LECTURE MODULE

FIRST SEMESTER 2022/2023 /100 LEVEL

COURSE DESCRIPTION
CODE: GST103 COURSE TITLE: NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND CULTURE
COURSE LECTURER: MR. OLUGBENGA PAUL-OSARO B.A (HONS) PHILOSOPHY
UNIBEN, M.A,UNILAG, ACIPM, PhD in-view OOU.

Course Description
This course gives an overview of what culture entails, different scholarly explanation of culture,
its characteristics, and relativity to different countries. Another aspect of the course covers
prominent social issues in the areas of health and criminality affecting a given society. This
course will also look at Nigerian history in pre-colonial times (both Southern and Northern
Nigeria). At the end of this course, we shall also be looking at the dynamics of the evolution of
Nigeria as a political unit, citizenship education and the economy and Nigeria development.

Course Objectives
At the end of the course, the students should be able to:
 describe the concept of culture, characteristics, importance of culture , functions of
culture and components of culture.
 highlight and discuss organizational culture, national culture, types of culture, key
cultural concepts and historical analysis of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria.
 identify and discuss social issues, causes and effects of social issues in Nigeria.
 highlight Nigerian history in pre-colonial times (Southern and Northern Nigeria)
 explain the evolution of Nigeria as a political unit.
 Describe the concept of citizenship education, its rights, duties, obligations and
acquisition of citizenship education
 Discuss the Nigerian economy system in pre and post-independence, the structure of
economic activities in Nigeria and major problems of the Nigerian economy.

1
COURSE OUTLINE
Lesson One: The Concept of Culture
A: The Meaning of Culture
B: The Characteristics of Culture
C: The Importance of Cultural Studies
D: Functions of Culture
E: Components of Culture
Lesson Two: The Concept of Culture
A: Meaning of Organizational Culture
B: Meaning of National Culture
C: Types and Similarities of Culture
D: The Key Cultural Concepts
E: The Historical Analysis of the three Major Ethnic Groups in Nigeria
Lesson Three: Social Issues in Nigeria
A: The Meaning of Social Issues
B: The Causes of Social Issues
C: The Consequences of Social Issues in Nigeria
Lesson Four: Nigerian History in Pre-Colonial Times
A:The Southern Pre-Colonial Era
B: The Northern Pre-Colonial Era
Lesson Five: The Dynamics of the Evolution of Nigeria as a Political Unit
A: The evolution of Nigeria
B:The Amalgamation Process
C: Amalgamation
D: Reasons for the Amalgamation
Lesson Six: The Colonial Administration In Nigeria
A: Reasons for the Adoption of Indirect Rule
B: Constitutional Development
C: Major Trends in Nigeria’s Post-Independence Development
2
Lesson Seven: Revision of Lesson 1-6/Mid-Semester Test
Lesson Eight: Citizenship Education
A: Origins of Citizenship
i. Ancient Origins
ii. Contemporary Origins
B: The Meaning of Citizenship Education
C: Rights, Duties and Obligation of a Citizen
Lesson Nine: Citizenship Education
A: Patterns of Citizenship Education Acquisition
B: Negative Attitudes of Nigerian Youth
Lesson Ten: The Economy and the National Development
A: Nigerian Economic System in Pre and Post- independence
B: The Structure of Economic Activities in Nigeria
C: Major Problems of the Nigerian Economy
Lesson Eleven: Second Mid-Semester Test
Lesson Twelve: The General Revision of the Coursework
Lesson Thirteen: The First Semester Examination

References/ Course Materials:

Nigeria People & Culture: Self- Learning Course Manual By Centre for Distance Learning,
Modibbo Adamawa University of Technology, Yola Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Oludimu, O. & Ogbonna, S. (2019) General Studies: A Compendium (Lagos: Caleb University)

Nzemeke,A.& Erhagbe, E. (2002) Nigerian People and Cultures (2 nd ed). Benin City: University
of Benin.
Obileye, A.A. & Aborisade, R.A. (2020) Social Problem. In: Introduction to Sociology:
Akamera, F. (2001) Issues and Concepts in Government and Politics of Nigeria, Lagos: Olu-
Abbey Modern press.
Obikeze,O. & Anthony,O.(2003) Government and politics of Nigeria: The struggle of power in
an African State, Onisha Bookpoint Ltd.
Ndoh, C. (2006), Guide to Constitutional Development in Nigeria,Owerri: CRC publication.

3
Ekelegbe, A. (2004) Issues and Problems of Nigerian Political, Lagos: Imprint Services
.
Warri, E. (2018) Introduction to Nigerian Government and Politics; An Simplified Approach,
Bayelsa: Kadmon Printng Company.
Otoghagua, E .(2007) Trend sand Contemporary Issues on Regimes of Nigerian Heads of State,
Policies & Politics, Achievements & Failures: Research Knowledge and Educational Services,
Nigeria.
Akinbade J. (2013) Civic Education; Explained (Lagos: Macak Books Limited)
Appadoral, A. (1995). The Substance of Politics, London: Oxford University Press
Afigbo A. E. (1980). Igboland before 1800”. In Obaro Ikime, ed. Groundwork of Nigerian
History Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books.
Johnson, S. (1950). History of the Yorubas. Lagos: C.M.S.
Akinjogbin, I. A.& Ayandele E. A.(1980). “Yorubaland Up to 1800”.In Obaro Ikime,Ed
Groundwork of Nigerian History, Heinemann Educational Books.
Onwuejegwu M.A. (2000). African Civilizations: Origin, Growth and Development, Lagos: Uto
Publications
Adamu, M. (1978). The Hausa Factor in West African History. Zaria: ABD Press.
Last M. (1967). The Sokoto Caliphate. London: Longman Nig. Plc.

