Nigerian south seeks more autonomy

The governors of Nigeria's 17 southern states have called for constitutional reforms aimed at transferring more power from the central government to the states.

They also say they want national resources to be shared more fairly and the federal constitution amended to allow their states the right to form their own police forces.

President Obasanjo - opposed to devolving power

The governors made their call at a meeting in Benin city.

A BBC correspondent in Nigeria says the demand is indicative of deep dissatisfaction over the current distribution of power.

He says the governors want greater control over revenues generated locally.

The Nigerian President, Olesegun Obasanjo, has argued against devolving power, saying it threatens Nigerian unity.

Running sore

Ever since independence in 1960, the federal make-up of the country has been a source of political problems.

In 1954 a constitution was drawn up which created three regions: Northern, western and eastern. The regions corresponded to the major ethnic groups in Nigeria: The Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo.

As the different ethnic groups vied for political power tensions grew. One source of conflict was the balance of power between central government and the regions.

In 1967 a plan was proposed to divide the country into 12 states in order to reduce the regional rivalries.

The largely Igbo Eastern Region saw this as an attempt to water down their influence.

The region seceded from Nigeria, declaring itself an independent country - Biafra. This move led to a bloody war, and ended in Biafran defeat in 1970.

In the aftermath of the Biafran war, the priority was to restore peace to Nigeria. One part of the plan was to reduce the power of the various regions by splitting them up. In 1976 there were 19 Nigerian states.

The number of states has increased since then - now there are 36. Ethnic rivalry and tensions, however, continue.