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             \author[1]{Okechukwu Egwu  IBIAM}

             \author[2]{Godwin I.  UDEUHELE}

             \author[3]{Groupson -Paul  OKECHUKWU}

             \author[4]{Chukwuemeka E.  IBE}

             \author[5]{Moses O.  AGUDIEGWU}

             \author[6]{Harrison O.  IWUALA}

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\date{\small \em Received: 1 January 1970 Accepted: 1 January 1970 Published: 1 January 1970}

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\begin{abstract}
        


Challenges of multi-culturalism among federal nation have continued to attract scholarly discourses on the need for the citizens of such states like Nigeria to chart a common course for their development through the creation of synergies that foster unity against their divisive tendencies. Debates here focus on problems of obnoxious and divisive tendencies that work against citizens? integration for greater national development, with emphasis on charting a course for their development. This paper focuses on helping Nigeria?s federal system overcome their challenges by fostering the principles of unity in diversity, cultural integration and their commitment to common national ideals.

\end{abstract}


\keywords{multi-culture, integration, federal state, catalyst, nation development, Nigeria.}

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\section[{Introduction}]{Introduction}\par
he need for the re-invigoration of the unique and unifying aspects of the over four hundred and fifty diverse cultures of Nigerians can never be overemphasised. Unifying the culture of a multi-ethnic federal system such as Nigeria remains the sine-quanone to the various developmental challenges daunting the nation, \hyperref[b15]{(Elaigwu, et al, (1996)}.\par
The problem here is principally cultural diversity within which exist obnoxious practices which are being manipulated for divisive tendencies against the integration of Nigerian citizens for greater national development under a federalist structure. The divisive tendencies found in the culture, religion and ethnic differences have worked in so many ways to keep the citizens at daggers drawn to the jugular, with each segment or section of the country seemingly unwilling to let down their positions, in even matters that require simple dialogue to record success, \hyperref[b8]{(Coleman, 1958)} Debates in this domain have seen analysts arguing that causing cultural re-invigoration for national integration based on federalist principles to come to the fore in all Nigeria's national life remains the major catalyst for the acceleration of their national development projects. Here the need for greater campaign for a cultural rebirth remains the only catalyst for national development in Nigeria commonly identified unifying factors which must be made to gain ascendency over the micro cultural tendencies that separate the people.\par
The objective here is for citizens to identify and either do away with or whittle down the obnoxious aspects of the peoples' culture that need to be discouraged, while reaching across the frontiers of their ethno-religious and social differentials to create latitudes for citizens to be re-oriented towards the evolution of the spirit of sacrifice and service to nation building. Efforts towards addressing these issues have in recent times seen greater emphases being placed on wide ranges of actions that strengthen the unique principles of federalism as the guiding elements for this nationbuilding project in Nigeria. Taken from a generic perspective the efforts have to be made for the evolution of motivating forces that can galvanize citizens into adapting and blending specific aspects of their culture that cut across the nationalities into an equilibriums for the good purposes of creating the same into a national cultural character, \hyperref[b4]{(Awolowo, 1947)}.\par
Such actions are required as driving forces that can encourage an all inclusive movement of citizens towards contributing their best of efforts for the overall development of Nigeria. Here progressive transformation of the unique aspects of our various cultures into definite compacts that can accelerates national development across the physical, environmental, infrastructural, political and socio economic frontiers of the nation, remains the best option for all citizens.\par
This paper is therefore of the view that culture when appropriately blended with federalist principles and characteristics can serve as the catalyst for national development in heterogeneous societies such as Nigeria. This of course is attainable through the creation of deliberate nationalistic compacts, symbols, attributes and the creation of processes for sourcing out the unique collaborative aspects of the peoples' lives found in our norms, ethos, ethics, religion and values. When identified, these attributes can be nationalized and sustained as essential ingredients of national live. It involves deliberate efforts at drawing positive strength from the peoples' diverse cultures and blending them together as national ideals based on relentless and positively oriented long term agenda built into compacts of transformational programmes that positively impact human capacity, national capital and natural resources fused together to foster good life for Nigerians, pioneered by a purposeful nationalistic political leadership.\par
Unfortunately, it is disheartening to note however that despite the humongous natural and enormous human resources as well as material and environmental endowments of Nigeria, the nation has for the past six decades, been struggling with various forms of culturally motivated political and socio-economic challenges that continue to hamper her citizens' integration to a united nation-state within which every citizen is offered equal access to the prerequisites of their existence to foster overall national development. This is a pathetic situation that has caused Nigeria to be tagging along far behind most of her contemporaries in national development. In the light of this situation, concerns by scholars and political leaders have continued to rise with efforts being sought for the creation of pathways through which the nation's diverse cultures can be positively harnessed and conditioned under the unique principles of federalism to act as a catalyst for national development in Nigeria, \hyperref[b7]{(Chukwuma, 1999)}.\par
To address these challenges posed by the cultural diversities facing Nigeria's development efforts, it is therefore advanced that urgent steps must be taken by drawing lessons from nations of the World with similar multi-cultural configurations whose success stories are open note books for us to learn from. This is being advanced with the believe that by drawing strength from the experiences and success stories of many developed nations with similar cultural diversities, Nigerians will put hands to the plough by working assiduously in the renewed drive for a cultural rebirth among the various nationalities anchored on federalism for grater national development across all frontiers of Nigeria's existence. 
