University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh THE CONCEPT OF AMALGAMATED SECURITY COMMUNITY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THE CASE OF NIGERIA BY VIVIAN MADU (10435146) THIS DISSERTATION IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LEGON AUGUST 2014 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I hereby declare that this work is the true record of my research, except for references to the works of other authors which have been cited and duly acknowledged. I assume absolute responsibility for any lapses in this work. ……………………………….. VIVIAN MADU (STUDENT) ……………………………….. DR. BONI YAO GEBE (SUPERVISOR) DATE……………………………….. DATE………………………… i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION This work is dedicated, first and foremost, to God for the strength he gave me to complete this course; to my husband Chinedu Chidube Onyekwelu and my children Kamdi and Kaima Onyekwelu for all the time I left them to be at my books instead of being with them; to my cousin Chilee Madu, who took care of my children while I pursued this course; and to my mother, Mrs. S. N. Madu as well as my parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Titus Onyekwelu, my sister, brothers, sisters and brothers-in-laws for their prayers and encouragement. To my dear friend, Nancy Nicholas, thank you for all the support, encouragement and assistance. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the Almighty God for seeing me through this work. I express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Yao Gebe whose academic wealth of knowledge and pieces of advice set me on the path and guided me in the direction of this work. I am also grateful to the entire staff and Librarians at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), especially, Mr. Eric Amartey, to whom I express my profound gratitude for his assistance. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION … … … … … … … … … i DEDICATION … … … … … … … … … … ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS … … … … … … … … iii TABLE OF CONTENTS … … … … … … … … iv ABSTRACT … … … … … … … … … vi CHAPTER ONE: RESEARCH DESIGN … … … … … … … 1 … 1.1 Background to the Study 1.2 Statement of the Research Problem … 1.3 Objectives of the Study… 1.4 Scope of the Study … … … … … 2 … … … … … … … 3 … … … … … … … … 4 1.5 Justification of the Study … … … … … … … 4 1.6 Hypothesis … … … … … … … 4 1.7 Conceptual Framework … … … … … … … 4 1.8 Literature Review … … … … … … … 5 1.9 Sources of Data and Research Methodology … … … … … 11 1.10 Arrangements of Chapters Endnotes … … … … … … … … … … … … 12 … … … … … … … 13 CHAPTER TWO: POLITICAL HISTORY AND CONTEMPORARY STRUCTURE OF NIGERIA … … … 14 History of Nigeria from Independence to the Present Day … … … 14 Geographical and Contemporary Structure of Nigeria … … … 20 … … … 21 2.0 Introduction 2.1 2.2 … … … … 2.2.1 Geographical Location of Nigeria iv … … … … University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh … … … … … 21 2.2.3 The Demographic Profile of Nigeria … … … … … 22 2.2.2 Area and Regions … … 2.3 Effects of Geography and History on Nigerian Development and Security 24 2.4 Conclusion … … … … … … … … … 27 Endnotes … … … … … … … … … … 28 … … 29 CHAPTER THREE NIGERIA AS AN AMALGAMATED SECURITY COMMUNITY … … … … … … … 3.0 Introduction 3.1 Meaning and Concept of Amalgamated Security Community … … 29 3.2 Meaning and Concept of Federalism … … … 43 3.3 Relevance of Nigeria’s Federal system to the Concept of an Amalgamated Security Community … … … … … … … … 45 3.3.1 Creation of Nigeria’s Amalgamated Security Community … 45 3.3.2 Review of Nigeria’s Federal System as an Amalgamated Security Community … … … … … … … … 46 Factors Militating against Nigeria’s Attainment of an Effective Amalgamated Security Community … … … … 3.4 … Endnotes … … … … … … … … … … … … 52 … … 59 CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.0 Introduction … … … … … … … … 61 4.1 Summary of Findings … … … … … … … … 61 4.2 Conclusion … … … … … … … … 63 4.3 Recommendations … … … … … … … … 64 … … … … … … … … … 67 Bibliography … … … … … … … … … 68 Endnotes … … v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT The concept of an Amalgamated Security Community by Karl Deutsch has been greatly ignored in academia and instead Pluralistic Security Community has been given more focus. This dissertation examines what the concept of Amalgamated Security Community is, its formation and its viability in Nigeria, being an amalgamation of various states with different ethnic, religious and political groups. This study also looks at the history of Nigeria, the practice of federalism in Nigeria and the benefits the country can achieve if true federalism is practiced in the country in order to achieve an effective Amalgamated Security Community. The methodology for the research was an unstructured interview. Series of face to face and telephone interviews were carried out with identified subject matter experts. Based on the outcome of these interviews, it can be inferred that the Nigerian state needs to adopt a more integrated approach which takes into cognizance the multiple ethnicity and the diversity of the populace. The study therefore recommends the attainment of true federalism which will be the basis of unity in diversity of the people. vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE RESEARCH DESIGN 1.1 Background to the Study According to Kenneth A. Oye, while states may have shared interests, cooperation with other states is inhibited because of barriers imposed by anarchy. Self-help, however, does not rule out seeking assistance from others. 1 The emphasis of a self-help system is on the development of national capabilities and, where applicable, on collective self-defence arrangements. According to such realist thinking, states can form alliances and alignments as ways of enhancing national power, and spreading costs. It can be a response to an imbalance of power, or as a balance against threats. Alliances are however viewed as temporary arrangements because states, distrustful of each other, base their calculation of national interests and distribution of power as a personal sovereign matter. 2 Thus the notion of “community” is, according to such realist thinking, bounded by the territorial state; the belief is that there is little possibility of a community beyond state borders. However, the concept of a transnational community is increasingly entering into the international relations lexicon as a basis for understanding the interaction between states. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, some scholars have argued that “community exists at the international level, that security politics is profoundly shaped by it, and that those states dwelling within an international community might develop a pacific disposition.”3 This is especially applicable in the regional context. As in the study of nationalism, identity determines the boundaries of the region: a sense of “we-ness” demarcates insiders from outsiders and expresses a shared notion of collective future. The concept of community in 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh international relations is in fact not new. It was initially made prominent by Karl Deutsch who provided its first full theoretical and empirical treatment in 1957. According to Deutsch, a successful security community is defined as a group of states that have become integrated to the point that there is “real assurance that the members of that community will not fight each other physically, but will settle their disputes in some other ways. It also implies that there is a fundamental, unambiguous and long-term convergence of interests in the avoidance of military conflict.”4 There are two types of security communities: the amalgamated security community which is the merger of sovereign states into a single unit and the pluralistic security community where member states maintain their sovereignty. From this, Deutsch was obviously referring to the pluralistic security community. Indeed, several international relations scholars such as Emanuel Adler and Michael Barnett focus on pluralistic security communities because this form is theoretically and empirically closest to the developments that are currently unfolding in international politics. 1.2 Statement of the Research Problem There is a sense in which Nigeria could be regarded as an amalgamated security community. Even though, admittedly, the main feature of an amalgamated security community is the coming together of hitherto independent states to form a federal unit, Nigeria was at independence, and up till 1966, a confederation of four regional units which were later divided into twelve states and were knit together to form a federal state with the noble intention of achieving peace and security among the federated states. Unfortunately, the objective of achieving peace and security that had informed the establishment of the present federal structure has been largely defeated by persistent conflicts among the component units 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of the federation. This study attempts to explore the possibility of a total application of the concept of amalgamated security community in the Nigerian situation and context as a way of understanding the bringing together of its federated states of diverse ethnic backgrounds. The military that knit Nigeria into a strong federal state had intended to create a country that would not only be at peace but would be formidable enough to confront external challenges. All these are among the features of an amalgamated security community. However, over the years, Nigeria has been in relentless social and political conflicts and has even gone through one of the bloodiest civil wars in history. Many scholars have endeavoured, through scientific investigations, to proffer enduring solutions to the perennial violent conflicts among Nigeria’s federated units. But these conflicts remain there nonetheless. This study, therefore, looks at the possibility of defining and situating Nigeria within an amalgamated security community and thus applying the concept of amalgamated security community with the view to assess the conditions for achieving lasting peace and security among Nigerians 1.3 Objectives of the Study To examine the features of an amalgamated security community and see to what extent Nigeria can be described as such. To investigate the viability of the concept of amalgamated security community within the context of Nigeria. To examine how this will be a workable strategy for peace and security in Nigeria. To offer recommendations towards sustainable peace in Nigeria. 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.4 Scope of the Study This study covers the various components of Nigeria as a federation, right from the period when these federating components were regions to the country’s present status of being a federation of thirty six states (1914-2014), as well as all the efforts made at national integration. 1.5 Justification of the Study Current international trends, especially globalization, are fast changing the definition and application of terms in international relations, leading to the necessity of international integration in the spirit of the concept of security communities conceived by Karl Deutsch. Since many academic and policy efforts have failed to solve Nigeria’s national conflicts, and given the success of Deutsch’s concept in areas where it was adopted, for instance, the United States, the present study sees it timely to investigate its sustainability in Nigeria. 1.6 Hypothesis There is a strong link between the concept of amalgamated security community and achieving peace and security in Nigeria. 1.7 Conceptual Framework The framework of this study is based on the concept of amalgamated security community as propounded by Karl Deutsch. ASCs are created when two or more previously usually independent states form a common government. This is because approaches to international cooperation by states in the post-Cold War era and corresponding developments in international relations seem to favour Deutsch’s concept of the role of common identity, norms and social security as the bases of global politics and integration. This has led to strong 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh pluralistic security communities such as the European Union. This study, therefore, takes Deutsch’s concept of amalgamated security community as an approach for solving Nigeria’s problem of insecurity. Deutsch claims that those states that dwell in security. Communities had created a stable order and a stable peace. His observations seem relevant at moment because of changes in international relations theory. However, Amalgamated Security Community has been subjected to a lot of criticism by different scholars due to the fact that it is quite difficult to preserve and more prone to failure compared to pluralistic security community. No wonder pluralistic community has been more largely written and studied by scholars. Despite the weaknesses of ASC, in this study, effort has been made to see how ASC can help in establishing true federalism in the Nigerian state. This is possible by extracting the many strengths of ASC as it applies to Nigerian federation while mitigating the weaknesses. Adler argues that Deutsch’s conceptualisation of security communities contained various theoretical, conceptual, and methodological problems that undoubtedly scared off future applications. 5 Another essential issue of this concept is the dominance of the realist paradigms in the realm of international relations theories. The rigid stance of the realists against the concept of such communities, seen as being unrealistic both in the theoretical and practical senses, set this concept aside from general theoretical debates studying the absence of war and stable peace. 1.8 Literature Review Among the works that are reviewed for this study, the following are prominent: 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Elaigwu, I. J. (2007): The Politics of Federalism in Nigeria. Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd: The book treats the adoption of Nigeria’s federalism as a way of managing the conflicts and suspicions among the various constituent nationalities that make up the Nigerian state. These fears and suspicions had led to the emergence of aggressive political and economic competitions along ethno-regional lines. The book discusses the processes through which Nigeria came to adopt a federal system of government as well as the manner in which the system has been operated in the country. It responds to a number of critical questions: How has the system of federalism been really operated in the country? What have been the main challenges to the effective operation of federalism in Nigeria? And what is the future of federalism in the country? According to Eliagwu,6 federalism is essentially in a multinational state between two types of self-determination. The determination provided by a natural government which guarantees security for all in the nation-state on one hand , and the self determination of component groups to retain their individual identities on the other hand. He stresses that the reasons for Nigeria’s adoption of the federal compromise are historical and multidimensional, and that in Nigeria’s federal structure, there is a delicate relationship between the country’s demand for control and the demand by the sub national units or states, for autonomy; on the horizontal plane, echoes of the past are very much around even if heard from within different structures, and these seem to detract from the goals of national unity or integration; and the future threat to the survival of Nigeria, if any, may not come from the vertical relations between the federal centre and sub national states, but from horizontal relations among Nigerians as the centre becomes increasingly a big political prize to win, especially as the crises of allocation of scarce but allocatable resources increase in tempo and in the aggressiveness of such demands. 