Specifically, when was the unification or unitary federal structure practiced?
It was during Gen. J. T. Aguiyi Ironsi’s administration. He was the first military head of state in Nigeria. A group of advisers to the late Ironsi including Pius Okigbo, the present Asagba of Asaba, Obi Chike Edozien, the late Francis Nwokedi, among others were said to have advised Ironsi that he should revert to the provincial system. At that time, Nigeria had 25 provinces comprising 13 in the north and 12 in the south. So, by recommending a return to the provincial structure, they reintroduced a unitary system of government for the country. Ironsi was to appoint captain-grade officers from the military, the police, the prison officers, etc. each to oversee a province and report directly to the military top command in Lagos, headed by himself. When the decree establishing the Unitary System of government was introduced by Ironsi, it generated a lot of conflicts because majority of the people believed that Nigeria would fare better under a federal structure. The Ironsi regime was late
