NATIONAL QUESTION AND POLITICAL RECESSION IN NIGERIA

A CASE FOR HOLISTIC RESTRUCTURING

Abstract

The paper intervenes in the persistent agitations for the resolution of the contentious issue of Nigeria’s nationality, which was largely the result of the British forceful amalgamation of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities. The paper notes that the growing fusion of the ethnic-nationalities over what is considered as the faulty or lopsided structure created by the colonial powers, raises questions which challenge the foundation of Nigeria’s nationality. The paper adopted the descriptive method of analysis having collected data from secondary sources. The analysis accentuated the fact that the shift in political awareness among the people and the recurring socio-economic existential problems, continue to beckon on the government of the Nigerian state to restructure the country and avert political recession. However, the paper argues and submits that, because of the internal contradictions in the geopolitical zones of the country which are also plural demographically and culturally, the restructuring of the country should be holistic, encompassing both intra and inter zonal restructuring.