The Pathway to Constitutional Reforms in Nigeria: The Perspective of the Gradual Approach

Constitutional reform is a major proponent of Federalism. Nigeria as a country operates a federal system of government and constitutional reforms need to happen at a point in time. The failure of the 2014 National Conference has shown how ineffective the mega constitutional approach is in Nigeria. Indeed, the North-South division has practically become a key element in the constitutional reform of Nigeria's present constitutional policy, with the North favouring the continuing of today's centred integrationist federalism, and the South demanding significant constitutional decentralization. Therefore, this paper will pitch its argument toward a gradual approach focusing on the incremental constitutional amendment, legislative supplementation and judicial mediation as against the mega-constitutional approach to be sufficient for the Nigeria Federal system.

Keywords: The Constitution; reforms; Federalism; mega-constitutional approach; a gradual approach