101. To sustain and deepen the reforms, the incoming administration of President Yar’Adua launched a seven-point agenda – an articulation of policy priorities that will strengthen the reforms and build the economy in order that the gains of the reforms are felt widely by citizens across the country. The focus is on driving the type of growth which recognises the economic value of natural and human capital. The priority policies derived from the agenda address: sustainable growth in the real sector of the economy, physical infrastructure (power, energy, transportation, agriculture and human-capital development) education and health, security, law and order, combating corruption, and development of the Niger Delta. 102. President Yar’Adua is arguably the only president of Nigeria who has not only declared his assets, but has had the declaration published. The value of this act is that it sends a strong signal of the president’s desire to ensure transparency in governance. President Yar’Adua’s intention to forge ahead with good governance is also signified by his acknowledgment of the flaws in the 2007 elections and his declared intention to reform electoral laws. 2.3 Federalism reassessed 103. Although Nigeria was named a federal republic in 1963, the country’s federal origins date back to colonial times. For example, the 1947 constitution established Nigeria as a system of three highly autonomous federating regions, namely the Northern, Eastern and Western regions. The different constitutions of Nigeria from 1960 to 1999 have reflected the changes in the country’s administrative structure, and how state power is negotiated and shared among the central government, the state and the local government authorities which make up the federal system. 104. However, it is significant to note that, while Nigeria projects itself as a ‘federal republic’, its laws and the actual exercise of state power tend to retain a highly unitary character. Political power is so centralised as to make the two other tiers of government – the state and the local governments – almost entirely dependent on the central government for survival. The federating states and local governments have very little real economic and political autonomy, and there are laws which serve to further divest these political units of their key rights and responsibilities. 105. Further, the numerical and hegemonic strength of three ethnic groups (the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo) within the Nigerian federation has meant that Nigeria has a predominantly tripod ethnic structure, with each of the three majority ethnic groups constituting a pole in the competition for political and economic resources. As a result, the ethnic minorities are forced to form a bewildering array of alliances around each of the three dominant ethnicities. 106. The Federal Character Principle, an ethnic balancing arrangement, was established under the 1979 republican constitution to redress regional and ethnic disparities, ensure equal access to educational and publicsector employment opportunities, and promote equal access to resources 49