7 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The author also points out that federalism is an attempt to reflex the diverse political, social, cultural and economic interests within the broader framework of unity. It therefore attempts to satisfy the need for cooperation in some things coupled with the right to separate action in others. The book also suggests that given the US experience, which in itself is very interesting and complex, many western writers give the impression that unless the practice of federal government of other countries approximate the US experience, they are not yet operating ‘federal government’. This has led to the term quasi-federalism. 8 The issues raised in this work are very important to this study because it points out how Nigerian embraced federalism as a way of managing the conflicts and suspicions among the various constituent nationalities that makes up the Nigerian states. It also discusses the process through which Nigeria came to adopt a federal system of government as well as the manner in which the system has been operated in the country. Falola, T. and Heaton, M. (2008): A History of Nigeria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: Besides giving a general and exhaustive history of Nigeria, the book discusses other contemporary issues concerning the country especially the disconcerting paradox of despite being Africa's most populous country and the world's eighth largest oil producer, but its success is being undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption and an ailing economy. The book explains Nigeria’s recent troubles, through an exploration of its pre-colonial and colonial past and its journey from independence to statehood. The authors portray how Nigeria’s history has been swayed by the vicissitudes of the world around it, by examining key themes such as colonialism, religion, slavery, nationalism and the economy and how 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Nigerian’s have adapted to meet these challenges. The work shows a unique portrayal of a resilient people living in a country with immense but unrealized potentials9. The book brings a greater chronological and thematic balance to the narrative of Nigerian history from the colonial period to the early twenty-first century as most literature on Nigeria in the past tend to focus almost on political, economic themes and exclusively on the twentieth century.10 The relevance of this work to the study is that it discusses how Nigeria was established in 1914 when the British colonial government amalgamated the Northern and Sothern protectorate to form a unified colonial state and how Nigerian’s have lived together since then and experience various types of conflicts and wars. Deutsch, K. et al. (1957): Political community and the North Atlantic area: International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience. Princeton: Princeton University Press: It is indeed in this seminal work that the term security community was coined and defined in the first place. The book presents a security community as being a group of people that have come to agreement that common social problems among them must and can be resolved peacefully. It gives the basis on which other elaborate works on the subject have been thrown up over the years. Deutsch looks at the elimination of war as a major issue,11 and opines that by studying the problems of building a wider political community they could contribute to the elimination of war as a social institution. He also focuses on the formation of communities and draws an important distinction between two types of security community. Deutsch places importance to the issue of identity. He argued that the way to integration, domestic or international is through the achievement of a sense of community that undergirds institutions and that an 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh increased sense of community would help strengthen whatever institutions – supernatural or international are already operating. 12 Deutsch stresses that pluralistic security communities are of greater potential significance and are a more promising approach to the elimination of war over large areas than they originally expected.13 He identified 9 essential conditions for an amalgamated security community: i) mutual compatibility of main values, ii) a distinctive way of life, iii) expectations of stronger economic ties and gains, iv) a marked increase in political and administrative capabilities of at least some participating units, v)superior economic growth on the part of at least some participating units, vi) unbroken links of social communication both geographically territories and sociologically between different social strata, vii) a broadening of political elite, viii) mobility of persons, at least among the politically relevant strata, and ix) multiplicity of ranges of communication and transaction14. He also argues that the development of a sense of community was not a static process, but a dynamic one. It entailed a process of social learning involving increased responsiveness to others and at least a partial identification in terms of self- image and interests.15 The utilization of Deutsch's work for the study of integration is not only difficult, if not impossible, to gain an adequate understanding of the sequence in which the integrative process occurs but also it is difficult to know precisely when a political community has come into existence. For example, what level of transactions, quantitatively, is essential to enable us to say that a particular form of political community (amalgamated or pluralistic)" exists? All that we know from this and other indicators is that people who are integrated, or integrating, experience a high level of communications. Nor do we know whether communications are the cause or the effect of integration. To what extent are communications the result of an integrative process? Alternatively, to what extent do they provide the 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh foundation for the integrative process? If a more precise theory could be developed in which discrete stages of the integrative process were set forth, tentative answers to such questions. Adler, E and Barnett, M. (1998): Security Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: This book argues that community can exist at the international level, and that states dwelling within an international community have the capacity to develop a pacific disposition. The contributors provide an exhaustive regional and historical survey of places where states have come to expect peace, where they are working to foster such expectations, and where peace is hoped for rather than expected. This volume is an important contribution to international relations theory and security studies, providing a new vision of the possibilities for peaceful relations among state. Adler 16 argues that Deutsch’s conceptualisation security communities contained various theoretical, conceptual, and methodological problems that undoubtedly scared off future applications. They approach the concept of security communities as a community of sovereign states agreeing on the unbearable destructiveness of modern war and on political, economic, social and moral values consistent with democracy, the rule of law and economic reform, to provide their collective security through a process in which member states come together on the basis of shared values, identities. They therefore define security communities as socially constructed because shared meanings, constituted by interaction, engender collective identities. They are dependent on communication, discourse and interpretation, as well as material environment. McSweeney, B. (1999): Security, Identity and Interest, Sociology of International Relations, Cambridge University Press: The study of security has been dominated for four decades by a scientific perspective that has been under attack since the end of the Cold War. In this book, Bill McSweeney discusses the inadequacy of this approach and criticizes the most recent 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh attempts to surmount it. Drawing on contemporary trends in sociology, he develops a theory of the international order within which the idea of security takes on a broader range of meaning, inviting a more interpretive approach to understanding the concept and formulating security policy. A sociological approach to security studies, arguing that relations between states are determined by human choices, not inanimate laws. The author addresses the central problem of international relations, security and constructs a novel framework for its analysis. He argues for the unity of the interpersonal, societal and international levels of human behaviours and outlines a concept of security which more adequately reflects the complexity and ambiguity of the topic. 1. 9 Sources of Data and Research Methodology The research is conducted on the basis of information gathered from primary and secondary sources of data. The interviews are unstructured and information and views obtained are analysed and discussed and the results of this analysis are weighed against the hypothesis that is adopted for the study. The Balme Library, University of Ghana and the LECIAD Library, University of Ghana are used for relevant data. Apart from the information obtained from secondary sources, information is also obtained from Professor Pius Olakunle Osunyikannmi (PhD) former special adviser to The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on International Relations Aids Corps of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abuja. The instrument applied is oral telephone interview since the respondent is in Nigeria, Mr. Olumide Agboola, Second Secretary on political affairs, Nigeria High Commission, Accra, Ghana and Dr. Vladmir Antwi- Danso, Senior Research Fellow, LECIAD, University of Ghana. Those interviewed were selected based on their 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh scholarly knowledge of the work and their years of political and scholarly experience of the country in question. The number of respondents is based on the available personnel as at the time frame given for the interview. TECHNIQUES AND INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: The interview was unstructured. The respondent where either called directly or visited in person. Professor Pius Olakunle Osunyikannmi was called and interviewed over the phone, while Mr. Olumide Agboola and Dr. Vladmir Antwi-Danso were visited in their various offices and interviewed. The questions were posed and the responses integrated into the study. The questions were open ended to allow the respondents pro i de their unbiased views on the subject matter. A questionnaire was developed for them and the same set of questions were posed to all the respondents. 1.10 Arrangements of Chapters Chapter one constitutes the Research Design; Chapter two deals with the Political History of Nigeria; Chapter three looks at Nigeria as an Amalgamated Security Community and chapter four provides the summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Endnotes Kenneth A. Oye, “The Conditions for Cooperation in World Politics,” in Robert J. Art & Robert Jervis (eds) International politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues, 4th Ed.(New York: Harper Collins, 1996), p. 81. 2 John J. Mearsheimer, “A Realist Reply,” International Security, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Summer 1995). p. 83. 3 Adler, Emanuel & Michael Barnett, “Security Communities in Theoretical Perspective,” in Emanuel Adler, & Michael Barnett (eds), Security Communities, (Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998; Newswatch: Twenty Years of Military Rule: The Ups and Downs. Lagos. 1986; p. 3. 4 Deutsch , Karl W., Sidney A. Burrell, Robert A. Kann et al, Political Community and the North Atlantic Area: International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957); see also Karl W. Deutsch, The Analysis of International Relations,(New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968) . pp 158-202. 5 Adler E., and Barnett, M., op. cit. 6 Elaigwu, I. J., The Politics of Federalism in Nigeria. (London: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd, 2007), p. 1. 7 Ibid., pp. 17 -18. 8 Ibid., p. 8. 9 Falola, T. and Heaton, M., A History of Nigeria. (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2008), Coverpage. 10 Ibid., p. 1. 11 Deutsch op.cit., p. vii. 12 Ibid., pp. 7-8. 13 Ibid., p. 31. 14 Ibid., p. 58. 15 Ibid., p. 129. 16 Adler E., and Barnett, M., op. cit. 1 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO POLITICAL HISTORY AND CONTEMPORARY STRUCTURE OF NIGERIA 2.0 Introduction Nigeria is a famous country with a population of about 173.6 million. 1 It is located in West Africa. The tropical land, the natural resources and the geo-strategic location has given a special place to Nigeria. The first section of the present chapter discusses the political history of Nigeria after independence in 1960 and also shortly before independence. This chapter illustrates the features and events of Nigerian governments during 1960 till now. The second part of this section presents a demographic profile that covers themes related to the size of population, ethnic groups, distribution of population in 36 states and their religion. In the subsequent overview, the second section discusses geographical characteristics, including the location, areas and other features. The third section provides the effects of geography and political history of Nigeria. 2.1 History of Nigeria from Independence to the Present Day According to Obioku, Nigeria became an independent country within the Commonwealth on October 1, 1960. In the year 1963, it became a Republic within the Commonwealth and Nnamdi Azikiwe became the republic’s first president. 2 The first parliamentary elections were held in December 1964. The nation’s leadership was determined by coup, not by election and by military rather than civil government. One of the developments during the 1960s was the declaration of independence through secession by the Eastern Region in 1967. It was followed by a 30-month civil war. Ultimately, on May 30, 1967, the independent republic of Biafra was proclaimed. An estimated one to three million Nigerians died of 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh hostilities, disease and starvation during the civil war and more than three million Igbo became refugees. Finally in January 1970, Biafran resistance collapsed and the Federal military Government reasserted its authority over the area. In 1960, the first republic was headed by Tafawa Balewa. This regime could not uphold fair political practices and vital moral principles. Ethnic hatred was widespread in the divisive regions of the North and the South of Nigeria. Economic crisis deepened and political instability was experienced. Major Kaduna Nzeogwu in 1966 terminated the regime of Nnamdi Azikiwe who assumed power from 1963. Nzeogwu’s regime marked the emergence of the military influence in Nigerian political developments. This regime caused destruction of ethnic and social balance in Nigeria. It caused the breeding of mistrust among the different ethnic groups; in particular, it caused mass-scale killings of the Igbo people in the Northern region3. However, the Nzeogwu regime failed and another military leader, General Aguiyi Ironsi emerged as the head of state. The regime could not prevent the decline of an ethnic political culture in Nigeria and Ironsi was killed. The Biafra crisis, the continuous civil strife between 1967 and 1979, the Nigerian membership of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and successive military takeovers marked political developments in Nigeria from 1960 to 1999. The country was involved in civil and ethnic strife for a period of more than 35 years after becoming independent in 1960.4 Meanwhile, according to Onwubiko, in the post-war period, all significant political power remained concentrated in the Federal Military Government. 