Federalism in Nigeria\_Between Divisions in Conflict and Stability in Diversity- 2016

Nigeria is a product of the 1914 amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates by the British Colonialists. The amalgamation of these protectorates was the singular primary cause of the Nigeria’s political problem as it did not factor in the consequences of bringing together peoples with disparate culture and religion. The secondary cause was the lack of political will of Nigeria’s political leadership to emplace institutional framework, to wit, the political system, political leadership, political structure and relevant constitution, which had promoted peaceful coexistence and tolerance in plural societies elsewhere. These shortcomings present Nigeria with two choices namely, retaining the structure as bequeathed to Nigeria with all its internal contradictions and endeavouring to make the 1914 amalgamation, work through political cum constitutional engineering that would tinker with structural deficiency to achieve political stability. The study derives its objectives from the preceding, which achievement it considers as the road map for ensuring Nigeria’s stability, growth and development. The chronicled ethnic and religious conflicts suggest the absence of a truly federal constitution that includes fiscal federalism and secularism. Thus the various ethnic and religious conflicts including the 3-year civil war and the Boko Haram insurgency were exemplifications of Nigeria’s faulty constitutional framework or the politicisation of religion. The review of extant literature and conflict theories shows that ethnicity and religion are identity-based and would thus spawn conflicts while Human/Basic needs; Realist; Frustration-Aggression, Scapegoat and Structural theories are adequate tools for explaining ethnic and religious conflicts. The work considers the harmony construct as adequate framework for dealing with Nigeria’s internal conflicts. List of Tables and Figures .................................................7 Abstract and Executive Summary ..................................15 Abbreviations and Acronyms..........................................33 1 Research Background ...................................................33 1.1 Introduction..................................................................................33 1.2Methodology................................................................................49 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework.........57 2.1 Introduction..................................................................................57 2.2 Literature Review ........................................................................58 2.3 Conflict Resolution Method ........................................................59 2.4 Conflictive Ethnic, Cultural and Religious Diversities................70 2.5 Reasons for Conflict: Nigeria’s Perennial Diversity Conflicts ....79 2.6 Ethno-Religious Diversity and Conflict.......................................80 2.7 Impact of Political System on Stability and Development ..........86 2.8 Theoretical Framework................................................................97 2.9 Relevant Conflict Theories and Growth Models .........................98 2.10 Growth Theories......................................................................105 2.11 Summary of Chapter 2.............................................................111 3 Ethnic and Religious Conflicts: Causes, Consequences and Prospects for Stability ...............119 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................... 119 3.2 The Nature of Ethnic and Religious Conflicts ........................... 120 3.3 Ethnic and Religious Conflicts, and the Nigerian Civil War ..... 128 3.4 Igbo Attitudinal/Cultural Dispositions and Conflict/Harmony Framework................................................................................. 142 3.5 Igbo and the Embrace of Machiavellian Strategy...................... 144 3.6 The lopsided Political Structure, Military Coup and Nnamdi Azikiwe’s “Manifest Destiny” of the Igbos............................... 162 3.7 Jukun-Tiv Conflicts ................................................................... 170 3.8Hausa-Kataf Conflicts ............................................................... 172 3.9Hausa-Fulani versus Beroms (Settlers versus Indigenes Conundrum) Conflict................................................................. 175 3.10 Ife- Modakeke Conflict ........................................................... 178 3.11 The Ijaw – Itsekiri- Urhobo Conflicts and Niger Delta Militancy .......................................................................... 183 3.12 Chronicle of Causes and Consequences of Religious Conflicts .................................................................... 189 3.13 Maitatsine Religious Uprising................................................. 196 3.14 The Shariah Crisis ................................................................... 198 3.15 Boko Haram Religious Crisis.................................................. 205 3.16 Impact of Ethno-Religious Conflicts on Nigeria’s Development.............................................................................. 221 3.17 Assessment of Impact of Conflicts on Humans and Infrastructure....................................................................... 