Thesis Abstract

Abstract
The movement of political restructuring in Nigeria has emerged as a critical issue in the country's political landscape. This research project seeks to explore the various dimensions of the political restructuring movement in Nigeria, focusing on its historical context, key drivers, challenges, and potential implications for the country's governance system. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to provide a comprehensive analysis of the movement. The historical context of political restructuring in Nigeria is rooted in the country's colonial legacy and post-independence struggles for power and resource control. The research delves into the evolution of the movement, tracing its origins to the pre-independence era and examining how it has gained momentum in contemporary Nigerian politics. Key drivers of the political restructuring movement are identified through interviews with political leaders, activists, and scholars. Factors such as ethno-regional diversity, resource allocation, power-sharing arrangements, and governance challenges are explored to understand the motivations behind the push for restructuring. Challenges facing the political restructuring movement in Nigeria are also analyzed, including resistance from political elites, lack of consensus on the way forward, and concerns about potential disintegration of the country. The research highlights the complexities of implementing political restructuring in a diverse and complex society like Nigeria and discusses possible strategies to overcome these obstacles. The potential implications of political restructuring on Nigeria's governance system are a focal point of the study. By examining case studies of other countries that have undergone similar processes, the research provides insights into the possible outcomes of restructuring in Nigeria, including improved resource management, enhanced political representation, and greater stability. Overall, this research project contributes to the ongoing discourse on political restructuring in Nigeria by offering a comprehensive analysis of the movement from historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives. The findings aim to inform policymakers, civil society organizations, and the general public about the complexities and opportunities associated with restructuring the country's political system.

Thesis Overview

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
During Nigerian independence in 1960, the culture of political orientation and parliamentarianism was transmissible by the British (Jaga, 1996). Before 1960, the assorted constitutional changes from 1922-1960 contributed in setting a firm foundation for Nigerian federal structure. The unitary structure that was established in 1914 had bit by bit metamorphosed into a three regional structure with a weak central government in 1960, four regions in 1963. Historically speaking, the diiculty of state creation in Nigeria started so much back as 1963, once the Midwest geographic area was sliced out of the previous Western Region by the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa administration. In 1967 the country was further divided into twelve states by the administration of General Yakubu Gowon. This progressive increase within the range of territorial units continued in 1976 once the Murtala Administration created an additional seven states, making the total of states nineteen.
Between 1987 and 1991, General Babangida in two separate exercises, created eleven extra states, conveyance the full up to thirty states. And in 1996, the Abacha administration created six more states to make the territorial units of the country thirty six. Nigeria has undergone a protracted method of restructuring in terms of the number of geo-political body units constituting the polity. This method is popularly referred to as “state creation” and/or “reorganization” the method whereby new geo-political units/constituents referred to as “states” in most federations is created out of existing or old ones. The result of this method is sometimes a rise within the range of states constituting the Nigerian federation. In trying to trace the history and politics of state creation in Nigeria, scholarly opinions vary widely, virtually occasioning confusion, with explicit reference to the temporal order of the primary exercise. A serious means that of evaluating the extent of civilization or
civic of contemporary political systems are the extent and extent to that they’re well-organized. The political organization of states most frequently, reflects the structure of governmental authority, level of body potency and therefore the attendant power relations. Supported the structure, it’s convenient to see the extent to that authority is spread or focused in a very explicit social group. This dynamic face of Nigeria’s federal structure went at the same time with changes within the distribution schemes that were embedded in past constitutions or decrees.
These changes within the federal arrangements also conjointly caused further decentralization of governmental functions to the constituents units in the federation. This successfully influenced the follow of intergovernmental financial relations that is a lot more of concerning however the assorted tiers of government relates monetary within the execution of these function. Nigeria operates a federal political economy (federalism) implying a series of legal body relationships established among units of state possessing variable degrees of real authority and territorial autonomy (Anyanwu, 2005) ascertained, currently. The introduction of the 1946 constitution altered considerably the formal unitary structure living by introducing regionalism to the pattern of colonial administration in African country