History And Challenges Of Inter-governmental Relations In Nigeria

Abstract

Inter-governmental relations encapsulate the full amplitude of interactions among governmental authorities who share responsibility for governance with the aim of minimizing jurisdictional conflicts, competition and confrontation in governance especially in a federal system. When in operation, the term connotes vertical and horizontal, formal and informal, conflictual and cooperative patterns of relationships that take place among different levels of government in a political system. Nigeria's experiences of this paramount connerstone of federalism have been unwieldy. While it cannot be denied that the country has a record of remarkable areas of workable interactions among her different governmental authorities, most of the hiccups in such relationships especially since her independence in 1960 leaves an awkward taste for commentary. The country's political evolution was constantly interjected by military rule and numerous constitutional changes and this scenario impeded the development of a culture of relationship among the levels of government. This paper attempts to interrogate the history of intergovernmental relations in Nigeria and the very challenges that bedevil its optimal implementation.