Federalism and Resource Control: The Nigerian Experience

Federalism and Resource Control are two contentious issues.  The practice of federalism in Nigeria has elicited several reactions and thus generated critical debates by both scholars, politicians, journalists, commentators and more particularly the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta Region. The list is endless. What has occasioned these reactions and thus generated this un-ending debate? At the centre of the argument, the answers to this very contentious and pivotal question. One fundamental requirement which forms the very basis of any federal arrangement or system of government as postulated by K.C Wheare, is “financial autonomy” of the different units of government in a federation. The centrality of the role of financial autonomy and independence in guaranteeing “true federalism” cannot be overemphasized. Against this background, this paper focused on the Federalism-Resource-Control nexus in Nigeria. The paper finds that, every state in the federation of Nigeria should control and manage the natural resources located therein… this does not approximate the seizure of the oil resources of the Niger Delta by the Niger Delta people, but it indicates a sense of participation. A total of eight recommendations were made in order to guarantee a strong and united federation-Central to these is that, until and unless the constituent parts (states) in the country are sufficiently empowered by enabling practices that conforms   to the principles of federalism peace in the oil producing that region and by extension the country is elusive. The rest part of the paper is divided into six sections-the first section, provided the introduction and  background to the study; the second contextualizes the conceptual underpinnings of Nigeria’s Federalism; the third section deals with Resources Control as a fundamental  feature of true-federalism; the fourth section explains the root causes of the Niger Delta; the fifth section, enumerated some recommendations; the sixth which is the final section concludes the papers with the view that, the essence of true federalism  is to allow each state or region in a federation significant  measure of autonomy to manage its affairs and that, the federalist debate in Nigeria is centered essentially on the need to understand the basis of the contract of true federalism  and resource control. This debate, the paper suggests is long standing, passionate and inconclusive. Keywords: federalism, resource control, niger delta, financial autonomy and conceptual clarification

Corruption in Nigeria: A Historical Perspective

Given the notoriously recurring character of corruption as a social phenomenon in the Nigerian polity from colonial times to the present, it is my humble opinion that the enterprise for the study, analysis, explanation and solution of this persistent and progressively worsening problem is too serious and important to be left alone to social scientists, historians, philosophers and lawyers. Hence, the need for scholars to involve their readers and listeners in the process of analysis and explanation by making their presuppositions and, therefore, their predilections explicit in their works, this has been taken into consideration for the purpose of this exercise. A historical perspective therefore of corruption in Nigeria can serve as a panacea to its continuity

The Need for Ethnic Integration in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: A Focus of Western Niger Delta

This paper examines the ethnical crisis ravaging the Niger Delta region of Nigeria with particular emphasis on the Western Niger Delta, specifically focusing on Warri. With this examination, the study intends to proffer solution on how to remedize future tribal/ethnical crisis with a view to bringing about unity and integration of the various ethnic groups in the region. Given the focus of this study, the paper adopts the primordialist, instrumentalist and constructivist accounts as the theoretical frameworks in analyzing ethnical crisis in the Niger Delta Region. Academic explanations of ethnic conflict generally fall into one of these three schools of thought. The paper evaluates the various claims, literatures and assertions made particularly on the original position or placement of the headquarters of Warri South local government and repudiates claims that it was initially located in Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw community instead of Ogidigben, an Itsekiri village as gazetted by the federal government of Nigeria. The study advocates and recommends inter alia, the needs to uphold meritocracy and de-emphasize favoritism, nepotism and ethnicity/tribalism as a basis for gaining or obtaining supports, employment, promotion, infrastructural development and development attention either from government, individuals or groups. The paper thus advocates the need for the introduction of socio-cultural recreational centers, specifically created for socio-cultural activities for the Niger Deltans with immense and profound support from government with a view to breeding unity and integration amongst the various ethnic groups in the Niger Delta Region. Keywords: western niger delta, ethnic, tribes, conflict, crisis, unity and integration