WAEC Government 2013 Theory Past Questions

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(a) Government as an art of governing refers to the practical exercise of political authority — the process by which those who hold power make and enforce decisions, laws and policies for the state, organise the machinery of administration, and ensure order and the functioning of society, applying skill and judgement in managing public affairs (as distinct from government merely as an institution or a field of study). (b) Duties of government include: defence of the state against foreign invasion and internal insurrection; maintenance of law and order; provision of social amenities and infrastructure (e.g. roads, healthcare, education); formulation and implementation of policies for the welfare of citizens; protection of the fundamental human rights of citizens; and management of the economy.

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(a) Deconcentration of power is the delegation of administrative authority from the central government to its field officers or agencies at the regional/local level, while the central government retains overall policy-making authority and control. (b) Importance of decentralization: It brings government nearer to the people. It allows for more effective and prompt decision-making at the local level, since local officials better understand local needs. It reduces the burden of work on the central government. It encourages local participation in governance and promotes grassroots democracy. It aids the efficient and speedy delivery of services and development at the local level.

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(a) A constitution is the body of fundamental laws, rules and principles by which a country is governed. It contains statements intended to define the relations between the government and the governed, the basic institutional framework of government, and the rights and duties of citizens. (b) Reasons countries use written constitutions include: I. A written constitution allows for easy reference on the part of both government and citizens because the fundamental laws and principles of the state are codified in a single document. II. A written constitution helps citizens to be much more informed about their fundamental human rights, since rights of citizens are clearly stated in the constitution. III. Countries make use of written constitutions because it is readily available and makes it possible for ordinary citizens to compare the acts of the government in order to determine if such acts are constitutional. IV. A written constitution to some extent helps to reduce conflict among the organs and tiers of government, because the functions and powers of each level of government are clearly spelt out by the constitution. V. Since written constitutions are readily available and within the reach of ordinary citizens, it becomes difficult for officials of government to abuse the powers of their office because such acts can be challenged by the citizens in the court of law.

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(a) Concurrent functions in a federation refer to those functions that the central government and the government of the component units can discharge or perform — i.e. they are items in the concurrent legislative list that both the central and component units of a federation can make laws on. Examples of such items are transportation, commerce, agriculture, education, health etc. However, in cases of conflict between the two items on the concurrent list, the laws of the central government will override those of the component units. (b) Features of a confederal system of government: I. In a confederal system, the central government is weak in relation to the government of the component units. This is because sovereign power is vested in the government of the component units. The central government is not made up of elected officials but delegates sent by the government of the component units. II. The component units maintain separate armed forces; therefore there is no common military in a confederal system. The governments of the component units also maintain separate police, currency and boundaries that do not overlap with the boundaries of other states. III. Under a confederal system, the component units have the right to secede from the union at any time they desire. They were not constitutionally bound to permanently remain in the union as in a federation. IV. The central authority of a confederal system deals only with the governments of the component units and not directly with the individual citizens of the component unit. Thus, citizens' allegiance is more to the component units than to the confederation. V. Confederating states remain autonomous and develop at their own pace.

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The organisation structure of a political party can be described as follows: I. The Convention: This is the highest organ in the structure of a political party. The convention of a political party meets annually. The convention includes all the top party members as well as delegates from each of the branches of the party. II. National Secretariat: This functions as the headquarters of a political party. It is from the national secretariat that the activities of the political party are coordinated and directives given to the party structure at the local and state government level. III. National Executive Committee. IV. National Working Committee. V. Board of Trustee. VI. Caucus: The caucus refers to the meetings of top party members of a political party. These top party members meet to discuss plan for the party's electoral success. VII. Branches: Political parties are usually organised into branches that cut across the country. Each of the branches are headed by a chairperson who coordinate the activities of that political party in the area. Branches are organised at ward, local and state level.

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SECTION B — Answer TWO questions only from this section

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The functions of the Emir in the Hausa/Fulani political system are as follows: I. Making laws: The Emir, as both the political and administrative head of the emirate, made laws for the emirate especially on areas not covered by the Sharia law. II. Taxation: The Emirs in the Hausa/Fulani political system raised money through taxation. They imposed taxes on their subjects as a way of generating revenue for public works. III. Settlement of disputes: Disputes involving cases not covered by Islamic laws were referred to the Emir for adjudication because Sharia laws deal only with civil cases. Example of such disputes is criminal and land cases. IV. Appointment of officials: The appointment of officials of the emirates is another function performed by the Emirs in the Hausa/Fulani political system. Those officials as the Waziri (Prime-minister), Madawaki (Commander in chief of the armed forces) etc. were appointed by the Emir. V. Executive function: The Emir as the political head of the emirate performed executive roles such as seeing to the day to day administration of the emirate. The emir was responsible for the maintenance of law and order. VI. Ceremonial functions: The Emir performed ceremonial functions during important festivals.

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The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 was a meeting of prominent French leaders held in January 1944, at Brazzaville, the then capital of the French Equatorial Africa. The Conference was important to the constitutional development of French West Africa because certain political, social and economic reforms were recommended by the conference which signalled the decolonization of French West Africa. The following are the reasons why the Conference is important to the constitutional development of French West Africa: I. The Brazzaville Conference recommended that semi-autonomous legislative assemblies be established in all French colonies. The establishment of legislative assemblies made it possible for Africans in the colonies to contribute to the making of laws of their area. II. It was also agreed at the conference that all Africans living in French colonies would have equal rights with French citizens in France. This agreement put an end to the discrimination suffered by Africans who were not regarded as French citizens. III. The Brazzaville Conference was important to the constitutional development of French West Africa because it granted Africans the right to vote for representatives into the French parliament. Africans can also contest for a seat into the French parliament in Paris. IV. At the Conference, it was recommended that Africans should be employed into the public and civil service of the colonies they reside.

