Federalism and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Federalism simply suggests a federal system of government which allows for division of powers 
and jurisdictions among the levels of government that made up the federation. There have been a 
lot of lapses in the Nigerian federal system. Nigeria is a country that is in need of development. 
This paper looks at the concept of federalism in relationship with the attainment of development 
in Nigeria. It examined the problems and also prospects of development in a federal system 
practicing Nigeria. The sources of data used for the study was purely secondary by means of 
qualitative data. The creation of states and further creation of more states was to facilitate faster 
development in a federal system Nigeria. unfortunately, this has not been achieved. The paper 
revealed that some of the challenges facing Nigerian federalism are; revenue sharing formula 
among the tiers, state creation, resource control and power sharing. This all have cumulated in 
placing the democratic rule in the country at a disadvantaged position. The paper adopted the 
structural-functionalist theory. The paper also discovered that federalism other than ensuring 
development has on the other end hindered it. It is on the bases of this some recommendations 
were made.