\section[{II.}]{II.} 
\section[{The Problem}]{The Problem}\par
The problem studied here is principally that cultural diversity within which exist obnoxious and divisive tendencies have worked against the integration of Nigerian citizens for greater national development under a federalist structure. It is on record that the divisive tendencies found in the culture, religion and ethnic differences among Nigerians have worked in so many ways to keep the citizens at daggers drawn to the jugular, with each segment or section of the country seemingly unwilling to let down their positions, in even matters that require simple dialogue to record success, \hyperref[b16]{(Heywood, 2007)}.\par
Concerned citizens have argued that solutions to the existing development malady pervading in Nigeria's political and socio-economic frontiers can be traced to the vicissitudes of multi-cultural chauvinism. It is further argued that as much as citizens and government may have made efforts through various forms of initiatives and policies to cause national development in Nigeria, there are still intractable cultural challenges that continue to debilitate such efforts leading to the existent national under-development across the land. Analysts and scholars of African development argue that the pride of citizens in their nations lie in their un-interrupted attainment of higher level of development across all the frontiers of life, with citizens acknowledging that indeed they and their nation are developing. Among many developed nations, these acknowledgements are evidenced in existent social security, political stability and citizen participation in nation building, economic viability and general stability of national cohesion anchored on good governance.\par
Whereas many multicultural nations can be counted as either developed or developing based on the existence of identifiable development evidence and conditions of good life for citizens and whereas there may be records showing that their journey to development was even more tortuous than others, what accounts for their development are often found in artefacts of their deliberate efforts at encouraging themselves in efforts at whittling down those factors that divide and separate them, while amplifying and bringing to the fore their uniting and unifying factors.\par
The Nigerian case has remained that of a group of people whose differences have variously battered them, evidenced in the six decades of existence under series of daunting challenges which nations. While many nations with similar circumstances have resolved and overcome such challenges using the age old tested and trusted federalist principles and characteristics that include compromise and consensus, bargains for the adoption of positively oriented policies that promote peace and unity and other dynamic approaches which cause people to grow in leaps and bounds, Nigerians have continued to totter and stumble under negative pressures of divisive cultural practices that are detrimental to their desired overall development goals, \hyperref[b22]{(Nnoli, 1978)}.\par
Nevertheless, this paper's contention is that whereas peoples' cultures may carry inherent characteristics and differentials that separate them distinctly from others, which remains sacrosanct for their individual identity as well the additional glamour they may require in the midst of many cultural groups, there is also the need for considerations of the need to whittle down peculiarities in such cultures that may not bond them with others around them. Here higher benefits to groups relations amidst their cultural differences, now found to be tied together by fate, omission or commission, with evident diffusions found in their social relations such as marriages and diverse economic activities now existing as federations cannot be easily wished away, \hyperref[b24]{(Onah, and Ibietan, 2010)}.\par
There is therefore a need for the daunting challenges of cultural differences among Nigerians to be vigorously addressed through concerted efforts that promote tolerance, compromise and consensus for greater national development in Nigeria. 
\section[{III.}]{III.} 
\section[{Objective}]{Objective}\par
The major objective of this study is to encourage Nigerian citizens to identify and either jettison or whittle down the obnoxious aspects of their culture that need to be discouraged, while building on the stronger ties that bind them as a united people. Here the focus is on seeking for ways Nigerians can use the positive and dynamic aspects of their culture as a catalyst to build a federation of peoples of with differences uniquely blended to accommodate each other for national development.\par
The focus is on the dynamic attributes of culture as a way of life which are acquired, transmitted and internalized by people purposely neither for the sake of culture in itself nor for discriminatory purposes, but for reasons of unity in multiplicity for the overall interest of the peoples' development. Here a synergy is needed to be established among the various peoples to understand that contemporary practices among developed societies is that culture has taken on a dynamic perspective within which the peoples' lives in totality are being impacted for purposeful and meaningful life, devoid of rancour and other vicissitudes found in moribund cultures.\par
In essence, this study seeks to cause Nigerians to revisit their cultures to wheedle out extract aspects that can be re-invigorated and blended with the cultures of others in this union called the federal republic of Nigeria, for purposes of their overall national development. This is achievable through effective citizens' engagement in actions that sequence their entire culture to project the unique aspects of their cultural characteristics, qualities and values, with a determination to forego aspects of this same culture that put stress on their relationship with others in the union. 
\section[{IV.}]{IV.} 
\section[{Conceptual Clarifications}]{Conceptual Clarifications}\par
At this point in our discourse, it is important that we create conceptual clarification of some of the key concepts that have been given pr-eminence in this study. 
