Nigeria’s First Republic and Post 1966 Federalism: A Comparative Study

Objective: The objective is to make a comparative study of the Nigeria’s First Republic (1954-1966) and the post 1966 federalism. The two periods saw Nigeria practicing federalism with different power sharing and governmental components arrangements. The study is significant at this time of search for a viable federalism, incessant agitations for restructuring the Nigerian state, and increasing threats to her unity and cohesion over the federal arrangement.Methodology: The study used non-numerical, secondary and historically documented sources to collect data and also used the historical method and practical events in Nigeria’s journey of federalism to analyse the data.Result: In the First Republic, it was a fiscal federalism with greater regional autonomy and limited constitutional powers to the Central Government, while the post 1966 federalism had more and strategic powers constitutionally allocated to the Central Government. First Republic federalism was more disciplined in financial and residual matters and power with greater autonomy and competition between regions which greatly fostered development and accountability among them, with less constitutional frictions between the Central and Regions.Implication: The study fills an existing gap in the study of Nigeria’s federalism viz-a-viz more calls for restructuring and or true federalism, number of units and devolution of constitutional powers, corruption, slow and discouraged development, which result in over-reliance on statutory allocations from the Centre, and intensifies struggle for resource control, although it on the other hand controversially guarantees the unity of the Nigerian state.