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SS3 Government

Nigerian Federalism: Historical Overview

Transcript

00:02 Good day Learners

00:16 My name is Mrs. Okolo Patience.

00:19 I am here to teach you government SS3.

00:22 And the topic we have today is lesson is federalizing.

00:26 And the subtopic for today is the nature and structure

00:31 of Nigerian federalizing.

00:33 At the end of the lesson today,

00:36 you should be able to explain federalizing

00:40 before independence.

00:42 You should be able to discuss federalizing

00:44 from 1960 to 1966.

00:48 Again, you should be able to explain federalizing

00:53 from 1967 to 1975.

00:56 And also, you should be able to discuss federalizing

01:01 from 1976 to date.

01:03 And also, you should be able to narrate

01:08 the futures of Nigerian federalizing.

01:11 Now, let us go to federalizing before independence.

01:16 Federalizing before independence.

01:19 That means, as we know, Nigerian games are independence

01:23 in 1960, in October 1st, 1960.

01:27 Nigerian games are independence.

01:29 Before independence, we know that,

01:33 I believe you should have known,

01:34 that British colonized Nigeria

01:37 the next legos in 1861.

01:40 Then, the colonial government

01:43 introduced centralized governments in Nigeria.

01:47 When they came to Nigeria,

01:48 they introduced centralized administration in Nigeria.

01:52 We had all the powers of the government

01:55 is concentrated in one central government.

01:59 So until about 1939,

02:02 Sabodilon came up and divided Nigeria into three provinces.

02:07 Now, in 1946,

02:12 in 1946, Richard Constitution came up

02:18 and divided the provinces into three.

02:23 Instead of former provinces,

02:24 it now became a region

02:26 done by Richard or Richard Constitution in 1946.

02:31 And Niger now became,

02:33 we had in Nigeria, we now had the Northern region,

02:37 the Eastern region and the Western region.

02:39 After that 1946 Richard's Constitution,

02:45 divided Nigeria into three regions,

02:48 came up in 1951,

02:50 Macphasing Constitution came up.

02:52 Macphasing met on ground,

02:55 three regions been divided

02:57 by Richard's Constitution of 1946.

03:01 So when Macphasing came up in 1951,

03:04 John Macphasing gave legislative powers to those regions,

03:09 those Northern region, Eastern region and Western region.

03:14 He gave them legislative powers.

03:16 He created house of representatives at the center,

03:21 now house of assembly at the regions.

03:24 Then, when Macphasing Constitution gave legislative powers

03:31 to those regions,

03:32 so that means they can be able to make laws on their own.

03:36 Now came up in 1954,

03:39 the Oliva-Littleton Constitution,

03:42 Oliva-Littleton Constitution came

03:44 and introduced the true federalism as we see today.

03:48 For knowing the 1953 London Constitutional Conference

03:53 that was held in London,

03:55 in that London Constitutional Conference,

03:58 that was when they agreed that the best system of government

04:02 to be operated in Nigeria

04:04 or maybe to be adopted in Nigeria,

04:06 should be federalism.

04:10 So the Constitution further came up with exclusive,

04:14 concurrent and residual legislative lists.

04:18 The Constitution, the exclusive means

04:21 that the function should be based only on the central government.

04:26 Then the concurrent list should be based

04:29 on the regional government.

04:32 Then the Constitution also made provision

04:34 for the appointment of premiums for the regions.

04:37 That means the premiums should head those regions

04:40 and in 1957, the office also made provision

04:44 for the post of the prime minister.

04:47 So that was federalism before independent.

04:52 Let's recap the federalism before independence.

04:55 As I said earlier,

04:57 that in 1946,

04:59 been met on the ground 1939 provinces

05:02 that author Richard created regions out of those provinces.

05:07 Then in 1951, Macphazine Constitution gave powers to those regions.

05:12 Then in 1954,

05:13 will leave a little bit in construction.

05:15 Now set up the true federalism that we see today

05:19 and also established the legislative functions

05:24 that is the exclusive list, concurrent list and residual list.