\section[{a) What is Culture?}]{a) What is Culture?}\par
We may wish to start here by simply asking; what is culture and what importance is its discourse as a catalyst to our contemporary development? A rhetoric and obvious simple question some may say.\par
Conceptually we can see culture as the dynamic ways of a people's life that encapsulates the totality of their persons, language, religion, social relations, religion, arts, norms and values, around which such a people congregate to pursue definite forms of their lives,  {\ref (Otite and Ogionwo 1990)}. Literature on culture exist in their gamut to include those of scholars that have traversed the world seeking out different peoples' ways of life for purposes of history and comparative studies needed to chart new path ways for the general development of mankind. Out of these efforts, diverse definitions and conceptualization of culture have emerged for us to study and adopt and or adapt to enable us fit into the ever increasing new normal of life.\par
Culture as a way of life involves the sum total of a people's ideas, intellectual, literary, customs, traditions, dos and don'ts as well as their values, ethics, ethos, religion and social relationships, \hyperref[b22]{(Nnoli, 1978)} which are in some case wordlessly written in their hearts and memories, but are codified in the people's entire life. This came through ages from pre-Eurocentric African traditional societies where documented literature was not developed as aspects of such cultures of a particular people which they have acquired, internalized and transmitted through their surviving generations for ages.\par
Taylor, (1891), opines that culture is that complex whole of man's acquisition of knowledge, morals, beliefs, arts, custom and technology as well as other capabilities acquired by such people as members of a given society'. The relevance and usefulness of a people's culture is its guide to their daily life forms which are determinants of the trajectory of their survival in any given environment. A people's culture can last the test of time, subject to their engagement in activities that protect and sustain their identity and ways of life. Without prejudice to other forms of argument about culture, we establish here that culture is a dynamic aspect of human existence that gives meaning to the lives of the persons it concerns. In its dynamism, culture is an aspect of human abilities to adjust and adapt to changing circumstances in their lives. Its survival or extinction over ages remains a function of the intervening variables which impact it at varying degrees,  {\ref (Otite, etal, 1990)}.\par
There are basic characteristics of the culture of a people which arise from their knowledge of life acquired over ages regarding their communicative arts, their language, skills, norms, ethics and other essentials of life such as religion, food, social habits and relationships which are embedded in their value systems and are transmitted from one generation to another, \hyperref[b20]{(Levine, 1963}). Here we identify channels, mediums or agents of culture under three basic categories of the primary, secondary and tertiary that exists in each society to play specific roles subject to the age and position of the individual concerned. For primary culture, the agents are fundamentally the family which starts from the mothers the moment an individual baby is born. Here the mothers and siblings starts off the teaching of the individual about their culture through body languages and other intangible psychological processes that include psycho drama, songs, lullabies and body movements, \hyperref[b10]{(Deneulin and Shahani, 2009)}.\par
The second stage is often entwined with the first stage at a point when the individual has acquired communication skills. This involves a combination of information acquired from family and relevant others outside the family among peer groups, at play grounds, within the definite culture at the market places, schools, churches and religious places where stipulated regulations play great roles in shaping the individual's assimilation of his or her culture. Through some delicate balancing the individual develops an ability to sieve through the languages, spoken and unspoken communication and other traditional activities that strengthen stages one and two and prepares the individual towards the third and final stage, \hyperref[b3]{(Almond, et al, 2009)}.\par
At the third stage, gamuts of cultural dynamics unfold, intertwined with contact with external cultures that impinge on the primary and secondary culture already acquired and internalized. Such impacts often come from forces of culture contact between a dominant culture such as contact with neighbouring ethnic groups, colonization and western civilization or negative experiences such as natural disasters, conquest of war and other vagaries of life which impact negatively on the existing culture to disorganize communities, force or compel them to learn alien culture.\par
In today's imperialist globalization of the lives of men under western culture at all cost, modern day socio-economic dominance and marginalization of the weak and helpless by the strong and opportune class,  {\ref (Ibiam, \& Itumo, 2014)}, as well as other invisible forces of economic demand, supply and social relations have also impacted peoples' culture to the extent that we are experiencing a new cultural normal of disorderly behaviours, crime and various actions of men that call to question the continuity and essence of life. This third level of culture constitutes a major factor in the dislocation of many cultures of societies of today arising from the ever increasing pre-dominance of forces of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that continues to wage psychological war fare of Eurocentric indoctrination of the youths of weak societies into forming deviant attitudes and behaviours that are avers to acceptable norms, displaying of strange actions and engaging in vulgar indoctrinations through social media manipulations and anti-social relationships, \hyperref[b19]{(Igwe, 2005)}.\par
The dynamics of culture require therefore that all persons develop the capacity for adjustment between their culture and those of others in the human society. Here a unity of purpose needs to be mobilized through agents of re-socialization to help or guide citizens towards social actions that can be internalized and adopted greater national integration projects, \hyperref[b29]{(Yehezkel, 1960)}. This is possible based on a purposeful cultural re-birth and re-invigoration of federalist principles with emphasis on strengthening the unifying, progressive and inter-related aspects of our various cultures, sustained for greater national development. 
