RESTRUCTURING FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

OVERCOMING THE ‘DEPENDENT’ SYNDROME

Abstract

The issue of whether the Nigerian State requires some restructuring has remained part of the contentious public discourses within the country. Whereas some see restructuring as a condition that must be fulfilled before the country could overcome most of the internal contradictions that have continued to militate against her national development, others feel strongly that she does not require any restructuring and can attain her national developmental ideals by advancing the notion of good governance. Are there structural problems identifiable in the Nigerian State? Does the Nigerian state, as presently constituted, encourage a culture of dependency? Does the present Nigeria’s federal structure undermine national development? By applying an explanatory research design, this paper explores the structure of the Nigerian state and its implication on national development. The study relied basically on secondary source of data, which were analysed through content analysis. Findings confirm that the structure of the state is faulty and that this has proven counterproductive in the sense that it breeds some sort of ‘dependency syndrome’ among the federating units. By assuming a worrisome distributive character, the state seemingly limits the capacity of the constituent units in contributing meaningfully towards national development. It is recommended that, in the face of the existing contradictions, there is need to reorder the socio-political and economic arrangement of the country so as to advance the goal of national development.