# JAMB & WAEC Government, Civic Education & Literature: 1999 Nigerian Constitution, Pre-Colonial/Colonial Administration, Federalism, Foreign Policy & Literary Devices > Covers JAMB UTME & WAEC WASSCE Government, Civic Education, and Literature-in-English: Political Concepts, Pre-Colonial Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba (Oyo) & Igbo Systems, British Indirect Rule, Nigerian Constitutional Development (1914–1999), Federalism, Public Corporations, Foreign Policy, and Literary Appreciation/Figures of Speech. - **Canonical URL:** https://flashcards.world/flashcards/sets/febc8e8b-36f4-4b63-a283-5398d913d42e/ - **Markdown URL:** https://flashcards.world/flashcards/sets/febc8e8b-36f4-4b63-a283-5398d913d42e.md - **Level:** advanced - **Languages:** en → en - **Total Cards:** 32 ## Flashcards (32 Cards) | # | Front (Term / Prompt) | Back (Definition / Answer) | Example | Multiple-Choice Options | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1 | In JAMB/WAEC Pre-Colonial Administration in Nigeria, compare the Hausa/Fulani Emirate System, the Old Oyo (Yoruba) System, and the Igbo Traditional Political System. | Hausa/Fulani Emirate: Highly centralized, theocratic absolute monarchy under the Emir (assisted by Waziri/Prime Minister, Galadima, Madawaki/Commander of Cavalry, Maaji/Treasurer, Dogari/Police, and Alkali/Sharia judge). Old Oyo (Yoruba): Constitutional monarchy with built-in checks and balances—the Alaafin was checked by the Oyomesi (led by the Bashorun, who could present an empty calabash requiring the Alaafin to commit suicide) and the Ogboni society, with the Are-Ona-Kakanfo heading the army. Igbo: Acephalous (stateless/decentralized), republican, segmentary village democracy run by the Council of Elders (Ndichie), Ofo title holders, Ozo society, Age-grades, and Oracle (Ibini Ukpabi/Arochukwu). | | | | 2 | In JAMB/WAEC Literature, what is the difference between a Protagonist, an Antagonist, a Foil Character, a Flat/Stock Character, and a Round/Dynamic Character? | Protagonist: central character around whom the conflict revolves; Antagonist: character or force opposing the protagonist; Foil: a character whose contrasting traits highlight the distinctive qualities of another character (usually the protagonist); Flat character: two-dimensional, built around a single trait and does not change; Round/Dynamic character: complex, multi-dimensional, and undergoes significant development over the narrative. | | | | 3 | In JAMB/WAEC Public Administration, what is the difference between the Civil Service (Ministries) and a Public Corporation (Parastatal), and how is the Civil Service insulated from partisan politics? | Civil Service ministries are headed politically by Ministers/Commissioners and administratively by Permanent Secretaries, funded directly by the annual budget, and guided by permanence, political neutrality, anonymity, and impartiality (recruited by the Civil Service Commission). Public Corporations (e.g., FRCN, NRC, FAAN) are statutory bodies created by Acts of Parliament to provide essential public utilities on a commercial/semi-autonomous basis managed by a Board of Directors. | | | | 4 | In JAMB/WAEC Drama, define Hamartia (Tragic Flaw), Hubris, Peripeteia, Anagnorisis, and Catharsis in Aristotelian Tragedy. | Hamartia: error of judgment or tragic flaw leading to the hero's downfall; Hubris: excessive pride/arrogance defying fate or the gods; Peripeteia: sudden reversal of fortune from prosperity to ruin; Anagnorisis: moment of critical discovery/recognition of truth; Catharsis: purgation or cleansing of the audience's emotions of pity and fear. | | | | 5 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Constitutional Development, what was the main innovation of the Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution of 1922? | It introduced the ELECTIVE PRINCIPLE into Nigeria (and British West Africa) for the first time—allocating 4 elected African seats in the 46-member Legislative Council (3 for Lagos, 1 for Calabar) with a $100 (£100) annual income franchise, which stimulated the formation of Nigeria's first political party (NNDP, led by Herbert Macaulay in 1923) and newspapers (Lagos Daily News). | | | | 6 | In JAMB/WAEC Electoral Systems, distinguish between Simple Majority (First-Past-The-Post), Absolute Majority (Run-off/Second Ballot), and Proportional Representation. | Simple Majority (Plurality): candidate with the highest number of votes wins even if under 50% (used in Nigerian legislative elections). Absolute Majority: candidate must win more than 50% of total valid votes (or meet constitutional geographic spread—in Nigerian Presidential elections, highest votes plus at least 25% of votes in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and FCT). Proportional Representation: legislative seats are allocated in proportion to each party's share of total votes. | | | | 7 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Federalism, trace the creation of States in Nigeria from 1963 to 1996. | 1963: Mid-Western Region created out of Western Region (4 regions total); May 27, 1967: Gen. Yakubu Gowon created 12 states; Feb 1976: Gen. Murtala Muhammed created 19 states (and initiated moving the Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja); 1987: Gen. Ibrahim Babangida created 21 states (then 30 states in 1991); Oct 1, 1996: Gen. Sani Abacha created 6 more states to bring Nigeria to its current 36 States and 774 Local Government Areas. | | | | 8 | In JAMB/WAEC Prose Fiction, distinguish between an Epistolary Novel, a Picaresque Novel, a Bildungsroman, and an Allegory. | Epistolary novel: written as a series of letters or diary entries (e.g., Mariama Bâ's 'So Long a Letter'). Picaresque novel: episodic adventures of a roguish, low-born hero living by his wits in a corrupt society. Bildungsroman: novel of formation/coming-of-age tracing the protagonist's psychological and moral growth from youth to maturity. Allegory: narrative where characters and events symbolize abstract moral or political concepts (e.g., George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'). | | | | 9 | In JAMB/WAEC Drama, what is the difference between a Soliloquy, an Aside, and a Dramatic Monologue? | Soliloquy: a character speaks their inner thoughts aloud while ALONE on stage (or believing they are alone). Aside: a brief remark by a character directed to the audience that other characters on stage are by convention supposed not to hear. Dramatic Monologue: a poem or speech in which a single speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing the speaker's temperament and character (e.g., Robert Browning's 'My Last Duchess'). | | | | 10 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Federalism, how are legislative powers divided under the 1999 Constitution across the Exclusive, Concurrent, and Residual Lists? | Exclusive Legislative List (68 items: defence, currency, customs, foreign affairs, mines/minerals, police): legislated ONLY by the Federal Government (National Assembly). Concurrent List (education, health, agriculture, roads, electric power): legislated by BOTH Federal and State governments (if conflict arises, Federal law prevails). Residual List (chieftaincy, markets, local matters not in Exclusive/Concurrent): legislated by State Houses of Assembly. | | | | 11 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigeria's Foreign Policy, why is 'Africa as the Centrepiece of Nigeria's Foreign Policy' a foundational principle, and what historic roles did Nigeria play in ECOMOG and anti-apartheid struggles? | Formulated at independence under Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, it commits Nigeria to African decolonization, eradication of apartheid (leading the Frontline States, nationalizing BP/Barclays in the late 1970s to support Zimbabwe/South Africa liberation), and regional peacekeeping—spearheading and funding ECOMOG military interventions to restore peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s. | | | | 12 | In JAMB/WAEC Colonial Administration, why did Lord Lugard's British Policy of Indirect Rule succeed in Northern Nigeria, achieve only partial success in Western Nigeria, and fail completely in Eastern Nigeria (leading to the 1929 Aba Women's Riot)? | In the North, a centralized Emirate system, Islamic taxation (Jangali/Haraji), and Alkali courts already existed. In the West, Obas were constitutional monarchs not used to absolute taxation powers. In the East (Igboland), there were no centralized chiefs or tax traditions; the British created artificial 'Warrant Chiefs' whose high-handedness and rumour of taxing women triggered the 1929 Aba Women's Riot. | | | | 13 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Constitutional History, trace the milestone features of the Richards Constitution (1946), Macpherson Constitution (1951), and Lyttleton Constitution (1954). | Richards Constitution (1946): Introduced Regionalism (divided Nigeria into Northern, Western, and Eastern Regions) and integrated the North into the central Legislative Council for the first time. Macpherson Constitution (1951): Preceded by the 1950 Ibadan Constitutional Conference; introduced quasi-federalism and central/regional ministers. Lyttleton Constitution (1954): Established TRUE FEDERALISM in Nigeria with Exclusive, Concurrent, and Residual legislative lists, regionalized the civil service and judiciary, and made Lagos the Federal Capital Territory. | | | | 14 | In JAMB/WAEC Government, compare the Presidential System of Government (e.g., Nigeria's 1979/1999 Constitutions, USA) with the Parliamentary/Cabinet System (e.g., Nigeria's 1960/1963 First Republic, Britain). | Presidential: Executive President is BOTH Head of State and Head of Government (mono-cephalous executive), strict Separation of Powers, Ministers are not members of parliament and are individually responsible to the President, fixed tenure, removal by Impeachment. Parliamentary: Dual (bicephalous) executive—ceremonial Head of State (Monarch/President) is separate from Head of Government (Prime Minister), fusion of executive and legislative powers, Collective Responsibility of Cabinet, removal by Vote of No Confidence. | | | | 15 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Constitutional History, what major changes were introduced by the 1979 Constitution (Second Republic) and preserved in the 1999 Constitution (Fourth Republic)? | Replaced the Westminster parliamentary system with the American-style Executive Presidential system, established a bicameral National Assembly (Senate