\section[{b) Federalism}]{b) Federalism}\par
Federalism can be conceived as an association of states formed for certain common purpose but in which the member states retain a relatively large measure of their original independence,  {\ref (Wheare, 1963)}.Within this domain exist federal principles which essentially entail a legal division of powers and functions among levels of government within a written constitution guaranteeing and reflecting the divisions of such powers, duties, obligations and other rules guiding the union. Suffice it for us to argue further that as much as other variants, conceptions and formulations of the meaning of federalism exist under other scholars, Wheare's work provides us the basic tenets or elements of federalism, \hyperref[b28]{(Wheare, 1946)}.\par
The view here is buttressed by the fact that indeed all other definitions of federalism emerge on the basis of diverse interpretations of the same subject which summary can be subsumed under the same basic tenets of; (a) the existence of at least two levels of government, (b) the existence of constitutional division of powers among the levels of governments, (c) evident mechanisms for each level of government being coordinate and independent, (d) guarantee of financial autonomy for each level of government must be financially independent. Here each level of government must have guarantees of relative opportunities for performing their functions without necessarily depending or appealing to others for assistance. (d) There must be Supreme independent judiciary. In terms of the amendment of the constitution, no level of government should have undue power over the amendment process. He maintains that once a country is able to satisfy these conditions, such country is said to practice federalism.\par
In spite of the confusion over its definition, virtually every scholar of federalism accepts that it involves a system of government in which there is a formal division of power between a central government and the constituent units, each having autonomous power on certain matters on which it is not subordinate to the other. Therefore, it can be deduced that federalism is a system in which a state's governmental powers are constitutionally shared between the central authority and the component or federating divisions in recognition of the unique ideals and other dynamic aspects of the ways of the peoples' life, (Oyovbaire: 1985) and Etzioni, 1962).\par
Most scholars here belief that federalism is an attempt to cope with the problem of power sharing and other peculiarities existing among the multinationals living together within a single nation -state. It also deals with the evolution of political ideologies and institutional arrangements that guarantee every constituent within the union the relative identity, without necessarily subsuming them totally into the union under other larger and more powerful groups.\par
Federalism is a broad social formula which Yehezkel, (1960), sees as an arrangement in which people that are different but historically linked decide to stay together, or are compelled by circumstances beyond their control to stay under one central government with each of them still retaining some relative aspects of their separate identities but stay in the union bounded by a covenant to remain one. This occurs in forms that create linkages between the people and institutions created by them based on principles of governing device that bring peoples with diversities together, through mutual consent; to live under one central government without denying them the right to enjoy their diverse peculiarities, and without sacrificing their individual identities,  {\ref (Elazor, 1960)}.\par
Here the issue of managing the individual identities of culture and the multiple ways of life of the groups in the federation becomes paramount. This must be considered in the circumstance as a means of preventing a single group defined in cultural racial, class or linguistic terms from dominating the others and monopolizing the consumption of pubic goods,  {\ref (Jinadu, 1979)}. Since culture deals with the peoples' total way of life, adjustments within federal states to accommodate the various shades of identities remain a major project for political leaders and managers of the institutions of the given state. Successes recorded here by many federations of our time have shown that indeed cultural dynamism remains the solution to all the challenges to the integration and development of multi-cultural nations. 
\section[{c) National Integration}]{c) National Integration}\par
As much as the concept national integration has attracted diverse interpretations from social scientists and humanists, a simple consensus exist to show it as it is that cord that binds or holds a society together for their mutual benefits. National integration is a process of bringing together, culturally distinct and discrete groups into a single territorial unit for purposes of convenience of governance,  {\ref (Weiner, 1965)}. This involves the deployment of specific approaches designed to overcome the challenges of multi-cultural cleavages and territorial nationality, with a focus on eliminating or reducing incidences of subordinate parochial loyalties.\par
Ogunojemite, (1987), agrees no less here when he avers that national integration is a political phenomenon which covers a vast range of human relationships through the efforts of leaders at recreating a common identity for their new union by forging a common ground of universal interest among the diverse groups, by discouraging incidences of discrete cultural loyalties while questing for unified nationalist purposes founded through evolutional processes that enthrone strong sense of nationhood on the peoples being integrated.\par
National integration deals with encourage peaceful co-existence among the nationalities of multicultural societies living together within a definite nationstate based on their creation of unifying constituents for mutual benefits. Citizens here are encouraged to reorder their lives within their cultures to enable them integrate into the emerging order common self identity for their development, \hyperref[b2]{(Ake, 1996)}.\par
The Nigerian case has remained that of decades of chequered journey towards development with the elites and ruling class goading the citizens into holding tenaciously to the divisive aspects of their culture at the detriment of their developmental. The Nigerian case is evidenced by the continued national challenges confronting all and sundry, within which the nation is crawling and creeping around under the burden of religious and cultural crises, insecurity, economic decay amidst humongous wealth pillage and corruption as well as political and leadership ineptitude and various other forms of debilitating factors that keeps holding the nation down in underdevelopment. While other nations are leaping and galloping to developing, Nigeria has steadily been falling into the abyss of under-development, arising from the challenges of national integration which the ruling class have refused to address, as they continue their quest for self aggrandizement and ethnocentric posturing, \hyperref[b18]{(Goddy, 1969)}.\par
V. 
