Power sharing in Nigeria’s divided society: structures, conflicts and challenges

This chapter analyzes the politics of power-sharing in Nigeria. Nigeria’s power-sharing model exemplifies the hybrid power-sharing system given that both institutional and non-institutional mechanisms for power-sharing instruments are used to accommodate interests of its multiple ethnic and religious groups. The institutional mechanisms include the federal system, state and local government creations, federal character principle and revenue allocation systems, while mechanisms such as the rotational presidency and zoning arrangements are informal agreements agreed by the elites. Although useful, the model has not produced positive outcomes not because of inherent weaknesses in the model, but largely because of the poor commitment and desperation for power by the political elites. For this reason, the power-sharing model has often exploded leading to perennial political conflicts and secession moves by self-acclaimed excluded ethnic groups. The chapter concluded that the major lessons to be drawn from the Nigerian experiences is that the success of power-sharing is not underlined by institutional frameworks or elite agreements, but by the attitude of the elite to implement the model they have produced.