Historical Evolution and Growth of Federalism in Nigeria

Abstract

Federalism as a governmental structure is that form of government where the component units of a political organization participate in sharing powers and functions in a cooperative manner (Tamuno, 1998:13). As a concept, the ‘term’ Federalism is traceable to the American political evolution. It may be germane to observe that the founding fathers of federations and earlier writers on federalism had used the term “Federalism” and ‘confederalism’ interchangeably. In line with this,Eme Awa (1973:5) notes that “the American founding fathers often used the term federal and Confederal synonymously. In any case, the modern usage of the two terms now differs significantly and can rightly be understood as opposites. For example, a confederation is now understood as a union of states which retain their independent status virtually intact.
A federal system on the other hand has over the years distinctly assumed the form whereby authority and functional competences are shared among different levels of government (Watts: 22-32). Federalism basically involves the combination of shared rule within a single political system so that no unit is subordinate to the other. Accordingly, Ronald Watt (2005:207) argues that:
The function of federations is not to eliminate internal differences, but rather to preserve regional identities within a united framework. Their function, therefore, is not to eliminate conflict but to manage it in such a way that regional differences are accommodated. But how well this is done has in practice depended often upon the particular form of the institutions adopted within the federation.
It may not be relevant to dwell too much on definitions and conceptualization for as TekenaTamuno (1998:13) rightly put it, “readers and pundits in the field of federalist studies no longer fight over definitions and descriptions”. What is, however, notable is that whatever the particular political colouring that a country’s federal government takes, is often reflective of its historical experiences, its political, cultural, social and economic environment and the disposition of its people at a particular point in time.