\section[{Development}]{Development}\par
Development is a concept that can be approached from multi-dimensional perspectives to the extent that its definition remains controversial and circumstantial. Here we can aver that the concept development, involves many aspects of life. Development means the improvement of society and the people within it in their social, political and economic life as well as causing transformations in the use of a society's goods, natural and physical as well as phases of the life of men as they interact with each other and nature within a given society, \hyperref[b2]{(Ake, 1996)}.\par
Development deals with motivating people towards improvement in their lives with emphasis placed on positively impacting the entire gamut of society and nature, \hyperref[b19]{(Igwe, 2005)}. This involves the pursuit of some form of profound transformations in the life of the people from stages of stagnation and decay to improve standard of life in a progressive manner that causes existence to appreciate positively.\par
Development can also be seen as 'an idea that embodies all attempts to improve the conditions of human existence in all ramifications,  {\ref (Collins, 1994 and}\hyperref[b9]{Daniel, 1970)}. It deals with improvement in material well being of all citizens, in a sustainable way such that today's consumption does not imperil the future, with emphasis on addressing the factors that cause poverty and inequality of access to the good things of life and all other considerations that negatively impinge on a society's socio-cultural and economic relationships.\par
Keith in  {\ref (Ibiam, 2014)}, posited that development is the sine-qua-non for the actualization or fulfilment of man's efforts as he interacts with matter and his fellow men. Here the ultimate purpose of development is to expand the capabilities of people, to increase their ability to lead long and healthy lives, to enable them to cultivate their talents and interests, and to afford them an opportunity to live in dignity and with self respect. It deals with citizens seeking to improve personal and group emotional and psychological well being as well as physical security and livelihoods.\par
Alan, (2000) identified three ways of understanding development viz; (i) as a vision, targeted at describing or measuring the state of well being for a reasonable number of citizens in that society, (ii) as an historical process of social change in which societies are transformed over long periods for the benefit of all citizens; (iii) as consisting of deliberate efforts aimed at improvement in societal agencies, including governments, all kinds of organizations and social movements, to cause commensurate improvements in infrastructural development, economic growth, justice and social equality.\par
The world summit for social development held in Copenhagen in 1995 concluded that poverty reduction and full employment should be crucial aims for development among weaker countries. The summit recognized that a necessary condition to meet these objectives was for nations to endeavour to create an appreciable increase in the rates of growth. It was implicitly acknowledged that economic growth is not in itself sufficient to achieve all the goals set by the summit. The quality of these growths also matters (UNRISD 2000).\par
As communities continue to grow, their local officials, leaders and political office holders as well as help agencies become constantly challenged by the needs of the citizens. It is expected that efforts should be put in place to balance fiscal, social, economic and environmental goals. One aspect of this challenge is deciding how much and what type of new development policies, goals and programmes communities can accommodate without compromising the day-to-day quality of life for citizens. Here socio-economic development objectives are set out to promote long-term sustainability areas such as economic prosperity, a healthy community life and social well-being.\par
In Africa, efforts at development seem to have remained at copying of western artefacts with a total disregard for deliberate efforts at a people oriented industrialization standards, economic affluence, advanced technology, urbanization and democracy,  {\ref (Nnoli, 1981}). Nnoli's sees the contemporary Eurocentric approach to African development as not only a deliberate process of deepening the rapacious exploitation of the resources of Africa by the Western nations, but also a deliberate subjugation of African and indeed third world nations to second slavery. Onyemeluke, (1977), argues further that development in a national context refers to the processes of positive transformational change, particularly in areas of infrastructure, improved human capacity expansion and optimum utilization of the various natural and capital resources of the given society for the benefit of the greater number of citizens. It is a deliberate effort targeted towards the enhancement of the average individual's scope for self-fulfilment, for the purposes of the people's socio-economic and general welfare. Here we deal with wider issues of not economic growth, but also the expansion of the scope of equitable distribution of social goods, provision of health care, education, housing and other essential services to give impetus to the improvement of the individual's and collective's quality of life.\par
Unfortunately, African development challenges are seen as being more of self inflicted injuries that the much bandied abour western capitalist exploitation of the continent. African scholars have argued that through the complicity of local petti-or comprador bourgeois, the continent has witnessed decades of underdevelopment occasioned by the penetration and deepening of imperialism in Africa for the benefit of the advanced economies and at the detriment of those being exploited.\par
We can therefore posit here that African archaic socio-cultural and religious practices, coupled with the challenges of leadership ineptitude, lack of public service accountability and corrupt political leadership have all contributed to pose challenges to the development of the nations of the continent, \hyperref[b0]{(Adebayo, 1986)}. The continent's tenacious cleaving unto ethnocentrism, cultural bias, sectionalism, intolerance of the relevant others an most importantly wide spread of corruption among political leaders within the domain of specific nations have denied the people the needed creativity to fashion out dynamic ways of propelling their nations to greater heights and benefits of development, \hyperref[b6]{(Campbell, 1996)}. 
