47 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.
Which of the following functions is performed by both political parties and pressure groups?
Answer: B (Interest articulation.)
Both parties and pressure groups voice (articulate) the demands of sections of society. Only parties contest elections and form the official opposition.
The exercise of political power involves
Answer: D (allocating values.)
Political power is used to decide who gets what, i.e. the authoritative allocation of values in society. Winning elections only gives a person the power; using it means allocating values.
Sovereignty is limited by
Answer: D (international law.)
A state's supreme power is limited externally by international law and treaties it has signed. Decrees, the criminal code and the legal system all come from the sovereign itself.
The pronouncement of judges which have the force of law are called
Answer: D (judicial precedents.)
Earlier court decisions that later courts must follow are judicial precedents (case law), a source of law.
Constitutional disputes between states in a federation can only be settled by
Answer: B (the Supreme Court)
In a federation such as Nigeria, disputes between the federal government and states, or between states, go straight to the Supreme Court (its original jurisdiction).
The second ballot is based on the principle that a successful candidate must obtain
Answer: A (absolute majority)
Under the second-ballot system, if no candidate gets an absolute majority (more than half of the votes) a second round is held between the leading candidates.
Which of the following is the least democratic selection process?
Answer: D (Co-option.)
Co-option means existing members simply choose a new member, with no voting by the people, so it is the least democratic.
An indispensable aspect of the constitution of a democratic state is
Answer: C (fundamental human rights)
A democratic constitution must protect citizens' fundamental human rights. Democracies can be parliamentary or presidential, and censorship is undemocratic.
A good democratic constitution should aspire to evolve the following EXCEPT
Answer: A (a judiciary dependent on the executive)
A democratic constitution wants an independent judiciary, not one controlled by the executive. The other options are all goals of democracy.
Which of the following is NOT characteristic of democracy?
Answer: D (Limited franchise.)
Democracy needs universal adult suffrage. A limited franchise, which shuts many adults out of voting, is not democratic.
The principle of separation of powers is fundamental to the
Answer: B (presidential system)
In a presidential system (e.g. the USA) the executive, legislature and judiciary are separate in personnel and powers. In a parliamentary system ministers sit in parliament, so powers are fused.
Under socialism, the control of power resides with the
Answer: D (proletariat.)
Socialist theory puts power and the means of production in the hands of the workers (the proletariat) through the state.
The rule of law implies that
Answer: C (everyone is subject to the law)
The rule of law means the law is supreme and everyone, rulers included, is equal before it and subject to it.
A by-law is made by
Answer: D (the local government.)
Bye-laws are rules made by a local government council for its own area.
The notion of 'carpet-crossing' in a parliamentary democracy involves
Answer: B (changing party allegiance after election)
Carpet-crossing is when a legislator elected on one party's platform moves to another party, literally crossing the floor to sit with them.
In parliament, the most extensive amendment to a bill takes place at the
Answer: B (committee stage)
At the committee stage the bill is examined clause by clause, and that is where most detailed amendments are made.
A set of internalized norms which guides political action is called
Answer: B (value)
Values are the beliefs and norms people have taken in (internalized) about what is right or desirable, and they guide political behaviour. Power is the ability to make others act as you wish, and law is imposed from outside.
Freedom of speech in a democratic state is limited by
Answer: A (law of sedition)
Even in a democracy you may not use speech to stir up rebellion against the state; the law of sedition (and libel/slander) sets that limit.
Habeas corpus is an essential process for safeguarding the right of citizens to
Answer: B (personal liberty)
A writ of habeas corpus orders that a detained person be brought before a court, so nobody can be held unlawfully; it protects personal liberty.
The most effective way of monitoring public opinion is
Answer: D (through opinion poll.)
Opinion polls question a sample of the public directly and regularly, so they measure public opinion most effectively. A referendum is costly and decides a single issue.
In a true democracy, franchise can be limited by
Answer: C (age)
Universal adult suffrage still sets a minimum voting age (18 in Nigeria). Limiting the vote by sex, education or wealth is undemocratic.
Liberalism is a philosophy underlying
Answer: B (capitalism)
Liberalism stresses individual freedom, private property and free markets, which are the ideas behind capitalism.
Which of the following served as the electoral college during the election into the Constituent Assembly in 1978?
Answer: B (Local government councils)
Members of the Constituent Assembly that debated the 1979 Constitution were chosen by the newly elected local government councils acting as electoral colleges (the elections were held in 1977).
Traditional rulers in Nigeria exercised the greatest political powers under
Answer: D (indirect rule.)
Under British indirect rule, chiefs ran the native authorities: they collected taxes, kept order and ran native courts. Their powers shrank after independence.
During the second republic, some local government councils were created by
Answer: A (state governments)
Between 1979 and 1983 many state governments created new local government councils on their own, which led to disputes as the constitution listed the councils.
The principal objective of British colonial policy in Nigeria was to
Answer: D (exploit and expropriate Nigerian resources for British interests.)