05:29 Also made provision for the office of the premier.

05:33 So now, federalism between 1960 and 1966,

05:38 1960 or sharding independence constitution.

05:43 Independence constitution came up

05:46 and retained federal system of government

05:48 as introduced in Nigeria

05:51 by Olivier Littleton Constitution in 1954.

05:55 So during this independence constitution of 1960,

06:00 power sharing formula was equally retained.

06:03 But in the size of the functions,

06:05 the concurrent list,

06:07 the constitution stated that laws made by the central government

06:10 would take precedence over those of the regions

06:14 in the event of the conflict.

06:15 What does it mean?

06:17 That the laws made by the central government

06:20 that it will also affect the regions.

06:24 Now, in 1963,

06:26 something remarkable happened between this 1960 to 1966.

06:31 In 1963, midwestern region was created

06:36 out of the western region,

06:38 bringing the country into four regions.

06:42 Now at this point, in 1963,

06:46 Nigeria now had the northern region,

06:50 the western region, eastern region and midwestern region,

06:54 making it up to four regions

06:57 that made up Nigeria as a country as at that time.

07:01 Then, we now go proceed to federalism

07:06 between 1967 and 1975.

07:10 This period, as we know,

07:13 marks the intervention of military into politics,

07:18 as we know that the first military queue took place

07:22 in 1967, sorry, in 1966.

07:27 So, the government of Aguiuruanse,

07:31 after that military queue,

07:33 Aguiuruanse took over the government

07:36 and when he took over the government,

07:38 he introduced a military system of government into the country,

07:43 making the power to be centralized.

07:46 So, when left corner of Yakubu-Goan came into power,

07:52 he created 12 states after six months

07:55 of another counter queue on July 1966.

08:00 Aguiuruanse and Yakubu-Goan came into power

08:04 and took over the government from Aguiuruanse

08:07 after he has been assassinated.

08:09 He now created 12 states out of the existing four regions

08:14 on May 27, 1967.

08:19 So, this move made Oduku to announce this session

08:24 of the Eastern region on May 30, 1967.

08:29 So, during this period, 1967 and 1975,

08:35 that was the period after the announcement of that session,

08:39 that was what led to their front wall or civil war in Nigeria.

08:45 So, this led to civil war which started on July 6, 1967.

08:50 Then, federalizing from 1976 to date,

08:59 we announced federalizing from 1976 to date.

09:05 Before I continue, I want to have to recap federalizing

09:11 from 1966 to 1975.

09:15 Like I said earlier, that Gouan came up

09:20 and created 12 states out of the four regions.

09:25 Now, we are in federalizing from 1976 to date.

09:30 After the creation of the 12 states,

09:35 most states we are created out of the existing 12 states,

09:39 bringing the total to 19 by Major General Moritala Muhammad,

09:45 where the Muhammad came into power in 1975.

09:49 So, he created additional seven states on February 3, 1976,

09:57 bringing the total state to 19 states.

10:00 This happened between 1976.

10:05 So, then in 1979, the military left the political scene.

10:12 I want to post here to explain it.

10:14 This was the first ever time that military government

10:17 successfully handed over to civilian government in Nigeria.

10:22 And the government that did this was Olusya Goubasa and just government.

10:28 He successfully handed over to civilian government.

10:31 That was in 1979.

10:34 In case you see this kind of question,

10:36 maybe in your SSE, in your jam, Neko, any exam at all, you see it.

10:43 It always comes out.

10:45 Is it likely question which government successfully,

10:48 which military government successfully handed over to civilian government?

10:53 Please, this answer is General Olusya Goubasa and Joe military regime.

10:59 And that was in 1979.

11:02 So, then in that 1979, a democratically elected government was constituted

11:09 or shrewd in Second Republic.

11:12 Then that's 1979.

11:16 Oshad in Second Republic was introduced

11:18 presidential system of government.

11:21 That was when Shehusha Garry took over the government

11:25 as the executive president of the body head of state and head of government.

