FEDERALISM AND NATIONAL SECURITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Federalism and National Security in Nigeria are supposed to be mutually reinforcing. While a healthy and balanced federalism tends to guarantee the sustenance of the value of national security, an unhealthy and lopsided federalism tends to generate intense acrimony and hostility amongst the federating units which are potential sources of threat to the nation's security. In a heterogeneous society such as Nigeria, policy choices are capable of generating dissenting opinions from the policy¬ conscious public and those dissenting opinions usually reflect the ethnic diversity of the society.