2011 - JAMB Government Past Questions and Answers - page 3

Opinion polls are organized to find out the feelings of people about particular issues and policies.

Survey or Opinion Poll is used to find out what a cross section of the people feel about a particular event or policy of government.

In pre-colonial Igboland, autocratic rule was made difficult by the absence of a centralized system of authority.

The Igbos were Republican by nature. They maintained a decentralized and acephalous society. It was highly democratic and egalitarian. Some traditional institutions were recognized specially in the administration of Igbo Society and they were as follows:

1. Village Assembly

2. Council of Elders

3. Age Grades

4. Ozo Titled Holders

5. Priest of Deities

6. Masquerades

7. Cult

8. Umuada, etc.

All these made the autocratic system of government to be very difficult in Igboland.

The Yoruba traditional system of government was monarchical. The political system was confederation of monarchies.

Waziri was the next in command to the Sultan under the pre-colonial Sokoto Caliphate system. He was the Emir. He performed the duties of the modern day Prime Minister in a cabinet system of government. He settled inter-emirate disputes.

The Igbo society was the one which was described as Acephalous.

It was a typical example of a non-centralized or acephalous society before the coming of European political system in Nigeria. It had no single centralized authority as was the case with the Hausa/Fulani or Yoruba.

The Igbos maintained an egalitarian as well as democratic society. Every adult belonged to the Amala meeting where everybody expressed his views or opinion.

Indirect rule encouraged the rise of nationalism.

The colonial policy of indirect rule system of government excluded the educated elite from governance. This then made the spirit of nationalism to develop earlier and more rapidly in the British Colonies.

The main achievement of the nationalists in Nigeria was political liberation of the nation.

Political awareness was created and this led to the formation of Political parties such as Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC), etc. The nation was then liberated politically through the attainment of independence.

The major external factor that promoted nationalism in Nigeria was Pan-Africanism.

Pan-Africanism efforts geared towards total emancipation of all black people throughout the world gingered the people into action against colonialism. The movement assisted African nationalist to articulate their demands and strongly supported their struggle for political independence.

The presidential system of government was introduced in Nigeria with the Constitution of 1979.

The Constitution came into effect from First of October, 1979 with Alhaji Shehu Shagari as the first Executive President of Nigeria.

The Action Group crisis of 1963 led to the formation of a new political party known as the United Peoples Party (UPP).

The UPP was formed in the then Western Region by Chief S.L. Akintola with his supporters when he was dismissed from the Action Group.