\section[{VI.}]{VI.} 
\section[{Theoretical Underpinnings}]{Theoretical Underpinnings}\par
The theoretical base of this paper is the group theory, also referred to as the doctrine of pluralism. This F theory avers that government and politics involves the competition for the control of power and resources among groups. This theory posits that in heterogynous societies, various groups sexist t compete among themselves leading to the emergence of aggregates of views, opinions and positions arrived at through a consensus that prevents the over dominance of a particular group in public affairs,  {\ref (Polsby, 1980)}.\par
This theory is a collective name adopted for the diversity of scholarly generalizations about the role of groups societies regarding their influence on the formation and emergence of public policies. Varma, (1993), posits that the intellectual roots of the group theory lies in the doctrines of pluralism as developed by a number of 20 th century English writers that include John Figgis, F. W. Maitland and G. D. H Cole. These scholars argue that in most pluralist societies such as those found in federations that are made up of complex groups, there is always the presence of competition among the groups, with each group contending for control over political power and available socioeconomic resources. This theory furthers that in many multi-cultural nations that have tried to foster federalism, the threat to their dreams remains exertion of the interests of specific groups in the union above those of others, \hyperref[b21]{(Lord and Hutchison, 1993)}.\par
This theory is often used by scholars to discuss issues of power distribution among groups that engage in coalitions to create aggregates of common interests in various areas of interest. Group theories also discuss the varying issues of trade unions, interest groups, Professional associations etc, as the mobilize to lobby and influence government policies in given States. A great deal of importance is placed on the study of the group in societies under which the activities of specific groups are focused on to establish a clear understanding of the intrigues such groups engage in to achieve their objectives in society. As a particular group seeks to realize her interests, certain intervening factors have often played out to constitute threat to the interests of others, which in some circumstances may lead disharmonies between such groups. If such interventions are not adequately checkmated and mitigated, such disharmonies are known to have degenerated into conflicts and other forms of instability in society.\par
In Nigeria's multi-cultural system where diverse ethnic groups compete over the available scarce socioeconomic resources, various forms of antagonistic relationships have continued to rear their heads up to create tension in the polity, a situation that have continued to bedevil nation's development. Such group interests which the ruling class have deliberately intertwined with ethno-religious and cultural dimensions have amplified the divide and rule tendencies among the citizens, with the members of each groups remaining at daggers drawn against each other for conflicts and wars over issues that could have been amicably resolved, \hyperref[b14]{(Ekekwe, 1980)}. Ekekwe furthers here that such conflicts have remained a veritable socio-economic and political gain to the ruling class based on the hegemonic pressures such ruling class bring to bear on obnoxious aspects of the diverse cultures of the multiple groups. 
\section[{VII.}]{VII.} 
\section[{Overview of the Nigerian Nation-State}]{Overview of the Nigerian Nation-State}\par
As much as the Nigerian nation-state remains a child of circumstance in the first instance, as was occasioned by British colonial socio-economic interests, other contending factors such as cultural diversity, political crises, leadership ineptitude, sectionalism and corruption have continued to plague the nation's efforts at uniting the citizens for greater development. Dating back to 1914 British amalgamation of the over 250 multicultural ethnic groups doting the landscape within the sub-Saharan region, was the overt reason and need for the convenience of governance of the multi-cultural groups as a single country. Covertly however was for easy facilitation of British and subsequent Euro-American rapacious exploitation of the vast mineral deposits littering across the lands of the communities so amalgamated, \hyperref[b0]{(Adebayo, 1986)} and \hyperref[b13]{Ejimofor, 1987)}.\par
To achieve their set objectives of keeping the people of these areas at daggers drawn at the each other's jugular over unnecessary differences, the principles of indirect rule was introduced to colour the doctrine of divide and rule under which the cultural and other obnoxious ethno-religious differences were amplified, \hyperref[b5]{(Baradat, 2012)}. Thus while the natives feuded for nothing, the Europeans explored, exploited and expropriated their resources. This remains the bane of the development crises of Nigeria, that has deterred the citizens from uniting, not necessarily to cause anyone of them to jettison their unique cultural ways, but uniting under the aegis of the federalist principles to guide them through their challenges to greater heights.\par
In consideration of the difficulties of continuing with the colonial unitary administrative system which was encountering challenges among the multi-cultural groups in Nigeria and in preparation for the 1960 independence and self rule, federalism was adopted in the 1954 constitution designed under Oliver Lythleton, with relative autonomy granted to the regions in some matters including establishment of regional civil service and judicial system. Thus, by 1960 when Nigeria became independent, federalism was formally enthroned as a means of accommodating the various ethno-religious and multi-cultural constituents that formed the Nigerian nation-state,  {\ref (Tyoden, 2000)}.\par
As much as federalism may have been adopted in post 1960 independence of Nigeria as the most feasible political resolution to the various challenges often faced by nations made up of multi-cultural© 2022 Global Journals\par
Volume XXII Issue VIII Version I 95 ( ) configurations, (Aliyu \& Isa, 2018), the one of most challenging factor to Nigeria remains the prospects of adopting a multi-cultural Integration approach as the catalyst for nation development. The fact remains that since Nigeria still remains a multi-cultural nation-state that comprises of over 250 ethno-cultural nationalities whose culture contains over 450 indigenous languages, \hyperref[b25]{(Otite and Onigu, 1990)}, with diverse groups existing together under a political unit and being peoples with variants of interests, certain conflict areas will continuously remain encountered. The conflict of interests which became glaring with the political domineering ideologies of the three most dominant groups of the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa Fulani battling over who takes control of the corridors of national power and socio-economic resources, orchestrated by British colonial divide and rule principles, remains a daunting challenge needing solutions.\par
Whilst multicultural diversity among most modern federal nation-states have served as sources of strength for development, the Nigerian case has remained bedevilled by overwhelming challenges that continue to exacerbate the mutual suspicion and conflict among the citizens. It is also argued that the failure of federalism to bring together these diverse nationalities and serve as a source of strength, unity and development have resulted from numerous agitations among citizens of Nigeria who have continued to clamour for the revisiting of the constitution and cause a restructuring of the country if he the unity of this nation is desirous. 
