Abstract:
Nigeria is a plural society comprising people from diverse cultural,
ethnic, and religious identities. These diversities have always influenced
political decisions. There is a rising perception of lopsidedness in
making political decisions in Nigeria. Therefore, political restructuring
has been one of Nigeria's most pressing national issues over the last
decade. Nigeria currently operates a federal system in which the federal
government wields enormous power while the federating units serve as
mere subordinates. There are calls from certain quarters for the
country's political restructuring. To fully determine the foregoing, the
study used historical research methodology, in which existing data on
political restructuring were thoroughly reviewed. This allowed the
researcher to examine the restructuring debate in the light of Nigeria's
cultural and ethnic identities which has highlighted ethnic and religious
diversity. The inability to positively tap from these diversities is causing
insecurity within the country and is hampering the development of
Nigeria. In the context of this study, political restructuring refers to the
decentralization of political power in the country in order to ensure
political balance among various ethnic and religious groups. According
to the findings, the fundamental issues that prompted the call for
restructuring include ethnic diversity, religious pluralism, and marginalization in the country's political equation. These have fueled
ethno-religious conflicts and insecurity that have ravaged the
development of the country. As a result, the paper suggests a political
structure in which the federating units are given the authority to manage
their affairs in accordance with their ethnic and religious affiliations.
