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| Parasitic Federalism and Skewed Development: Implications for the Niger Delta, Nigeria |
EDMUND F. OBOMANU, PhD
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Abstract:
Federalism in political discourse is guided by principles that address issues of diversities, power sharing accommodation despite heterogeneous differences and mutual development but this has not been the case in Nigeria. In Nigeria, the acclaimed federal system seems to have a very unequal distribution of power, with the central government wielding too much power at the detriment of the other levels. Furthermore, the Niger Delta being the economic nerve center of the Nigerian State happen to be at the receiving end of this anomaly, as the states of the Niger Delta are deprived the expected development benefits from the exploitation of oil and gas in their domain because of the parasitic nature of Nigeria's federal system that cares less about the infrastructural dearth in the Delta and negative impact of these economic activities on the people. The paper examined Nigeria's federal arrangement by looking at the relationship between the central government and the units particularly the Niger Delta areas. Data for the study was derived secondarily and analyzed qualitatively .It used the Political economy approach and found that there is a parasitic relationship between the Nigerian State and the Niger delta areas which it has maintained using coercive force mainly a central police.This has led to skewed development, environmental degradation and various forms of criminality in the Niger Delta The paper recommends structural reforms and constitutional amendment to address these lapses.
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