Critical Analysis of Crises in Nigeria: Situating Consociationalism in Nigeria's Federal System

The article examines how consociationalism can be employed to fill the gaps in the present Nigerian federal system, resolve and manage the various conflicting and competing interests in Nigeria. Nigeria adopted federalism with the aim of accommodating the competing and conflicting interests within the Nigerian polity, which is deeply divided and heterogeneous in nature. However, despite adopting a federal system of governance by virtue of Lyttleton Constitution of 1954, various competing and conflicting interests still continue to fester on the Nigerian polity, as reflected in the Niger Delta conflicts, Biafra secessionists struggle, Boko Haram insurgency, continuous clamour for resource control, constant struggle for legislative competencies between the federal government and federating States etc. The overall aim of the article is to advocate a move towards consociational democracy in Nigerian federalism. The objectives of the article include an examination of Nigeria's constitutional history and to study the various crisis in the country, it discloses that comparative study of federalism and consociationalism show that the integration of consociationalism in the practice of federalism in Nigeria is a veritable tool for achieving political stability and accommodating divergent regional interest of the federating states in Nigeria.