Religious and Regional Crisis in the Nigerian Federalism: Problems, Causes and Remedy

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue XI, November 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186

Religious and Regional Crisis in the Nigerian Federalism: Problems, Causes and Remedy

Dr. Lawal Abdulkareem

Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria

Abstract:-It is on record that the British Colonial authorities under Lord Lugard amalgamated the Northern and Southern Protectorates and the Colony of Lagos into one country with Federal system of Administration since 1914. The immediate problems that confronted that amalgamation were among others, religious differences; diverse ethnic groups; disparity in the physical sizes of the federating units; and above all, the constituent units were not given the choice by the colonial masters to either remain as sovereign entities or join the union. It is against this background that this paper intends to discuss about the problems, causes and remedy to the Religious and Regional Crisis in Nigeria under the structure of Federalism.

Keywords: Religious, Regional, Nigerian Federalism, Problems, Causes and Remedy.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Nigerian federalism dates back to 1914 when the British authorities amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates. The diversity of the country later made it necessary to decentralize the administration within the unitary system of government set up. For cultural and religious reasons, the amalgamated areas were administratively regarded separate. The North was Islamic in nature and the South was secular. The establishment of separate administrations for the Western and Eastern Nigeria respectively took place in 1939. The British upon the framework of three regions; the North, the West and the East therefore built Federalism in Nigeria. The smaller ethnic groups were integrated into the Regions.

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