Embattled Federalism : History of Revenue Allocation in Nigeria, 1946-1990

Conflicts over the distribution of financial resources and spending power among the constituent units have long been recognized as inevitable in the federal system of government. In Nigeria, one of the newer and ethnically divers federations of Africa, these conflicts are much more complicated because revenue allocation is at the heart of all political and economic development policies. The product of painstaking and thorough research, this book places in historical perspective for the first time the conflicts over revenue allocation in Nigeria from 1946 to 1990. It presents interesting new materials on the background to the adoption, and consequences of the application, of the various revenue allocation principles and formulas. The author explains the political, legal and physical battles waged by members of the ruling elite over the distribution of federal tax revenues from petroleum export.