SS 2 GOVERNMENT – KnowledgeMerchant

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 09/09/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN NIGERIA

FOCUS AREA: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Action Group (AG)

The Action Group (AG) was formed in 1951 as the political wing of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (a Yoruba cultural organisation). Its leader was Obafemi Awolowo. It dominated Western region’s political scene for eleven (11) years (1951 -1962). Other political figures in this party were S. L. Akintola, Bode Thomas, Chief Shonibare, etc.

Action Group, at its launch, was declared a regional party and it worked towards bringing together all the nationalists in the region.

AIMS/OBJECTIVES OF AG

To awaken the people’s political consciousness.
To bring together all nationalist groups for the realisation of independence.
To encourage and promote growth and development of their regions.
To foster a qualitative education to its people.
To encourage mass literacy.

ACHIEVEMENT OF AG

Dominated Western government which provided social amenities and free education to the people.
The party succeeded in awakening the political consciousness of the people.
The party also championed the agitation for constitutional reform in 1951.
The party also succeeded in the fight for independence.

NIGERIAN NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (NNDP)

The Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) was formed in 1923 under the leadership of Sir Herbert Macaulay, popularly referred to as the father of Nigerian nationalism. This party won all the three seats in Lagos into the legislative council in the election of 1923, 1928, and 1933. It also won the election into the Lagos town council when the elective principle was introduced.

AIMS/OBJECTIVES OF NNDP

To elect members into the Lagos Legislative Council.
To upgrade Lagos to a full municipal status.
To encourage compulsory education to the natives.
To fight for and obtain independence for the country.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF NNDP

Won all three seats to the Lagos Legislative Council in the elections of 1923, 1928, and 1933.
Provided a platform for testing true representatives.
Fostered political consciousness.
Contributed in the fight for independence.

Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM)

It was formed in 1935 and featured characters like Ernest Okoli, Samuel Akinsanya, and Dr. C. Vaughan. The movement competed with NNDP for the control of political activities of Lagos.

AIMS/OBJECTIVES OF NYM

To work towards the unity of Nigeria.
To work towards the attainment of self-rule.
To unite all ethnic groups in Nigeria for the fight against colonial rule.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF NYM

Won all the three seats in the Legislative Council.
Set the motion for Nigeria’s independence.
Helped to unify all the ethnic groups in Nigeria.
The NYM also promoted national consciousness.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 02/09/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: NIGERIA AND THE WORLD

FOCUS AREA: HOW NIGERIA RELATE WITH OTHER AFRICAN STATE

Foreign policy refers to the strategic and tactics employed by a state in conducting her relationship with other states while pursuing her interest.

Various ways in which Nigeria maintains friendly relations with other African states are:

Giving of aids and relief materials to victims of countries involves in political unrest eg war, coups.
It embarked on the establishment of bilateral economic and political relationships.
Nigeria is actively involves Regional and Sub-regional economic ties eg ECOWAS and African development Bank (AFDB).
In most of the crises ridden in Africa, Nigeria as been involved in resolution of such crises and even made moves for the settlement of such crises.
Nigeria is helping some Africa countries through the technical aid corps by sending professionals in various fields like Lawyers, Doctors and Engineers to assists in trouble time.
Nigeria has been participating actively in peace keeping operations for example in Chad, Congo and Somalia.
Nigeria have contributed and participated in both sporting and cultural activities in Africa. It hosted FESTAC 77and takes active part on Games.
It has supported some liberation movements in Africa eg this support is financial and moral.

NIGERIA AND ECOWAS MISSION

To promote co-operation and development in all field of industry, transport and energy etc.
To eliminate customs duties and other charges in respect of the importation and exportation of goods between members-countries.
To abolish administrative restrictions on trade among members states.
To remove obstacles to free movement of people, services and capital among members states.
To establish a common fund for cooperation, compensation and development.
To harmonize monetary policies of members states through integrating the economic and industrial policies.
To established a common tariff against non-members states.
To harmonize agricultural policies and promotes common projects in marketing, research and agro-industrial enterprises.

WORK TO DO

Enumerate five problems of ECOWAS.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 26/08/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: MAJOR POLITICAL CRISES IN NIGERIA

SUB TOPIC: THE CENSUS CRISIS OF 1962/63 AND THE NIGERIA CIVIL WAR.

In May 1962, a population census was conducted in Nigeria. This was the first census in Nigeria after independence. Due to disagreement, the result was not published, yet the figured leaked out. Following this, another census was conducted in 1963 but the result was released in February 1964. The released result put the figures like this. The North had better advantage than the other region in terms of population and on the base of the result; the country was divided into 312 Single Member House of Representatives.