11:29 So, it maintained three tiers of government.

11:33 That was the central, state and the local government.

11:38 With their powers derived from the constitution.

11:42 The past of the three organs of government, we are separated.

11:46 We know the organs of government.

11:48 We have the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

11:53 Their powers were separated in that presidential system.

11:57 In the sense that the legislature, they are meant to make laws,

12:01 executive, executive, or implement the laws,

12:04 then judiciary, interpret the laws.

12:09 Now, during a Buhari Indian military regime,

12:14 that sucked the second time of civilian government into power

12:19 on the 31st December 1983.

12:23 General Ibrahim Babanggida's administration came up in 1985

12:28 and he created two states, a quiet bomb state and Castina State,

12:35 on 23rd of September 1987.

12:39 Then, and before the end of Babanggida's administration in 1993,

12:47 Babanggida created nine additional states.

12:51 Before that 1987, in 1985, after he created two additional states,

12:58 at the bottom, you know that we left 19 states before,

13:02 at the bottom of the 19 states, now made up 21 states of the federation.

13:08 Now, in 1987, the same General Ibrahim Babanggida's administration

13:15 now created nine additional states, including Ado and Delta State,

13:21 in August 1991.

13:26 So, the creation of that additional state now brought the total number of states

13:32 to take it with Abuja as the federal capital territory.

13:38 Then, General Sani Abacha came to power in November 1993

13:44 and created six more states on 1st of October 1996,

13:51 bringing the present number states we have today into 36 states.

13:59 We have their futures of Nigerian federalizing.

14:03 What does it mean?

14:04 Attributes.

14:05 Those things we see in a state and we know are,

14:08 this state is adopting federalizing.

14:12 Nigeria as an example.

14:14 Number one, as number one feature of Niger federalizing,

14:19 is parts are constitutionally shared between the center and other component states.

14:26 Parts are shared between the central government and the component states

14:30 that is one of the features of federalizing.

14:33 What are those component states?

14:35 There are the regions, states and the local governments.

14:40 Like I said before, when I was explaining the structure of federalizing,

14:46 the regions, we had four regions in Nigeria,

14:50 now developed to 36 states of differentiation

14:56 and presently we have 774 local governments.

15:00 So parts are constitutionally shared between the central government

15:05 as the federal government and those component states.

15:10 Number two, the constitution adopted is written and rigid in federalizing.

15:17 The constitution of federalizing is written down in a single document.

15:23 It is contained in a single document.

15:26 That means in a federal state,

15:29 if you want to go through the constitution,

15:32 there is a document you pick up as there are.

15:34 This is the constitution of my state.

15:37 So federalizing constitution is written down or contained in a single document.

15:45 And also the constitution is rigid.

15:47 What does it mean?

15:48 Regid constitution is a constitution that cannot be easily amended or changed.

15:55 It is not a constitution that the head of states can wake up

16:00 or maybe the house of assembly or the Senate can wake up and say

16:04 they want to change the constitution.

16:05 It has to pass through so many procedures before it can be changed.

16:10 So the constitution of a federal state is written in a single document

16:16 and it also rigid.

16:18 Meaning that it is very difficult to be amended or changed.

16:23 Number three, features of Nigeria federalizing.

16:27 Powers are derived from the constitution in a federal state.

16:31 All the powers of every organ of every section is being derived in the constitution.

16:40 Whatever they do, powers of the head of state,

16:42 powers of the vice president of the federation,

16:48 the powers of the national assembly and the legislature,

16:52 the executive judiciary, all their powers are derived from the constitution.

16:58 Now, the next point is the constitution is supreme in a federal state.

17:04 The constitution is very supreme.

17:07 It is held in a high esteem.

17:10 Nothing is superior than the constitution.

17:13 Again, another point, the powers of the arms of government are separated

17:19 rather than strict. The powers are separated.

17:22 We know the organs of governments.

17:24 I believe by now we shall have known the functions of the organs of government.

17:29 We have number one, the legislative organ.

17:32 Number two, we have the executive organ.