5 The influence of Yakubu Gowon, who had come to power in a 1966 coup, depended on his position as Chairman of the Supreme Military Council, which was created in March 1967 and the regime ruled by decree. In October 1970, Gowon announced his intention of staying in power until 1976, the target 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh year for the completion of the military’s political programme and return of elected civilian government. Many Nigerians feared that the military had planned to retain power indefinitely. In 1972, Gowon lifted the ban on political activity that had been in force since 1966 in order to permit a discussion of a new constitution that would pave the way for civilian rule. However, the debate that followed was ideologically charged and Gowon abruptly terminated the discussion. The Gowon regime came under fire because of widespread and obvious corruption at every level of national life. Inefficiencies compounded the effects of corruption. Crime also posed a threat to national security and had serious negative impact on efforts to bring about economic development. The political atmosphere deteriorated to the point where Gowon was deposed in a bloodless military coup in July 1975.6 Brigadier (later General) Murtala Ramat Muhammad, a Muslim Northerner succeeded Gowon but was assassinated during an unsuccessful coup in February 1976. Lieutenant General Olesegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba, succeeded Muhammad. Keeping the established chain of command in place, Obasanjo pledged to continue the programme for the restoration of civilian government in 1979 and to carry forward the reform programme to improve the quality of the public service. In 1979, under Obasanjo’s leadership, Nigeria adopted the constitutional system of the United States that provided for the separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judiciary branches. The country was ready for the local elections to be followed by National elections that would return Nigeria to civilian rule. Obasanjo indicated plans to move the federal capital from Lagos to a more central location in the interior at Abuja. Ultimately, Abuja became the country’s capital in December, 1991.7 In 1979, five revamped parties competed in national elections marking the beginning of the Second Republic. Alhaji Shehu Shagari succeeded Obasanjo as the president of Nigeria after 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the elections. It was the first peaceful transfer of power since independence. Nigeria’s second Republic was born amidst great expectations. Oil prices and revenues were on the increase. It appeared that unlimited development was possible. Unfortunately, the euphoria was shortlived. The second Republic was beset by many weaknesses. The coalition that determined federal policies was not strong. In effect, the victorious National Party of Nigeria (NPN) led by Shagari governed as a minority. There was a lack of cooperation between the NPN dominated Federal Government and the 12 states controlled by opposition parties. Most importantly, the oil boom ended in mid-1981, precisely when the expectations of continuous growth and prosperity were at a height. The ensuing recession put severe strains on the Second Republic.8 Therefore, on December 31, 1983, the military seized power once again, primarily because there was virtually no confidence in the civilian regime. According to McCaskie, allegations of fraud associated with Shagari’s re-election in 1983 served as a pretext for the takeover, although the military was in fact closely associated with the ousted government. 9 Ominously, the economy was in chaos. The true cost of the failure to use earlier revenues and foreign resources to good effect now became apparent. The leader of the coup was Major General Muhammad Buhari, a Hausa whose background and political loyalties tied him closely to the Muslim North and the deposed government. The military regime tried to achieve two goals. It attempted to secure public support by reducing the level of corruption. It demonstrated its commitment to austerity by trimming the federal budget. In a further effort to mobilize the country, Buhari launched a war against indiscipline in 1984. This national campaign which lasted for 15 months, preached the work ethic, emphasized patriotism, decried corruption and promoted environmental sanitation. However, the campaign achieved few of its aims. 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Indeed, the economic crisis, the campaign against corruption, and civilian criticism of the military undermined Buhari’s position. In August 1985, a group of officers under Major General Ibrahim Babangida removed Buhari from power. The Babangida regime had a rocky start. A counter coup in December 1985 failed but made it clear that not everyone in the military sided with the Armed Forces Ruling Council which succeeded the supreme Military Council. There was considerable controversy over Nigeria’s entry into the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), an international body of Muslim states in 1986. Buhari’s regime had initiated the application, which Babangida allowed to stand. The strong reaction among many Christians proved to be an embarrassment to the regime. Babangida addressed the worsening recession through the structural adjustment program of 1986. However, despite 42 billion US Dollars of support from the World Bank and rescheduling of foreign debt, the recession led to a series of currency devaluations, a decline in real income and the revision of unemployment during the second half of the 1980s. Babangida remained in power until 1993, when he ushered in an Interim National Government under the leadership of Chief Ernest Shonekan. This step followed the military’s annulment of election results in 1993 won by Chief MKO Abiola.10 In November 1993, General Sani Abacha seized control from the caretaker government and served as military dictator until his death in 1998. During his rule, Abacha suppressed dissent and failed to follow through with a promised transition to civilian government. In 1995, as a result of various human rights violations, the European Union, which already had imposed sanctions in 1993, suspended development aid. Nigeria was also temporarily expelled from the Commonwealth. Corruption flourished and Abacha was later found to have siphoned off oil revenues into personal bank accounts in Switzerland. In 2005, Nigeria began to recover 458 million US dollars of illicit funds deposited in Swiss banks during the Abacha regime.11 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Upon Abacha’s death in June 1998, his chief of defence staff, Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar assumed control. He began to release political prisoners, including the former leader Obasanjo. Local government elections were held in December 1998. State legislative elections followed in January 1999. Federal legislative and presidential elections completed the transition to civilian government in February 1999. Obasanjo was elected as a president of Nigeria. His party the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won majority of seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, amidst every present allegation of election irregularities. Fifteen years of military rule had come to an end. Nigeria entered the longest period of civilian rule since independence.12 Obasanjo succeeded in establishing civilian rule based on multi-party democracy. He launched a campaign against corruption. Despite a surge in oil revenues that buoyed the federal coffers, his administration faced a number of serious challenges. In 2000, religions tensions spiked following the imposition of sharia or Islamic law in the Muslim dominated 12 Northern states. These tensions hindered cooperation between the President and the national assembly, among the states and between the states and the federal government. In 2004, religious strife forced the government to declare a state of emergency in centrally located Plateau state, ethnic strife also complicated matters. In 2001, tribal warfare broke out in the North-Central state of Benue. In the oil rich Niger Delta, the Ijaw tribe continues to conduct an insurgency against international energy facilities and workers.13 Following his re-election in 2003, it was speculated that Obasanjo might seek a constitutional change that would permit him to run for a third term in 2007. However, in May 2006, the Nigerian Senate rejected a constitutional amendment that would have permitted a third term. Umar Musa Yar’Adua of the PDP, won the presidential election held in April 2007 and 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh succeeded Obasanjo. The election of 2007 was condemned by the international community as massively flawed. The elected President got 70 per cent of the votes. Goodluck Jonathan was elected as Vice-President. In the year 2009, the President Umar Musa Yar Adua was required to go out of Nigeria for health reasons. In his absence, the Vice President looked after the affairs of the state. In the absence of the President, the Senate of Nigeria amended the rules to hand over the rights of the President to the Vice President. The April, 2011, elections were won by Jonathan and the PDP. Jonathan won 57% of the vote but overwhelming 9majorities in a number of southern states led to charges of vote rigging. The opposition candidates challenged the results, and in some northern states, where support for the opposition was strong, there were riots after the results were announced.14 2.2 Geographical and Contemporary Structure of Nigeria Political Map of Nigeria s source: www.mapofworld.com 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Map of Nigeria showing the various ethnic groups. 2.2.1 Geographical Location of Nigeria The geographical location of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is on the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa. It is between Benin in the West and Cameroon in the East. In the North are Chad (NE) and Niger (NW). The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the eastern part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Southern lowlands are created by swamps and mangrove forests on the Southern coast. These low lands are mountainous in the South east and plains in the North. There are hardwood forests in the inland territory. These are the broad features of the terrain of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.15 2.2.2 Area and Regions The area of the country is 923,768 square kms of which the water bodies have covered about 13,000 square kms. There are five major geographical regions in Nigeria. The first region is a 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh low coastal zone along the Gulf of Guinea. The second is the zone of hills and plateaus north of the coastal zone. The third is the Niger-Benue river valley. The fourth region is a broad stepped plateau stretching to the Northern border with elevation exceeding 1200 meters. The fifth region is a mountainous zone along the eastern border, which includes the country’s highest point, Chappal Waddi, which is 2,419 meters high.16 2.2.3 The Demographic Profile of Nigeria There are 36 states in the country of which seven states are located in the most populated North-West zone which has the population of 35, 786, 944. The South-West zone is the next most populated zone with six states having the population of 27, 266,257. The six states in the South-South zone have the population of 21,014,655. The seven states in the NorthCentral zone including the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja (1,405,201) have the population of 20,266,257. The six states of North East zone have the population of 18,971,965. The five states in the South -East zone have the total population of 16,381,729.7; Kano state has the highest population of 17,000,682 followed by Lagos – 9,013,534.Kaduna; Katsina, Oyo, and Rivers are the four states having the population of more than five millions. The population of states likes Nasarawa (1,863,275) and Bayelsa (1,703,358) have populations below 2 million. The population of twenty states is between 2 and 5 million. 17 The age structures show that there are 44 percent of the country’s population below 14 years of which males are 27,181,020 and female with 26,872,317. The second age group of 15 to 64 years is 53percent of the population of which 33,495,794 are males while the females are 32,337,193.8. The seniors about 65 years are 3percent of the population with 1,729,149 male. The most populous and politically influential ethnic groups are Hausa and Fulani with 29 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh percent of the total population, Yoruba 21percent, Igbo (Ibo) 18 percent, Ibibio 3.5percent, Ijaw 6.5percent, Kanuri 4.1percent and Tiv 2.5 percent.18 Table 1: Percentage of Population by Ethnic Groups ETHNIC GROUP NUMBER PERCENTAGE Hausa-Fulani 37,681,123 29 Yoruba 27,286,331 21 Igbo 23,388,283 18 Ijaw 12,993,491 10 Kanuri 5,197,396 4 Ibibio 4,547,722 3.5 Tiv 3,248,373 2.5 Other 15,592,189 12 Source: Estimates based on (2002) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact Bok Data Half of the population of Nigeria is Muslims (50percent), Christians (40 percent) and the rest (10 percent) follow traditional indigenous religions or no religion. The predominant form of Islam is Sunni and among Christians, Protestants are 26 percent, African Christians with 18.25 percent and Roman Catholics with 13.45 percent. The rate of literacy in 2004 was 69.1 percent of the total population of which literate males are 78.2 percent and literacy among females is 60.1 percent.11 English serves as the national language. Although, as result of population diversity nearly 250 different languages are also being spoken. The profile is presented considering the ethnic groups, zone-wise population, religious affiliations, sex-wise distribution, rate of literacy and other factors that characterize the demography of Nigeria.19 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.3 Effects of Geography and History on Nigerian Development and Security The geographical features and the historical developments have made an impact on the regional inequalities in Nigeria. The administrative political and economic development processes have created regional disparities. The present overwhelming regional inequalities are likely to have evolved during the one hundred year (1861 – 1960) period in Nigeria. In any society regional inequality is noticed in all levels of national development in terms of income, investments, employment, human resources, education and health services. An accepted functional political and administrative system, city systems and others are inevitable during the early period of socio-economic growth and political development. The geographic pattern of regional development is bound to be uneven, exhibiting core-periphery dichotomy as noticed in the case of Nigeria. The socio-political and administrative perspective acknowledges that Nigeria was created out of European selfish ambitions in West Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Nigeria is a collection of hundreds of hitherto autonomous ethno-linguistic groups. The birth of "Nigeria" could be at best termed "artificial". Nigerian boundaries were not carved out of physical, cultural, social, religious, economic and environmental homogeneity. The boundaries of Nigeria were conceived mainly as a geographical organization for the administrative convenience of British imperialism. The diverse characteristics of Nigeria might have aided over time to create diverse rates of socio-economic development, and ultimately, the regional inequalities which mean lack of development and threats to human security.20 The activities of the British chartered Royal Niger Company, a commercial enterprise, had some spatial consequences on the socio-economic and political landscape of Nigeria. The company shifted its headquarters from one part of the nation to the other. The location of 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh these headquarters originated some important population and activity needs of places like Calabar, Asaba and Lokoja. This created the framework for regional inequalities. The negative aspects of spatial inequality were enormous as resources and people