However, there was allegation of inflation of figures. The Eastern region and Mid-western region rejected the results. The eastern regional government went to court ordering the result to be nullified or not to be accepted. Thus, the court ruled that the Eastern Regional government had failed to show or prove to the court that it had any legal right to specific number of seats in the House of Representatives, so that the court can help enforce it.

Reasons for the Inflated Census Figures

To acquire elective positions
For gaining more political appointment
For increase in revenue allocation
For more local government
Delimitation of constituencies

THE NIGERIA CIVIL WAR

The Nigeria civil war broke out on May 30^th 1967 and end 15^th 1970. The 3 years civil war cause untold hardship and untimely death to more than 2 million Nigerians. In the history of Nigeria the habitants of the country will never wish nor pray for an occurrence like that again because many future leaders and potentials in terms of human resources were wasted and up till now the Nigeria community is yet to fixed back some of the damages the civil war had brought to the nation.

It was during the era of the then military governor of Eastern region Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu after due consultation with Igbo leaders the military dictator declared the war against the policies of the then federal military government headed by General Yakubu Gowon.

Causes of the civil war

Promulgation of Decree 34: Decree No 34 was promulgated by General Aguiyi Ironsi which brings Nigeria back to unitary system of government thereby reducing the power of regional government.
Massacre of Igbo in the North: There was equally the massacre of the Igbo in the Northern part of Nigeria due to their economic dominance in the North.
Political Instability: The tension created by the disturbances in Western Nigeria as a result of the election of 1964 and 1965, and the Federal Government refusal to take emergency action on the issue.
Creation of 12 States by Gowon: The creation of 12 States out of the existing four regions by the government of General Yakubu Gowon on the 27^th of May, 1967 was seen as a step to weaken the regional government.
Leadership crisis: There was leadership crisis over who should succeed General Aguiyi Ironsi between Gowon and Ojukwu as the next in rank Brigadur Babafemi Ogundipe declined to take over.

WORK TO DO

What are the likely effects of 1962/63 census crisis?

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 19/08/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: MILITARY IN NIGERIA POLITICS.

The first military experience in the Nigeria politics started after the coup d’etat of January 15^th, 1966. This happened when the civilian government headed by Sir Tafawa Balewa was sacked. There were suspension of constitutional activities by the Supreme Military Council then headed by General Aguyi Ironsi. Unfortunately, Major General Aguyi Ironsi never lasted long in office as a result of coup d’etat of 29^th July, 1966 which led to the death of the General and a new military dictator assumed power which is the person of Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon which was also overthrown on the 29^th of July, 1975. Later, Brigadier General Muritala Ramat Mohammed replaced General Gowon and His government was also rescued from power through another coup d’etat on 13^th Febuary, 1976 in a bloody coup. The dictator that succeeded Brigadier Muritala was General Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo and He handed over power to an elected civilian government headed by President Shehu Shagari. In 1983, General Mohammed Buhari took over the power from elected government on the gross allegation of embezzlement, corruption and that the election that brought Shagari to power in 1983 was massively rigged. However, the regime was short lived as General Ibrahim Babangida took over from General Muhammed Buhari in August 1985. Other military involvement in Nigeria politics is the era of Abacha which took over power in 1993 after alleged resignation of the leader of the Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, the man that chaired the transition council set up under Babangida regime.

Thereafter, the General Abdul-Salami Abubakar replaced General Sanni Abacha after the death of Sanni Abacha. It was General Abdulsalam Abubakar who handed over power to President Olusegun Obasanjo as a democratically elected Head of the 4^th Republic on May 29^th, 1999.

Operation of the military involves the use of Force, Suspension of the constitution, Arrest and detention of politicians, Closure of border, Establishment of military tribunal, Banning of political activities, Lack of respect for the rule of law etc.

FEATURES OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT

There is total breakdown of law and constitutional integrity by military dictators and this serve as bad posture of any individual to agree that abuse and suspension of civil right by military is better for governance.
The arrest and detention of politicians by military dictators put the society in anarchy and conflict of nepotism thereby causing mistrust governance.
The absence of opposition voices is a good sign of dictatorial nature which tolerate not opposition or criticism to their rule.
In any military government, there is level of disrespect to rule of law and disregard to court order.
The absence of election allows the bad leadership style of any dictators to remain in power without check from the people through vote.
There is the use of force through the power of the gun.
There is incessant seek of power through coup de e’tat.
Military government always rules by Decrees.
There is no respect for fundamental human right.
It is always autocratic.

