Nigerian federalism in the context of global warming

The article analyzes the role of the federal model of statehood in contemporary Nigeria’s response to global environmental shifts. The analysis demonstrates that federal systems, unlike unitary states, are theoretically capable of responding more flexibly to the effects of global warming. However, in the Nigerian case, this is hampered by a number of historical, cultural, and political obstacles. While attempting to overcome the deadly conflict between herders and farmers, which has escalated dramatically over the past quarter century due to global warming, the Federal Republic of Nigeria is failing to fully utilize the potential of federalism, and its political class continues to view it as a “zero-sum game” in which either the center or the regions benefit. The government’s inability to cope with this conflict not only splits the country along North-South lines, replicating the rift of the 1967–1970 civil war, but also gives rise to new socio-political problems, including the state’s inability to control its entire territory, the spread of unconventional socio-political practices, including mass banditry, jihadism, and other forms of extremism, and the emergence of new forms of corruption, including so-called neo-pastoralism. The study concludes that Nigeria could mitigate the stresses caused by global warming if its ruling class seriously addressed the improvement of its federal system. 

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