The Nigerian state emerged from the colonial state; the resultant post-colonial state lacks autonomy and is peripheral in nature. The state is enmeshed in contradictions that raise questions on its relevance, meaning and purpose. The limitations of the Nigerian state have been posed as the national question. There is, therefore, a relationship between the nature of the Nigerian state and the national question. There is lack of unanimity among scholars on the nature of the national question in Nigeria. The citizenship, indigeneship and settler questions are aspects of the national question that underline the contradictory character of the Nigerian state. The lopsided nature of the Nigerian state and the ensuing national question have elicited the involvement of civil society organizations. The civil society groups have engaged different aspects of the national question; and have posed alternative constructs to the dominant political, economic and administrative arrangements. The Buhari administration insists on the nonnegotiable nature of the Nigerian federation thereby provoking renewed debates on the country’s federal architecture. This article reviews the theoretical and empirical debates on the Nigerian state and theorizes on the civil society and the nature of civil society organizations in Nigeria. The specific nature of the national question in Nigeria is appraised amid the struggle between the state actors and civil society groups on the alternatives.
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Keywords: State, Civil Society, National Question, Federation