Paper Details

Nigerian federalism has morphologically included wrangling over intergovernmental relations. The 1999 Nigerian Constitution clearly and concisely delineates the roles, authorities, and jurisdictional boundaries that fall under the scope of the country’s political system. Nonetheless, during the political regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in Nigeria’s fourth republic, interstate ties were severely damaged by a lack of economic justice brought on by jurisdictional scruples. As the supreme authority, the federal government controls all state and municipal government operations and behaviour. The main argument of this article is that in order to establish national cohesion and integration as platforms for growth and IGR of multifarious and sharply divided societies such as Nigeria, effective state building measures are necessary. Using secondary data based on textual analysis, five efforts were evaluated, exposing the basic inconsistencies in these state-building activities. To expedite national integration and growth, it is necessary to revisit and tweak the philosophical underpinnings and usefulness of certain of these projects.

Intergovernmental Relations, Federal and Local, Fourth Republic and State-Building.