagos.
British Colonial Officials Inferences
An early official reference by the colonial officials, to the idea of federalism in Nigeria was made in 1928 at an Executive Council meeting, See Okafor (1981:131). H. R. Palmer, (See Proceeding of the Executive Meeting) the Lieutenant-Governor for the Northern Provinces, while contributing to the discussion on whether the Ordinances enacted by the legislature should be applicable to the North held that: The general assumption that Nigeria as a whole could be freely legislated for was wrong. In Nigeria, there were three separate units which more and more would require separate legislation for their different needs. To legislate on a steam roller basis for the whole country would result in eventual upheaval. In the end there would have to be a separate federal Council for each of the three units as in the Federated Malay States. The three units would consist of areas east of the Niger, the North and the Yoruba country. Another colonial voice in support of federation in Nigeria was that of G. J. Lethem who wrote a confidential report, Impressions of a Tour in the Eastern Province (See Lethem, Memorandum). In it, he advocated for decentralization while ascribing the problem of Nigeria s development to its size, population of the dependency and the diversity in the social organization of the various communities. Sir Donald Bourdillon, Governor of Nigeria (1935-1943) could not have concurred the more with Lethem when, in 1939 he divided the country into three administrative units North, East and West and summarized his views on the future relationship between the central legislature in a Memorandum on the Future Political Development of Nigeria (See Bourdillon, B., Memorandum) in which he postulated a building of a federal structure with regional legislatures in the North, East and West, and a central legislature in Lagos.
Nigerians’ Views
On the home front, some political leaders in Nigeria either in writings or by political statements made their views known on the future political arrangement for the country. For instance, Obafemi Awolowo was regarded as a convinced federalist as he expressed the idea in some of his literary works namely: My Early Life (1960); Thoughts on Nigerian Constitution (1966) and Path to Nigerian Freedom (1966). His unmistakable position on federalism for Nigeria could be fathomed when he surmised that Nigeria is not a nation but rather a mere geographical expression, see Awolowo, Obafemi, (1966:47-8): There are no Nigerians in the same sense as there are English , Welsh , or French . The word Nigeria is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who do not. In the same vein, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the first Nigerian Prime Minister also made a statement that was heavily loaded with some grains of federal tendency in 1947. His words: since the amalgamation of Northern and Southern provinces in 1914, Nigeria has existed as one country only on paper .it is still far from being united. Nigerian unity is only a British intention for the country. (Hansard, March 20 to April 2, 1947 at p. 208)
Debates of 1957/58 Conferences
The first practical step ever to be taken towards making federalism a constitutional matter was that of Sir Arthur Richards (later Lord Milverton) in 1946 that not only embedded federal ideas into his constitution but also divided the country into three distinctive regions.
His conviction on the desirability of federal system as a panacea for Nigeria s problems was illustrated when he stated thus: it is only the accident of British suzerainty which has made Nigeria one country. It is still very far from being one country or one nation socially or even economically, socially and politically there are deep differences between the major tribal groups. They do not speak the same language and they have highly divergent customs and ways of life and they represent different states of culture. (See Lord Milverton’s address) Although, Richards Constitution of 1947 came under heavy criticisms by Nigerian nationalists on the ground that it was imposed, however, the elements of federalism introduced was accepted as demonstrated when Sir John Macpherson allowed debates which took place from the Central through Regional, Provincial, Divisional to the village levels before the Sir John Macpherson’s 1951 Constitution was introduced.
Also, Nigerians minced no words on their preference for federal system when another round of opportunities came handy during the 1957/58 Constitutional Conferences before subsequent Constitutions were introduced up to the 1960 independence Constitution. These were the sources and origins of federalism as a political system in Nigeria.
imperfections of the Nigerian federation could be
summarized as follows:
• Lack of accurate and reliable census data
• inequitable distribution of resources
• Ethnic rivalry, suspicion and nepotism
• Resource control and allocation
• Too much power at the centre to the detriment of the component units
• Constitutional impediments
