Government
SECTION A: ELEMENTS OF GOVERNMENT
- MEANING AND SCOPE OF THE SUBJECT MATTER – GOVERNMENT
(i) Government as an institution of the state.
(ii) Government as a process or art of governing.
(iii) Government as an academic field of study.
- BASIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT
(i) Basic Concepts – Power, Authority, Legitimacy, Sovereignty, Democracy, Political Culture , Political
Socialization, Communalism, Socialism, Communism, Capitalism, Feudalism, Fascism, Nazism,
Totalitarianism, Society, State and Nation, Colonialism and Nationalism.
(ii) Basic Principles – Rule of Law, Fundamental Human Rights, Separation of Powers/Checks and
balances, Constitutionalism, Political Participation, Representative Government, Centralization and
Decentralization – (Delegated Legislation, Devolution and Deconcentration).
- CONSTITUTIONS
(i) Definition and sources.
(ii) Scope.
(iii) Types – Written and Unwritten; rigid and flexible.
(iv) Functions.
- TYPES/FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
Unitary, Federal, Confederal, Presidential or non-parliamentary, Parliamentary or Cabinet,
Monarchical and Republican.
- ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT
The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. (Types/structure, composition/membership;
functions; power and limitations).
- CITIZENSHIP
Status, Rights, Duties and Obligations of individuals in the state.
- POLITICAL PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS
(i) Political Parties – definition, organization, types and functions.
(ii) Party Systems – definition, types and characteristics.
- THE ELECTORAL PROCESS
(i) Meaning, Types and Suffrage.
(ii) Purposes of Elections.
(iii) Organization of Elections – Features of free and fair elections; stages of elections.
(iv) Types and characteristics of Electoral systems.
(v) Electoral Commission – Roles or duties of electoral commissions. Problems, Organization and Characteristics.
- PRESSURE GROUPS AND PUBLIC OPINION
(i) Pressure Groups – definition, types, characteristics, mode of operation and functions.
(ii) Public Opinion – definition, formation, measurement and functions.
- PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
(i) Definition of Public Administration.
(ii) Civil Service – Meaning, Structure, Characteristics and Functions.
(iii) The Public/Civil Service Commission – Composition and Functions.
(iv) Public Corporations – definition, purposes, functions, organization, control and problems.
(v) Local Governments – Meaning, Types, Purposes, Functions, Sources of Revenue, Control,
Problems and Reforms.
SECTION B: POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN WEST AFRICA AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
- PRE-COLONIAL POLITICAL SYSTEMS OF CANDIDATES’
RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES.
The Structural Organization of the following:
(a) Nigeria – Hausa/Fulani, the Yoruba and the Igbo.
- COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION
(i) Reasons for Colonialism.
(ii) The policy and structure of the British Colonial Administration – Crown Colony, Protectorate and
Indirect Rule.
(iii) The policy of French Colonial Administration – Assimilation and Association.
(iv) Chieftaincy during colonial period – status and functions.
- NATIONALISM IN WEST AFRICA
(i) Nationalism before the Second World War (Proto-nationalism) – Meaning, features and factors.
(ii) Nationalism after the Second World War – factors, growth and effects.
- CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS OF CANDIDATES’
RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES
(i) Pre-independence Constitutions – (Background, main features, merits and demerits)
(a) Nigeria – Clifford 1922,
Richards 1946,
Macpherson 1951,
Lyttleton 1954.
Post-independence Constitutions – (Background, main features, merits and demerits)
(a) Nigeria – Independence Constitution 1960,
Republican Constitution 1963,
The 1979 and 1989 Constitutions.
- DEVELOPMENT OF MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE
CANDIDATES’ RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES
Nigeria; Formation, objectives, achievements and failures.
- MILITARY RULE IN THE CANDIDATES’ RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES
Nigeria;
- FEDERAL/UNITARY SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT IN
WEST AFRICA
Factors, Structures, Features and Problems.
- FOREIGN POLICIES OF THE CANDIDATES’ RESPECTIVE
COUNTRIES
Nigeria; Definitions, Factors, Advantages and Disadvantages.
- INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:
The United Nations Organization (UNO);
The Organization of African Unity (OAU);
The Commonwealth;
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Origin, aims/objectives, organizational structure, functions, achievements and problems.