with 109 members—3 per state + 1 FCT; House of Representatives with 360 members), required political parties to reflect 'Federal Character' with national headquarters in the Federal Capital, and entrenched Fundamental Human Rights (Chapter IV) and Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy (Chapter II). | | | | 16 | In JAMB/WAEC Civic Education, what are the classifications of Human Rights (First, Second, and Third Generation Rights) and which body investigates administrative injustices by public officials in Nigeria? | 1st Generation: Civil and Political Rights (right to life, fair hearing, speech, voting—Chapter IV of 1999 Constitution); 2nd Generation: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (education, health, shelter—Chapter II, non-justiciable); 3rd Generation: Collective/Solidarity & Environmental Rights. The Public Complaints Commission (Ombudsman), established in 1975, investigates administrative injustices and maladministration by public officers. | | | | 17 | In JAMB/WAEC Poetry, compare the Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet, Shakespearean (English) Sonnet, and Spenserian Sonnet in structure and rhyme scheme. | All sonnets have 14 lines (usually in iambic pentameter). Petrarchan sonnet: divided into an Octave (8 lines, abbaabba) presenting the problem and a Sestet (6 lines, cdecde or cdcdcd) resolving it after the volta (turn) at line 9. Shakespearean sonnet: three Quatrains and a final Heroic Couplet (abab cdcd efef gg). Spenserian sonnet: interlocking quatrains and couplet (ababbcbccdcdee). | | | | 18 | In JAMB/WAEC Government, distinguish between Power, Authority, Legitimacy, and Sovereignty, and state Max Weber's three types of Authority. | Power is the capacity to compel obedience (even by force/sanctions); Authority is the legal or rightful power to command obedience; Legitimacy is the popular acceptance/recognition of a government's right to rule; Sovereignty (Jean Bodin) is the supreme, absolute power of the state free from external control. Max Weber's 3 types of Authority: Traditional (custom/monarchy), Charismatic (personal magnetism/heroism), and Legal-Rational (constitutional/bureaucratic office). | | | | 19 | In JAMB/WAEC Literature, distinguish between Verbal Irony, Situational Irony, and Dramatic Irony. | Verbal irony: saying the opposite of what one actually means (often sarcastic); Situational irony: sharp discrepancy between the expected outcome of an action and the actual outcome; Dramatic irony: the audience or reader knows a crucial piece of information that a character on stage is unaware of (e.g., Oedipus not knowing he killed his own father Laius). | | | | 20 | In JAMB/WAEC Poetry, what are Blank Verse, Free Verse (Vers Libre), Heroic Couplet, Elegy/Dirge, Ode, and Ballad? | Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter (five iambic feet da-DUM per line, used in Shakespeare's plays and Milton's Paradise Lost). Free Verse: poetry without regular meter or rhyme scheme. Elegy/Dirge: poem lamenting the dead (a dirge is shorter and meant to be sung at a funeral; a pastoral elegy uses shepherds). Ode: lyrical poem of lofty praise addressed to a person or object. Ballad: narrative song-poem told in quatrains with refrains. | | | | 21 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Government, what were the major political parties of Nigeria's First Republic (1960–1966) and Second Republic (1979–1983) along with their leaders? | First Republic: NPC (Northern People's Congress—Sir Ahmadu Bello & Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa), NCNC (National Council of Nigerian Citizens—Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe), AG (Action Group—Chief Obafemi Awolowo), NEPU (Mallam Aminu Kano), UMBC (Joseph Tarka). Second Republic: NPN (Alhaji Shehu Shagari), UPN (Chief Obafemi Awolowo), NPP (Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe), PRP (Mallam Aminu Kano), GNPP (Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim). | | | | 22 | In JAMB/WAEC Literature-in-English (Literary Appreciation), distinguish between Synecdoche and Metonymy with classic exam examples. | Synecdoche uses a PART of something to represent the WHOLE (or the whole for a part), e.g., 'All HANDS on deck' (hands = sailors) or 'Nigeria won the match'. Metonymy substitutes an closely ASSOCIATED attribute, object, or symbol for the thing itself, e.g., 'The PEN is mightier than the SWORD', 'The CROWN' (monarchy), or 'Aso Rock spoke today'. | | | | 23 | In JAMB/WAEC Government, what are the three core principles of the Rule of Law formulated by Professor A.V. Dicey, and what are its limitations? | 1. Supremacy of the regular law (absence of arbitrary power), 2. Equality before the law (all citizens subject to the same ordinary courts), and 3. Respect for fundamental human rights/liberties. Limitations include: diplomatic immunity, executive/parliamentary immunity, state of emergency/martial law, delegated legislation, and administrative tribunals. | | | | 24 | In JAMB/WAEC Colonial Administration, distinguish between the French colonial policies of Assimilation (in the Four Communes of Senegal: Dakar, Saint-Louis, Gorée, Rufisque) and Association (Loi-Cadre of 1956). | Assimilation sought to turn colonized Africans into French citizens ('Evolués') by replacing African culture and traditional institutions with French language, law, and centralized direct administration from Paris. Association replaced Assimilation after criticism, respecting African traditional institutions and granting territorial assemblies local autonomy under the 1956 Loi-Cadre. | | | | 25 | In JAMB/WAEC Government, what is the Doctrine of Separation of Powers (Montesquieu) and how do Checks and Balances operate among the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary in Nigeria? | Formulated by Baron de Montesquieu in 'The Spirit of the Laws' (1748) to prevent tyranny: the Legislature makes laws, the Executive implements laws, and the Judiciary interprets laws. Checks and balances: the President can veto bills (overridden by 2/3 majority of National Assembly), the Senate confirms Presidential appointments (Ministers, Ambassadors, Chief Justice), the National Assembly approves the budget and can impeach the President, and the Judiciary exercises Judicial Review to declare unconstitutional laws or executive actions null and void. | | | | 26 | In JAMB/WAEC Poetry Scansion, what are the four primary metrical feet in English prosody: Iamb, Trochee, Anapest, and Dactyl? | Iamb: unstressed + stressed syllable (da-DUM, e.g., 'be-LONG'); Trochee: stressed + unstressed (DUM-da, e.g., 'GA-rden'); Anapest: two unstressed + one stressed (da-da-DUM); Dactyl: one stressed + two unstressed (DUM-da-da). | | | | 27 | In JAMB/WAEC Government, what is Gerrymandering, Enfranchisement/Suffrage, Electoral College, and By-Election? | Gerrymandering: the unfair manipulation of electoral constituency boundaries to give an undue advantage to a particular political party; Suffrage/Franchise: the constitutional right of qualified adult citizens to vote in public elections; Electoral College: a body of intermediate electors chosen to elect a higher official; By-election: a special election held to fill a single legislative seat that became vacant between general elections due to death, resignation, or recall. | | | | 28 | In JAMB/WAEC International Organizations, what was the difference between the Casablanca Group and the Monrovia Group prior to the founding of the OAU in May 1963, and when did the OAU transform into the African Union (AU)? | The Casablanca Group (Ghana under Nkrumah, Guinea, Mali, Egypt, Morocco) was radical and demanded immediate political union of Africa ('United States of Africa'). The Monrovia Group (Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Francophone states) was moderate/gradualist, advocating functional economic cooperation before political union. They compromised to form the OAU on May 25, 1963 in Addis Ababa, which transformed into the African Union (AU) in Durban in July 2002. | | | | 29 | In JAMB/WAEC Literature, distinguish between Apostrophe, Paradox, Epigram, Pun (Paronomasia), and Litotes. | Apostrophe: directly addressing an absent person, dead person, or inanimate object as if present ('O Death, where is thy sting?'). Paradox: a seemingly self-contradictory statement that reveals a deeper truth ('The child is father of the man'). Pun: play on words with similar sounds/multiple meanings. Litotes: deliberate understatement using a double negative for affirmative emphasis ('He is no mean poet' = he is a great poet). | | | | 30 | In JAMB/WAEC Local Government Administration, what major reforms were introduced by the 1976 Local Government Reform in Nigeria? | It created a uniform single-tier structure of Local Government throughout Nigeria, made Local Government the recognized third tier of government with statutory allocations from the Federation Account, introduced full-time elected Chairmen and Supervisory Councillors, and established Local Government Service Commissions. | | | | 31 | In JAMB/WAEC Nigerian Constitutional History, how did the 1960 Independence Constitution differ from the 1963 Republican Constitution? | Under the 1960 Independence Constitution, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain remained Nigeria's Head of State (represented by Governor-General Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe) and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London was Nigeria's highest court of appeal. The 1963 Republican Constitution severed ties with the British Monarchy, replacing the Governor-General with an elected ceremonial Nigerian President and making the Supreme Court of Nigeria the final court of appeal. | | | | 32 | In JAMB/WAEC Sound Devices in Poetry, distinguish between Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance, and Onomatopoeia. | Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words ('Full fathom five thy father lies'); Assonance: repetition of identical vowel sounds within nearby words with different consonants ('The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain'); Consonance: repetition of internal or terminal consonant sounds with different vowels ('pitter-patter', 'stroke of luck'); Onomatopoeia: words whose sound imitates their meaning ('buzz', 'hiss', 'boom'). | | | --- Study this deck interactively with FSRS-6 spaced repetition, audio review, and multiple-choice mode at [Flashcards World](https://flashcards.world/flashcards/sets/febc8e8b-36f4-4b63-a283-5398d913d42e/).