Britain ruled Nigeria mainly to get raw materials and markets for British industry, so its main aim was economic exploitation.
Which of the following factors contributed most to cash crop production during the colonial administration in Nigeria?
Answer: D (Taxation.)
Colonial taxes had to be paid in British money, so farmers grew cash crops such as cocoa, groundnuts and palm produce to earn it. Taxation was the main push towards cash crops.
Under the military regime in Nigeria, state enactments are known as
Answer: C (edicts)
Under military rule, laws made by the Federal Military Government are decrees, while those made by state military governors are edicts.
The military normally belongs to the arm(s) of government known as
Answer: B (the executive)
The armed forces carry out government policy, especially defence, so they are part of the executive arm.
The first political party in Nigeria was the
Answer: A (Nigerian National Democratic Party)
Herbert Macaulay founded the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) in 1923 to contest the Lagos seats created by the Clifford Constitution.
The major problem of the Nigerian federal structure in the first republic was
Answer: C (lopsided size of the component units)
In the First Republic the Northern Region was bigger in size and population than the other regions put together, so it could dominate the federation; this lopsided structure was the major problem.
The legislative organ of the Federal Government in the First Republic was the
Answer: A (parliament)
In the First Republic (1960-66) the federal legislature was Parliament, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The name National Assembly came with the 1979 Constitution.
Which of the following is an autonomous governmental agency?
Answer: A (The Civil Service Commission)
The Civil Service Commission is set up by the constitution to act independently in appointing, promoting and disciplining civil servants. The others are advisory bodies or agencies under a ministry.
Which of the following was the LEAST important rationale for Nigerian federalism?
Answer: D (Bicameral legislature.)
A two-chamber legislature is a feature that often comes with federalism, not a reason for adopting it. Size, cultural diversity and economic benefits were real reasons.
One of the agreements of the 1957 Constitutional Conference was that
Answer: A (Southern Cameroons should constitute a separate region)
At the 1957 conference Southern Cameroons was given full regional status with its own premier. The West already had a House of Chiefs, and the police were not regionalized.
The two nationalist leaders who led the tour of Northern Nigeria in 1946 to campaign against the Richards Constitution were
Answer: D (Herbert Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe.)
The NCNC leaders Herbert Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe toured the country in 1946 to raise money and protest the Richards Constitution; Macaulay fell ill and died during the tour.
Indirect election was first introduced in Nigeria by the
Answer: C (Richards Constitution)
Under the Richards Constitution (1946) most unofficial members of the central Legislative Council were chosen by the regional houses, which were themselves chosen by native authorities: an indirect election.
The motion for self-government was moved in 1953 by the
Answer: B (Action Group)
Anthony Enahoro of the Action Group moved the 1953 motion for self-government in 1956; the NPC opposed the date, leading to the crisis.
Which of the following had a centralized administration in pre-colonial Nigeria?
Answer: D (The Yorubas.)
The Yoruba (e.g. Oyo Empire) had kings (Obas/Alaafin) and a central chain of authority. The Igbo, Tiv and Ibibio were largely acephalous (no central ruler).
In which of the following states was the governor impeached during the second republic?
Answer: C (Kaduna)
In 1981 the Kaduna State House of Assembly, controlled by the NPN, impeached Governor Balarabe Musa of the PRP.
Which of the following pairs of countries were trust territories of the United Nations?
Answer: C (Togo and Namibia)
Togoland was a UN trust territory, and Namibia (South West Africa) was a former mandate that the UN took direct responsibility for. Ghana, Niger, Botswana and Zaire were ordinary colonies.
The headquarters of the OAU Liberation Committee is located in
Answer: C (Dar es Salaam)
The OAU Liberation Committee, which helped African liberation movements, was based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (the OAU itself was in Addis Ababa).
Which of the following groups advocated political union of African states?
Answer: C (The Casablanca Group.)
The Casablanca Group (Ghana's Nkrumah, Guinea, Mali and others) wanted an immediate political union of Africa; the Monrovia Group, including Nigeria, preferred gradual cooperation.
Nigeria's first external affairs minister was
Answer: D (Dr. Jaja Wachukwu)
Jaja Wachukwu became Nigeria's first Minister of External (Foreign) Affairs after independence in 1960; Balewa had held the portfolio himself until 1961.
The first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in
Answer: A (Belgrade)
The first summit of the Non-Aligned Movement met in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1961. Bandung (1955) was an earlier Afro-Asian conference.
Which of these countries is NOT a member of the Commonwealth of Nations?
Answer: D (Rwanda)
Rwanda, a former Belgian territory, was not a member in 1990. Note that this has since changed: Rwanda joined the Commonwealth in 2009.
In international relations, countries have a right to
Answer: C (diplomatic immunity of their envoys)
Under international law (the Vienna Convention) a country's diplomats enjoy immunity in the host country. The other options are domestic matters, not rights in international relations.