Work to Do

Debunk the claim that military regime is a corrective regime.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 10/08/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: NIGERIA FOREIGN POLICY.

Nigeria, like other countries of the world, is not self-sufficient. This is because the bounties of nature both human and material resources are not evenly distributed among the countries of the world. Nigeria needs the support of cooperation of other nations in politics, economic, socio-cultural and educational fields. Foreign policy however can be defined as the pattern of behaviour a nation adopts towards other countries in the international systems. In other words, it is the totality of a nation’s interaction with the other will take on any world issue at a particular time is determined by its foreign policy.

Factors that Influence Nigeria’s foreign policy.

Historical Linkage: Nigeria formal colonial master can influence her foreign policy formulation.
Geographical location: What this means is that Nigeria’s foreign policy is essentially centered on matters that affect the continent of Africa as a whole.
Military Might: The numerical strength of the Nigerian Armed Forces coupled with its international exposure especially in peace keeping force operations, make her military a force to reckon with within and outside African Continent.
Economic Factor: Nigerian economy is highly a dependent and mono economy. This makes the economy a weak and fragile one. This tends to restrict and channel Nigeria foreign policy towards a particular section of the world.
Public opinion and Pressure groups: It is often said that no right thinking, visionary and focused government would dare toil with the views, aspirations and demands of majority of its people. For this reason and more, Nigerian government do consider the opinion of her citizens when formulating the foreign policy objectives of the country.

WORK TO DO

Discuss why African is the center piece of Nigeria foreign policy.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 03/08/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: POST – COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

THE 1999 FOURTH REPUBLIC CONSTITUTION

The 1999 constitution of the Fourth Republic started to be applied as from May 29, 1999, when the military head of state handed over power to elected President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The 1999 constitution is a revised version of 1979 constitution. The constitution has the following provisions among which are provisions for the formation of multi-party system.

The fundamental objectives and Directives Principles of the state policy are entrenched in both the 1979 and 1999 constitutions. These include the provision of security for the citizens as well as welfare services.

It established some commission such as Police Service commission, Civil Service Commission, Code of conduct Bureau.

The constitution is written and rigid and the process of amending the constitution was clearly spelt out.

The constitution recognized local government as the third tier of government.

It provided for a bicameral legislature in the National Assembly made up of 109 Senators and 360 members in the Federal House of Representatives.

It maintained Presidential system of government as adopted in the 1979 and 1989 constitution.

Any member of the legislature can be recalled by the members of a constituency for non performance.

WORK TO DO

Does 1999 constitution need review?

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 27/07/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

1979 CONSTITUTION

THE 1979 SECOND REPUBLIC CONSTITUTION

The mis-rule and the irresponsible manner the politicians of the first Republic conducted the affairs of the nation led to the military takeover of government on 15^th of January, 1966. When General Murtala became the Head of State of Nigeria in 1975, he promised to return Nigeria to civil rule. Unfortunately, he was brutally murdered before he could fulfill his promise to return Nigeria to a civilian government. General Olusegun Obasanjo who ruled after him kept to the promise made by his predecessors. On assumption of office, General Olusegun Obasanjo instituted a transitional programme which was to return Nigeria to democratic rule by 1979. To achieve this lofty aim, a 50 man-member committee was inaugurated under the leadership of Chief F. R. A. Williams. The membership of the committee was however reduced to 49 following the refused of Chief Awolowo to participate in the committee.

The 1979 constitution provided for a presidential system of government which was a complete departure from parliamentary system the county adopted in 1960 and Republican in 1963.

WORK TO DO

What are the main features of 1979 Second Republic Constitution?

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 20/07/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

1963 CONSTITUTION

THE 1963 REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION

The republican constitution was passed into law by the federal House of Representatives on September 19, 1963, and came into force on 1st October 1963. This was after the constitutional conference held in Lagos on July 25 and 26 1963 where issues bordering on the real independence of Nigeria were resolved. One of the main features was that the queen of England ceased to be the head of state. The head of state was the president who was to be chosen by secret ballot of a joint session of both houses of the national assembly. the president who was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The Supreme court rather than the privy council became the highest court of appeal in the country. Also, the judicial Service commission was abolished. The appointment of judges and their promotion was vested in the prime minister. The power of judicial review was vested in the Supreme court. It had the power to declare actions which were contrary to constitutional provisions null and void. The seats in the senate and house of representatives were increased. The senate was increased from 44 to 56while the house of representatives was increased fro 305 to 312. The reason for this increase was the creation of the mid-western state. Hence, new seats had to be created to accommodate for this.