Lesson One: The Concept of Culture

An Introduction
The term “culture” is a complex phenomenon because it has several definitions and can be
viewed from various perspectives. Culture can simply be said to be the sum total of a people’s
way of life, or the ways of a people ( Adebogun O. 2019:164) In the Western world, culture is
often associated with such things as good breeding and finesse in human relations; an educated
condition; a well developed taste and capacity for the arts such as music, sculpture, literature etc.
Sociologists and anthropologists have proposed well over two hundred definitions of culture.
One of the earliest and easily, the most popular was proposed by Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in
1871. According to him, “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
law, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society.”(Edoja O; 2005:71) It can also be seen as the way of life, especially the general customs

4
and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time (retrieved from
www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021)
You can see straight away that culture is far more involving than many people suspect; and even
these definitions did not satisfy many anthropologists. By 1964 Ward Goodenough still found it
necessary to offer the following definition:
a society’s culture consists of whatever it is, one has to know or believe in order to operate in a
manner acceptable to its members, and do so in any role that accept for anyone of themselves. It
does not consist of things, people, behaviours or emotions. It is rather an organization of these
things. It is the forms of things that people have in mind, their models for perceiving, relating
and otherwise interpreting them (Goodenough 1968 p.36)
The concept of culture is used in various ways with different meanings. These usages are either
colloquial or scientific .In colloquial terms, ”culture or cultured” is used to state that someone
has or does not have good manners or behaviours, for instance when quarreling, Mr .A may tell
Mr. B that the latter is not cultured or has no culture. That is ,Mr. A means to say that Mr. B is
unrefined. This usage may carry some scientific meaning behind if Messrs A and B come from
the culture system, that is to mean that anyone misbehaving as objective determined, has not
acquired the behaviours expected of him as a member of a particular society.
In scientific usage, culture is often defined in blanket terms as the total way of life of a people.
More specifically, culture is defined as the complete whole of man’s acquisitions of knowledge,
morals, belief, art, custom, technology etc., which is shared and transmitted to generation to
generation ( Adebogun O.2019:164)

From the whole discussions, one would agree that sociologists and anthropologists have
disagreements on a simple view on culture. The culture of a people is very complex and difficult
to define. This is based on the fact that culture is a way and attitude of human life. It is defined
from different perspective.

The Characteristics of Culture

Whatever the disagreements may be, sociologists and anthropologists have largely agreed on
certain basic features of culture which will be discussed as follows:
1.Culture is integrated: This means that the various components or elements of a culture do
not exist independently of one another. They rather complement one another to form a systemic
whole. The implication of this is that any disruption at one point of the cultural edifice sends
reverberations through the length and breadth of the whole.
2. Culture is dynamic: This is to say, at any given moment culture is undergoing the process
of modification, or change. There are many factors involved in this. Some of these arises from
within the system as it seeks to harmonize the inputs of various elements within the system. This
process of adjustment is endless. Moreover, no culture exists in a vacuum but exists within an

5
environment. Comprising other cultures and nature itself. There is therefore the constant
necessity to make adjustments in response to the stimulations and demands arising from all
these.
3. Culture is shared: This means that no individual human being has a personal culture
exclusive to him. He may have his idiosyncrasies in the experience and use of culture by virtue
of his biography and personality. But the cultural universe within which he lives and acts is a
group property. It was there before he was born; much of it will be there by the time he dies. For
example, the mode of dressing that involves aso oke is typical of all bearers of Yoruba culture.
All the Olas, all the Topes, all the Tundes and Bisis share it, they were born to meet it and will
leave it behind when they die. It is also in this sense that we say that culture is a heritage; it is
transmitted from generation to generation with every generation leaving its stamp on it.
4.Culture is learned: By this we mean that it is in this world that we acquire culture. We are
not born with it. The process by which we acquire is also known as enculturation or
socialization, the fact of learning also distinguishes culture from all human biological
characteristics. The capacity to feel hunger, for example is a condition of nature; but the ways
and means of satisfying, which we call food, vary enormously among the cultures of the word.
There are people who eat such things as frog and earthworm. They are also those who would not
taste fish although they live in a riverine ecosystem; others will eat almost nothing but fish.
Some eat dog meat, others abhor it; some relish cow meat, others revulse from it; and so on. The
attitudes and beliefs of human beings about all these food items derive from the process of
learning (Edoja O; 2005:72)
5.Culture is cumulative: That is, it involves the peoples’ manner of doing things over time. It
is the basic determinant individual is known by his/ her lifestyle which could be related to a
specific or identified culture (Adebogun O.2019:166)

The Importance of Cultural Studies

1.To understand, preserve and promote heritage.
2.To accumulate, control and organize human experience.
3.To enhance quality of life and overall wellbeing
4.To learn and pass on existing legacy of a particular environment to a new generation.
5.To understand the peculiarities of different cultures within and outside a given area.

Functions of Culture
1.It makes it possible to anticipate how others are likely to respond to our actions. The
predictability of others responds to us and our responses to them is fundamental to what is meant
by social structure are closely interrelated.

6
2.It gives us standard for distinguishing between what is considered right and wrong.
3.Culture provides us knowledge and skills necessary for meeting substance need. From the
cultural accumulation, we gain knowledge and skills needed to provide for family and ourselves.
4.The continuity of man is also guaranteed by cultural practices since through them what holds
social fabrics together is passed from one generation to another.
5.It enables us to communicate with others through language that we learn and share in common
6.Culture also aids the stability of any group.

