New clamour for “restructuring” in Nigeria: elite politics, contradictions, and good governance

Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999 has led to an emergent type of politics around its federal system, usually expressed in the rhetoric of “political restructuring.” Ostensibly, this is to articulate the need for a review of the existing federal arrangement to allow for more representation and equity in the system. This piece offers a radical perspective to the debate and politics of restructuring in Nigeria. The authors argue that the calls for restructuring have increasingly become a strategy in elite politics for power and its associated material opportunities. The authors analyze the ethno-regional politics surrounding the restructuring debate and identify the contradictions in the demands of regional elites and their groupings. Given that the issue of political restructuring, as advocated, is elite-driven and has the tendency to lead to endless agitations for change, the authors conclude that restructuring is not the solution to the problems of the country. Rather, the paramount concern should be with the practice of good governance to address the myriad of problems affecting the masses

Examining the Link Between Religion and Corporate Governance: Insights From Nigeria

This article examines whether the degree of religiosity in an institutional environment can stimulate the emergence of a robust corporate governance system. This study utilizes the Nigerian business environment as its context and embraces a qualitative interpretivist research approach. This approach permitted the engagement of a qualitative content analysis (QCA) methodology to generate insights from interviewees. Findings from the study indicate that despite the high religiosity among Nigerians, religion has not stimulated the desired corporate governance system in Nigeria. The primary explanation for this outcome is the presence of rational ordering over religious preferences thus highlighting the fact that religion, as presently understood and practiced by stakeholders, is inconsistent with the principles underpinning good corporate governance

Restructuring, political gimmicks and elite manipulation in Nigeria

Nigerian elites are skilful in introducing different terminologies at different political periods. Restructuring represents one such term that has become increasingly popular in the political space. Principally, the term is constructed to express the idea of a reconfiguration of the Nigerian state to allow for more representation and socio-political inclusion. While there are genuine concerns for restructuring Nigeria, it has increasingly become an instrument used by the political elite to pursue their individual political agendas, which are largely driven by the struggle for power and access to national wealth. The elite have adeptly used restructuring slogans to achieve ethno-regional mobilisation, power rotation, appointments, regime legitimation, revenue redistribution, and other political and material interests. It is against this backdrop that this chapter argues that the contemporary drive towards restructuring is an elite construction, bereft of the masses' interests, aimed at advancing political agendas and not necessarily a means to address the challenges that confront Nigeria. Furthermore, restructuring has become an excuse for incompetence and mis-governance by the governing elite

Nigeria’s 2019 general elections – a shattered hope?

Editorial