WAEC Past Questions For Government
Below Are WAEC Past Questions And Observation For Government;
(a) Define feudalism.
(b) State any five demerits of feudalism.
Many candidates attempted this question because it was a popular one. Some of the candidates who attempted it could not score high marks because they could not give an apt definition of the concept. Some also
failed to give relevant points for the demerits of feudalism. The definition of feudalism is clear – it was a socio-political and economic system that existed during the middle ages which was based on land ownership between the lords and the serfs. Some of the demerits of feudalism expected from the candidates’ responses included:
(i) the system weakened the sovereignty of state, since every lord wielded some political power;
(ii) there were constant wars among the lords for the search for more territories;
(iii) the system was exploitative. The salves/serfs/vassals and peasants were used and dumped;
(iv) it encouraged injustice. The lord presided over disagreements between himself and the land tenants;
(v) the system encouraged domination. It produced very powerful lords who controlled and dictated the socio-economic and political lives of the tenants;
(vi) there was no security of land ownership. The land being worked upon by a peasant or slave could be taken away from him and given to another or the lord could lose it because of war;
(vii) the system did not encourage personal initiative and creativity. The tenants were not allowed to think out better ways of doing thing but made to dance to the dictates of the lords;
(viii) the system was undemocratic. The tenants were not allowed to choose their leaders.
In what six ways can a government of a state violate the principle of the Rule of Law?
This was a very unpopular question and many of the candidates who attempted it failed to understand the demands of the question. The candidates’ performance in this question was below average.
The candidates were expected to give the following answers:
(i) manipulation of the constitution to suit the selfish interest of the executive instead of the national interest;
(ii) ineffective control of delegated legislation;
(iii) interference with the independence of the judiciary;
(iv) inability of the legislature to check the excesses of the executive;
(v) flouting of decisions of the judiciary by the executive and the legislature;
(vi) disrespect for Fundamental Human Rights by government and its agents.
(a) What is an absolute majority system?
(b) Identify any five disadvantages of the system.
This appeared to be another very unpopular question and the overall performance in it was very poor.
Candidates were expected to define absolute majority system as an electoral requirement or format by which a candidate has to score more than 50% of the total votes cast before being declared elected.
Some of the disadvantages include:
(i) it cannot work very well where most of the voters are illiterate;
(ii) it is complicated as it involves a lot of calculations;
(iii) it is costly or expensive both in time and finance especially when the process of voting is repeated;
(iv) the result of the election is unnecessarily delayed, if a winner could not emerge after the first balloting;
(v) voters whose candidates are dropped in the first ballot may not wish to participate in the second ballot leading to voters apathy;
(vi) the system tends to weaken other smaller political parties.
(a) Define Opinion Poll
(b) State five factors that make the conduct of public opinion unreliable in West Africa.
A fairly popular question but most candidates could not differentiate between opinion poll and public opinion. They were expected to define opinion poll as a scientific method of measuring the choice of people on a
given socio-political issue. This shortcoming accounted for the poor performance and low marks in part (b). The candidates were also expected to state the following factors in the (b) part:
(i) lack of expertise knowledge by officials conducting the pools;
(ii) inadequacy of reliable technology which may produce accurate results;
(iv) high level of illiteracy and ignorance among the people;
(iv) problems of analyzing statistical data;
(v) lack of objectivity among respondents;
(vi) people get scared of being interviewed;
(vii) poor communication network;
(viii) possibility of manipulating the figures generated or gathered during the exercise;
(ix) the selection of the sampling may be misleading;
(x) respondents may be highly influenced by cultural, religious or traditional sentiments.
(a) Define public corporation
(b) Give reasons for setting up a public corporation in your country.
A popular question answered by majority of the candidates most of who presented brilliant answers to score high marks. Candidates were able to define public corporation as government enterprise set up by an Act of
Parliament to provide essential services like electricity, pipe borne-water, etc for the people at moderate prices. They were handsomely rewarded for the correct definition. More over, majority candidates were also able to state reasons for setting up public Corporation. Some of the points listed by candidates to score high marks included:
(i) to provide essential and basic services for the people;
(ii) to provide employment for citizens;
(iii) to prevent the exploitation of the members of the public by unscrupulous profiteers whose sole aim is to maximize profit;
(iv) to undertake essential projects requiring huge capital;
(v) to undertake strategic projects which the government may not want the private businessmen to handle for security reason;
(vi) government may also establish corporation for the purpose of generating revenue, etc.
The overall candidates performance in this question was above average.
Identify any six roles of the traditional rulers in the pre- colonial West Africa.
This question was very popular with the candidates except that some of the candidates mixed pre-colonial facts with colonial ones. However, most of the candidates who answered this question scored very high marks and
therefore making the overall performance in the question above average.
Some of the answers candidates gave included:
(i) they served as a link between the people and their ancestors;
(ii) they appointed subordinate chiefs;
(iii) maintenance of law and order – They mobilized their subjects especially the able bodied youths to keep law and order;
(iv) Cherished customs and traditions of the people were preserved and promoted;
(v) administration of Justice – They interpreted customary norms and conventions and passed judgements;
(vi) community development – They mobilized and organized their subjects towards community development;
(vii) recruitment of able-bodied men for war in defence of their territories;
(viii) they performed religious functions;
(ix) they collected tributes and taxes, etc.
(a) Describe the composition of the Executive Council of the 1922 Clifford Constitution.
