Government syllabus for Jamb

Part 1: Jamb syllabus for Government - Elements of Government

1. Elements of Government

• Basic Concepts in Governance:

1. Power, Authority, Legitimacy, Sovereignty;
2. Society, State, Nation, Nation-State;
3. Political Processes; Political Socialization, Political Participation, political cultures

• Forms of Governent: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Autocracy, Republicanism, Democracy-Definitions, features, merits and demerits.
• Arms of Government:

1. The Legislature-type, structure, functions, powers;
2. The Executive - types, functions, powers;
3. The Judiciary- functions, powers, components
4. Their relationships

• Structures of Governance:

1. Unitary - features, reasons of adoption, merits and demerits
2. Federal- features, reasons for adoption, merits and demerits
3. Condederal - features, reasons for adoption, merits and demerits

• Systems of Governance: Presidential, Parliamentary and Monarchical
• Political Ideologies: Communalism, Feudalism, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Totalitarianism, Fascism, Nazism.
• Constitution: Meaning, sources, functions, Types-written, unwritten, Rigid and Flexible
• Principles of Democratic Government: Ethics and Accountability in Public Office, Separation of Power, Checks and Balances, Individual and Collective Responsibility, Constitutionalism, Rule of Law, Representative Government
• Process of Legislatin: Legislative Enactments - Acts, Edicts, Bye-laws, Delegated Legislation, Decrees
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• Citizenship:

1. Meaning , types;
2. Citizenship rights;
3. Dual citizenship, renunciation, deprivation;
4. Duties and obligations of citizens;
5. Duties and obligations of the state

• The Electoral Process:

1. Suffrage - evolution, types;
2. Election -types, ingredients of free and fair election:
3. Electoral system - types, advantages and disadvantages of each;
4. Electoral Commission - functions, problems

• Political Parties and Party Systems:

1. Political parties - Definition, organization, functions
2. Party systems - Definition, organization, functions

• Pressure Groups:

1. Definition, types, functions and modes of operation.
2. Differences between Pressure Groups and political Parties

• Public Opinion:

1. Meaning, formation and measurement
2. Functions and limitations

• The Civil Service: Definition, characteristics, functions, structure, control and problems
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Part 2: Jamb syllabus for Government - Political Development in Nigeria

2. Political Development in Nigeria

• Pre-colonial polities: Pre-jihad Hausa, Emirate, Tiv, Igbo, Yoruba

1. Their structural organization;
2. The functions of their various political institution

• Imperialist penetration:

1. The British process of acquisition - trade, missionary activities, company rule, crown colony, protectorate;
2. The British colonial administrative policy-direct and indiriect rule:
3. The French colonial administrative policy-assimilation and association;
4. Impact of British colonial rule-economic, political, socio-cultural;
5. Comparison of British and French colonial administration
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• Process of Decolonization:

1. Nationalism - Meaning, Types:
2. Nationalist Movements - emergence, goals, strategies;
3. Nationalist Leaders - Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Ladopo Solanke, Aminu Kano J.S. Tarka, Tafawa Belewa and others;
4. Emergence of nationalist parties;
5. Influence of external factors

• Constitutional Developmet in Nigeria:

1. Hugh Clifford Constitution (1922)
2. Arthur Richards Constitution (1946)
3. John Macpherson Constitution (1951)
4. Oliver Lyttleton Constitution (1954)
5. Independence Constitution (1960) Their features, merits and demerits.

• Post - Independence Constitutions: 1963, 1979, 1989, 1999 - Characteristics and shortcomings
• Institutions of Government in the Post-Independence Nigeria:

1. The Legislative - Structures, functions and workings
2. The Executive - Structure, functions and workings
3. The Judiciary - Structure, functions and workings

• Public Commissions Established by the 1979 and subsequent Constitutions: The Civil Service Commission, the Public Complaints Commission, Electoral Commissions, National Boundary Commission and others - objectives functions and problems
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• Political Parties and Party Politics in Post-Independence Nigeria:

1. First Republic
2. Second Republic
3. Fourth Republic - Evolution, membership spread, structure, etc

• The Structure and Workings of Nigerian Federalism:

1. Rationale for a Federal System:
2. Tiers of government and their relationship;
3. Creation of states - 1963, 1967, 1976, 1987, 1991, 1996;
4. Problems of Nigerian Federalism - census, revenue allocation, conflicts etc. solutions e.g the Federal character, etc

• Public Corporations and Parastatals:

1. Definition, types, purpose and fuction:
2. Finance, control and problems;
3. Deregulation, privatization and commercialization - objectives, features, merits and demerits;
4. Comparison between public corporations and Parastatals

• Local Government:

1. Local government adminstration prior to 1979;
2. Features of local government reforms (1976, 1989) - structure, functions, finance and inter-governmental relations;
3. Traditional rulers and local governments;
4. Problems of local government administration in Nigeria
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• The Military in Nigerian Politics:

1. Factors that led to military intervention
2. Structure of military regimes:
3. Impact of military rule - political, e.g creation of states, introduction of unitary system (Unification
   Decree NO. 34) etc. economic, e.g. SAP, etc
4. Processes of military disengagement
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Part 3: Jamb syllabus for Government - Foreign Policy and Nigeria Relationship with the International Community

Foreign Policy and Nigerian Relationship with the International Community

• Foreign policy: - Definition, purpose, determining factors; formulation and implementation
• Nigeria's Foreign Policy:

1. Relations with major powers;
2. Relations with developing countries, e.g the Technical Aid Corps (TAC), etc
3. Nigeria's Non-Alignment Policy
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• Nigeria's Relations with African Countries:

1. Africa as the 'centre piece' of Nigeria's foreign policy - guiding principles, implementation and implications;
2. NEPAD - Origin, objectives and implications

• Nigeria in International obranizations:

1. The United Nations;
2. The Organization of African Unity;
3. The African Union;
4. The commonwealth;
5. The Economic Community of West Africa State (ECOWAS);
6. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
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Part 4: Jamb syllabus for Government - International Organizations

4. International Organizations

• International Organizations:

1. ECOWAS;
2. OAU, AU;
3. Commonwealth;
4. OPEC;
5. UNO;
6. African Petroleum Producers Association;

• Origin, objectives, structure, functions, achievements problems and prospects of these organization
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