were attracted to few areas. Inevitably, resource inequalities between the main headquarter and the region as its periphery increased. In any case, the location, growth and development of these colonial administrative and trade headquarters actually sowed the seeds of lopsided spatial development and structures in Nigeria. These headquarters were and are still the strategic points. These are sea ports like Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt. The confluence of two rivers at Lokoja makes it a strategic location. Kaduna and Lagos were developed as military headquarters, or as the transportation nodes. It can be stated that the location of these centres enormously influenced the development of Nigeria's special structure.21 The regionalism concept was introduced into the administrative framework of Nigeria in 1946. It has been entrenched in Nigeria through a series of constitutional developments and amendments. The constitutional development and amendments were included in the 1946 Richards Constitution in 1952 in the McPherson Constitution and the 1954 Louis Chick or Federal Constitution. These laid the seeds of ethnicity and tribalism. The creation of regions and states was the outcome of the constitutional changes. This determined the course of the future unequal development and the characteristic spatial configuration of Nigeria. The beginning of the fragmentation and separatist tendencies and regional economic disparities were bunched in Nigeria. The constitutional conferences took place at London in 1945 and 1953 and in Nigeria in 1954. The federation of the three regions of Nigeria was recognized in these conferences. The Northern Region has its headquarters at Kaduna, the Eastern Region with headquarters at Enugu and the Western Region with headquarters at Ibadan were the two other regions in Nigeria. Consequently, different ethno regional and political parties were 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh formed in different regions such as Action Group (Western Region), Northern People's Congress (Northern Region), National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (Eastern Region). In the colonial times, Lord Lugard the British administrator adopted the divide and rule policy between the South and North through the strategies of uneven administration and preparation of budgets. The result was the agitation of state creation on cultural and linguistic precepts. It could be seen that the creation of states has not solved the nation’s socio economic disparities, regional inequalities, inter-ethnic rivalries and political problems. At the time of independence, the country was divided into four regions of North, East, West and South. After independence, the demand for more states grew in 1967; twelve states were created out of the original four regions. About thirty one states were still demanded, out of which on February 3, 1976, seven more states were actually created. Two more states were created in 1987 bringing the total to twenty one states. In 1991, the number of states reached thirty one by the creation of ten new states. Actually the demand for states would continue as there are more than two hundred ethno-linguistic groups. There are many who have started to mount stiff opposition to the further disintegration of the country.22 As at the time of this study, the number of states has already increased. The regional imbalance is on account of the uneven distribution of several mineral, natural and human resources in these states. The development level of each state depends on its access to the material and non-material resources. It is noticed that the Southern states like Lagos, Anambra, Bendel and Oyo have more industrial establishments than the Northern states like Bauchi, Gongola, Niger and Benue. The development strategy that was carried out in Nigeria has been ineffective as its focus was on the national needs rather than basic needs. There was no trickling down of the benefits of development from top to bottom. The new strategy that is being adopted is the one that calls for empowering of the local people in order 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to create a self-reliant sustainable development. The poor performance of the Nigerian economy can be partly attributed to poor management capacity and corruption. Nigeria has for many years been under military administration that has been authoritarian and repressive. The historical developments in the pre-independence and post-independence Nigeria have contributed to the lack of development and have endangered the human security environment. The political geography of Nigeria has continually changed due to the country being divided into 36 states and the federal Capital Territory. Unwarranted unevenness in the development is inevitable on account of inadequate administrative machinery, lack of clear distribution mechanism, non-diversification of the economy and technology and limited employment opportunities. Besides ethno-centrism has fuelled and perpetuated regional imbalance in the country.23 2.4 Conclusion Since Nigeria’s attainment of independence in 1960, it has witnessed several changes of government, both military and civilian, up to the present fourth republic. Nigeria's mismanaged resources accounts for its spatial inequality because those in. Government seek to better their regions against bettering the entire nation. From the review of the political history and contemporary structure of Nigeria, its complexity as a state becomes obvious. Nigeria has introduced several changes in government (both military and civilian) from its independence in 1960 and the present fourth republic. Nigeria’s complexity as a state is further explained by her diversity in cultures, religions, ethnic groups and the spatial inequality in the distribution of its natural resources. Poor governance, corruption and political instability however account for the poor state of the Nigerian economy. 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Endnotes 1 www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria (2013), accessed on 15th June, 2014. Obiako, O. “Nigeria”, Nordic Journal of African Studies, Volume. 10, Number. 2, (2013), pp. 245-264. 3 McCaskie ,T. C. Recent History of Nigeria, (Abuja: Africa South of Sahara, 1988), p.754 4 Luckham, Robin., The Nigerian Military: A Sociological Analysis of Authority and Revolt 1960-67, (London: Cambridge University Press, 1971), pp. 279-284 5 Onwubiko, K. B. C., (1985), The History of West Africa, (Onitsha: Press Africa, 1985), p. 30. 6 McCaskie ,T.C., op. cit., p. 700. 7 Obiako, O., op. cit., pp.245-264. 8 Falola et al (1985) The Military Factor in Nigeria (Lewiston NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1985). 9 McCaskie ,T.C. op. cit., p. 730. 10 The Guardian (1993), “Abiola: The Rejected Kingmaker” , Lagos: The Guardian Newspaper Ltd. pp 23-24 11 Nwankwo, Arthur., The Stolen Billions, (Lagos: Fourth Dimension Books, 2003), p. 35. 12 Ibid. 13 Nwosu, S., “Nigeria: An Unending Story”, The Sun, p. 24, 2004. 14 Obiako, O., op. cit. p. 240 15 Nigeria Fact Sheet (2001), (published by : Nigeria High Commission, New Delhi ), p. 3. 16 Ibid. 17 Demographics of Nigeria, Wikipedia available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/Wiki/Demographics_of_Nigeria, accessed on 15th June, 2014. 18 Ibid. 19 National Bureau of Statistics (2007), Annual Situational Report on Nigeria. Abuja: NBS Press. 20 Ebenezer 1995 21 Adeniyi, E.O (1978) "Regional Planning," in J. S. Oguntoyinbo; O Areola & M Filani. (eds) The Geography of Nigerian Development, (Ibadan :Heinemann), pp. 401-410 22 Onwubiko, K. B.. C., op. cit., p. 40 23 Achebe, C., There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra, (New York: Penguin Books, 2012), p. 55. 2 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE NIGERIA AS AN AMALGAMATED SECURITY COMMUNITY 3.0 Introduction This chapter discusses the concept of amalgamated security community, both theoretically and practically, especially, as regards the necessity and possibility of its application within the context of Nigeria. 3.1 Meaning and Concept of Amalgamated Security Community In the 1950s, Karl Deutsch and his colleagues conducted an extensive inquiry into the means by which war had been eliminated in certain geographic areas and historical periods through the formation of security communities. 1 According to Deutsch, a security community is ‘a group of people which has become integrated’, where integration is defined as ‘the attainment, within a territory, of a sense of community and of institutions and practices strong enough and widespread enough to assure, for a long time, dependable expectations of peaceful change among its population.’ 2 The ‘sense of community’ encompasses a ‘we feeling’ and a dynamic process of mutual sympathy, consideration, loyalties, trust and responsiveness in decision-making. 3 While Deutsch’s work provides an account of the conditions that are necessary for the attainment of a productive Security community as well as definitions of Amalgamation, Security communities, sense of community or oneness, and peaceful change among others, he omitted to provide a concrete and clear definition of what an Amalgamated Security Community really is. Nonetheless, borrowing from academic works of scholars like Andrew S. Harvey, it appears that an appropriate operational definition of the ASC would be ‘states, (de facto or de jure) composed of two or more previously 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh independent entities that have integrated a portion of their respective militaries and that have voluntarily and formally merged so that they are subject to some form of common government.’4 Contemporary security communities include the United States (US), Canada, the Nordic group, United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland. 5 The practical benefits of establishing lasting pacific relations among a group of countries are self-evident. At a theoretical level, security communities pose a significant challenge to the core tenets of realism. Realism holds that the anarchic structure of the international system necessarily and inescapably gives rise to fear of military confrontation and to relentless security competition among states; states are not involved in war at all times but they can never exclude the possibility that they might be attacked and they must therefore at all times be prepared for war.6 Contrary to these assertions, states that comprise a security community regard the use of force against each other as unthinkable and eschew preparations for fighting one another. As Deutsch put it, ‘there is a real assurance that the members of that community will not fight each other physically, but will settle their disputes in some other way. 7 As we have rightly pointed out here, Deutsch defined security communities in terms of dependable expectations of peaceful change only at the interstate level. It is helpful to begin by recalling Deutsch’s distinction between pluralistic and amalgamated security communities. In the former, which are the subject of contemporary scholarship, the states that comprise the community retain their sovereignty. In the latter, now largely ignored in the literature, there is a merger of political units such as when independent provinces or countries become a unitary state. In Deutsch’s findings, amalgamated security communities included, inter alia, the US since 1877, Italy since 1859, Canada since 1867, the Netherlands since 1831, and Switzerland since 1848. Pluralistic security communities include, inter alia, 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Norway and Sweden since 1907, the US and Canada since the 1870s, and France and Belgium from the 19th century. 8 Deutsch viewed large-scale internal violence as an absolute impediment to the formation of amalgamated security communities. He argued that amalgamation does not necessarily lead to a security community because the ‘subjects of a common government may feel acutely insecure and act accordingly. They may fear or expect the outbreak of large-scale violence in civil wars or wars of secession’; they might even welcome such wars if they perceive existing institutions to be a threat to some of their major values or an intolerable frustration of some of their desires. 9 Examples of political communities ‘which are not in fact security communities are certain types of dictatorships, and countries on the eve of civil war or revolution. 10 Deutsch’s general remarks about security communities, whether pluralistic or amalgamated, similarly reflect a concern with internal violence. He maintained that these communities, by definition, exclude ‘organized preparations for war or large-scale violence among their participants’ and ‘imply stable expectations of peace among the participating units or groups, whether or not there has been a merger of their political institutions.’ 11 It followed that the attainment of a security community ‘can be tested operationally in terms of the absence or presence of significant organized preparations for war or large-scale violence among its members’.12 Further, no security community existed where military action by one political unit against a ‘smaller political unit, whether a state, a people, or a territory . . . was considered a sufficiently practical possibility to warrant a significant allocation of resources’.13 Nor was a security community established where a political community ended in secession or civil war.14According to Deutsch, judgements of the stability of amalgamated 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh or non-amalgamated governments would thus reveal much about the likelihood of achieving and maintaining a security community in a specific geographic area. 15 Still, from the above description, security communities are a promising solution to what Deutsch described elegantly as the fundamental problem of international politics and organization, namely, ‘the creation of conditions under which stable, peaceful relations among nation states are possible and likely. 16 Deutsch’s research, however, gives rise to several unresolved questions about the relationship between domestic stability and security communities. For example, Deutsch insisted that “these communities exclude large-scale violence.”17 Does ‘large-scale’ require more precise specification in terms of the intensity, duration and scope of the violence, or would such specification inevitably be arbitrary? In any event, is the emphasis on large-scale violence entirely necessary? “Domestic instability without substantial violence has contributed to the absence of a tightly coupled security community between the US and Mexico.”18 What kind or level of instability short of violence obstructs the emergence of a security community? Conversely, what kind or level of instability can be sustained by a security community? Structural instability is typically associated with weak states. “Most African states are weak powers, having limited economic, political and military resources, and also weak states, having low levels of socio-political cohesion.” 19 Both aspects of weakness undermine the potential for security communities. Structural instability and domestic violence in Africa and Southeast Asia are also frequently linked to authoritarian rule, highlighting the need to investigate the relationship between 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh security communities and political systems. Deutsch found that ‘compatibility of main values’ in the political domain was an essential requirement for the establishment of these communities but his historical survey did not reveal which values were most conducive to their attainment. The critical values differed from one region to another and depended on the domestic politics of the participating units. In some processes of integration leading to a security community, states had tacitly downplayed and depoliticized certain incompatible values. 