The quest for self-determination resulting from bad governance, ethnic problems, greed and other opportunities for rebellion continues to worry many nation states. As a result of colonialism, many postcolonial countries, working hard to emerge and also struggling with their past and the tags imposed on them. While some are succeeding by going through the painful sacrificial discipline of good public service, developments, and regional integration, others are masters of autocracy, dictatorship, and repression. Consequently, governmental policies that sometimes do not favour the masses have turned violent and at extremes, bloody when the masses woke up to demand their rights. This study thinks that it’s very important to discuss the concepts of a strong state, weak states and collapsed states in order to get a hold of the reason why some countries are prone to civil wars.

Keywords : Governance, Strong States, Weak States, Collapsed States, Civil War.