50 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.
The ultimate authority in a state is
Answer: D (sovereignty)
Sovereignty is the supreme and final authority in a state, above which there is no higher power.
The study of government essentially facilitates the understanding of the
Answer: D (governance of human societies.)
Government as a subject studies how human societies are governed: their institutions, processes and the way rulers and ruled relate.
The most important aspect of political participation in a democracy is
Answer: C (voting in elections)
Voting is the main way ordinary citizens take part in a democracy, because it decides who governs.
A major flaw in a liberal democracy is
Answer: A (its emphasis on political rights over collective economic rights)
Liberal democracy protects political and civil rights well but pays less attention to economic rights such as jobs and fair sharing of wealth.
A non-monarchical state can best be described as a
Answer: B (republic)
A republic is a state whose head of state is not a hereditary monarch but is elected or appointed.
An elected legislator in a presidential system can lose his seat by
Answer: B (recall)
Recall lets a legislator's constituents remove him before the end of his term by a petition and vote.
In judicial administration, the term 'the bench' refers to the
Answer: A (judges)
"The bench" means the judges (who sit on the bench in court); "the bar" means the lawyers.
One of the foremost theorists of federalism was
Answer: A (K.C. Wheare)
K.C. Wheare's book "Federal Government" (1946) is a classic work on federalism. Montesquieu wrote on separation of powers and Dicey on the rule of law.
How does the president relieve a minister of his appointment in a presidential system of government?
Answer: A (By unilateral action)
Ministers serve at the pleasure of the president, who can dismiss any of them on his own without needing anyone's approval.
Under a parliamentary system of government, the cabinet holds office at the pleasure of the
Answer: B (legislature)
The cabinet stays in power only as long as it keeps the support (confidence) of the majority in the legislature.
Serfs are the dominated class under
Answer: C (feudalism)
Under feudalism serfs farmed the lords' land and owed them labour and dues; they were the lowest, dominated class.
An unwritten constitution is
Answer: A (partially written and based on convention)
An "unwritten" constitution, like Britain's, is not in one document; parts are written in statutes and court cases, and much rests on conventions.
The principle of checks and balances empowers the judiciary to
Answer: C (invalidate the actions of the other arms)
Through judicial review the courts can declare laws or executive actions void if they break the constitution, which checks the other two arms.
The final stage in the process of enacting legislation is
Answer: C (assent)
After both houses pass a bill, it becomes law only when the head of state signs it (gives assent).
Citizenship acquired through marriage is referred to as
Answer: B (registration)
A foreign woman married to a Nigerian citizen can become a citizen by registration under the constitution.
In a first-past-the-post electoral system, a candidate is declared elected when he
Answer: B (records the highest number of the votes cast)
Under first-past-the-post, the candidate with the most votes wins, even without an overall majority.
On the basis of its structure, a political party can be classified as indirect if
Answer: B (its membership is acquired through other groups)
In an indirect party people become members through affiliated groups such as trade unions, as in the early British Labour Party.
The pressure group that resorts to unconventional methods to achieve its objectives is called
Answer: C (anomic group)
Anomic groups are spontaneous and unorganised, and use riots, demonstrations and violence to press their demands.
The method used to determine the possible outcome of an electoral contest is
Answer: A (opinion poll)
An opinion poll asks a sample of voters how they intend to vote, to predict the likely result.
The major function of the civil service is
Answer: A (advising government and implementing its policies)
Civil servants advise ministers when policies are being made and then carry those policies out.
Under the emirate system, legislative functions were performed by the
Answer: C (Emir)
The Emir held executive, legislative and judicial power, guided by Islamic law; the Khadi judged cases and the Hakimi were district heads.
The pre-colonial Tiv society can best be described as
Answer: B (republican)
The Tiv had no king or central ruler; power was spread among family and lineage elders, so the society was republican (segmentary) and egalitarian.
The failure of the assimilation policy necessitated the introduction of
Answer: C (association)
France replaced assimilation, which tried to turn Africans into Frenchmen, with association, which allowed more respect for local cultures.
The political party formed in 1923 by Herbert Macaulay was
Answer: B (Nigerian National Democratic Party)
Herbert Macaulay founded the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) in 1923 to contest the Lagos elections allowed by the Clifford Constitution.
In the First Republic, the official opposition party was the
Answer: D (Action Group.)
The NPC and NCNC formed the federal government in 1959, so the Action Group, led by Obafemi Awolowo, was the official opposition.
The first federal constitution in Nigeria was the
Answer: C (Lyttelton Constitution)
The 1954 Lyttelton Constitution made Nigeria a true federation with powers divided between the centre and the regions.
A distinctive feature of the Richards Constitution was its provision for
Answer: C (a Legislative Council for the whole of Nigeria)
The 1946 Richards Constitution created a Legislative Council for the whole country, bringing the North into it for the first time.
