We want to let you know that the recommended JAMB syllabus for Government has been released by the JAMB management and it is available for everyone for both to read on this platform or to get downloaded as a PDF file directly from this website to your computer free of charge.
Why you should use this JAMB syllabus for government
This JAMB government syllabus is essential for all students who want to write the government examination because it is the outline that will guide you on which particular topic to study while preparing for the JAMB examination. It contains all you need to know to pass the examination once.
The syllabus is designed to test your knowledge in Government determining their suitability for placement in institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.
The syllabus is grouped into four (4) parts and each part is further divided into 32 topics. These parts are shown in the table of content below.
PART 1: ELEMENTS OF GOVERNMENT
1. Basic Concepts in Government
a. Power, Authority, Legitimacy, Sovereignty;
b. Society, State, Nation,
Nation-State; c. Political Processes;
Political Socialization, Political
Participation, Political Culture.
2. Forms of Government:
Monarchy, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Autocracy, Republicanism, Democracy definitions, features, merits, and demerits.
3. Arms of Government:
a. The Legislature – types, structure, functions, powers;
b. The Executive – types, functions, powers;
c. The Judiciary – functions, powers, components.
d. Their relationships
4. Structures of Governance:
a. Unitary – features, reasons for adoption, merits, and demerits
b. Federal – features, reasons for adoption, merits, and demerits
c. Confederal - features, reasons for, adoption, merits, and demerits.
5. Systems of Governance:
Presidential, Parliamentary and
Monarchical.
6. Political Ideologies:
Communalism, Feudalism, Capitalism,
Socialism, Communism, Totalitarianism, Fascism, Nazism.
7. Constitution:
Meaning, Sources, Functions, Types -
Written, Unwritten, Rigid and Flexible.
8. 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.
9. Processes of Legislation:
Legislative Enactments – Acts, Edicts, Bye-laws, Delegated Legislation, Decrees.
10. Citizenship:
a. Meaning, types;
b. Citizenship rights;
c. Dual citizenship, renunciation, deprivation;
d. Duties and obligations of citizens;
e. Duties and obligations of the state.
11. The Electoral Process:
a. Suffrage – evolution, types;
b. Election – types, ingredients of free and fair election;
c. Electoral System - types, advantages, and disadvantages of each;
d. Electoral Commission – functions, problems.
12. Political Parties and Party Systems:
a. Political parties – Definition,
organization, functions.
b. Party Systems – Definition,
organization, functions. '
13. Pressure Groups:
a. Definition, types, functions, and modes of operation.
b. Differences between Pressure Groups and Political Parties.
14. Public Opinion:
a. Meaning, formation, and
measurement.
b. Functions and limitations.
15. The Civil Service:
Definition, characteristics, functions,
structure, control, and problems.
PART II POLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
1. Pre-colonial Polities:
Pre-jihad Hausa, Emirate, Tiv, Igbo, Yoruba
a. Their structural organization;
b. The functions of their various political institutions.
2. Imperialist Penetration:
a. The British process of acquisition – trade, missionary activities, company
rule, crown colony, protectorate;
b. The British colonial administrative policy – direct and indirect rule;
c. The French colonial administrative policy – assimilation and association;
d. Impact of British colonial rule economic, political, socio-cultural;
e. Comparison of British and French colonial administration.
3. Process of Decolonization:
a. Nationalism – Meaning, Types;
b. Nationalist Movements – emergence, goals, strategies;
c. Nationalist Leaders – Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi
Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Ladipo
Solanke, Aminu Kano, J. S. Tarka,
Tafawa Balewa and others;
d. Emergence of nationalist parties;
e. Influence of external factors.
4. Constitutional Development in Nigeria:
a. Hugh Clifford Constitution (1922)
b. Arthur Richards Constitution (1946)
c. John Macpherson Constitution (1951)
d. Oliver Lyttleton Constitution (1954)
e. Independence Constitution (1960)
Their features, merits, and demerits.
5. Post – Independence Constitutions: 1963, 1979, 1989, and 1999 – characteristics and shortcomings.
6. Institutions of Government in the Post – Independence Nigeria:
a. The Legislative – structures,
functions, and workings.
b. The Executive – structure, functions, and workings.
c. The Judiciary – structure, functions, and workings.
7. 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.
8. Political Parties and Party Politics in Post-Independence Nigeria:
a. the First Republic
b. the Second Republic
c. the Third Republic
d. the Fourth Republic - Evolution, membership spread,
structure, etc.
9. The Structure and Workings of Nigerian Federalism:
a. Rationale for a Federal System;
b. Tiers of government and their relationship;
c. Creation of States – 1963, 1967, 1976, 1987, 1991, 1996;
d. Problems of Nigerian Federalism – census, revenue allocation, conflicts, etc. solutions e.g. the Federal
character, etc.
10. Public Corporations and Parastatals:
a. Definition, types, purpose, and functions;
b. Finance, control, and problems;
c. Deregulation, privatization, and commercialization – objectives,
features, merits, and demerits;
d. Comparison between public corporations and parastatals.
11. Local Government:
a. Local government administration before 1976;
b. Features of local government reforms (1976, 1989) – structure, functions, finance, and intergovernmental relations;
c. Traditional rulers and local governments;
d. Problems of local government administration in Nigeria.
12. The Military in Nigerian Politics
a. Factors that led to military intervention;
b. Structure of military regimes; '
c. Impact of military rule – political, e.g. creation of states, the introduction of the unitary system (Unification Decree NO. 34), etc. economic, e.g. SAP, etc.
d. Processes of military disengagement.
PART III: FOREIGN POLICY AND
NIGERIA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
1. Foreign Policy:
- Definition, purpose, determining factors; formulation, and implementation.
2. Nigeria’s Foreign Policy:
a. Relations with major powers;
b. Relations with developing countries, e.g. the Technical Aid
Corps (TAC), etc.
c. Nigeria’s Non-Alignment Policy.
3. Nigeria’s Relations with African Countries:
a. Africa as the “centerpiece” of Nigeria’s foreign policy – guiding principles, implementation, and implications;
b. NEPAD – origin, objectives, and implications.
4. Nigeria in International Organizations
a. The United Nations;
b. The Commonwealth;
c. The Organization of African Unity;
- Origin, objectives, structure, functions,
achievements, problems, and prospects of these organizations.
d. The African Union;
e. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS);
f. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
PART IV: INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS:
1. International Organizations:
a. ECOWAS;
b. OAU, AU;
c. Commonwealth;
d. OPEC;
e. UNO;
f. African Petroleum Producers Association;
- Origin, objectives, structure, functions,
achievements, problems, and prospects of these organizations.
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