Despite all these changes in the constitution, there still some criticisms leveled against it. First was that the president was elected by the national assembly instead of the electorates. The national assembly consisted of just a few people in comparison with the whole electorates. This might end up making the president loyal to the legislature instead of the people. Also, the abolition of the judicial service commission could be said to be a bad move. This is because leaving the regulation of the judiciary which ought to be independent in the hand of the executive compromised the judiciary. Judges would not want to offend the prime minister in order for them to get promoted, thereby circumventing justice.

Due to political crises in the country, the republican constitution did not last. On January 15 1966,there was a coup d’etat which removed the politicians. This brought about military rule until 1979.

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1963 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the disadvantages of the constitution as read in the above explanation.

CORRECTION ON 1960 CONSTITUTION 13/07/2020

Merits of 1960 constitution

Nigeria had greater autonomy over the control of the affairs of the country.
The Fundament human rights entrenched in the constitution provided for help to safeguard the citizens’ rights.
It provided for more state creation.
The independence of the judiciary which the constitution provided for was to make the judges to be fair and just in the performance of their duties.
It granted independence to the country called Nigeria.

Demerits of 1960 constitution

Being parliamentary system of government, there was no separation of powers.
The constitution was drafted by the whites in their own country.
Inspite of our so called independence, the Queen of England was still the political head of Nigeria.
The Supreme Court was not the highest court in the land until 1963.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 13/07/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

1960 CONSTITUTION

THE INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION

On 1st October 1960, Nigeria became independent. This meant that Nigeria was a sovereign state independent of colonial influences. However, this was not fully the case. The Queen was still the head of state, although she was represented by a Nigerian in the person of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe who was the Governor-General while Tafawa Balewa was the Prime minister.

The constitution was like the 1954 constitution but with some changes. There was the inclusion of provisions for acquiring citizenship of the country. There was also included in the constitution provisions for the procedure for amendment of the constitution. Judicially, Judges of the courts were appointed through nomination by the judicial service commission upon the assent of the Privy Council. The Privy Council was also the highest court of appeal in the country.

The constitution divided legislative powers between the center and the regional legislature. It made provisions for an exclusive legislative list. It also made provisions for a concurrent list. Items in the exclusive list were to be legislated by only the central legislature. Items in the concurrent list were to be legislated upon by the central legislature and the regional legislatures. Items not included in any of the lists were regarded as residual lists which were within the sole purview of the regional legislature.

It also provided for a dual executive. This meant that we had the Head of State and the Head of Government in two different people. The head of government was Nnamdi Azikiwe while the head of state was Tafawa Balewa. The head of state had only ceremonial functions while the head of government had executive powers. He was responsible for the day to day running of the activities of government.

The constitution also provided for its supremacy. This was in contrast to the convention in a parliamentary system. In a parliamentary system what we have is parliamentary supremacy, not constitutional supremacy. However, due to the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria, the constitution had to be supreme in order to dissuade fears of domination of minority groups.

Although Nigeria was purported to have gained independence from the British, there were still some vestiges of imperialism in the independence constitution. One of them is that the queen was still the head of state, which was represented by a Nigerian. Also, the highest court of appeal was the judicial committee of the Privy Council in the House of Lords instead of the Nigerian Supreme court. It was due to these that a new constitution had to be made. This was the 1963 republican constitution.

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1960 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the bad aspect of the constitution as read in the above explanation.

CORRECTION ON 1954 CONSTITUTION

QUESTION 1

The posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker were created both at Federal and Regional Assemblies.
It started federalism in Nigeria. Nigeria become a federal state made up of Northern, Eastern, Western and Federal territory of Lagos.
It created the post of Permanent Secretary and Parliamentary Secretaries both at the Federal and Regional level.
A federal supreme court was established for the whole country.
Minister were now given portfolio, they become effective heads of departments and ministries.

QUESTION 2

The constitution did not provide for a uniform electoral system.
It divided the country into three unequal regions with the Northern region larger than Eastern region and Western region put together.
The division of the country into three regions did not adequately provide for the minorities the chance to participate in government.
It failed to provide for the office of Prime Minister at the center as it had created the offices of Premiers in the Regions.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 06/07/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

1954 CONSTITUTION

LYTTLETON CONSTITUTION

Despite, the improvements in the Macpherson constitution, it could not keep Nigerians united. It collapsed soon due to problems from the legislature. In 1953,Anthony Enahoro of the A.G proposed on the floor of the house that Nigeria should be given independence in 1956. The Northerners, who felt they were not ready for independence, opposed this. They proposed that independence should be given ‘as soon as practicable’. This led to been booed in Lagos. This led to a riot in Kano in reaction to what happened in Lagos. Also, the North threatened to secede.

