Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria. By Rotimi T. Suberu. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2001. 247p. $14.95

Extract

This well written volume could not have come at a better time. At no time has the issue of political structure and/or restructuring been more contentious in Nigeria's political history. This study is a courageous effort at isolating and discussing the issues that shape Nigerian politics: federalism, revenue sharing or allocation, population, local governance, and state creation. Rotimi Suberu admits that the Nigerian federation is “hypercentralized,” thus negating the basic principles of federalism. He notes quite correctly that this is both a product of Nigeria's historical experiences and the character of postcolonial politics, but more importantly, the legacy of decades of military dictatorship with its commandist style of rule. This political reality, according to the author, is further complicated by several fault lines in Nigerian politics and society: the North-South divide, Christian-Muslim antagonism, ethnic suspicions and conflicts, majority-minority ethnic calculations, oil and nonoil state struggles, and a political elite that has found it rather challenging to build a national project.