(b) Identify any five ways in which the Clifford Constitution was significant to Nigeria.
Majority of the candidates who tried this question scored above average. However, the common anomaly noticed in candidates’ responses was in their attempts to describe the composition of the Executive Council. Candidates were expected to describe the composition of Executive Council as follows:
The Executive Council of the 1922 Clifford Constitution was composed of ten official members. The Council was headed by the Governor. Majority of the candidates were very much at home with identifying the significance of the Constitution. Some of the significance identified included:
(i) it introduced elective principle in which the people of Lagos and Calabar were given suffrage;
(ii) it led to the springing up of Newspapers and magazines like Lagos Daily News, West African Pilot, etc;
(iii) a new Legislative Council was set-up for the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria;
(iv) it created a conducive atmosphere for the springing up of political parties and associations, e.g. the NNDP in 1923;
(v) the Constitution increased political awareness on the part of Nigerians, etc.
Highlight six political changes introduced into the Nigerian political system by the 1954 Constitution.
This was another popular question. Many of the candidates who attempted the question did justice to it and were rewarded appropriately. The overall candidates’ performance in the question was good. Candidates were able to highlight the following changes in order to score good marks:
(i) Federalism – The Constitution consolidated the federal system of government in the country;
(ii) full ministerial responsibilities – Nigerians were made ministers with portfolios;
(iii) direct elections – It brought direct elections to the Eastern and Western Legislatures;
(iv) Premier – Each of the three Regions had a premier as the leader of Government;
(v) regionalization of the Civil Service and Judiciary;
(vi) establishment of the offices of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker in each legislature;
(vii) it made Governor to become Governor-General and Lieutenant Governors to Governors;
(viii) Lagos was made a Federal Capital Territory and no longer part of the Western Region, etc.
(a) Distinguished between a Secretary of State for the colonies and a Governor-General in the British Colonial administration.
(b) Highlight five functions of the Governor-General in the British West Africa.
This was an unpopular question among the candidates and only a few of them attempted it. They could not adequately distinguish between the two personalities. The part (b) was not adequately dealt with to the extent that out of the eleven points in the marking scheme, hardly could any candidate give up to four. Candidates were expected to answer the question in the following way:
(a) The Secretary of State for the Colonies was a minister resident in Britain. He was responsible for advising the British government on matters affecting its colonies. A Governor-General on the other hand was not a minister. He was appointed by the Queen of Britain on the advice of the Prime Minister. He was resident in the Colony
and acted as the Head of State.
(b) (i) he was authorized to appoint a Prime Minister;
(ii) he appointed ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister;
(iii) he gave his assent to bills passed by Parliament before they became laws;
(iv) he was empowered to dissolve, prorogue and summon parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister;
(v) he appointed members of the Public Service Commission and other important government officials on the advice of Prime Minister;
(vi) he received credentials from foreign dignitaries accredited to his country;
(vii) he addressed the Parliament during the first parliamentary session (Speech from the Throne), etc.
Describe six achievements of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) between 1979 and 1983.
This question appeared popular among the candidates but surprisingly, only very few candidates were able to stumble on two or three relevant points which were even not well explained. The general performance in
this question was below average. In order to scored good marks, candidates should have given the following answers:
(i) the Party won the Presidential elections in 1979 and 1983;
(ii) the Party won more seats than any other political parties into the House of Representatives;
(iii) establishment of steel rolling mills e.g. Katsina, Osogbo, Itape;
(iv) the Party won the majority seats into the Senate;
(v) the Party built a number of housing estates in each state of the federation;
(vi) the Party established more Federal secondary schools in Nigeria, etc.
(a) What is foreign policy of a country?
(b) State the main objectives of Nigeria foreign
This was a popular question as it was attempted by majority of the candidates. Good candidates gave adequate definition of foreign policy as the set objectives which a government seeks to achieve through its relations with governments of other countries and international organizations.
However, in part (b), some candidates related foreign policy to Africa alone and lost substantial marks. Good candidates were able to state the following objectives:
(i) to develop mutual understanding, friendship and co-operation with the government of other states;
(ii) respect the sovereign integrity of states based on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states;
(iii) peaceful resolution of inter-state(s) disputes;
(iv) promotion and protection of national interest;
(v) eradication of colonialism and racism in Africa;
(vi) to assist other neighbouring countries to solve their internal problems;
(vii) promotion of a just world economic order, etc.
(a) Describe the composition of the General
Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UNO).
(b) Highlight four functions of the General Assembly.
This question was straightforward and fairly popular among the candidates. Unfortunately, majority of them could not mention enough points to score the maximum marks obtainable. Some other weak candidates merely stumbled on few points or mixed the requirements of the question entirely. Candidates were expected to describe the composition of the General Assembly as being comprise all member States. Each has five representatives in the Assembly. The overall performance of candidates in this question was average. Some of the points candidates left out in their responses to the (b) part included:
(i)it deliberates on issues affecting World Peace and Security;
(ii)it discusses and approves the annual budget of UNO;
(iii)It approves the appointment of the Secretary-General of UNO;
(iv)it receives and considers reports from other organs and specialized agencies of UNO;
(v)it admits new members into UNO;
(vi)it reviews issues that relate to the functions and powers of the other Organs of the Organization;
(vii)it amends the Charter of UNO;
(viii)it elects non-permanent members of the Security Council of UNO, etc.