In order to calm things down, the then colonial secretary, Oliver Lyttleton called the leaders for a conference in London. Some issues were discussed during the conference and committees were set up.Their reports were to be considered in the Lagos conference of 1954. It was the conference that led to the Lyttleton constitution.

The constitutional conferences of 1953 and 1954 held in London and Lagos respectively gave birth to the Lyttleton constitution. The constitution fully introduced a federal system,with North, East, West and Southern Cameroons. While the Federal capital territory was in Lagos.

Judicially, the West African court of appeal was abolished. There was a supreme court for Nigeria and individual high courts for the regions. However, the highest court of appeal was the judicial committee of the privy council. The Eastern and Western regions became self-governing in 1957 while the North became self-governing in 1959. Southern Cameroon through a referendum opted out of Nigeria.

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1954 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the bad aspect of the constitution as read in the above explanation.

CORRECTION ON 1951 CONSTITUTION 29/06/2020

QUESTION 1.

There was bicameral legislature in the North and west made up of house of Chiefs and House of Assembly.
Bills passed by the Regional legislature must be approved by the central legislature.
Members of the Regional Legislature were recruited from the Regional House.
The House of Representatives was created for the whole country. It was one chamber of parliament made up of 136 members.
The central executive was known as Council of Ministers and consisted the Governor as president, 6 Ex officio members and 12 ministers (4 for each region).

QUESTION 2

There was independence of the central legislature on the regional legislature.
The Governor still enjoyed reserved powers over certain issues
There was no Prime minister at the center to join the Council of Ministers together as a team
There was different electoral system for the 3 regions. Direct election for the West and Indirect election for the North.
There was the motion of independence moved by Anthony Enahoro, a member of the Action Group in the Federal House of Representatives in 1953 that self government should be granted by 1956. The North opposed it and this led to Kano riot of 1953.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 29/06/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

1951 CONSTITUTION

Due to the above criticism of the Richard constitution, it was felt that a new constitution was needed. The governor, Sir John Macpherson, not wanting to make the mistake his predecessor made, decided to include Nigerian in the constitutional making process. There was wide consultation of Nigerians even to the village levels. Also, there was the Ibadan conference of 1950. The result of all these was that it led to the creation of the Macpherson constitution.

The constitution provided for a federal legislature called the House of Representatives. It had 136 elected representatives, 6 ex-officio members and 6 nominated by the governor. 68 members were from the North, 34 from the West and 34 from the East.

It also provided for regional legislatures that could make laws for their regions. The legislatures in the West and North were bi-cameral, each having a house of chiefs alongside the regional legislature. In the East, it was a unicameral legislature. It was also from the regional legislatures that members were nominated to the legislative council.

The council of ministers was constituted and charged with the responsibility of executing policies, the central law was superior to regional law if there is a clash between the two over certain matter. Likewise, the regional legislature had the power to legislate on items such as education, Agriculture and local government administration.

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1951 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the bad aspect of the constitution as read in the above explanation.

CORRECTION ON 1946 CONSTITUTION

22/06/2020

Question 1.

By creating regional councils, representatives were sent to the legislative house in Lagos.
The Chiefs were recognized in the process of government.
The legislative councils were dominated by unofficial majority.
It gave opportunity for the people to discuss their own affairs by creating Regional Assemblies.
It ensured the representation of all interest. For the first time, the North was represented in the legislative council.
Central government offered reserved power.

Question 2

It was written without consulting the people.
The unofficial were chiefs who were government nominees.
The regional assemblies were mainly advisory and consultative bodies without legislative power.
Nigerians were left out in the Executive council.
The legislative council could legislate over other items but has no power over financial matters.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 22/06/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

THE 1946 CONSTITUTION

Before, the end of 1944, the then governor, Sir Arthur Richards provided a new proposal for constitutional amendment. This was as a result of pressure being mounted on him by the educated elite. They felt that the Clifford Constitution did not represent the indigenous population. Therefore, the governor introduced the constitution which had the following aims:

• To promote Nigeria’s unity

• To provide adequately within that desire for the diverse elements that make up the country

• To provide greater participation of Africans in the determination of their own affairs.