Components of Culture
The major components of culture may be divided, for the purposes of study and analysis into
three categories. The cognitive, the normative and the material. Some anthropologists prefer to
differentiate culture into only material and non-material with the later comprising cognitive and
normative components.
A. Cognitive Culture: This refers to the ways culture defines what exists. Hence, knowledge
about the social and physical world is one of the cognitive constituents of culture. Most
importantly, in less developed societies, this have empirical support, that is objective and factual
support. As knowledge less capable of empirical demonstration, it shades off into belief system-
ideas or theories about the nature of physical and social worlds. This also involves ideas about
the supernatural reality spirits, life after death, soil fertility, agricultural production, water bodies,
rainfall as well as childbirth. It is this cognitive aspect of a culture that informs people in the
development of materials and normative structures to guide their usage. For example, among the
Yuma of the lower Colorado river in America, it is believed that the Sun Watcher has
supernatural power to know and predict the movement of the sun as well as periods of rainfall,
hence every farmer looks forward to his announcement for commencement of planting; this
belief is however entrenched with strict penalties for deviance.
B. Normative Culture: This normative system consists of values and specific rules of conduct
with which man guide and regulates behaviours; it is man’s idea of the way things ought to be.
Such rules of conduct specifically guarantee the stability of any society. This is because
conformity to group rights and wrongs makes all members perform expected roles in accordance
to occupies statuses. For instance, the normative aspect of culture dictates certain rituals, which a
farmer in a given small-scale society has to perform before planting, as well as necessary rites
for harvesting. Such other rules of conduct as greeting, eating habits, dressing pattern, selections
of implement for economic production and hospitality are normative components of a group’s
culture.
C. Material Culture: This is the most perceptible of all culture components. Material
components of culture include tools, implements and other explicit things people make use of
everyday life. The list of such things is not exhaustive. Produces of industrial and technological
development over time are also material components of culture, such items may include spoons,

7
plates, shoes, guns, bridges, canoe, vehicle, etc. They may range from crude items of prehistoric
age to sophisticated things of advanced societies. Due to the necessity of exploiting natural
resources for living. It becomes practically impossible for members of any community to
succeed in daily interaction without material content of cultural heritage. Thus, the usage of these
overt aspects of culture are learned by new members of community and passed from one
generation to another through the socialization process. Furthermore, material artifacts express
some symbolic cultural meanings, this is why their usage and study will not be complete without
reference to the values, beliefs and norm time structures dictating their existence and use
(Adebogun O.2019:166-168)

Meaning of Organizational Culture

Organizational Culture is generally defined as a system of shared meaning held by members that
distinguished the organization from other organizations. This system of meaning refers to a set of
key organization, an organization values. A composite picture of an organizations culture can be
formed for example, from and appraisal of the organization on these characteristics namely;
individual initiative; risk tolerance, direction; integration, management support; control identity;
reward system; conflict tolerance; and communication patterns. Accordingly, individuals with
different backgrounds or at different levels in the organization will tend to decried the
organization’s culture in similar terms. However, sub-culture exists within the system of
organizational social relative. A dominant culture expressed the core values that are shared by a
majority of the organization’s members. When we talk of an organization’s culture, reference is
being made to the dominant culture.

Meaning of National Culture

This is defined as the primary values and practices that characterize a particular country. A
growing body of evidence indicates that national culture differ widely and the result is marked
differences in behaviours patterns in social structure and institutions and organization between
cognitive and nations-states world-wide. On the other hand, cultural clusters refer to the
grouping of countries into meaningful categories based on geography, shared language on
similar religion. Cultural dimensions include individualism.
Types of Culture
The Material Aspect: This include all products of technology and physical objects produced by
man in the society. It is divided into movable material culture and non-movable material culture
The Movable items of material: Culture are those artifacts by virtue of their size, weight or
function or even be carried about and exhibited in museums. These include canoes, lorries etc.
while the immovable items of material culture are those material things, which by their sheer size
cannot be expected to be moved from places where they are found. Example of these are
settlements (villages, hamlets etc.) these remain cultural property because they are made or built
by man.
8
Non-Material Culture: Intangible component of culture includes the religious beliefs, moral
laws and value system of a society. It also includes linguistic and literary activities and taboo of a
given people (Adebogun O.2019:170)

The Key Cultural Concepts

This refers to the judgement of every culture on its own terms. This concept holds that one
cannot truly understand or evaluate cultural and psychological facts meaningfully unless they are
looked at in terms of the larger culture and society. What needs do they serve? Answering such
questions will show that no culture is good or bad until the traits are considered within the
contexts in which they operate. Such belief systems as witchcraft, social practice like fraternal
polyandry and material like raffia leaves are perfectly normal for systems in which they are
present. Hence, looking at a culture as being inferior amounts to ethnocentrism. There are as
follows:
Cultural Shock
This is the psychological distress caused when a person moves from his native or accustomed
culture to a new one. It can also arise as a result of the sudden emergence or introduction of new
cultural traits to the cultural complex of the people concerned. For example, the sudden
temporary surprise of seeing, and withdrawal from, an areophane by members of a folk
community.
Culture Traits
This is the smallest unit of a culture. It is therefore the unit of learned behaviours or material that
cannot be reduced to a level or smaller size. For the material culture, traits will include biro,
home appliances, hoes, cutlass etc. The non-material traits on the other hand will include kissing,
dancing steps and shaking of hands
Culture Dynamics
This is referred to as the modifications of the culture of any society. It may come in the form of
cultural accumulation, which is the addition of new traits to the already existing ones. Sometimes
the dynamism in culture may and so include a reduction in culture complexes. The modification
of culture can rise out of diffusion, that is, the infusion of new cultural traits from somewhere
else. Dynamism of culture may also be brought about where people find themselves in a new
physical environment and the survival imperative necessitates the development of new material
aspects of culture. For example, settled agriculturists inventing new tools when they get to the
Savannah region. In the same vein, to survive in the new environment, new belief system and
methods of doing things will be adopted to fashion a new social order predicated on the new
physical structure.

