REVENUE ALLOCATION AND POLITICAL STABILITY IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE AS A NATION STATE
To highlight some significant event and developments in response to a review of Nigeria experience as a nation state, it is intellectual to present a brief survey of the part to understand the distinct phases through which the nation passed to arrive at its present political state and economic condition vis-à-vis revenue allocation. Some of these historical periods have enjoyed such a degree of political stability that in reference to revenue allocation and political stability, not only were great or studies made in the promotion of social and economic development, the overall smoothness in the functioning of the governmental system at both the regional and federal levels over shadowed the negative consequences of the power struggles and by the late 1950’s a myth of Nigeria as a “stable democracy” enjoyed considerable international credibility.
The introduction of modern methods of governance on a gradual pace in what could be described as a semi- federal and quasi-democratic structure of 1946 Nigeria, like a newborn baby of the British colonial administration passed through various developmental phases of political growth. By 1957, the political structure has developed into a well-structured democratic federal political process upon the background and modern political process was set Nigeria; in 1979, the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria provided for a democratic federal structure in the political process.
In this study, it is observed that the introduction of system of revenue allocation in the Nigeria political economy dates bank to the political development of 1946. It is note worthy to state that the revenue allocation system in the political process had indeed been accompanied by constitutional changes over the decades. These suggest that the constitution provides the essential political environment in a nation state.
It is significant that while the constitution emphasis national unity with its concomitant principles of deviation, population and equity of state in revenue allocation, to some observer such constructional provision were not borne out of a true desire for national unity and integration.
The revenue allocation issue in the political economy of Nigeria is a volatile as any other national question such a population. This means that how national revenue is shared among the different component political units of the federal structure is irretrievably tied to the national question. Hence no broadly acceptable national revenue allocation formula has been had since 1947 and which has not generated controversy but had to be made acceptable “in the interest of national unity”.
Since 1947, about thirteen (13) formulas have been devised for the sharing of national revenue. Everybody has formed none satisfactory and such each one has generated more controversy than the last one.
