Enhancing National Integration and Inter-Group Relations in Post-Colonial Nigeria State through Federal Character: An Analytical Discourse.
The geo-political entity defined as Nigeria remained the most enduring hangover of the British colonialism. Before the 1914 popular amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, each of the over 250 ethnic groups that make up Nigerian State existed to some extent independently and distinctively in culture and tradition, but not that they were not interacting with one another in favourable term. What happened in the 1914 episode of the northern and southern unification was reminiscence of a marriage, which may not be so pleasant but cannot be easily divorced. Consequently, the British displayed their political craft by introducing federalism. Still, the 1914 exercise it did not bring to bear the desired integration and inter-group relations. Arising from the problems inherent with federalism or federal arrangement, Federal Character Principle was introduced as a therapy. The degree to which the policy has achieved its fundamental historic objectives in terms of nation building and inter-group relations casts serious doubt on scholarship and therefore demands analytical academic exploration. The relevance of this study is anchored on the understanding of why despite the rich content of the policy of Federal Character as fulcrum, national integration and expected objective of inter-group relations has not been adequately achieved. The problematic this raises is that, are there some issues with its operation and application? This study identifies issues and options that may facilitate national integration and inter-group relations in Nigeria within the context of Federal Character Policy. The cardinal issues raises among others are; the confusion of citizenship and indigeneship in Nigerian constitution, northsouth dichotomy, challenges of mass mobilisation, the increasing lacuna between the ruling class the mass etc. Using structural plurality theory, the paper advocates for value re-orientation, patriotism, honesty and fairness, credible population censuses