9
Cultural Universals
There are common cultural values and traits that cut across societies, such are referred to as
cultural universals. These fundamental similarities in culture arise out of the common problems
every human group faces. There are also certain universal limitations in habitation. For the
continuity of all social system, the institution of the family cuts across all human groups because
of its functional role of adding new members to the groups, status acquisition as well as a means
of exchange ((Adebogun O.2019: p169)
Cultural Relativism
This is the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that
person's own culture, and not be judged against the criteria of another.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the direct opposite of cultural relativism. It is simply the opinion that one’s own
way of life is natural or correct. In other words, ethnocentrism means that one may see his/her
own culture as the correct way of living.

Cultural lag
The most difference between material culture and non-material culture is known as cultural lag.
This term means material aspects of culture changes faster than the non-material aspects of
culture. In essence, it takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and the resulting
social problems that are caused by this lag.

Cultural area

This is a contiguous geographic area comprising a number of societies that possess the same or
similar traits or that share a dominant cultural orientation. A good example is the Congo, or East

African Cattle Area. Others are Western Sudan or the Guinea Area.

Sub-culture

This is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to
which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their
own norms and values regarding how they run their affairs. It develops along ethnic lineage,
occupation, regionalism and social class. (Obileye A; 2020: p.)

The Historical Analysis of Nigerian Culture from the Three Major Ethnic
Groups
A: The Hausa Culture
The Hausa/Fulani People

10
The Hausa people represent one of the important and politically dominant groups in Northern
Nigeria. By the year 2000, the Hausa population was estimated at about twenty million. They are
also one of the largest linguistic groups in the whole of Africa.

Origins of the Hausa

Just like other major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Origin of the Hausa people is not very certain.
The Bayajida Version
Most scholars agree that the Bayajida story is the most authentic oral tradition in Hausa land that
attempts to explain the origin of the Hausa states. According to the legend, Bayajida is believed
to be the founder/hero of the Hausa states. He is also believed to have come from Baghdad to
Kanem-Bornu and thence to Hausa land in present Nigeria. History tells us that Bayajida married
the daughter of the Mai of Bornu by whom he had a son at Biran. After a while, Bayajida left
Biran to Daura. While in Daura he helped to kill a snake, which had for a long time prevented
the people from taking water from a well. According to the legend, the queen of Daura was very
impressed and decided to marry him. They later had a son named Bawo. Bawo had six children
who, together with Bayajide’s other son at Biran, are believed to have founded the original seven
Hausa states referred to as the “Hausa bokwoi.”

The Socio- Political Organization of the Hausa

The Sarki has always been known as the head of any typical Hausa state. He always works with
a retinue of officials in a well-organized court. Sarkin Kasar, which means “ruler of the land”,
was the full title given to any effective and efficient head of Hausa State. The Sarkin Kasar
combined both political and religious/spiritual functions. He was also the chief executive and
judge of the State, but he was aided by a council of state.
At the district level, the government was modeled after that at the national level. You should also
know that between 14th and 15th centuries, the socio-political organization of Hausa States took
another shape. For instance, Islam was adopted and this gave birth to many new political
institutions such as the offices of the Galadima, (senior counselor), Madawaki (palace
administrator), Magaji (overseer), Dogari (guard), and Zagi (orderly). The Islamization of Hausa
land also influenced its judicial system. The Sharia law started taking shape. Some new titles
such as Alkali and Qadi’s (judges) became commonplace in the administration of justice. In like
manner, the fiscal system was modified by Islam as was manifested by the introduction of new
forms of taxation such as Zakat, tax on income, Jangali tax on livestock, Kharat, a land tax and
Jizyah, a capitation tax on conquered people.
Whatever its origins, by the late 15th century, the three most important Hausa rulers - those Of
Kano, Zaria, and Katsina had adopted Islam in their political as well as social and economic
organizations.

11
The Yoruba Culture
In a nutshell, the Yoruba can be described as one of the major ethnic groups in Southern Nigeria.
Of course, several members of the Yoruba race can be found everywhere around the globe. But
the majority of them are found in some Western and Central States of Nigeria stretching across
Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, Kwara, Osun and Kogi. They practice both Islam and Christianity but
most of them are still traditionalist to the core. The Yoruba ethnic group is believed to have come
into existence between 2000-1000BC.

Origins of Yoruba
Till today, the history of the origins of the Yoruba people remains controversial. The Yoruba, as
an ethnic group still holds many versions about its origins.
 Rev. Samuel Johnson’s Version
In his book, History of the Yoruba (1950), Johnson traces the origin of the Yoruba to the “East”.
According to him, the Yoruba originally came from the North-Eastern area of Africa. The
similarities between the cultures of the Yoruba and Egyptians in terms of religious observances,
works of arts, burial and other traditional practices are enough evidence. It is from Egypt, after
several years of journey that the Yoruba finally settled in Ile- Ife in Nigeria. Oduduwa is
believed to be the first leader that led the Yoruba to Ile Ife and subsequently sent his sons and
grandson to find other Yoruba Kingdom. Johnson’s conclusion is worth recalling.
That the Yoruba came originally from the East, there cannot be the slightest doubt as their habits,
manner and customs etc., all go to prove. With them the East is Mecca and Mecca is the East.
Having strong affinities with the east looming so largely in their imagination, everything that
comes that comes from the east with them from Mecca and hence it is natural to present
themselves as having hailed originally from that city.