\section[{VIII.}]{VIII.}\par
Discussion and Analyse: Understanding Culture as the Catalyst for Nigeria's National Development\par
From our discourse so far, we can argue that among culturally heterogeneous societies there are existent vestiges of obnoxious and archaic cultural differentials that discourage profound and accelerated development among the citizens. As much as these are existential facts of human existence, it is also on record that many multi-cultural nation -states have surmounted their ethno-religious and cultural differences to foster a federal system that stand as examples of development to the world, \hyperref[b15]{(Elaigwu, 1996)}.\par
Unfortunately, Nigeria's decades old development challenges may have a great portion placed at the doorsteps of her primordial cultural practices and its interference in the nation's development under which the cultural differences among the citizens have been deployed for political and socio-economic gains by the elite and ruling class with access to the corridors of state power for vested interests, (ibiam \& Itumo, 2014). While other nations with similar cultural diversities have harnessed and modernized the humane and motivational aspects of their cultures, Nigerian rulers have continued to seek for the most obnoxious aspects of their multi-cultures for the purposes of divide and rule which furthers the crises and conflicts bedevilling the country's development.\par
In Nigeria's federalism, cultural differences among the people have remained a veritable tool in the hands of the ruling class to cause misrule and underdevelopment. The ruling class as a group remain a mix grill of retired military officers and political jobbers whose vested interests have blindfolded them to the challenges of their nation's development needs. Even so, both the military and civilian political rulers are not completely to blame here as it is common knowledge that the followership here, found among the Nigerian citizens also have a great portion of the blame to appropriate. Both the leadership and followership have played various roles that have caused the Nigerian ship of state to stray too far into the abyss principally for the refusal of various groups that configure the Nigerian federation to encourage cultural adjustment for the good of all. All the various ethnic and religious groups have done for the past six decades is their refusal to adjust to accommodate others while cleaving unto their moribund cultures tenaciously against the wisdom of nationalistic ideals bonding the citizens of other federal nationstates such as the USA, Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, to mention but a few.  {\ref Nnoli, (1981)}, posits here that for Nigeria and by extension Africa to develop, the citizens must take the trajectory of a dialectical revolutionary dimension, with the totality of the society rising to engage in the construction of categories of existence for individuals and collectives to interact with their environment to create compacts that transcend beyond antediluvian modes of existence. In this regard, Nigeria needs to engender meaningful development by creating specific development options and compacts, \hyperref[b2]{(Ake, 1996)}, that collates the dynamic aspects of our ways of life and integrate them into a national culture to foster lasting development in the nation, beyond sectionalist sentiments.\par
There is need for deliberate limitation of ethnicity and religion as instruments for self fame and aggrandizement by the elite and ruling class in the Nigerian national project. Political jobbers across the regions who have for decades mobilized ethnic differentials among Nigerians as veritable tools to gain easy access to the corridors of power from where they engage in illegal wealth accumulation at the detriment of the large population must be made to account for their excesses based on a re-invigoration of the aspects of our culture that promote national unity, peace and cooperative existence.\par
There are also issues of feudalist practices amidst modern political practices in Nigeria that negate the ideals of democracy and good governance under the pseudo and crude capitalist exploitation in vogue in Nigeria. These combinations are indeed channels of resource waste under which functions are duplicated across the multiple tiers of government from the local government levels through the states to the federal levels which in turn draws wasteful resource strength from the nation sovereign wealth, (Ikelegbe, 2005).\par
When almost every autonomous community in Nigeria has a traditional ruler with a legion of traditional chiefs amidst elected numbers of local government councillors as ward by ward representatives of such communities who draw wages from the sovereign wealth, the net effect is humongous waste of resources needed to development of the nation. In some regions of the nation these numbers are so large that it seems each family there has become an autonomous community, leading to bloated annual budgets that draw resources from the national wealth reserves to foot their wag bill, whereas such resources could be pulled together for better national development projects, if such unnecessary expenditures are not engaged in by the government.\par
It is indeed a caricature of modern democracy and the principles of competitive liberal economy for a developing nation such as Nigeria in dare need of much resources to engage her resources needed for national development wasteful recurrent expenditures such payment of monthly wages and allowances to feudal lords, traditional rulers and political appointees that do not yield dividends to the nation's wealth creation processes.\par
It is common knowledge that modern democracy discourages luggage carrying in the journey of development by encouraging the use of available scarce resources to achieve much development strides, \hyperref[b20]{( Levine, 1963)}. Modern democracies such as the federation of the USA, that Nigeria models does not encourage resource waste on declining and near dead political institutions such as the feudal estates that do not add value to their development. Added to these facts is that utilitarianism demands that equitable wealth distribution should be the hallmark for profound development. This is achievable through resource control to discourage waste on infrastructures and institutions that should be consigned to the centres of museum and monument.\par