20 Adler and Barnett “are unsure whether liberalism is the cognitive structure best suited to building trust between states and whether it is a necessary condition for the development of security communities.”21 For the formation of an Amalgamated Security Community, Deutsch believed that several conditions must exist. These conditions include: mutual compatibility of main values (political and religious); a distinctive way of life and the formation of a common sense of “us”; positive expectations of stronger economic ties and gains and noneconomic gains; an increase in political and administrative capabilities; superior economic growth; unbroken links of social communication as well as multiplicity of mutual institutions and common transactions; a broadening of the political, social, and economic elites as well as links among the elites of different states; geographical mobility of the population; a not infrequent change of group roles; and considerable mutual predictability of behaviour. A socialization process occurs within the security community of peaceful states leading to the creation of a collective identity and eventually to a shared sense of “we-ness” among the cooperating states. An Amalgamated Security Community is formed when such conditions are met. Another implicit factor must be security relationships and military structures within a ‘security community.’ Taking these conditions as implicit parts of the definition of Amalgamated Security 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Communities and combining them with the explicit definition of amalgamation provides a definition that is in line with Deutsch’s intent. Almost no work has been done on Amalgamated Security Communities. This is perhaps due to the dominance of realist and neo-realist paradigms in international relations followed by the ascendance of neo-liberalism and the relative newness of the constructivist approach. Another reason proposed by Adler and Barnett in their seminal work on Security Communities is that Deutsch’s conceptualization of security communities “scared off future applications” because of its “various theoretical, conceptual, and methodological problems” which, although addressed by their work on Pluralistic Security Communities, they clearly indicated that these problems for Amalgamated Security Communities were not addressed in their work 22 . Furthermore in Political Community and the North Atlantic Area, Deutsch found that Amalgamated Security Communities were more difficult to attain and preserve than Pluralistic Security Communities. He also found that Amalgamated Security Communities were much more prone to violent failure so that Pluralistic Security Communities provided a more promising approach to the elimination of war over large areas. These problems identified by Deutsch, along with Adler and Barnet’s work focused on Pluralistic Security communities, have resulted in Amalgamated Security Communities being ignored. Since this study is mainly an effort to investigate the possibility of profiting from the concept of amalgamated security community in establishing national integration in Nigeria, it is necessary at this point to outline the basis for this study and establish some definitions to thereby create the framework needed to discuss the concept. The starting point is the definition of ‘amalgamation’ as proposed by Karl Deutsch. By amalgamation, Deutsch means 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the formal merger of two or more previously independent units into a single larger unit, with some type of common government after amalgamation. This common government may be unitary or federal. The United States today is an example of the amalgamated type. It became a single governmental unit by the formal merger of several formerly independent units. It has one supreme decision-making centre.23 Integration, according to Deutsch, is “…the attainment, within a territory, of a “sense of community” and of institutions and practices strong enough and widespread enough to assure for a “long” time, dependable expectations of “peaceful change” among its population. 24 According to Deutsch, amalgamation and integration do not completely overlap, so that there can be amalgamation without integration and vice versa. The distinction is diagrammed in such a way as to illustrate that amalgamation without integration leads to entities such as the Hapsburg Empire, while amalgamation with integration leads to Amalgamated Security Communities such as the United States. Deutsch provides definitions for; “security communities”, “integration”, “sense of community”, “peaceful change”, “amalgamation”, “pluralistic” and what constitutes a successful and unsuccessful security community, but he does not provide a direct definition of an Amalgamated Security Community. He does indicate, however, that there are certain conditions that should exist for the formation of an Amalgamated Security Community, conditions that have already been enumerated above. According to Adler and Barnet, one of the indicators for tightly coupled Pluralistic Security Communities is: a high level of military integration. Substituting military cooperation in lieu of military integration in the description of tightly coupled security communities makes the description more precise and corresponds better with multiple actors in a pluralistic security community. In making this change, a differentiation can be made between tightly coupled security communities and Amalgamated Security Communities where ASCs are 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh characterized by having some level of military integration. The operational definition for Amalgamated Security Communities proposed by this study is: Amalgamated Security Communities are states composed of two or more previously independent political entities that have integrated a portion of their respective militaries and that have voluntarily and formally merged so that they are subject to some form of common government. “If a security community involves military integration, it is quite likely that shared identities and a high degree of trust will produce a desire for the pooling of military resources; this will be particularly true if there was military cooperation in earlier phases of the emerging security community. We expect that if there was no military cooperation in earlier phases, then the emergence of a common threat at this stage would produce the desire for it. This indicator reflects not only high trust but also that security is viewed as interdependent.” 25 In order to create the conceptual space needed for examining the process of creating Amalgamated Security Communities, it is necessary to modify this description of tightly coupled security communities by replacing - A high level of military integration with A high level of military cooperation. Adler and Barnet’s description of tightly coupled security communities uses the term military cooperation but seems to use the terms integration and cooperation interchangeably. This is not precise and is unfortunate because military cooperation is not the same as military integration. Cooperation by definition implies more than one actor working together to achieve a common end. Integration on the other hand indicates a process of unification by making a composite or combination of parts into a whole entity. This whole entity is a single actor and cannot be the same as cooperation between multiple actors. Substituting military cooperation in lieu of military integration in the description of tightly coupled security communities makes the description more precise and corresponds better with multiple actors in a pluralistic security community. 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh What is the connection between military integration and identity formation? The first and critical point is that this connection is focused on collective identities, not individual identities. The argument of this study is based on the impact of integrating military organizations not on individual psychological identity mechanisms; although those do have some effect. The focus of the argument is on the integration of organizations and structures that determine who is a soldier, for whom the soldier fights, and what agency equips, trains, and organizes those soldiers. The process of the creation of Amalgamated Security Communities is through the integration of military structures which then has a subsequent impact on identity formation, this is similar to the argument made by Krebs “that rejects the concept that national identity is an aggregation of individual identities and therefore the idea that individual psychological mechanisms are tied to the construction of national identity.” 26 Krebs argues that since national identity is a collective identity resulting from a process of political contestation and negotiation, the military as an organization has a critical role. The military as an organization can participate in the process of political contestation which shapes and reshapes imagined national identities. Krebs does allow that “military service has an impact on individual identities through socialization and contact, but his critique is that they have only a modest effect and are not sufficient to form a collective identity.” 27 Second, “militaries have specific functions that are related to the formation and increase of collective identities. An example is the military’s role as an institution in the community. Military institutions are “formal bounded frameworks of rules, roles and identities.” This includes but is not limited to aspects such as laws, regulations, standard operating procedures, professionalism, ritual, ceremony, and symbols.”28 “They also have a wider application in the community they defend when the armed forces incorporate rituals, ceremonies and extensive symbolism designed not only to create, but also to affirm, a communal identity. In terms of 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh collective identity, rituals serve both an integrative function as well as to delineate distinctions. Rituals do not however, have to be separate from common group practice on special occasions; they can function to affirm group identity when common practice is ritualized.”29 Other functions that are related to the formation of a collective identity by military organizations and structures are illustrated in part by the concept of Military Legitimacy as outlined by Gow which has two parts: functional legitimacy and the socio-political base of military legitimacy. 30 The Socio-political base of legitimacy includes all the non-functional tasks given to the military and is divided into three categories: political activity, agency, and the nature of the relationship between the armed forces and society. Political activity is not always present, particularly in liberal democracies, but authoritarian systems do have militaries that participate in the political process either as a ‘party in uniform’ or in the form of praetorian military intervention. Military agency is found in almost all political communities. Collective and organizational aspects of military agency includes the military’s “role as a symbol of political unity; its contribution to the socioeconomic infrastructure of the state; and its operating as an instrument of education and socialization.” Militaries may function as a symbol of national pride and unity through military tradition and previous actions and it can also be used as an ‘emulative model’ to encourage sacrifice on the part of the population reinforcing national unity through the perception of shared hardships; the military then functions as both symbol and model. A military’s contribution to the socioeconomic infrastructure of a state can be quite significant, especially in a developing country. 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The most significant socio-political basis for military legitimacy, according to Gow, is the nature of the relationship between the armed forces and society. 31 The military must have an ‘identity with a society at large’ in such a way so that its organization and quality reflects the society. The concept of Military Legitimacy helps to illustrate why the process of military integration ties to the process of identity construction. The socio-political base of military legitimacy and the nature of the relationship between the armed forces (as an entity) and society are the relevant points. Consider the new integrating military force of an Amalgamated Security Community that is being formed. Besides a direct political role, an integrating military could be conducting numerous functions of military agency simultaneously, playing a role as a symbol of political unity, engaged in building the socioeconomic infrastructure of the state, and at the same time performing activities directly related to education and socialization. A new integrating military force of an Amalgamated Security Community will have a relationship with its society. The nature of this relationship between the military and society involves the reflection of the society by the military in its organization and quality, and the identification of the population with the military. The result is that the military’s identity as an entity reflects the society and the society’s identity (i.e. national unity) is impacted by the military. This process then involves an inter-subjective construction of identity between the military and its society and should be more salient during the process of creating a new Amalgamated Security Community than in an established society. In terms of policy, when a sub-group identity is salient, e.g., an individual state, the focus will be on the consequences of a policy for that state, whereas if a super-ordinate identity is salient, e.g., the nation, then the focus will be on the consequences of a policy for the nation. The relevance of this work to the process of military integration is that integration eliminates 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the sub-group identity of local or sub-state military forces leaving only the super-ordinate identity of national military forces; i.e. the forces of the Amalgamated Security Community. The structural choice of integrating military forces has an impact on potential identity formation by eliminating a previous identity carried by the former military organization and substituting a new identity associated with the new military organization. This mechanism in turn reinforces the new collective identity in an Amalgamated Security Community. Therefore, as the number of common (integrated) military institutions increases the sense of “us”, a common bond of identity will increase. This proposed process of identity development based on the integration of military capabilities and the capacity to produce military capability will, over time, produce an increased sense of identity in the context of state formation. Military institutions, shared combat experiences, the perception of being “brothers in arms”, and above all integrated military structures over time will engender a sense of identity in contrast to “others” who are not part of the community. In this manner military integration would lead to identity formation rather than identity producing military integration as previously considered by other scholars using a constructivist approach. It is also important to note that the military is seen by some scholars as a crucial component of national identity”. 32 It seems clear that how military capabilities are created and the structure of jurisdictions that have the capacity to create military capabilities has a direct impact on the identity of that force and the state or political entity. There are examples of strong Amalgamated Security Communities that occurred in different historical periods, in different cultures, with different economies, and with different governmental systems. These cases of strong Amalgamated Security Communities are The Zulu and Mongols, 33 German Unification, and the Dutch Republic. 