 The Oke Oramfe’s Version

Oke Oramfe is located in Ile-Ife. It is believed to be the Centre from which the world was
created. In their paper Yoruba land up to 1800, Akinjogbin & Ayandele (1980) give us a full
picture of what Oke Oramfe’s version is all about. According to the legend, there was a period
when the world was covered with water. The Almighty God then decided to send some of his
messenger to the world and they included Obatala or Orisa Nla or Orisa (as the leader) and
sixteen Oye (immortals). They were five pieces of iron, a lump of earth tied to a white piece of
cloth and a cockerel. Somewhere on their way to the world, the leader, Obatala, got drunk with
palm wine. Oduduwa seized the symbol of authority from him and eventually led the party to the
world. The site, on which they landed is traditionally known as Oke Oramfe in Ile Ife. On arrival
at the site, Oduduwa set down the five pieces of iron and placed the lump of earth on them. The
cockerel then spread its toes on the earth. Consequently, the earth was formed and Oduduwa thus
became the ruler. It was from this base(Ife) that he extended his authorities to other Yoruba
towns and villages.

12
The Socio- Political Organization of the Yoruba
Oyo is best known as the major kingdom that eventually emerged as an empire in Yorubaland.
Various tradition believed that Oyo was founded by Oranmiyan, the son of Oduduwa, who is
also credited with establishing the present Benin monarchy. Oyo Empire was founded in the
middle of the fifteen century. A century later, it became very powerful and prosperous, extending
its authority as far as Dahomey.

 The Alaafin Administration

Oyo Empire was very unique and exceptional in its system of government. For instance, in the
sixteenth century, Oyo was one of the rare empires that had in-built checks and balances and this
contributed to its stability for centuries. The Alaafin was the head of the empire and was resident
in the capital. He was also regarded as “Lord of many lands”. The Alaafin was assisted in his
administration by a retinue of officials made up of priests, officials and eunuchs. He had a well-
organized court as well.
Theoretically, the Alaafin was the fountain of authority and was therefore regarded as the
“companion of the gods”. Sometimes, he had an autocratic tendency, but in practice, his powers
were often limited and regulated by the Oyomesi, a council of seven members headed by
Bashorun who acted as the prime minister. The members of Oyomesi were king makers as well.
At the demise of the Alaafin, they were the ones to select his successor. The Oyomesi also had
the power to remove any Alaafin especially when he appeared dictatorial or transgressed the
laws of the land. Usually the deposed Alaafin was expected to commit suicide.
 The Ogboni Cult’s Administration
Apart from the Alaafin cabinet, members of the Oyomesi cult constituted another arm of
government. It was a very powerful cult. It was composed of free and prominent members of the
society as well as members of the Oyomesi. The Ogboni cult had a very vital position in Yoruba
society. It played a mediatory role in any conflict between the Oyomesi and the Alaafin. It was a
kind of counter power to the Oyomesi as well.
 The Army
The Army was another arm of government in traditional Yoruba society. It was very organized.
Its head was conferred with the coveted title of Are-Ona- Kankanfo. It was made up of infantry
and calvary. The Are-Ona-Kankanfo was expected to live outside the capital. The Army was
credited with performing important functions which included stability of the empire, expansion,
as well as keeping dissident territories in check. Oyo Empire also had provincial governments.
They were modelled after the central government. They were administered by princes, minor
Kings and baales (provincial governors). All of them were subject to the over lordship of the
Alaafin. The provincial governments enjoyed considerable autonomy. But the Alaafin had
personal agents, Ilari, all over the provinces. The Alaafin used the Bere annual festival periods
to acknowledge the renewal of allegiance of the provincial governors to him.

13
The Igbo
The Igbo people are best known for their segmentary or acephalous way of life. This is because
from the ancient times, they had no centralized states. Consequently, they operated a kind of
government without Kings.
 The Igbo of the eastern Nigeria
 The Igbo of the South-eastern Nigeria
 The Igbo of the North-eastern Nigeria
 The Western Igbo and
 The Northern Igbo
Generally, the Igbo are predominantly farmers and traders. Despite some cultural diversity
among them, they do share a common basic culture in their language with a cluster of dialects
that are mutually intelligible. They also share a common political system based on
decentralization of power and delegation of authority exercised by the holders of the staff of
authority, the Ofo.

The Origins of the Igbo

The origin of the Igbo people is as controversial as that of the Yoruba and the Bini. There are so
many versions and it is very difficult to say which is the most acceptable.

 The Middle East Version

Some believe that the Igbo peoples migrated to their present location from either the North or the
Middle-east.
 The Igboland Centred Version
Others believe that the Igbo people had been in their present abode from the beginning.
Therefore, Igboland is the original homeland.
 The Nri Version
Professor M.A. Onwuejeogwu (2000) regards the Nri version as the only authentic version of
origin in existence in the oral tradition of the Igbo. According to Nri version, the ancestor of the
Igbo, Eri, descended from the sky and sailed down the River Anambra. When he arrived at
Aguleri, he met some autochthonous group of people who had no living memory of their own
and settled with them. As their population increased, some groups migrated to other parts of
Igboland to establish their own settlements.
 The Awka or Orlu Version
Another tradition considered Awka or Orlu towns as the center of origin of the Igbo from
where they dispersed to other areas.
 The Idah Version
Some groups such as the Umunri claim to have migrated to their present location from Idah.
 The Benin Version
14
The Onitsha and the Igbo on the other side of the River Niger (Delta Igbo), claim Benin origin.
 The Israeli Version
One of the most popular versions of the migratory stories of origin of the Igbo people is the one
that points to Israel. This assumption is based on the so-called similarities between the cultures
of the Igbo and the ancients Hebrew. Some Igbo scholars consider themselves as off-shoots of
the lost tribes of the Hebrews who migrated southward.
You should remember that the Igbo society has always been known as acephalous. Moreover,
there were very limited professional historians as at that period. There were no equivalents of
Oba, and Alaafin or of palaces over most parts of Igboland. This is why it is very difficult to
reconcile all these various versions.