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The West African Student Union (WASU), founded in 1925 by Ladipo Solanke, was a nationalist organisation made up of West African students studying in London. The following were factors that led to the collapse of the union: I. One of the factors that led to the collapse of the West African Student Union (WASU) is the lack of internal democracy for the election of leaders of the union. The lack of desire to hand over the leadership of the union to others by the founder, Ladipo Solanke, made most of the members leave the union, a major reason for its collapse. II. Lack of unity among members was another factor for the collapse of the West African Student Union (WASU). Membership of the union as well as its leadership was dominated by Nigerians. A situation which made members from other countries to be suspicious and to engage in activities that caused disunity among members. III. The West African Student Union as a nationalist movement abroad had no strong base in the colonies they claimed to be fighting for. Many of the union activities focused on events in London as it affected students studying in the United Kingdom. IV. The West African Student Union also suffered from the problem of lack of fund and financial sponsors. The lack of fund hindered the union from being relevant.

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The following are the reasons for the breakdown of the Macpherson Constitution of 1951: I. One of the reasons why the Macpherson constitution broke down was because the constitution did not envisage the ethnic nature of politics in the country. Many of the members of the central legislative council were loyal to their regions rather than to the central government. For example, none of the political parties of the period commanded a nation-wide support, they were all regional parties. II. The Kano riot of 1953 in which southerners living in Kano were attacked and killed by northerners who retaliated the ‘humiliation' their leader suffered in Lagos for rejecting the motion for self-rule. The Kano riot exposed the flaws of the constitution. III. The Crisis in the Eastern Region House of Assembly was another reason for the breakdown of the constitution. The crisis led to the dissolution of the House by the governor of the region. IV. The Macpherson constitution made provisions for ministers without full control of their departments. The inability of the ministers to control their department revealed another weakness of the constitution, hence, its collapse. V. The party leaders of the three regional political parties were not involved at the central government level. This made the constitution to be ineffective. VI. The Macpherson constitution granted limited powers to the region, thereby falling to grant full fledge federalism to Nigeria. This made the introduction of a new constitution inevitable.

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(a) The term “indirect rule” can be defined as a system of colonial administration in which the British made use of the traditional political institutions of the people to govern them. Under the system, traditional rulers served as middlemen between the colonial officials and the people of the colony. (b) The following are the reasons why the policy of indirect rule was criticized: i. The system did not make use of the educated elite but rather used the uneducated traditional rulers. This made the educated elite to oppose the policy. ii. The indirect rule system in many cases increased the powers of the traditional rulers which made them to be too powerful for the people to control them. This made the educated elite to voice out against the indirect rule system. iii. Another reason why the policy of indirect rule was criticised is because the system was seen as undemocratic and oppressive by the both the people and the educated elite. The system was seen as an imposition on the people by the British colonial government. iv. The indirect rule system arrogated the powers of deposing a traditional ruler to the British colonial officials not the local people. This made the educated elite to oppose the indirect rule system. v. The rejection of the indirect rule system by the educated elite can be attributed to the awareness on the part of the educated elite that colonialism was exploitative. This made them to oppose the indirect rule system.

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The following are the factors that govern Nigeria's relations with these neighbouring states: I. Respect for the sovereign equality of all states: Contained in the principles of Nigeria's foreign policy is the principle of respect for the equality of all states big and small alike. Nigeria's relations with her neighbours is governed based on the idea that they are equal to Nigeria. The country has cordial diplomatic relations with all her neighbouring states. II. Non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries: Nigeria has never used the advantage of her large size and population and military might to interfere in the domestic politics of any of her neighbouring countries. This stems from the principle of respect for the sovereign equality of all states. III. Peaceful resolution of disputes: Whenever conflicts arise between Nigeria and any of her neighbouring countries, the country has always opted for peaceful resolution of conflicts. Nigeria has never resorted to the use of war with any of her neighbouring country. The Peaceful resolution of conflict is one of the factors governing Nigeria's relation with her neighbouring countries. IV. Africa as the centre piece of Nigeria's foreign policy: Another factor that governs Nigeria's relations with her neighbouring countries is the adoption of Africa as the centre piece of the country's foreign policy. This means that Nigeria gives priority attention to African affairs and identifies and defends the interests of the continent. This commitment to African interest is demonstrated in Nigeria's relations with her neighbours — the role it plays in the granting of aid and other forms of assistance to them.

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(a) Past Secretary-Generals of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) include: I. Trygve Lie, Norway II. Dag Hammarskjold III. U-Thant IV. Kurt Waldheim V. Javier Perez De Cuellar VI. Boutros Ghali Boutros, Egypt (1993-1998) VII. Kofi Annan, Ghana VIII. Banki Moon, South Korea (b) Functions performed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations organisation are as follows: i. The Secretary-General functions as the chief administrative officer of the UN and therefore responsible for the coordination of the day to day running of the affairs of the organisation. ii. He/she prepares the agenda and the drafting of annual reports for the consideration of the General assembly. iii. The Secretary-General is the spokesperson for the organsation. iv. He/she appoints other member staff of the organisation. v. He/she represents the United Nations at international conferences. vi. He/she notifies the Security Council about issues he considered capable of threatening world peace.