International records / OpenAlex research

Background to Nigerian Federalism: Federal Features in the Colonial State

The origins of Nigeria 's federalism lie not in the pluralities of economic and geographic regions or of ethnic nationalities, but in the plurality of colonial administrative traditions imposed by the British. Diferent administrative traditions were especially evident in the Northern and Southern Regions of Nigeria. These traditions produced regional rivalry and conflict that were entrenched in the Nigerian polity by the processes of consolidation and nation-building. After independence, this regional rivalry became the basis for triggering the conflicts between economic and ethnic areas prese…