The constitution provided for a new legislative council, it had: The governor, 16 official members, and 28 unofficial members. Of the 28, two were nominated by the governor while 4 were elected. The North had 11 members; the West had 8 members while the East had 6 members. The elected 4 were from Lagos and Calabar. Also, the constitution made the council legislate for the whole country.

The constitution also provided for regional houses of assembly. The members of the regional assembly were nominated by the native authority. However, they weren’t legislative bodies. They were just grounds for discussing national issues. Also, it was from the house of assembly that members were nominated to the legislative council. The East and West had unicameral legislature while the North, in addition to a house of assembly, had a house of chiefs.

Also, the constitution reduced the amount of the limited franchise from 100 pounds to 50 pounds. This is considered as a plus because more people could vote and be voted for. However, it was still too expensive for most Nigerians.

The executive council in Lagos also had for the first time, Nigerians. They were Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Bankole Rhodes.

Despite all these improvements compared to the Clifford constitution, the constitution still had some defects. First, it limited franchise to only Lagos and Calabar. Also, the money required for the right to vote was still too expensive for most Nigerians. Also, the regional houses of assemblies could not make laws, they were merely grounds for public discussion. The constitution also did not include the elites. This is because those nominated into the regional houses of assembly and the legislative council was nominated by the native authority.

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1946 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the bad aspect of the constitution as read in the above explanation.

CORRECTION ON 1922 CONSTITUTION

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1922 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the bad aspect of the constitution as read in the above explanation.
Is 1914 amalgamation of Southern and Northern protectorate an evil in Nigeria of today? Give your view.

QUESTION One

It introduces the elective principles.
It led to the development of political parties.
More seats were given to Africans than that of 1914 Nigerian council.
It was the first written constitution in Nigeria.
It led to greater participation of Nigerians in the politics of their country.

QUESTION Two

Africans were not represented in the Executive council.
Only male adult of 100 pounds (N200) annual income was allowed to vote.
The elective principle which the 1922 provided was limited to Lagos and Calabar.
The white dominated the Legislative council, indicating that they were not granted independence to Nigerians.

QUESTION Three

Response could be in support or against. I will give comment base on opinions.

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

DATE: 15/06/2020

CLASS: SS 2

TOPIC: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

FOCUS AREA: COLONIAL ERA CONSTITUTION

INTRODUCTION:

The importance of a constitution in any given society cannot be overemphasized. The constitution, in Nigeria’s situation, is the supreme law of the land which all acts of individuals and of parliament must not contravene. It is the fundamental and organic law of a nation or state that establishes the institutions and apparatus of government, defines the scope of governmental sovereign powers, and guarantees individual civil rights and civil liberties.

It is trite that one of the sources of a constitution is other constitutions. This is the major concern of this present work. The aim of this work is to trace the history of Nigeria’s constitution from the 1922 constitution to the 1999 constitution. This will help us to understand better, how previous constitutions have been fashioned for Nigeria and will go a great length in making us understand the source of our present constitution from the looking glass of constitutional history.

Brief History

In 1914, the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria was merged with the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and they were referred to as the Colony and protectorate of Nigeria. The legislative council was this time allowed to make law for only the colony. The governor made laws for the protectorates. Lord Lugard said the reason for this was “until communications by railway are greatly extended, the proposition is physically impossible”. This was due to the large size of the country.

In place of a legislative council for the country, there was established an advisory body called the Nigerian council. It had 30 members of whom 17 were officials and 13 non-officials. Of the non-officials, four were nominated by the governor to represent commercial, shipping, mining and banking interests. While the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, Calabar chamber of commerce of chamber of mines appointed one member each. The remaining members were Nigerians appointed by the governor.

THE 1922 CONSTITUTION

On assuming office in 1919, Sir Hugh Clifford, the governor, was pressured by the then West African congress, led by Caseley Hayford, to provide constitutions in West African subject states. This led to the making of the Clifford constitution of 1922. It introduced the first electoral system in Nigeria. The first election was conducted into the legislative council with four slots: 3 for Lagos while 1 for Calabar. However, the election was based on limited franchise which restricted the election to those that earned a minimum of 100 pounds annually, which was very expensive for most Nigerians.

It also introduced a legislative council which replaced the Nigerian council. It consisted of 46 members with the governor as the head. Out of the 46, 23 were official members and 19 were unofficial members. The remaining four were elected as previously stated. However, the council could only legislate for the South. The governor legislated for the North via proclamation.

There was also an executive council; however, it had no Nigerians. It consisted of the governor, chief secretary, lieutenant governors, an administrator for Lagos, attorney – general, commandant of the Nigerian regiment, director of medical service, Comptroller general and Secretary for native affairs.

