Benue State University, Makurdi

FEDERAL CHARACTER PRINCIPLE AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION IN NIGERIA: FOCUS ON FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE RECRUITMENT

NNAMANI, Desmond^*
TOCHUKWU, Nwachukwu^*
UGWUANYI, Chigozie^*
OKEKE, Ego K.^*

Abstract

Nigeria is a product of British experiment with social cloning of 250 ethnic groups. Prior to 1914 amalgamation, all the 250 tribal groups in Nigeria existed independently and distinctively in socio-cultural tradition, the amalgamations midwife the countries replica of unified catholic marriage which cannot be separated easily. In 1954, the British government displayed their political dexterity and introduces federalism and in all this did not provide the desired national unity. The inherent problems with federalism gave birth to federal character principle along together with national integration as a palliative measure enshrined in 1979 and 1999 constitutions respectively. The extent in which federal civil service recruitment has achieved its fundamental objectives for nation building demands scholarly excursion. The paper therefore investigates that in spite of the content that nation building has not been fully achieved there is still lopsidedness in public service appointment. The objective of this paper is to identify issues that derail federal character principle as options to facilitate desired nationhood. The issues are ethnocentrism, mutual suspicion, elitism and mediocrity using descriptive analysis and opted for value orientation, meritocracy, patriotism, honesty and fairness to enthrone confidence among Nigerians and facilitate the desired peaceful coexistence.

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