17:34 Number three, we have the judicial organ.

17:38 The legislative organ, they are made to do it.

17:41 To make the law, to make the policy that is for the federation.

17:46 Then, number two, executive implement or execute the law made by the legislature.

17:54 The legislature make law, they make law.

17:57 They don't bring the law into action for people to see.

18:02 It is the function of the executive to do it,

18:05 to bring those laws into implementation for people to see the work of government.

18:11 Again, the judiciary also works in separate the law.

18:16 That means, if there is any dispute or conflict,

18:19 it is the judiciary that settles dispute between the government and the government.

18:27 Another feature of federalism is by camera legislature.

18:34 In a federal state, it's adopt by camera legislator.

18:38 What is by camera legislator?

18:40 By camera legislator simply means two houses, two legislative houses.

18:46 They have unique camera and by camera.

18:49 But Nigeria, being a federal state because of the large size and so many reasons,

18:55 they adopt by camera legislator.

18:57 That is the legislative, two legislative houses.

19:01 Presently, we have the upper house and the lower house.

19:05 The upper house is known as the house of Senet.

19:08 Why the lower house is known as the house of representatives at the center.

19:15 Then, another feature of Nigeria federalism is,

19:21 the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review and interpretation of cases.

19:27 It is the power, the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review,

19:33 and they are seen as the highest court of appeal in the legislative federal system of government or federalism.

19:41 The Supreme Court has the Supreme Court that the highest court of appeal.

19:47 Then, another point is duplication of functions in a federal state.

19:52 Functions, we are highly duplicated in every department.

19:58 As we know, based on my explanation so far,

20:02 you should have already known that federalism has the central government.

20:07 That is the federal government.

20:10 We have the states, 36 states of defecation.

20:15 We have the 774 local governments.

20:20 So now, there are duplication of functions.

20:23 The 36 states, they have their own functions to perform.

20:27 The local government, they also have their own functions to perform.

20:31 So in a federal state, there is duplication of functions.

20:36 Another point is on equal regions.

20:40 The period of regions, there are regions we are created on equal basis.

20:46 This is another feature of Nigerian federalism.

20:49 Regions, we are not created equally.

20:52 There are some regions that are more wider than other regions.

20:58 Another one is secession.

21:02 This is another feature of Nigerian federalism.

21:06 Secession, this is constitutionally forbidden in a federal system.

21:10 Secession, what is the mean of secession?

21:13 Some of you might not know the mean of secession.

21:15 Secession simply means break away, break away from a country,

21:19 break away from a state.

21:21 A state can decide to break away at all at any time.

21:24 And that was the reason that cost the 1967 Niger civil war.

21:30 Because of what the eastern region to Cornell, Oduku announced secession for the eastern region.

21:39 And that was what cost the one of the causes of the civil war.

21:44 So in the third Nigerian federal system, it is constitutionally forbidden

21:51 for any section of the country to break away.

21:55 For any section of the country to secede,

21:57 for any section of the country to secede, we want to be on our own.

22:04 Based on what we have done so far, I believe by now you should,

22:10 I believe by now you understand everything I have explained.

22:14 And I want to ask you some questions on your assessment,

22:18 at least to know, we cannot sex yourself.

22:21 To know whether you have been following in the lesson.

22:24 Number one, explain the structure of Nigerian federalism as follows.

22:31 One, Niger federalism before independence.

22:35 We know independence came in 1960.

22:38 So federalism before independence.

22:41 Number two, I want you to explain the structure of Niger federalism

22:46 between 1960 to 1966.

22:50 Also, number three of your assessment question,

22:54 I want you to explain the structure of Niger federalism

22:58 between 1967 to 1975.

23:02 Again, I want you to explain the structure of Niger federalism

23:08 from 1976 till date.

23:12 Then finally, I want you to highlight the six features of Nigerian federalism.

23:20 Thank you.

23:24 I believe by now you understand what we have done so far.

23:29 I remain Mrs. Okolo Pechens.

23:33 Thank you for listening.