International records / OpenAlex research

Nigeria: a federation gone wrong

Due to its size, large population, oil-based economy and geographical location in West Africa. Nigeria is regarded as an important state in Africa. The country is also one of the longest surviving federal states on the continent and therefore represents an ongoing experiment in federalism in the Third World. Since its independence in 1960, however, Nigeria has been devastated by chronic political instability. This article tries to address the issue why this is the case and to identify ethnic-religious diversity and successive military regimes as the most important sources for the mentioned pol…