The Socio-Political Organization of the Igbo

Unlike other ethnic groups such as the Yoruba and the Bini, the Igbo people did not build any
strong centralized states. This is mainly because Igbo society had always been fragmentary or
acephalous. In traditional Igbo for instance, the village was the Centre of government. This has
been described as direct democracy. The village-centered administration implied that every
linkage for instance, including all male adults in the village, participated in its political process.

 The Amala Oha

You should always remember that the socio-political organization of the traditional Igbo was
fundamentally based either on the age grades or age and titled societies. Amala Oha was
therefore a form of general assembly in traditional Igbo society. All the male adult members
usually met in this assembly to perform legislative functions. In ancient times, the Amala Oha’s
meeting were held in the open village square. All the decisions taken during those meetings were
absolute and final. As a democratic society, the life of every individual was highly respected.
More so, the recognition of an individual in the society was based on individual capability and
age rather than family background. The elders formed the core of village administration. They
were highly respected accordingly. Hardworking and wealthy individuals were respected and
given important responsibilities in the society as well. The youth, middle age or able bodied men
and elders constituted age-sets or age groups. You should remember that each age-set had its
own special rights, duties, obligations and responsibilities in matters affecting the village.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ITSEKIRI

The kingdom of Itsekiri is said to have been established by Iginuwa- the son and heir apparent of
Oba Olua of Benin in about 1473. According to the tradition, Iginuwa at time, gave an advice
which eventually proved disastrous to his father. This 'bad' advice made Iginuwa very unpopular
to the extent that the people vowed never to have him succeed his father. On realizing this, and in
order to avoid problems in his kingdom, Oba Olua decided to arrange a kingdom outside Benin
for Iginuwa. He then sent him with some chiefs and servants to an area by the sea to establish a
kingdom of his own. On arrival at the spot, he met with some Ijaw who took him and his

15
 followers by canoe to an Island where they founded a kingdom that came to be known as Itsekiri
Kingdom. The kingdom is made up of the Itsekiri, Ijaw and a number of other elements. It has
Ode Itsekiri as its capital with other settlements scattered along the Forcados, Escravos and
Benin Rivers.
The kingdom was ruled by the Olua who presided over a council known as Ojoye which was
made up of seven nobles/title holders. The Olua combined in himself spiritual and temporal
powers. The palace and titles in Itsekiri kingdom were modeled after that of Benin Kingdom.
The main occupations of the people in pre-colonial times were fishing, trading and farming.

Social Issues in Nigeria: An Introduction

In our every day life, individuals are faced with several challenges which form part of their
existence and as a result, one can not escape from. Such include political issues, economic
issues, social issues etc. These several issues have distorted the well being of the individuals in
the society. As a rational being ,our tasks to look for an avenue to solve them. It affects both the
individuals and the societies. In this section, we shall be looking at the meaning, the causes and
the consequences of these issues in Nigeria.
Meaning of Social Issues
A social issue is a problem that influences many citizens within a society. It is a common
problem in present-day society and one that many people strive to solve. Social issue is prevalent
in all cultures preventing society from functioning at an optimal level.( Abolaji ).It is also a
problem that affect many people within a country. It is a group of common problem in present-
day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequences of factors
extending an individual’s control. Such include; poverty, unemployment, climate change,
unequal opportunity. racism, malnutrition, diseases, cultism, terrorism etc.

Factors that Characterize Social Issues

1.The public must recognize the situation as a problem.
2. The situation is against the general values accepted by the society.
3. A large segment of the population recognizes the problem as a valid concern.
4. The problem can be rectified or alleviated through the joint action of citizens and/or
community resources.

Causes of Social Issues

Some causes of social problems in Nigeria are:
1. Poverty in the midst of plenty in the society or community.

16
2. Corruption among leaders.
3. Negative Peer Group Influence
4. Influence of the Mass Media
5. Unchecked access to the internet.
6. Divorce and broken homes
7. Cheating within the group.
8. Sexual immorality in the society.
9. Cultism among the youths and elders. Parents encouraging their wards’ involvement in
examination malpractice.
10. Greed for wealth at all costs without legitimate labour for it.
11. Lack of love and parental care in the family.
12. Unfaithful religious leaders.
13. Indiscipline
14. Disobedience to the laws of the land.
15. Ignorance
16. Injustice
17. Proliferation of arms and ammunition.
Poverty

Poverty means the inability to provide the basic needs of life for oneself, family and dependents.
This basic needs primarily are food, clothing and shelter. In addition, inability to provide quality
education to enable proper and complete socialization of one’s children to make them live decent
lives and be fulfilled are some of the causes of social problems in the society. This is so because
children brought up improperly develop to become social deviants who are lured into all kinds of
crimes and illegitimate means of making money in order to keep body and soul together. Poverty
sometimes leads to broken homes and disjointed up-bringing of children. Although Nigeria is
blessed with many natural resources that should make Nigerian rich, the wealth is hijacked by
the few leaders and make many Nigerians to live in poverty. About 70% of the population live
below the bread line; meaning that majority of Nigerians are poor in the midst of plenty. No
wonder Nigeria is classified by the United Nations recently as 40 th among the world’s poorest
countries.