After Hugh Clifford, there were two other governors, Cameroon and Bernard Boudillion. They didn’t do much in terms of constitutional development. However, Boudilion divided Nigeria into East, West and North for administrative purposes. This was the bedrock for future regionalism.

WORK TO DO

State the advantages of the 1922 constitution as read in the above explanation.
Identify the bad aspect of the constitution as read in the above explanation.
Is 1914 amalgamation of Southern and Northern protectorate an evil in Nigeria of today? Give your view.

CORRECTION ON NATIONALISM

What do you understand by self government?
What justification will you have given to the relevance of the press and their value in this day governance?

Response

Self government can be define as a government that is made up of the people’s representatives appointed and elected by the people themselves. It is necessary in the modern day democracy because it is not possible for all the people in the society to participate simultaneously in government. Thus some have to be elected to represent the other or govern the people on behalf of the other people.
The press having served as the watchdog for the government and society generally has been a means in which government is close to the people. The press is a wide sector which comprises of diverse media channels such as radio, television, telegram and social-media. Bringing information about the policy of government to the hearing of the people and as well served as the means of feed back to the government through constructive criticism.

DATE: 08/06/2020

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

CLASS: SS2

Hello students, hope you are having a nice break and safety period. For some weeks now, our focus of discussion has been on imaging areas and revision. I want to believe that you maximize the opportunity to your better advantage. Today, I will lead into some of the activities for the coming term which hopefully, God will secure the slated date and moment for us. Amen

Scheme of work for 3^rd term SS2 Government class

WEEKS TOPICS

WEEKS	TOPICS	SUB TOPICS
ONE	Nationalism in west Africa:	Factors responsible for nationalist movement and effects of nationalist activities in Nigeria
TWO	Constitutional development in Nigeria:	Clifford constitution of 1922 and Richard constitution of 1946 with features
THREE	Constitutional development in Nigeria	Macpherson constitution of 1951 and Lyttleton constitution of 1954 with features
FOUR	Constitutional development in Nigeria	1960 Independence constitution and 1963 Republican constitution with features
FIVE	Constitutional development in Nigeria	1979 republican constitution and 1999 constitution with features
SIX	Nigerian federalism	Origin of federalism, reasons for adoption of federalism, characteristics, problems and revenue allocation.
SEVEN	Development of political parties in Nigeria	Political parties in the first republic and second republic
EIGHT	Development of political parties in Nigeria	Political parties in the aborted third republic and fourth republic

WEEK ONE

TOPIC: NATIONALISM

FOCUS AREA: INTERNAL FACTORS

Nationalism is the strong or eagerness to work for the emancipation of one’s country from political and economic control of another country, so that the economic and political destiny of the country may be in the hands of indigenous citizens. It is the struggle for equality, political participation and self government.

Among numerous factors that enhance the struggle for nationalist movement were internal and external factors but focus area on this platform will be internal factors.

Racial discrimination in the civil service: This is a situation where the white earned fat salaries than their black counterparts who were as qualified as the white and this aroused anger of the Nigerian nationalists.
Impact of Educated Elites: Educated Nigerians who had studied in Europe and got enlightened awoke the spirit of nationalism among Nigerians by organizing seminars and lectures where Nigerians where exposed to democratic principle.
The press: The establishment of indigenous owned print media (News papers) gave nationalism it’s much needed and awaited impetus or drive. Some of these news papers were the West African Pilot, Lagos Daily News and weekly record.
Establishment of political parties: some political parties on ground them play very vital role. Among the established political parties are NNDP, NYM, NCNC, NPC and AG. And so on

Work to Do

What do you understand by self government?
What justification will you have given to the relevance of the press and their value in this day governance?

No Fields Found.

CORRECTION ON SOCIA MEDIA

Social media engagement for some times now has been a channel of livelihood. Livelihood in the sense that, the situation of Covid-19 outside is that, most engaged activities either in business, health and social attachment now have ground through the social media platform because most people now idle and looking for to keep them alive and occupy. The economy value of it is that, it makes telecommunication sectors to be relevant as most of them now have more customers patronizing them for data and air time credit. Even on the part of health, information as regards Covid-19 can now be access easily through transfer and sharing of information about the virus.
Obviously, many are not complying with NCDC regulation has many yet to believe the existence of Covid-19. To ascertain this, the behavior of general public is nothing to welcome and my take is ignorance or lack of responsibility will could cause this.
Government should employ a string tactics with the idea of mobile court to prosecute anyone cut of breaching regulations, more enlightement to be carried out and national orientation agency should be up and doing.

