Nigeria’s return to democracy has been a tumultuous era; the Fourth Republic has been characterized by insurgencies and violence throughout the country. Though seemingly disparate movements, the violence of the Fourth Republic has its roots in the country’s constitution. Three aspects of the 1999 Nigerian constitution stand out as particularly problematic: the centralization of the police at the federal level with limited sub-national oversight, the ambiguous concept of indigeneity, and the overlapping, often contradictory land tenure systems endorsed. All of these allude to the precariousness of Nigerian federalism under the current constitution; ultimately, the police centralization primes the country for violence, while the indigeneity rules and land tenure system make it more difficult to negotiate stable post-conflict settlements. The country’s recent experience with Boko Haram will be used to illustrate how these constitutional tenets facilitate instability.

中文翻译：

---

制度化不稳定性：尼日利亚第四共和国不安全的宪法根源

尼日利亚回归民主是一个动荡的时代；第四共和国的特点是全国各地的叛乱和暴力。尽管看似不同的运动，第四共和国的暴力行为却源于该国的宪法。1999 年尼日利亚宪法的三个方面特别有问题：警察在联邦一级集中，地方监督有限，土著概念模糊，以及认可的重叠、往往相互矛盾的土地保有权制度。所有这些都暗示了尼日利亚联邦制在现行宪法下的不稳定；归根结底，警察的中央集权使该国为暴力做好了准备，而土著规则和土地保有权制度使谈判稳定的冲突后定居点变得更加困难。