Corruption

Corruption covers a wide area of social misbehavior, illegalities, breach of trust, and abuse of
position or office. Nigeria is a country where the leaders enrich themselves through corrupt
practices. Corruption is an illegitimate way of doing things for personal aggrandizement. Doing a
wrong thing for undue advantage or gain. It includes all forms of evil practices that is done
by government officials, politicians and those in places of authority, demanding and taking of
bribery, fraudulent practices, misappropriation and embezzlement of public or corporate funds,
diversion and perversion of justice, money laundering i.e. stealing public funds and banking
them abroad in foreign banks, inflation of contracts amounts, receiving 10% of contract amount
from contractors, granting undue favour to one’s tribesmen and friends instead of giving jobs or
positions to those who merited them in places of employment, dishonesty, tribalism or ethnicity,
nepotism, etc. Corruption is the product of greediness for more money and selfishness.

17
Lack of Family Love and Parental Care

Parents are expected to provide for the needs of their families where children are groomed for
life. The family is the first social group to which a child belongs. Love and harmony
characterizes good family homes where parents are expected to live decent lives for their
children to take after them. Some parents do not have the time to look after the affairs of their
growing children because of the pursuit of money. Today, there are many parents who cannot
afford to provide the basic necessities of life. This could be because of lack of a good means of
livelihood, unemployment, oversized families where children and dependants are too many etc.
Children from such homes become delinquent and might grow up to nuisances and miscreants in
the society. Children left to themselves because parents have no time for them often degenerate
into sexual immorality, prostitution and other forms of social crimes. Lack of parental care is
therefore one of the major causes of social problems in Nigeria.

Peer Group Influence

Many people follow their age-mates, friends and class-mates to do wrong things thinking that
they are smart. They turn out to be social misfits. The influence of age group is often very
powerful and the chance of being influenced positively or negatively is high especially at
adolescent stage (secondary school stage of life). When peer group or age group influence is
negative, the affected individuals become what they are influenced to be, drug addicts, smokers,
drunkards, thieves and armed robbers, cyber café crooks (yahoo-yahoo boys or internet
swindlers), area boys, cultism, etc.

Influence of Mass Media

We live in the satellite or Internet age where information travel round the globe in a matter of
seconds. Adolescents and young men and women who are the children of this age are easily
influenced by new trends and could be tempted to put into practice odd behaviour and tricks they
read about in newspapers, magazines, books or have watched on TV, videos and from the
internet. Some of these information are negatively inclined and they make young people who are
not well guided to become miscreants, cyber fraudsters and mischief makers in society.

The Proliferation of Arms and Ammunition

Unlike the past, since after the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, much arms and ammunition has become
proliferated in Nigeria. Much arms and ammunition has been illegally imported or smuggled into
the country. The politicians aggravated the situation by recruiting jobless youths and arming
them with weapons purchased with stolen public funds, as political tugs to undo their opponents
through election rigging, ballot box snatching and stuffing, political assassination etc. The fact
18
that much arms find their way into the hands of social misfits and miscreants, crime has
increased tremendously in the society – security has become a serious challenge in the country
today. Rampant cases of suicide bombing, kidnapping, hostage taking, militancy, armed robbery,
ritual killing and politically motivated assassinations make the society in-secured; life is no
longer safe in the land. This is a major cause of social problems in Nigeria ( retrieved from
https://www.stoplearn.com on Semptember,2022)

The Consequences of Social Issues in Nigeria

1.Social Problems: A high number of social problems in the society leads to social instability
both politically and economically.

2.Tarnishes Family and Nation’s Image: An individual that continuously takes part in criminal
activities will eventually discredit and tarnish their name also their family’s name. In a case
where a large number of its citizens participating in criminal activity in and outside their country,
such a country will eventually have it name tarnished.

3.Loss of Valuable Manpower: The brain drain caused by unemployment has resulted in the loss
of valuable manpower in Nigeria, as many qualitied youths have left the country looking for
better job opportunities in other countries.

4.High Threat to Life and Properties: Social problems, such as cultism, conflicts armed robbery,
ritual killings, political assassinations etc has resulted in a general state of unrest in which life
and properties are no longer safe.

5.A Rise in Mental Health Issues: The stresses caused by social problems in society can
sometimes affect the normal functioning of one’s brain. This can happen to both children and
adults.

6.Instability and Lack of Development: The various social problems have affected the political
stability and development of the nation.

7.General Disorder: A high variety of social problems in the society leads to an increased in
confusion and chaos within the society ( retrieved from https://www.kofastudy.com on
semtempber,2022)

Nigerian History in Pre-Colonial Political Times

An Introduction
Before the advent of colonialism, the present day Nigeria was composed of many independent
ethnic nationalities with different political systems of administration. This pre-colonial political

19
times being viewed from the Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and the Igbo political administration had a
well structured system to govern themselves prior to the emergence of the colonialists. In this
section, we shall be looking at how these major ethnic groups ( Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo)
were able to govern themselves.

