JAMB Government 1987

B: Legislature and the Executive

A military regime commonly combines executive administration and lawmaking in its ruling council. This fuses executive and legislative powers rather than maintaining their ordinary institutional separation.

C: requires special procedures for amendment

A rigid constitution requires a special amendment procedure beyond ordinary lawmaking. It can still be amended, but the process is deliberately more demanding.

D: national government

A unitary state places ultimate constitutional authority in the national government. Local or regional bodies exercise powers provided within that central constitutional structure.

A: independent judiciary

An independent judiciary can enforce fundamental rights without improper political pressure. Its ability to provide impartial legal remedies is a direct safeguard for those rights.

D: protect the interests of its members

Pressure groups seek to advance and protect their members interests by influencing public decisions. Unlike political parties, they do not primarily seek to form the government themselves.

C: right to vote

Franchise is the right to vote in elections. The term concerns electoral entitlement, which is exercised by people who meet the applicable legal qualifications.

D: votes received relative to those of other parties

Proportional representation allocates seats broadly according to each partys share of the vote. It does not require every successful party to obtain an absolute or two-thirds majority.

D: citizens qualified to vote

The electorate consists of people legally qualified to vote. It is distinct from the candidates standing for election and officials administering it.

B: laws are supreme

The rule of law means that law is supreme over arbitrary authority. Officials and citizens are accountable under legal rules rather than rulers personal wishes.

B: Anonymity

Anonymity means civil servants generally work behind the political leadership rather than seek public political credit. Nepotism and partisanship undermine professional administration.

D: the central government has exclusive power over defence and foreign affairs

Defence and foreign affairs are normally assigned to the central government in a federation. Federalism divides powers constitutionally; it does not require states to have equal populations.

B: to prevent the concentration of power in one legislative house

Two legislative chambers divide lawmaking authority and allow each house to review the other’s work. This can check concentrated power, although it cannot guarantee that every law will be just.

A: Karl Marx

Karl Marx is a major socialist thinker whose work examines class conflict and capitalist production. Machiavelli is associated with political power and statecraft, rather than Marxist socialism.

A: determine the acceptability of the government

Elections allow citizens to accept or reject candidates and governing parties through their votes. They therefore provide a mechanism for testing public support and renewing authority.

A: prorogation

Prorogation ends a parliamentary session. Dissolution ends the parliament itself and is normally followed by an election.

D: Colonization

Colonization places a territory under the control of an outside power. Nationalism instead concerns national identity or self-determination, while dictatorship describes internal rule.

A: Collection of radio and television license fees

Collecting radio and television licence fees is a listed local-government function. Company taxation and the appointment of judges belong to other statutory authorities.

C: diversity and complexity in social and cultural patterns

A federal structure can accommodate diverse cultural and social communities by combining common national institutions with regional autonomy. Dividing governmental powers is the resulting arrangement rather than the underlying social factor.

C: 1976

The 1976 state-creation decree established a nineteen-state federation with effect from 3 February 1976. This replaced the earlier twelve-state structure.

C: General Johnson Aguiyi- Ironsi

Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi headed Nigeria's first military government in January 1966. The military administrations led by Gowon, Murtala Muhammed and Obasanjo followed later.

A: NCNC

Herbert Macaulay became the first president of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). Nnamdi Azikiwe served as its secretary, so the two leadership roles should not be confused.

D: uneven sizes of the constituent regions

The regions differed greatly in territory and population, creating an uneven federal balance. This structural disparity affected representation and relations among the regions.

A: negotiation between the British government and Nigerian nationalists

Nigeria's independence followed constitutional negotiations involving British authorities and Nigerian political representatives. This negotiated transfer of power differed from independence obtained through an armed liberation war.

C: Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica in 1914. The organization promoted Black pride, organization and links among people of African descent.

C: perform advisory roles

The reforms separated traditional rulers from routine local executive administration while recognizing advisory roles. Advice on community and customary matters differs from enacting council laws or chairing its executive work.

B: non-interference in internal affairs of member states

Non-interference in the internal affairs of member states was one of the OAU Charter's stated principles. It did not authorize routine suppression of domestic uprisings by other members.

D: Lagos

The ECOWAS secretariat was based in Lagos before its move to Abuja in 1998. Lagos is therefore the correct location for the historical 1987 question.

D: League of Nations

The United Nations was established in 1945 as the successor international organization to the League of Nations. NATO and the OAU were created later and were not the body it replaced.

C: ensuring world peace and security

Maintaining international peace and security is a central purpose of the UN Charter. Refugee protection and other humanitarian work support the wider mission but do not replace that overarching purpose.

B: Britain and some of her former colonies

In 1987, the Commonwealth brought together Britain and independent countries with historical links to the British Empire. Its members cooperated as equal states; membership did not mean that Britain governed them.

C: Mali

Mali belonged to the Casablanca group, which favoured stronger African political unity. The other listed countries were associated with the more gradual approach of the Monrovia grouping.

C: Cater for those businesses that cannot be left entirely to private enterprises

Public corporations can undertake essential or strategic activities that government does not wish to leave entirely to private enterprise. Their public-service purpose can coexist with commercial operations.

B: Law court

Law courts enforce legal protections for civil liberties and provide remedies for infringements. Administrative complaints and service commissions have narrower functions and do not replace judicial adjudication.

D: Federalism

Federalism constitutionally distributes governing powers between a central government and constituent units. The existence of these levels differs from parliamentary government, which concerns executive–legislative relations.