Policy of the federal character principle and conflict management in Nigerian federalism

Federalism is seen as a formidable force for managing plural societies. In the case of Nigeria, there are two schools of thought regarding the origin of federalism. The first school argues that Britain simply imposed federalism on Nigeria for her economic and political gains. The second school believes that Nigerian federalism was determined by historical and geographical factors. Whatsoever it may be, the Nigerian federalism has undergone series of metamorphoses since its formation and has not passed most of the tests formulated by scholars of federalism. The post colonial elites to build genuine federalism through various policies have witnessed failures including the federal character principle.  The paper concludes that the failure to build genuine federalism by political elites have created problems for the proper operation of the federal system in Nigeria.   Key words: Politics, equalities, governance, allocation, power-sharing.