227 3.18 Achieving Post-conflict Harmony and National Stability .......231 3.19 Summary of Chapter 3.............................................................235 3.20 Causative factors of Nigeria’s Ethno-Religious Conflicts.......237 4 Research Questions and Methodology.......................243 4.1 Introduction................................................................................243 4.2 Sampling Technique ..................................................................256 5 Data Presentation and Analysis .................................263 5.1 Introduction................................................................................263 5.2 Research Question 1: .................................................................263 5.3 Research Question 2: .................................................................280 5.4 Research Question 3: .................................................................295 5.5 Research Question 4 ..................................................................310 5.6 Research Question 5: .................................................................326 5.7 Summary of Chapter 5 ...............................................................352 6 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations .........355 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 355 6.2 Chapter-by-Chapter Summary ................................................... 356 6.3 Conclusions ................................................................................ 371 6.4 Recommendations ...................................................................... 377 7 Bibliography.................................................................393 8 Appendices ...................................................................433 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Nigeria’s Amalgamated Protectorates ................................37 Figure 1.2 Some of Nigeria’s Ethno-Linguistic Groups........................38 Figure 1.3: 4 Regions in Existence between 1963 and 1967.................40 Figure 1.4: 12 States of Nigeria from 1967-1976 .................................41 Figure 1.5: 19 States of Nigeria (1976 - 1987) .....................................42 Figure 1.6: 30 States of Nigeria (1987-1991) .......................................44 Figure 1.7 Present-Day Nigeria with a 36-State Structure ...................44 Figure 2.1Reconciliation and Conflict ..................................................61 Figure 2.2: Conflicts in Africa by State Borders...................................72 Figure 2.3: 2011 Presidential Election Results Show Regional Divide in Nigeria .............................................................................76 Figure 2.4: Feature of Federalism........................................................93 Figure 3.1 Map of Biafran Republic ...................................................158 Figure 3.2: Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Biafran Leader at Nigeria- Biafra Peace Talk in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia .................................165 Figure 3.3: Timeline of the Civil War .................................................166 Figure 3.4: Countries with the Largest Displacement Related to Conflict and Violence ................................................................169 Figure 3.5: 12 Countries with the Largest Displacement in 2013 ..... 175 Figure 3.6: Mass Burial for Villagers Attacked by Herdsmen in Jos Plateau ................................................................................ 178 Figure 3.7: States under Sharia Law in Nigeria ................................. 199 Figure 3.8: Boko Haram Fatal Attacks............................................... 219 Figure 3.9: Reported Civilian Deaths by Boko Haram....................... 219 Figure 3.10: Infrastructure Worth Millions of Dollars is Destroyed Yearly Due to Ethno Religious Conflict......................................... 228 Figure 4.1: Nigeria’s 6 Geopolitical Zones ........................................ 249 Figure 4.2: Distribution of Gender of Respondents ............................ 252 Figure 4.3: Distribution of Age of Respondents.................................. 253 Figure 4.4: Distribution of Occupation-Type of Respondents ............ 254 Figure 4.5: Distribution by Academic Qualifications of Respondents 255 Figure 5.1 Do the Adoption and Current Practice of Federal Constitution have any Linkages with the Conflicts?...................... 265 Figure 5.2: Existing Policies that have Fuelled or are Fuelling Conflicts Experienced in Nigeria.................................................................. 267 Figure 5.3: Political System/Regime-Type and Constitution .............. 282 Figure 5.4: Degree of Stability Experienced in Nigeria Due to the Current Practice of Federalism........................................... 283 Figure 5.5: Response on whether Ethno-Cultural and Religious Diversities are a Part of Nigeria’s Developmental Challenges..... 285 Figure 5.6: Response on whether Ethno-Cultural and Religious Diversities are the Root Causes of Nigeria’s Developmental Challenges .....................................................................................286 Figure 5.7: Respondents’ Views on the Implication of the Federal Constitution as Currently Practiced for the Crisis Rocking the Country ....................................................................................295 Figure 5.8: Respondents’ Views on whether a Well-Implemented Truly Federal Constitution Can Solve Country’s Problems....................296 Figure 5.9: Effect of True Federalism Including Fiscal Federalism and Devolution of Power on Different Sectors of the Nation ........299 Figure 5.10: Respondents’ Perceptions on whether Ethno-Cultural and Religious Diversities Pose a Threat to Nigeria’s Stability......313 Figure 5.11: Perception on whether Ethnic and Religious Diversities are Nigeria’s Main Problem..........................................................315 Figure 6.1: President Jonathan Taking Pictures with Select National Confab Delegates...........................................................................380 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Dual- Concern Model/ Harmony Factors ...........................131 Table 3.2 Dualistic Model of Harmony ...............................................133 Table 3.3 Harmony Framework Based on Chinese and Igbo Cultures134 Table 3.4 Demographic Information (1995) .......................................137 