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Question

Difficulty: EasyEvolution of Nigerian Federalism and State Creation

During post-independence governance in Nigeria, how did military intervention primarily affect the structural operation of Nigerian federalism?

  1. It centralized power under a unified military command structure, giving the federal government supreme authority over the states.Answer
  2. B
    It converted Nigeria into a confederal system where individual states retained absolute sovereignty over the central government.
  3. C
    It abolished state creation entirely to preserve the original regional boundaries established at independence in 1960.
  4. D
    It eliminated federal revenue allocation and required states to function with total financial independence from the central government.

Answer

Military intervention centralized power under a unified military command structure, giving the federal government supreme authority over the states.
Military intervention fundamentally altered Nigerian federalism by instituting a hierarchical, top-down command structure. Under military decrees, executive and legislative powers were concentrated at the national level, making state military governors subordinate to the Head of State and turning the federal system into a highly centralized unitarized structure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the organizational structure of military regimes in Nigeria.
Military administration operated through a strict top-down, hierarchical chain of command headed by a central ruling council.
Understanding the military hierarchy explains its direct impact on political governance.
2
Evaluate how this military hierarchy altered federal-state relations.
State military governors were appointed by and directly accountable to the military Head of State, rendering state powers subordinate to central military decrees.
This structural relationship replaced constitutional regional autonomy with central command.
3
Determine the resulting nature of post-independence Nigerian federalism.
Federalism became highly centralized in practice, often described by political scientists as 'unitarized federalism'.
Identifies the core structural transformation brought by military intervention.

Key Concept

Impact of Military Rule on Centralization in Nigerian Federalism
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Topics

Evolution of Nigerian Federalism and State Creation