PEACE-BUILDING AND POLITICAL RESTRUCTURING IN NIGERIA

The concept of peace is significant to the survival, development and continuity of any human organization. However, peace has remained elusive both at local as well as at international level. This paper, therefore, in analytical and exploratory manner, examines the concept of peace building as a process of entrenching a durable peace in a society. The paper examines the historical development of federal system in Nigeria and observes that at the core of the myriads of sociopolitical and economic problems confronting the country is the structural imbalance inherent in the socio-political arrangement of the state. The problem is compounded by the nature of the state and the kind of politics it evolves. The argument is that the inability of the state leaders to restructure the political system to create a just, fair and equitable system accounts for the main reason why peace remain elusive. The paper concludes that unless the present government embarks upon the process of peace building by removing or reducing factors that create conflicts through genuine political
restructuring of the system, the protest against the state may continue in Nigeria.