There are other obnoxious cultural practices that need to be eliminated in areas such as land tenure under which traditional practices that give land rights to unproductive individuals and groups, who often do not use such land for productive purposes. In some cases, evil invocations, injunctions and restrictions are placed on fertile lands and water resources reserved as evil forests, shrines and sacred land or water; whereas citizens of such communities are in dare need of such lands and water resources for agricultural and industrial production that can add economic advantage to citizens and the nation.\par
At the lower ebb, some moribund cultural practices that exist include but are not limited to issues such as early child marriage, child slavery, child bonding for debt re-payment by lazy poor parents, denial of early child education and total denial of the girl child's access to formal education and choice of social relationships. Others are discriminatory religious practices, injustices meted out to accused persons in alleged criminal and civil cases. There are also cases of denial of fair hearing for accused non-adherents of specific religions in some regions of Nigeria where access to appropriate judicial processes as well as the invocation of jungle justice are prevalent, leading to serious physical or psychological injuries as well as rampant cases of amputation of limbs and summary death by gruesome means.\par
There are other practices that include mutilation of body parts through incisions, tattoos and tribal marks, female genital mutilation that challenge the victims health and reproductive capabilities. There are issues of traditional child labour and slavery, outcast injunctions against individuals and families, denial of marital rights and discrimination against widows and orphans. There are also practices of the denial of citizens' rights to property ownership and even life leading to despondence among many citizens who are affected, thus generally debilitating the socio-economic productivity of those affected and which cumulatively adversely impacts national development as resources needed for greater national development projects are diverted for humanitarian ministry actions, within which other challenges of transparency, probity and accountability have been reverberating across the land in recent times. Elsewhere exist cultural practices such as ancestral and deity worship and servitude that bonds affected families' girl child to a shrine for life as penance for offences committed against such deities and demy gods by any family member, other the victimized child.\par
There are other identifiable obnoxious practices inherent in our cultures such as religious intolerance under which a group sees others of different religion as infidels, thus creating unhealthy relationships among citizens of the same country who are expected to join hand together to move the ship of state forward for grater development. 
\section[{IX. Conclusion and Recommendation}]{IX. Conclusion and Recommendation}\par
This paper has carefully discussed multicultural integration in a federal nation-state, the catalyst for Nation development in Nigeria, based on an examination of the problems posed to our national development by some of our peoples' cultural practices. It was established that for the nation to successfully execute her development projects and achieve desired results, aspects that tend to put pressure on the cohesion of the citizens at a united front must be discouraged while those areas that foster our unity in diversity must not only be encouraged, but reinvigorated and projected as our nation's development front burner.\par
Using lessons drawn from the driving forces behind the rapid development of some of our contemporaries, this paper established that, for viable strategies needed to engender sustainable development in Nigeria to come to fruition, some of the inhibiting factors in our cultural practices have to be whittled down drastically. For those holding tenaciously to deprecating aspects of their culture that inhibit our capacity to adjust our lifestyle to accommodate persons of other cultures who we encounter in our daily life, let it be expressly explained to them that they have not only been undermining our overall national development, they have also been assembling building blocks that will form aspects of the high rise walls of obstacle to the development of their future generations.\par
We argue that when the children of those who have seen the wisdom in jettisoning cultural obscurity today to pave way for cultural dynamism that guides their today towards a better tomorrow; begin to enjoy the benefits of their fore bearers' decision, the children of those who have refused to bulge and heed the clarion call for cultural dynamism, by holding tenaciously to their archaic culture; will have the only choice of tagging along the tail end of the benefits of cultural renaissance being advocated as guide to Nigeria's development drive.\par
We recommend therefore that deliberate efforts must be made at sieving out debilitating cultural barriers to Nigerian's unity of purpose as a united people by utilizing existing essential ingredients of their culture with their human and material resources to cause profound transformation of the nation for the benefit of all citizens. To achieve this, there is need for the enthronement of honest dedicated and credible Leaders who are selfless, honest, committed and focused on the performance of the various duties assigned to them in the national development project.\par
There should be more equitable distribution of resources among the constituent units of the federation with power shared based on formula designed to accommodate the various interests of the units tat make up the federation. Here various segments should be provided opportunities to be part of the national development project based on principles of equity and fairness in such a manner that gives the constituents a sense of partnership in the development of their nationstate.\par
Opportunities should be created to accommodate citizens' interest in political appointments, with emphasis on gender equality and more gender inclusiveness as well as greater government involvement in the provision of welfare services and security of lives and properties for citizen, based on a people oriented processes of development that go beyond the lip services of the world and indeed Nigerian leaders.			\footnote{Multi-Cultural Integration in Federal States: Catalyst for National Development in Nigeria} 		 		\backmatter  			 \par
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\end{document}