Under the 1999 Constitution, the appointment of ministers and ambassadors must be ratified by the
Answer: B (Senate)
The President nominates ministers and ambassadors, but the Senate must confirm them.
The legislature in Nigeria under the 1999 Constitution is composed of
Answer: C (109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives)
The Senate has 109 members (three per state plus one for the FCT) and the House of Representatives has 360.
The head of the Nigerian judiciary is the
Answer: B (Chief Justice of the Federation)
The Chief Justice (officially the Chief Justice of Nigeria) heads the Supreme Court and the judiciary. The Attorney-General is part of the executive.
The commission established to handle the electoral activities in the Second Republic of Nigeria was
Answer: C (FEDECO)
The Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) ran the 1979 and 1983 elections. NEC served under Babangida, NECON under Abacha and INEC from 1998.
A major function of the State Independent Electoral Commissions in Nigeria is the
Answer: D (conduct of elections into local government offices.)
Each state's SIEC organises local government council elections; INEC handles governorship, national elections and party registration.
In Nigeria, promotion of judges is the responsibility of the
Answer: C (Judicial Service Commission)
Judicial service commissions (with the National Judicial Council) handle the appointment, promotion and discipline of judicial officers.
During the Second Republic, the Great Nigeria People's Party won the governorship election in
Answer: C (Borno and Gongola States)
Waziri Ibrahim's GNPP won the governorship of Borno and Gongola States in 1979.
In local government administration, 'Chief-and-Council' implies that
Answer: B (the chief is a member of the local council but he does not exercise veto power)
Under chief-and-council the chief sits with the council as one member and must follow its decisions; under chief-in-council he could act alone.
In the present local government structure traditional rulers play
Answer: B (an advisory role)
Since the 1976 reform, traditional rulers have no executive power in local government; they advise through traditional councils.
The first successful disengagement of the military from politics in Nigeria was carried out by the government of
Answer: A (Murtala/Obasanjo)
The Murtala/Obasanjo regime handed power to the elected Shagari government on 1 October 1979.
The atomic bomb tests carried out around the Sahara Desert made Nigeria server relations with
Answer: A (France)
France tested atomic bombs in the Sahara in 1960-61, and Nigeria broke diplomatic relations with France in protest.
Nigeria supports the South-South cooperation as a foreign policy objective for mutual understanding among
Answer: B (developing countries)
"South" stands for the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, so South-South cooperation is cooperation among developing countries.
An indication that Africa is still the centre-piece of Nigeria's foreign policy was the creation of the
Answer: B (Ministry of Integration and Cooperation in Africa.)
In 1999 the Obasanjo government created a separate Ministry of Integration and Cooperation in Africa, showing Africa's priority in its foreign policy.
The Nigeria-Cameroun crisis over the Bakassi peninsula occurred owing to the interpretation of the treaty of 1913 and the
Answer: A (Maroua Accord)
Cameroon relied on the 1913 Anglo-German treaty and the 1975 Maroua Declaration signed by Gowon, which Nigeria said was never ratified; the ICJ decided the case in 2002.
Nigeria's voting at the United Nations is guided primarily by
Answer: D (her national interests)
Like any state, Nigeria votes at the UN mainly according to its national interest.
Under the umbrella of the OAU, Nigeria mediated in the dispute between
Answer: C (Ethiopia and Somalia)
Nigeria chaired the OAU committee that tried to settle the border dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia over the Ogaden.
Nigeria is rated in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as the
Answer: C (sixth largest oil producer)
When this paper was set, Nigeria ranked about sixth among OPEC producers. Its ranking changes from year to year with output.
Which of the following served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations?
Answer: A (Javier Perez de Cuellar)
Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru was UN Secretary-General from 1982 to 1991. El-Baradei headed the IAEA, and Gambari and Garba were Nigerian diplomats.
A Security Council resolution requires the concurrence of
Answer: C (all the 5 permanent members)
On substantive matters no permanent member must vote against: a resolution needs the concurrence of all five permanent members (a no vote is a veto) as well as nine votes in all.
A member of the Commonwealth that still recognizes the British monarch as its Head of State is
Answer: C (Australia)
Australia keeps the British monarch as its head of state, while Ghana, India and Singapore are republics.
A major achievement of the OAU was the
Answer: A (decolonization of Africa)
The OAU's Liberation Committee supported the independence struggles until colonial rule and apartheid ended across Africa.
The power to exercise overall control of the executive functions of ECOWAS is vested in the
Answer: C (Authority of Heads of State and Government)
The Authority of Heads of State and Government is ECOWAS's supreme organ and directs and controls its executive work.
One of the organizational weaknesses of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is its inability to
Answer: B (punish erring members)
OPEC cannot effectively punish members who produce above their quotas, which weakens its control of oil prices.