Nnadiebube Journal of Religion, Culture and Society

Nigeria is a product of British political experiment of social cloning with 250 ethnic groups. Prior to 1914 amalgamation, all the 250 tribal nationalities in Nigeria existed independently and distinctively in socio-cultural tradition. The amalgamations midwife the countries replica of catholic marriage which is not palatable but cannot be separated easily. In 1954, the British government displayed their political dexterity by introducing federalism, yet it did not provide the desired national unity. The problems inherent with federalism gave birth to federal character principle along with national integration for nation building as a palliative measure in 1979 and 1999 constitutions respectively. The extent in which the policies have achieved its fundamental objectives in nation building especially federal civil service recruitment demands scholarly excursion. The paper lies on why in spite of the content; nation building has not been fully achieved in public service appointment. The crux of this paper is to identify issues with federal character principle as options that facilitate desired nationhood. The issues identified are ethnocentrism, mutual suspicion, elitism and mediocrity. The paper adopts descriptive analysis inputs and opted for value orientation, meritocracy, patriotism, honesty and fairness to enthrone confidence among Nigerians and facilitate the attainment of the desired peaceful coexistence.

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