34 They provide concrete examples of the process by 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh which military integration and the formation of Amalgamated Security Communities leads to the creation of national identities in the process of state formation. That is to say that without this strong military integration that leads to national identity, Amalgamated Security Communities may fail. There are two types of failure. “First, there is the failure to form potential ASCs that do not coalesce. It is important to determine in such cases the degree of military integration from other potential alternative explanations for the integration of ASCs. These include integration based on economic or political factors that would occur without military integration and should enable the rejection of potential alternative explanations such as Federalism, Functionalism, and Neo-functionalism. These are examples where voluntary integration occurred in one area but the integration process was stymied by a lack of military integration. The danger here is to prevent the argument presented here from becoming simply a definitional argument; that is because Amalgamated Security Communities require some degree of military integration, a lack of military integration indicates there is no ASC. To preclude this, it is important to look at examples where there was the potential to form an ASC initially through mechanisms such as economics and politics rather than military integration and where military integration could have been the result rather than the cause of ASC formation. A strong case would include the failure of an ASC to form even though that potential ASC may have engaged in successful military conflicts. There is the example of the Hansiatic League which arose from the desires of merchants for trade advantages and was focused on economic gains, specifically trade rights. Even though the Hansiatic League engaged in successful military conflicts (at one point defeating Denmark) and had a quasigovernmental council, it lacked military integration and failed to form an Amalgamated Security Community based on economic or political factors.”35 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The second type of failure is the disintegration of Amalgamated Security Communities. It has been explained that Amalgamated Security Communities are formed by the integration of military capabilities and the capacity to produce military capability, as well as the instability and danger stemming from partial integration, in which multiple jurisdictions retain the capacity to produce military capability. This process is the mirror image of state dissolution. During Amalgamated Security Community formation the key act is security integration which is a tipping point. A clear and recent example is the case of the breakup of Yugoslavia and that of Sudan. The long involvement of the military in Nigerian politics no doubt has weakened their sense of military professionalism and made them contract the infection of tribalism, nepotism, religious bigotry and parochial loyalties. As has been pointed out, if the military is united, such unity would gradually trickle down and have its effect on the generality of the citizenry. Instead, the deficiency in esprit de corps and professional fellowship among the officers and men of the Nigerian military corps is manifested in the prevalence of ethnic militias around the country, who are bent on protecting their individualistic and ethnic interests. The problem is that all these individualistic, religious and ethnic propaganda are done at the detriment of national integration. One group is prepared to eliminate another group so that they may exist without the other. This situation is worrisome. Should the progress of one ethnic, social, political and or economic group be done at the ruins of the others? Will it not be of more service to the development of Nigeria as one nation if all these various groups live together and promote collective interests rather than otherwise? “The obvious fact is that national integration in Nigeria after independence was and still is not a choice; rather, it is a necessity.”36 In other words, the decision which was made by the 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh people of Nigeria prior to independence to become the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Britain required that the various ethnic and religious groups accepted to integrate with one another. This step was necessary for the purposes of co-existence, co-sharing of resources, co-administration and co-development of the nation. As a result, the people of Nigeria cannot shy away from coming together to live as a united nation under the rubrics of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is why national integration is a necessary precondition to the unity and development of the country. The thesis of this study lies largely on having highly unified and cohesive military personnel as a foundation for achieving national integration in line with the proposition of Deutsch and the other scholars cited in this section. In summary, just as mentioned in chapter one, Deutsch identifies some essential conditions for an amalgamated security community: mutual compatibility of main values, common way of life, economic growth, constant communication and interaction between territories. There is also the implicit factor of having security relationships and military structures within the security community 3.2 Meaning and Concept of Federalism According to Wheare, federalism is “a system in which two levels of government – federal and state exist side by side, with each possessing certain assigned powers and functions.”37 Karl Fredrick sees federalism as “a situation where by the federal and regional (state) government are united to their spheres and within those spheres should be independent of the other.”38 Analysing the various definitions, I will attempt to define federalism as a political system in which states, united under a central government, are allowed some measure of independence. 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The decentralisation of power must be present in a federal system as power is shared amongst each level of government. The role of a written constitution in a federal system cannot be over emphasised as because in a true federal system the federal and regional (states) derive their powers from the written constitution. Supremacy of the constitution, separation of powers among the level of government, existence of an independent judicial institution, division of legislative powers between levels of government are all features that must be in place in order to have a true federal system. 39 Some students of plural societies are of the opinion that with federalism a polity can maintain stability and preserve integration within a divided society when the need arises for unity and cooperation within the nation. 40 Indeed, turning to federalism as a remedial means of channelling irreconcilable inter-ethnic animosity into a consolidated and resolute reconciled state of cooperation was prescribed succinctly by Carnell in his 1961 essay when he stated that “in tropical areas characterized by extreme cultural and ethnic diversity; federalism comes as something of a political panacea.”41 Federalism promotes various forms of liberty, it fosters peace, promotes political order and individual right. In the same vein, it is important to note that federalism does have its challenges which include the diverse ethnic nature of a plural society, an underdeveloped economy and a weak nation, however, its challenges notwithstanding, the utility of the federal system as a means of obtaining a sort of integration in the context of the African continent, cannot be undermined. Indeed, due recognition must be given to the fact that Nigeria, as it is today remains the oldest and the only surviving federation in the entire continent of Africa. 42 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.3 Relevance of Nigeria’s Federal system to the Concept of an Amalgamated Security Community 3.3.1 Creation of Nigeria’s Amalgamated Security Community Karl Deutsch defined amalgamation as the formal merger of two or more previously independent units into a single larger unit, with some type of common government after amalgamation. This common government may be unitary or federal. 43 Before the advent of the British Colonialists, Nigeria as a socio-political entity was neither in existence nor contemplated. The territories that now make up Nigeria existed in fragments. We have the Benin Empire, the Lower Niger Kingdoms (popularly referred to as the Oil Rivers), the Fulani Empire of Zodge (later referred to as Sokoto), the Oduduwa Empire of the Yoruba, and the Arochukwu Empire of the Ibo. Another was the Aboh Empire that sprang from the Benin Empire. 44 Though these empires had established some economic, social and political links among themselves long before the British Rule, they did not recognize themselves as one people or one political community. British colonization began officially in 1861 with the establishment of the Colony of Lagos, and concluded with the 1900 declaration of its Protectorate of Northern Nigeria in addition to that of Southern Nigeria. Since then Nigeria’s boundaries have not changed. 45 Then in 1914, the amalgamation happened and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria ceased to exist as separate legal entities and were replaced by a single entity called the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The system of governance since the amalgamation has also evolved from the unitary system of government (1914 – 1954) to the federal system of government which is in existence until today, therefore making Nigeria to lend itself as what can be described as an amalgamated security community. This 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh is because federalism remains a critical pillar in the security framework of Nigeria given its size, diversity and plurality. 46 3.3.2 Review of Nigeria’s Federal System as an Amalgamated Security Community The relevance of Nigeria’s Federal system to the concept of an Amalgamated Security Community can be determined by reviewing how well the Nigeria’s system meets some of the conditions of the Amalgamated Security Community as identified by Deutsch: 1. Security relationships and military structures: The roles of Nigeria’s armed forces are entrenched in her Constitution. The defence of the territorial integrity and other core interests of the nation form the major substance of such roles. Section 217 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria addresses the Nigerian Armed Forces: (1) There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall consist of an army, a navy, an air force and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly. (2) The Federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of – (a) Defending Nigeria from external aggression; (b) Maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea, or air; 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (c) Suppressing insurrection and act in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. (d) Performing such other functions as may be prescribed by an act of the National Assembly. (3) The composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria. Therefore, as entrenched in the Nigeria’s Constitution, the Nigerian federal system maintains a high level of military integration. The military structure is centralized such that the Nigerian President remains the Head of the Military and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. There is only one military irrespective of the regions of the country they are operating from. Recruitment into the military is done on a State basis so that no ethnic group is able to dominate the officer ranks or the other ranks. This is so as to be able to detach themselves from the ethnic and religious cleavages in Nigeria. 47 The military is expected to keep the country together in the advent of any regional or religious conflicts. The organization of the military is such that officers and men spend a greater part of their career outside the areas of their origin. 2. Mutual compatibility of main values (Political and Religion) Despite that Nigeria has witnessed diverse religious crises of various dimensions since its independence, the Nigerian nation has accepted the diverse political and religious affiliations of its people. The preamble of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states: We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria having firmly and solemnly resolved: 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To live in Unity and Harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble Sovereign Nation under God dedicated to promoting…good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality, justice and for the purpose of consolidating the Unity of our people.48 Nigeria is characterized by a number of religious faiths such as Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion. However, as stated by the Nigerian Constitution 1999:14, “The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as a State Religion” Therefore, there is a freedom of worship and every Nigerian irrespective of the region they are in have the freedom to practice any religion of their choice. Churches and mosques are built across the different regions for the free worship of anyone. 3. Positive expectations of stronger economic ties and gains, and non-economic gains According to the literature, one of the underlying reasons for the amalgamation was to engender a stronger economic tie between the Northern and Southern Nigeria. An excerpt from an article written by Charles Ikedikwa Soeze titiled “Amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914: Was It A Mistake?” states: The circumstances that forced the British Government to amalgamate the Northern Protectorate with the Southern Protectorate in January 1, 1914 were motivated neither by political exigencies nor by a closer cultural understanding among the diverse elements of conglomeration that was later to be called Nigeria. It was abundantly clear that the primary interest of the British administration was economic. It was also crystal clear that the Northern Protectorate because of its geographical location and cloudy economic prospects was not likely to be viable. No doubt, the Lugard’s administration was finding it rather difficult to maintain the Northern Protectorate which was already running into deficit. 49 In addition, amalgamation also ensured free trade between the Northern and Southern Nigeria. For example, before the amalgamation, in 1903, the northern Nigeria instituted what it called “Caravan tolls,” which had to be paid by merchants carrying certain specified merchandise across the northern border from the southern Nigeria in either direction. These kinds of “tolls” cannot be practical in the amalgamated Nigeria.50 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh From the 1914 amalgamation and present, the Nigerian economy has witnessed several phases in development, and it is still on a journey to its rise in fiscal and industrial development. Nigeria, with GDP of $522. 6 billion and GDP growth of 7.3%, has been growing as an investment destination owing to the size of its consumer market and growing capital markets, and remains one of the largest economies in Africa.51 4. A distinctive way of life and the formation of the common sense of “us” Before the advent of colonialism, the different empires that would eventually make up Nigeria existed as separate nations. Though with some social and political links among themselves, they were still strangers to one another. They recognized themselves as the Ijebus, Egbas, Bakanes, etc. The coming of the colonial masters brought about the Northern and Southern Protectorates and the people were able to transform and start seeing themselves as the Northerners and Southerners. The amalgamation that came about in 1914 made everyone to become a Nigerian, and this generated the required sense of “us”. No doubt, there are many occasions where the people had to see themselves as “Ibos”, “Yorubas”, “Hausas” before seeing themselves as Nigerians. However many political and social circumstances make it impossible not to recognize that distinctness that comes from being Nigerians first of all. The former CBN Governor of Nigeria Sanusi Lamido Sanusi once said during a book launch titled: “Nigeria, Africa’s Failed Asset?”: My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language. 