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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Rhetoric of Unity and the Quest for Political Power in Nigeria |
Author: | Alumona, Victor S. |
Year: | 2006 |
Periodical: | African and Asian Studies |
Volume: | 5 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 171-191 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | constitutional history power nation building Politics and Government Ethnic and Race Relations |
External link: | https://doi.org/10.1163/156920906777906745 |
Abstract: | This paper argues that the problems of Nigeria's federalism are predicated on the fear factor. As the history of the country's constitutional development shows, the Northern region entertained the fear that in an independent Nigeria, the Southern region would dominate given its natural endowments. On the other hand, the Southern region had also been afraid of the North's imperial ambitions. Apparently, the problems of the Nigerian federation are structural, which in turn is predicated fundamentally on economic interests. The paper first discusses the problems of Nigerian constitutionalism, tracing the historical and constitutional basis of its structural imbalance, which arose initially from colonial paternalism for the North and, subsequently, was sustained by the fear of domination by the South. Given the structural imbalance between the North and the South, the paper then shows that the Nigerian political elite have never really seen themselves as belonging to one nation. On the contrary, they use the search for national unity to either accede to power or retain it and rule the country in their own interests. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |