Within a period of thirty-six years after independence, Nigeria grew from a three-unit to a thirty-six unit federation with ever increasing demand for further decentralization. This paper argues that tile bloated structure of the Nigerian federalism is a product of fiscal centralism, which it degenerated into during the fourth phase (1959-1966) of its historical experience in developing a fiscal policy. From the fiscal U-turn stipulated in independence Constitution to five ad hoc efforts at adjusting the Nigerian fiscal policy, it is obvious that the leadership has shown a complete lack of will to confront the issue decisively and adopt fiscal federalism which is a fundamental tenet of federalism. This paper further argues that this is not unconnected with the fact that fiscal centralism is in consonance with the nature of military rule, which Nigeria was subjected to for thirty years out of her forty-year experience as a sovereign nation.