Restructuring in Nigeria: An Exploration of the Seismic Analysis of Social Formations

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VII, July 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Restructuring in Nigeria: An Exploration of the Seismic Analysis of Social Formations

Paul A. Onuh, Chinedu C. Ike
Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Abstract: -The myriads of the seemingly endless, now passive and now active, political haemorrhage in Nigeria has revitalized the calls and demands for the restructuring of the polity from different quatres. The effects of the amalgamation of different nations driven by colonial prerogatives and formalized in 1914 by Lord Fredrick Lugard has continued to reverberate over a century later. The character of ethnic politics played in the struggle for the control of the centre since the first republic has further amplified differences, leading to military coups, civil war, and the evolution of an increasingly centralized and top-heavy political system. This study re-examines the debate on restructuring, highlighting the issues and the prospects for Nigeria. We explored the seismic theory of social formations. We applied data gotten from secondary sources for the study. We also used the content analysis. The study found that maintaining the current political structure is not sustainable. It feeds unhealthy competition for the control of the centre, stunts socio-political and economic development, breeds mutual suspicions amongst the different ethnic members of the polity, and leads to violent armed confrontation and avoidable loss of lives. It is a significant threat to the continued corporate existence of the Nigerian state.

Keywords: Restructuring; ethnicity, development; Federalism; Seismic analysis.

I. INTRODUCTION

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and the most populous black nation in the world ranks 1st by share of crude oil produced in Africa, and ranks 13th largest crude producer globally, accounting for 2.2% of the world’s crude oil output in 2017 (OPEC, 2017), and raking in a whopping N7.3 trillion in the same year (CBN, 2017). This volume of natural resource, staggering financial wealth, and limitless human capital potentials has, however, been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption and an ailing economy (falola and heaton, 2008). There are over 250 cultural groups in Nigeria (Ayatse, 2013).

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