Table 3.5 Placing the Hausa/Fulani in the Conflict/Harmony Construct .......................................................................................141 Table 3.6 Placing the Igbo in the Conflict/Harmony Construct..........147 Table 3.7 Placing the Yoruba in the Conflict/Harmony Construct .....152 Table 3.8 Nigeria’s Ruler From 1960-2011........................................159 Table 3.9 Major Military Installations in Nigeria and their Locations before the January 1966 Coup......................................161 Table 3.11 Record of Boko Haram Menace of Sweat and Tears across Nigeria (26 July, 2011 – 18 January 2012)........................213 Table 3.12: Northern Region Religious Distributions.........................219 Table 3.13 Western Region Religious Distributions............................220 Table 3.14 Eastern Region Religious Distributions ............................221 Table 3.15 Nigeria’s Population and Religious Distributions 1952 and 1963 ........................................................................................221 Table 4.1 Overview of Discussants, Interviewees, Issues/Questions by Geo-Political Zones ..................................................................250 Table 4.2: National Distributions of Respondents by Gender, Age, Occupation and Academic Qualifications ............................ 251 Table 5.1 Do the Adoption and the Current Practice of Federal Constitution in Nigeria have any Linkages with the Conflicts in the Nation? ................................................................................ 265 Table 5.2: Policies that have Fuelled/and are Fuelling Conflicts Experienced in Nigeria.................................................................. 267 Table 5.3 Views of Respondents on whether the Adoption and the Current Practice of Federal Constitution have any Linkages with the Conflicts in the Nation (Geo-Political Zones).................. 276 Table 5.4 Policies that Have Fuelled/are Fuelling the Conflicts Experienced (Geo-Political Zones) .......................... 277 Table 5.5: Type of Constitution and Governance System Adopted in other Countries Having Ethno-Cultural and Religious Diversities (Evaluation on Geo-Political Zone Basis)................... 287 Table 5.6: Degree of instability Experienced in Nigeria Due to its Current Practice of Federalism (Evaluation on Geopolitical Zone Basis) .......................................................... 288 Table 5.7: Showing (a) Diversity as Part of the Causes of Developmental Challenges, and (b) Diversity as the Root Cause of Developmental Challenges of Nigeria............................ 290 Table 5.8: Respondents’ Views on the Implications of Current Practice or Implementation of the Federal Constitution on the Crises Experienced in the Nation........................................ 298 Table 5.9 Key to Questions on Devolution of Power........................... 300 Table 5.10 Respondents’ Views on the Effect of Practice/Proper Implementation of federal Constitution on the Crises Experienced in the Nation (Geo-Political Zones)..........................302 Table 5.11: Effect of True Federalism that Embraces Devolution of Power on the Nation ...............................................304 Table 5.12: Identification of Perceived Causative Factors of Conflicts.....................................................................................311 Table 5.13: Respondents’ Views on whether Ethno-Cultural and Religious Diversities Pose a Threat to Nigeria’s Stability......314 Table 5.14 Respondents’ Views on whether Ethnic and Religious Diversities are Nigeria’s main Problem........................................315 Table 5.15 Assumed or Perceived Causative Factors of Conflict (Geo-Political Zones)...................................................316 Table 5.16 Respondents’ Views on whether Ethno-Cultural and Religious Diversities Pose a Threat to Nigeria’s Stability (Geo-Political Zones) ....................................................................318 Table 5.17 Respondents’ Views on whether Ethnic or Religious Diversity is Nigeria’s Main Problem (Geo-Political Zones) .........319 Table 5.18: Respondents’ Views on the Relationship between Unitary System of Government and the Ethno-Cultural and Religious Conflicts in Nigeria........................................................................326 Table 5.19 Respondents’ Views on Retaining the Present Structure or Reverting to Old Structures or Adopting New Six (6)-Geo- Political Zone Structure.................................................................329 Table 5.20: Assessment of Respondents’ Views on (a) Q50 and (b) Q48 as Spelt out in the Key below (Geo-Political Zone)...332 Table 5.21: Respondents’ Views on Retaining the Present Political Structure, Reverting Back to Old Ones or Adopting New Six (6) Geo-Political Zone Structures.................................................. 335 Table 6.1 Summary of Focus Group Discussions, and the Interviews 370 "Nigeria is a product of the amalgamation of Northern and Southern British protectorates, that is the primary cause of ... Nigeria's political instability, ethno-religious divisions and underdevelopment. Adopting a pragmatic constitutional approach that institutionalizes federal constitution would produce a promising political mechanism for addressing ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. Meanwhile the adoption of relevant political structure should be guided by the ethical and political comparative advantages of many different political structures. The originality of this doctoral research is based on findings from data analyses that show positive dispositions of respondents to adoption of a federal constitution to achieve stability in diversity and the current operation of unitary constitution as inappropriate. The study underlines that adoption and implementation of a federal constitution, fiscal federalism and secularism is sine-qua-non."--Page 4 of cover