52 The inference from the quote above is that anybody born after 1914 is a Nigerian, not a Northerner or a Southerner. Whatever the differences, there is still predominantly and increasingly that sense of “us”, especially, among the elite Nigerians. 5. Increase in political and administrative capabilities, superior economic growth A history of Nigeria from its independence in 1960 demonstrates the various aspects of the political growth of the country. For example, taking a look at the political party system after the independence shows a polarization of the political parties towards the different regions. The dominant parties after the Nigerian Independence in 1960 were the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the NCNC led by Dr Azikiwe, and the Action Group (AG) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. All these parties derived their political strength from their regional bases of the Northern, Eastern, and Western Regions of the country. However, the current multi-party system of Nigeria of about 26 different parties is a clear deviation from these previously polarized political parties because the different regions no longer have the power to head the parties as new parties have emerged with membership varying from all regions in Nigeria. Another dimension to look at in terms of increase in political and administrative capabilities is the transition from the military rule to a lasting democracy. 53 During the past years, the country witnessed political tumult aided by military coup at different stages which destabilized the stability of the country. However, it can be safely assumed that democracy returned to Nigeria after the death of the military dictator, General Sanni Abacha. The return of democracy started in 1999 after General Abdusallam Abubakar 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh terminated the 16 years army rule that featured General Buhari, General Babangida and General Abacha. Thus, the return to Nigerian democratic rule started in 1999 under the 1999 Constitution and has been sustained to date. 6. Geographical mobility of the population Following independence in 1960, the Nigerian government reorganized the territory from three regions into a number of states, a move that encouraged even higher rates of internal migration. The new state capitals, which became home to various state and federal government departments and agencies, as well as related businesses, drew construction workers, job seekers, traders, and relocating civil servants and their families. Similarly, the creation of 776 local government areas between 1976 and 1996 made these places attractive destinations. When the military-run government made Abuja the capital, in 1991, 200,000 public sector workers, along with staff of foreign embassies and multilateral and bilateral agencies, relocated from Lagos. Abuja's population was 378,671 according to the 1991 census, but the city's population growth accelerated when a democratic government took office in 1999. By 2006, Abuja's population had more than doubled to 778,567, making it the fastest case of urbanization in West Africa.54 The country's southwest, which includes Lagos (population 18 million) and Ibadan, attracts migrants from all over Nigeria. The region hosts the nation's two largest seaports, 65 percent of its industrial plants, large proportions of educational and research institutions, and large agricultural plantations. 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Internal migrants come from Nigeria's significantly less developed regions. For example, the southeastern region has been a major source of internal migration for several decades due to poor environmental and economic conditions. Nigerian agricultural economist Chinedum Nwajiuba identified the motivations for migration out of the southeast as mainly economic (80 percent), with education a distant second (16 percent).55 Therefore, geographical mobility has become a common feature of the Nigerian population. Citizens from the different regions of the country have had cause to migrate to other regions different from theirs to establish what they know as their homes. Major companies and institutions such as the banks also have branches uniformly across the country and transfer their employees to these different regions irrespective of their state of Origin 3.4 Factors Militating against Nigeria’s Attainment of an Effective Amalgamated Security Community. An effective or strong amalgamated security community can be described as one in which the central government has a strong capacity, power and influence necessary to generate military capability, and is often characterized by a high level of integration of both political and military faculties. In addition to this, a strong amalgamated security will effectively meet the other conditions of an amalgamated security community as defined by Deutsch. There are known cases of strong amalgamated surety community such as the formation of national identities like the Zulu and the Moguls, German Unification and Dutch Republic.56 Though Nigeria can be described as an amalgamated security community, there are a plethora of conditions that militate against it becoming a very effective of strong amalgamated security community. These conditions include: 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A. Nature of the Amalgamation Many scholars such as Isawa Elaigwu. J, Obafemi Awolowo, etc have written about the inappropriateness of the Nigeria’s amalgamation in terms of the reasons for amalgamation, process and timing for the amalgamation. Scholars have accused Sir Lord Lugard for amalgamating two distinct territories with little or no regards to consent or consultation. Nigeria’s case was not really a question of a country that was originally unitary, being broken into federating units, but of formerly totally independent kingdoms, Empires, nations and Autonomous communities being brought together, and ending up in a federal union. It was also crystal clear that the Northern Protectorate because of its geographical location and cloudy economic prospects was not likely to be viable. No doubt, the Lugard’s administration was finding it rather difficult to maintain the Northern Protectorate which was already running into deficit.57 The nation building process after amalgamation and then independence has been challenging, considering Nigeria’s tremendous ethnic diversity and uneven distribution of resources. Over the years, the myriad of ethnic and religious wars, struggle for the control over resources, resisting marginalization by the dominant ethnic groups will continue to beg the question if the amalgamation was actually a mistake. B. Nigeria’s Brand of Federalism Given the heterogeneity of the Nigerian polity, the founding fathers of Nigeria adopted the federal system as the most viable option for protecting the core interest of the federating units. This was demonstrated in the federal constitution, especially in the 1963 federal 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh republican constitution that clearly defined the jurisdictions of the federating units. However, the Nigeria’s federal system has been criticized as just a “brand” of federalism that does not fully meet the requirements of true federalism. One of the fundamental characteristics of a federal system is that neither the central nor the regional governments are subordinate to each other, but rather the two are coordinate and independent. However, this has never been the Nigeria’s case as the federal government has always assumed superiority and played the master in relation to the dependent state governments. Based on the interviews conducted during the course of research, majority of the respondents were unequivocal in stating that Nigeria’s federalism is evolving and that at present, the central system is overtly stronger than the component states/federating units whereas they should be ordinate and equal. 58 The root cause of this problem is largely because financial autonomy has never been achieved in Nigerian federalism. The high level of intervention of the federal government through national policies, grants-in-aids among others, increases the power of the federal government and makes the federating units subordinate to the federal government.59 Therefore, for Nigeria to achieve a true federal system like that of the United States of America, Switzerland, Australia and Canada, the central system and the federating units military take-overs are almost non-existent, should be equally strong, and all the regions have their interests highly represented in resource generation and control.60 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh C. Religious and Ethnic Conflicts Nigeria has witnessed several religious and ethnic wars since its independence due to its religious and ethnic diversity. These have ranged from the incessant religious crises between the northern Muslims and southern Christians; the Niger Delta militancy; the deadly insurgency of the terrorist group known as Boko Haram; and the bloody Nigerian civil war that lasted for about three years. The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, was a three-year, bloody conflict with a death toll numbering more than one million people. Having commenced seven years after Nigeria gained independence from Britain, the war began with the secession of the southeastern region of the nation on May 30, 1967, when it declared itself the independent Republic of Biafra. The ensuing battles and well-publicized human suffering prompted international outrage and intervention.61 Boko Haram (Hausa phrase for "Western education is forbidden"), is a militant Islamist movement based in north-east Nigeria which seeks to establish an Islamic state. The group has received training and funds from al Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb. Membership is estimated to number between a few hundred and a few thousand. The group was designated by the US Department of State as a terrorist organisation in November 2013. 62 Boko Haram is known for attacking churches, schools, and police station and also kidnapping of western tourists, school girls and has assassinated members of the Islamic establishment who have criticized the group.63 Violence linked to the Boko Harām insurgency has resulted in an estimated 12,000 deaths and about 8000 people crippled according to the estimate of the Nigerian President.64 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The organization claims to expose exploitation and oppression of the people of the Niger Delta and devastation of the natural environment by public-private partnerships between the Federal Government of Nigeria and corporations involved in the production of oil in the Niger Delta. The Economist has described the organization as one that "portrays itself as political organisation that wants a greater share of Nigeria’s oil revenues to go to the impoverished region that sits atop the oil. In fact, it is more of an umbrella organisation for several armed groups, which it sometimes pays in cash or guns to launch attacks." MEND has been linked to attacks on petroleum operations in Nigeria as part of the Conflict in the Niger Delta, engaging in actions including sabotage, theft, property destruction, guerrilla warfare, and kidnapping.65 Therefore, Nigeria’s ethnic and religious diversity remain a major stumbling block to the existence of a Nigerian state and have been good case studies for the protagonists of Nigeria de-amalgamation. D. Political Instability Politics in Nigeria over the years has been a far cry from what is obtainable in the developed countries; and has been plagued by unfulfilled promises, political corruption, greed, violence, tribalism and intimidation. Right from the time Nigeria gained her independence, there has been a recurring pattern of coup and counter-coup, succession of increasingly authoritarian and corrupt governments or 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh full of promises of democracy and new starts. Even the transitions to democratic government were marred by electoral violence, massive rigging and political corruption. On January 15, 1966, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu led the first ever-military coup in Nigeria that led to the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria, Chief S.I. Akintola, the Premier of Western Region, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Federal Minister of Finance and other military officers.66 Since the January 15, 1966 coup, there have been series of other coup and counter coup as summarised below: Six successful coups (Jan 15, 1966; July 29, 1966; July 1975; Dec 31, 1983; Aug 27, 1985; Nov 17, 1993) Two abortive coup (Feb 13, 1976; 1986) One attempted coup (April 22, 1990) Three alleged coup (Oct 2, 1993; 1995; 1996) Another dimension of political instability in Nigeria have been the election and post-election crises which have plagued almost all the elections ever held in the country and have often provided compelling reasons for military adventurists to seize power from its civilian collaborators. The problems associated with the first post-independence national election of 1964 and the 1965 Western Region election culminated in the January 15, 1966 coup. The former was characterized by wide spread rigging, intimidation and chaos that some of the major political 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh parties decided to boycott the election, creating in its aftermath serious constitutional dilemma. The latter election of the Western Region was also marred by the problem of massive rigging and other irregularities plus wide spread violence, giving the impetus for the first military coup in Nigeria and the culture of instability that was to beset the country for over three decades.67 Other elections that have taken place in Nigeria after the 1964 and 1965 elections have not fared better. The 1979 elections that saw the emergence of Mallam Shehu Shagari as Civilian president was criticized by international observers as having been massively rigged. The 1983 election, four years later was even worse, marred by corruption, political violence and polling irregularities; it provided another set of military adventurers the impetus to seize power on December 31, 1983, citing electoral malpractices as one of its reasons for overthrowing the civilian government. The 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections, four elections conducted during this period of twelve years of Nigeria’s democracy have been lampooned by many critics as far from free and fair. In fact, the general election of April 2007, conducted by the existing current electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been described as the worst election ever held in this country as a result of indescribable irregularities which marred the elections and the 2011 general election was not different in all ramifications. 68 In addition to the issues of electoral violence, coup and military take-overs; has been the menace of political corruption that manifests in the embezzlement of public funds; tribalism and nepotism in the political landscape. 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Endnotes 1 Deutsch, K. et al. Political Community and the North Atlantic Area: International Organization in the Light Of Historical Experience. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957) , p. 15. 2 Ibid., p. 5. 3 Ibid., p. 36. 4 Andrew s Harvey, A PhD, Thesis on Amalgamated security community, (ASC) 2011. University of Kansas. p. 2 5 Regions and Powers: The Structures of International Security (2003), p. 10. 6 Adler, E., and Barnett, M., ‘’Security Communities in theoretical Perspective’’ in Emmanuel Adler , and Michael Barnett (eds), Security Communities ,(Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press 1999). 7 Deutsch K .op. cit., p. 5. 8 Ibid., pp. 29 – 30. 9 Deutsch, Karl W., “Social Mobilisation and Political Development,” American Political Science Review, Vol 55, No. 3 (1961). p. 99 10 Ibid., p.103. 11 Ibid., p. 98. 