NEW TOPIC: SOCIA MEDIA

DATE: 01/06/2020

SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT

Sub-topic: Role of social media in management of Covid-19

Today, social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, have become primary sources of information. They are also vehicles for fake news and disinformation. During a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, how social media be mastered and employed in a responsible way become a matter of concern for me. Social media is such an important communication tool in 2020, and we know as we all try to navigate unexpected and unprecedented challenges, many have turn social media for some form of support or discomfort tool. As many around the globe, engage in self isolation, social media might become an even more important channel for communication and a sense of community relationship.

However, even though it’s not quite business as usual — every post, campaign and ad you run on socia media now will need an added layer of care and empathy over the coming days and weeks because of the emotional truncating situation in the society now. It is okay to continue to market and sell your product or services on the social media since government policy of luck down have now prevented many to engage in personal shopping. By findings, many adults have now turned to social media for their news.

Misinformation, stigma and fake news

A pressing problem with modern-day, online media is the spread of misinformation – this has been much talked about in political spheres but has also been a prevalent issue in healthcare regarding sentiment towards vaccination. The spread of misinformation on Covid-19 has been no different – theories have been floating around that the virus was engineered in a lab as a bioterrorism agent, or that the symptoms are actually caused by the 5G mobile network.

Another challenge in the social media age has been avoiding stigma.

Early in the COVID-19 outbreak, before the disease or the virus were officially named, many outlets referred to the virus as ‘Wuhan virus’ or similar, with this hash tag trending on Twitter. Unfortunately, this wording has a tendency to stigmatize individuals from that city, and also builds an association with those of a certain ethnicity, in some cases stoking fear and xenophobia. Building stigma is incredibly bad for outbreak control – it can drive individuals to hide illness in order to avoid discrimination, it can prevent people from seeking healthcare and it can discourage people from seeking healthy behaviours, all of which aids viral spread.

Work to Do

How would social media engagement look like over the coming weeks or months?
In your own view, are people complying with information on management of Covid-19 as directed by NCDC and publicize by the media houses?
What will have been your submission in enforcing government regulations on Covid-19?

No Fields Found.

CORRECTION ON THE PREVIOUS WORK ON FRANCHISE

21/05/2020

QUESTION 1

Election in Nigeria are face with the following challenges.

Names of voters been omitted on the voters list.

2. Insufficient ballot papers, stamp pad and other materials

3. Inadequate transport facilities to convey all electoral materials and personnel.

4. vote buying scandals

5. Government interference in the affairs of the commssion is yet another problem.

6. Lack of adequate funding for the commssion and inability to traained staff of the commission.

7. Political interference by notable individual in the society. They use their wealth and position to manipulate election result.

QUESTION 2.

In the context of Nigeria politics, ethnicity play important role in the electoral process. Many in politics have emotional attachment to one political aspirant or the other either on the bases of ethnicity or religion and this may affect the path to good governance.

QUESTION 3.

Voters apathy can be define as the state of boycotting the process of voting in political office holders.

Good morning great leaders to be. Hope you are utilizing this opportunity of stay at home to benefit your self. It will be a great privileged for you to do extensive reading and keep your mind in contact that sooner you will find your self back to the classroom. While keeping safe at home, i delight to use this medium to get to no how you spend your day and as well bring you back to classroom to refresh your memory.

Activity: REVISION

Focus Area: Electoral process in Nigeria

Theme: FRANCHISE

Franchise and suffrage are two synonymous words used in connection with electoral process. They simply mean the right to vote and be voted for in an election. specifically, it is a system where every qualified citizen, irrespective of sex, religion, education, race or wealth is given equal opportunity to vote or be voted for during elections.

Forms of franchise.

Limited franchise: This is when restrictions are placed on who can vote based on age, sex, wealth etc. Under the limited franchise, the following franchise are in practice. a) Adult suffrage, b) Male suffrage, C) Tax-payers suffrage and e) property suffrage.
Unlimited franchise: Here, all adult are allowed to vote and be voted for. It is the form of franchise practiced in Ghana, India, Uk as well as Nigeria. The only condition to disenfranchised and individual will be on the following ground of health condition, failure to register, bankruptcy, under age, crime conviction and insanity.
WORK TO DO

QUESTIONS

Highlight major problems of Election in Nigeria.

What role does ethnicity play in the outcome of election in Nigeria?

Discuss voters apathy

IN YOUR CONTACT ME. Message box give your reponse in the following headings. name, e-mail, subject, class, focus area.

No Fields Found.