12 Ibid., p. 99. 13 Deutsch K. , (1957), op. cit., p. 32. 14 Ibid., p. 6. 15 Ibid., p. 103. 16 Ibid., p. 98. 17 Deutsch, Karl W., (1961), op. cit., p. 99. 18 McSweeney, B., Security, Identity and interest, Sociology of International Relations, (London: Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 20 . 19 Buzan Barry., People, State and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations. (New York: Wheatsheaf Books Publishers, 1983), p.219 20 Deutsch et al, (1957), op. cit., pp. 46-49, 66, 197. 21 Adler, E & Barnett, M., Security Communities. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 40-41, 425-426. 22 Ibid., pp. 8 -30. 23 Deutsch et al. (1957), op. cit., p. 6. 24 Karl W. Deutsch, (1961), op. cit., p. 23. 25 Brown, T., (2004), The Military, and National Identity. (Prepared for delivery at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, March 17-20, 2004). P.45 26 Krebs, R. (2004): “A School for the Nation? How Military Service Does Not Build Nations, and How It Might.” International Security 28, p. 120. 27 Hermanowicz, J. and Morgan, P. (1999) “Ritualizing the Routine: Collective Identity Affirmation,” Sociological Forum 14. 28 John E. T, (2007) “Identity Salience, Identity Acceptance, and Racial Policy Attitudes: American National Identity as a Uniting Force,” American Journal of Political Science 51. pp. 78-91. 1160. 29 Hermanowicz, J. and Morgan, P. (1999) “Ritualizing the Routine: Collective Identity Affirmation,” Sociological Forum 14. pp. 197-214. 30 Gow, Legitimacy and the Military; The Yugoslav Crisis, pp. 28-29. 31 Ibid., pp.30-31. 32 Transue, J., “Identity Salience, Identity Acceptance, and Racial Policy Attitudes: American National Identity as a Uniting Force,” American Journal of Political Science 51, no. 1 (2007), pp. 78-91. 33 Mathieu, D., “Warfare, Political Leadership, and State Formation: The Case of the Zulu Kingdom, 18081879,” Ethnology 38, 1999, p. 44. 34 Barker J. (1996) The Rise and Decline of the Netherlands, (London: Smith Elder & Co., 1996), pp. 162–163. 35 Rhiman A. R. (1994), “The Lubeck Uprising of 1408 and the Decline of the Hanseatic League,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 36 Ajah. M (2006), Nigeria’s stability impacts positively on Africa: in Daily Trust VOL 15, 13 (Nov 7 2006), p. 9. 37 Sam Ugwu, Federal system, the Nigerian experience, Enugu, Marydan publishers 1998, p. 1. 38 Ibid. 39 Ibid. 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Osaghae E. E., “The Problems of Citizenship in Nigeria”, in Stephen O. Olugbemi (ed), Alternative Political Futures for Nigeria, NPSA Publication, Lagos, 1987. p. 1 41 Duchacek I., Comparative Federalism: The Territorial Dimension of politics, (New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1977) . p. 133. 42 Osuntokun J., “Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and its Future”, Sunday Tribune, Ibadan, (2nd June, 1996, p.11. 43 Deutsch, K. et al. (1957), op. cit., p. 6. 44 Soeze, Charles Ikedikwa “Amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914: Was It A Mistake?.” The Nation Newspaper, January 19,2014 45 Federal Republic of Nigeria by Ignatius Akaayar Ayua and Dakas C.J. Dakas in International association of Centres for Federal Studies IACFS, p. 2 46 Roy AN (2002). “Introduction”, in Roundtable on Mechanism of Intergovernmental Relations, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, p. 2. 47 The Nigerian Military and State by Jimi Peters. International Library of African Studies published in 1997 by Tauris academic studies an imprint of I.B Tauris and co Ltd., p. xiv 48 The 1999 Nigerian constitution. 49 Charles Ikedikwa Soeze., op. cit. 50 “International Political Economy of Nigerian Amalgamation Since 1914 by Usman Mohammed 51 World Bank statistics on Nigeria as at 2013. 52 Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s speech in Response to Sir Olaniwu Ajayi’s Book titles ‘’Nigeria, Africa’s Failed Asset? November 19, 2009, Muson Centre Lagos. 53 “Nigeria’s Political System and the People” by Adisa Adeleye 54 Blessing U Mberu and Roland Pongou. Nigeria: Multiple Forms of Mobility in Africa’s Demographic Giant, The online journal of Migration Policy Institute, June 30, 2010. 55 Ibid. 56 Harvey, Andrew S., op. cit., p. 51. 57 Charles Ikedikwa Soeze. op. cit. 58 Professor Pius Osunyikannmi, Former Special Adviser to The President of the Republic of Nigeria on International Relations , Dr Vladmir Antwi-Danso, Senior Research Fellow, LECIAD, University of Ghana and Mr Olumide Agboola, second secretary, Nigerian High Commission Ghana. 59 (A Critical Assessment on Nigerian Federalism: Path to A True Federal System by Irabor Peter Odion) 60 Sam Ugwu, op. cit., p. 1. 61 Nigerian civil war from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_civil_war, accessed on May 30, 2014. 62 ‘’Terrorist Designations of Boko Hharam and Ansaru’’. US Department of State. Office of the spokesperson(13 November 2013). Retrieved 24 July 2014. 63 "UN committee imposes sanctions on Nigeria's Boko Haram". BBC News Africa. 22 May 2014. Accessed n 22 May 2014. 64 May 17, 2014 (2014-05-17). "Boko Haram has killed over 12,000 Nigerians, plans to take over country, Jonathan says - Premium Times Nigeria". Premiumtimesng.com. accessed on 2014-06-04. 65 Hanson, Stephanie (2007-03-22). ‘’MEND: The Niger Delta’s Umbrella Militant Group’’. Council on foreign Relations. Retrieved 09-07-14 66 James Francis. The History of Coup D’etat in Nigeria in ‘’It Is All About The History of Nigeria. Sunday ,March 29, 2009. 67 2011 post-electoral violence in Nigeria: Lesson for 2015 General Election by Osimen Goddy Uwa, Ologunowa Christopher Sunday. American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.p.45. ISSN(online) : pp. 2328-3696 . 68 Ibid. 40 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.0 Introduction This chapter provides the summary of the findings of the study, the conclusions and recommendations. 4.1 Summary of Findings The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability of Karl Deutsch’s concept of Amalgamated Security Community in establishing national integration in Nigeria. In meeting the objectives of this study, the researcher examined the features of an Amalgamated Security Community and to what extent Nigeria can be described as such; to investigate the viability of the concept of Amalgamated Security Community in real terms; to examine how this is a workable strategy for peace and security in Nigeria and to offer recommendations towards sustainable peace in Nigeria. Chapter two highlights the political history and contemporary structure of Nigeria from pre independence till date. Chapter three begins with an insight into the concept of amalgamated security community both theoretically and practically especially as regards the necessity and possibility of applying it within the context of Nigeria. The central focus of this study is to investigate the sustainability of an Amalgamated Security Community in establishing national integration in Nigeria. The study therefore leads to the following findings: 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Nigeria has obviously built the framework for integration through federalism, but it is not enough to ensure absolute integration. Federalism accommodates diversities while attempting unity in diversity. It was in an attempt to weld together her disparate ethno- religious and linguistic entities that Nigeria opted for federalism in 1954. 1 Nigeria needs an entirely different governance approach based on a different philosophy that will guarantee groups’ rights by recognizing the heterogeneity of the polity. In an interview with Professor Osunyikannmi, DG/Chairman of Board of the Directorate of Technical Aid Corps of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Abuja, he said that Nigeria’s federalism is evolving given K.C. Wheare’s definition of federalism. At present, the central is overtly stronger than the component states/federating units. Whereas they should be coordinate and equal. He also said that true federalism has the potentials of eliminating frictions while bringing out innate potentials of each constituting states. It gives vent to the strength that is in unity within diversity, that Mutual distrust among the three major ethnic groups due to age long colonial constitutional frameworks for the north and south who were eventually amalgamated in 1914 has been Nigeria’s greatest headache. Also, manipulated census figures to deliberately empower one region against the others by the colonial master. Moreso, manipulated federal character principle due to complexity of interest and units as represented in some states, local government, ethnic and religious affiliations. 2 Therefore, looking at the conditions outlined by Deutsch, Nigeria can be considered an amalgamated security community. However, based on the review of Deutsch’s conditions for an amalgamated security community, Nigeria is a very strong or effective amalgamated security community based on some of the factors previously mentioned such as the Nigeria’s 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh brand of federalism, the recurring ethnic and religious conflicts, political instability and the continual disbelief in the unity and amalgamation of Nigeria by its citizens. 4.2 Conclusion Despite some of the challenges that Nigeria has faced over the years bothering on national integration and political stability, Nigeria can still be considered an amalgamated security community based on the conditions outlined by Deutsch. However, these challenges continue to leave their toll on the effectiveness and maturity of Nigeria as an amalgamated security community. The attainment of a strong amalgamated security community is therefore a workable model and strategy Nigeria can adopt in addressing its numerous issues such as ethnic and religious conflicts; the menace of Boko Haram and all acts of terrorism; the political instability and the occasional call for the disintegration or break up of Nigeria into the different regions. Reviewing the hypothesis of this research that there is a strong link between the concept of an amalgamated security community and achieving peace and security in Nigeria; it can be stated further that the conditions for an amalgamated security as outlined by Deutsch include the following: Security relationships and military structures A marked increase in political and administrative capabilities A formation of a common sense of “us.” Achieving a strong amalgamated security community will entail strong military structures keeping all the units together and protecting them from outside threats; political stability and 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh strong administrative capabilities; a common sense of us which discourages any form of ethnic and religious conflicts and engenders togetherness. It can therefore be concluded that there is a strong link between the concept of an amalgamated security community and achieving peace and security in Nigeria. 4.3 Recommendations Attaining true federalism where there is a clear division of power between the federal government and the state governments will go a long way in creating an atmosphere of peace, harmony and progress in Nigeria and strengthen it as an amalgamated security community. To achieve this true federalism, a conference of Nigerian nationalities should be called to discuss all the issues affecting true federalism in Nigeria. Though different national conferences have been held in the past to discuss Nigeria’s issues, a specific Sovereign National Conference should be called solely to discuss all the issues bothering on the attainment of true federalism. The amalgamation of Nigeria has stood the test of time from 1914 till date (already 100 years) and can no longer continue to be seen as a mistake by the colonial masters. There is therefore the need for Nigerians to have absolute faith in the unity of the country and shun all forms of ethnic violence or call for the break-up of Nigeria into the different regions. A practical way of achieving this is nation branding where the government will make efforts in reinforcing the belief of the citizens in the unity of Nigeria. Previous efforts at nation branding in Nigeria have not yielded the right results because of lack of thorough planning and effective implementation. The Nigerian government can make good use of reputable brand consultants to define the roadmap for the effective nation branding. 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The issue of political instability also needs to be addressed for Nigeria to attain an effective amalgamated security community. Considering that Nigeria in this dispensation has had its longest run of civilian rule since independence (1999 till date), they are in pole position to build on this success and bring political stability in the country. The success of the upcoming 2015 presidential and gubernatorial elections will be very strategic in determining the sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy. The last two gubernatorial elections held in Nigeria (Ekiti State June 21, 2014 and Osun State, August 9 2014) were adjudged by the Independent Electoral Commission as being very successful. The success was largely attributed by the heavy security provided at the polling stations to avoid any form of violence or malpractices. Nigeria can definitely improve on this by the 2015 election. The menace of Boko Haram is a clear and present danger threatening the unity of Nigeria as a nation. However, Boko Haram should not really be addressed as a Nigerian problem only considering that terrorism is a global issue. Nigerian government should therefore link up with the International Community and seek help where necessary in tackling the Boko Haram issue. For Nigeria to be a strong amalgamated security community comparable to the likes of the United States of America, the political (the authoritative allocation of values through law making) and administrative (the execution of public programmes and policies) structure will need to be drastically restructured. This can be done by redrafting and implementation of the Nigerian Constitution to give the required degree of power and independence to the arms of government – executive, legislative and judiciary as well as other corresponding MDAs (Ministries, Departments and 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Agencies). For example, the judiciary both at state and federal levels should be completely independent without any power or influence from the state or federal executive in the appointment, promotion or dismissal of state and federal judges. The law enforcement agents like the Police, EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission), SSS (State Security Service), NIA (National Intelligence Agency), etc should also be completely and truly independent in terms of funding and administration as it obtains in the western world. The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) should be truly and completely independent in terms of funding and administration, receiving orders from no one so as to ensure transparent electoral process. The independence of these bodies will address most of the problems of political instability and corruption in government and ensure a truly democratic society where the rule of law reigns supreme above everyone including the presidency. 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Endnotes Ojo E. O., “The New Federal capital territory as an Integrative Mechanism in Nigeria”, Indian J. Pol. 27 (1 and 2) 1998, p. 4 2 Interview with Professor Pius Osunyikannmi, Former Special Adviser to The President of the Republic of Nigeria on international Relations 1 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Bibliography A. Books Achebe, C. ,There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra, (New York: Penguin Books, 2012). Adeniyi, E.O () "Regional Planning," in J. S. Oguntoyinbo; O Areola & M Filani. (eds) The Geography of Nigerian Development, (Ibadan: Heinemann, 1978). Adler, E & Barnett, M., Security Communities. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). Barker J. 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