The Hausa/Fulani Pre-Colonial Political Times

The Hausa/Fulani ethnic group is mostly found in the Northern part of Nigeria. The Hausa
Kingdoms, though, Nominally Moslem, later fell into semi-paganistic life style(Akamera,
2001:123).The traditional Hausa system of administration was replaced by Fulani system after
the overthrew of the Hausa rulers in the cause of the Uthman Dan Fodio led jihad of 1804.With
the conquest of the Hausa Kingdoms by the Fulani faithfuls through the Holy War, an Emirate
System was effectively established and the Islamic religion was purified and restored in the
entire Kingdom.
The introduction of the emirate system, led to the development of two administrative sections,
the East and West. The Eastern administrative section had its capital at Sokoto while the West at
Gwandu. Each of these sections were headed by an Emir, who was assisted by an hierarchy of
officials. The Hausa/Fulani political system was highly centralized and well structured with
power flowing from the top to the bottom. For the purpose of easy administration, each Emirate
was divided into districts and all districts were made up of villages. District heads were
appointed to oversee the affairs of each district, who in turn pay allegiance to the Emir. Village
heads were also appointed to govern the villages on behalf of the Emir.
The administration of the Hausa/Fulani system was essentially based on the Islamic laws as
contained in the Holy Q’uran. This implies that the Emir and other administrative officials
exercise their governing power according to the Sharia laws. The Emir was assisted in the day-
to-day affairs of the Emirate by a council of advisers with specific portfolios and
functions .Despite the existence of many officials, the Emir was very powerful and highly
respected by his followers. Some officials of the Emir’s palace include, Sarkin Fada ( the
organizer of the palace workers, Galadima ( the administrator of the capital territory, Waziri ( the
Emirs prime minister and chief adviser) Madawaki (the commander- in- chief of the armed
forces (Obikeze and Anthony,2003:4)

HAUSA LAND BEFORE THE GROWTH OF THE STATE SYSTEM

It would appear that before the emergence of city states in Hausa land, the people lived in small
agricultural settlements known as the Kauye which was essentially a hamlet, village, or
collection of compounds. Each Kauye was made up of groups of families with strong kinship
relationship. At the basic level of the Kauye, even though authority was diffused, two levels of
authority wielding were discernable. Firstly, authority was vested on an individual the Sarkin
Numa. who was in charge of regulating the farming activities of the people since the Kauye was
basically a farming settlement.

20
'Sarkin Numa' in Hausa literally translates to 'King of the farmers'. At the second level, authority
was vested in a family-head who was known as the Maigida (head of house) and it was he who
decided on matters affecting the family unit and family relations.

EVOLUTION OF TOWNS AND STATES IN HAUSA LAND

As has been noted by Michael Crowder and Guda Abdullahi (1977), one distinctive feature of
Hausa political economy during the pre-colonial period was the growth and development of large
villages and towns garraruwa (singular: gari), and later city states, known as birane (singular:
birni). It is instructive to note that Hausa towns developed from the nucleated agricultural
settlement Kauye referred to earlier. Certain factors apparently favoured the growth and
development of these towns and city state structures. These include;
(1) fertile land which encouraged large agricultural settlements to the extent that towns such as
Kano, Zaria, and Katsina developed as a result of such conditions.
(2) Many of the Hausa communities were strategically situated on trade routes which facilitated
commerce and thus brought in other peoples and wealth which helped in the growth of such
favourably situated communities.
(3) The introduction and availability of Iron was no doubt an important incentive for people to
cluster around areas. It has been suggested and very plausibly too, that the growth and
development of Kano for example, owes much to the availability of Iron-Ore and Iron
technology in and around Dala Hills and Dutse (1. F. Ajayi & Crowder 1976).
(4) certain topographical features such as hills and valleys to which were assigned religious
attributes and significance, again like Dala in the case of Kano, attracted settlement of? copies
which facilitated the growth of such areas into Towns. It 1s important to observe that as these
towns expanded, markets for exchange and workshops for artisans grew. Naturally, as these
towns emerged and developed, authority patterns of the Kauye altered to meet new challenges.
Authority came to be Gradually exercised by an individual or groups of individuals. However,
kinship relations continued to be very strong among the Hausa in spite of urbanization.
These new emergent towns Birane became the political unit.
Essentially, they were walled or stockaded towns distinguished from the Kauye. They were more
or less walled geographical divides enclosing large self-sufficient communities with trade and
industry and a large area of open land for cultivation. The Hausa states were formed when one
Birni secured the acknowledgment of a widening circle of Kauye or hamlets and then other
birane, and developed into a capital town whose head (Sarki) changed from a village to a city
chief with an elaborate court and official hierarchy (Trimingham 1962). The other birane became
subordinate chieftaincies’.

21
SOCIAL CLASSIFICATION AMONG THE HAUSA
At the very early period it would appear that the Hausa were not divided into distinct social
classes. But with the emergence of the towns and later on city-states, there arose distinction of
classes. As has already been observed,
Once the village chief transformed into a city chief as a result of urbanization discussed above,
an elaborate court and official hierarchy emerged. The other birane became subordinate
chieftaincies. Political unity then developed a spiritual bond embodied in the foundation myth
and divine kingship, state and religious hierarchy, symbols, taboos and rituals.
Social classification in Hausa land following the emergence of towns and city-states could be
categorized thus:
(1) the ruling classes called the masu sarauta. These were of two groups:
(a) the hereditary ruling class;
(b) The non-hereditary ruling class usually made up of deserving commoners.
Inter-class mobility was difficult. Outstanding military service however was one way that could
ensure inter-class mobility. Among the ruling classes were a host of palace officials many of
whom were ex-slaves. Below the ruling classes were the commoners called the "Talakawa.'
while the slaves formed the bottom of the social structure.

ECONOMIC ORGANISATION IN PRE-COLONIAL HAUSALAND

The Hausa people were farmers from very early times. They are known to have produced such
staples as millet, guinea corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes and a variety of vegetables. They are
known to have developed animal husbandry from a very early period as they kept and tended
such animals as goats, cows, sheep and poultry. The Hausa were also good traders and they
apparently benefitted from the nexus of trade routes which spanned the entire western and central
Sudan. There is also evidence of their maintaining good inter-group relations with their
neighbours as they were mentioned in the historical traditions of such proximate groups as
Kanem-Borno, and such other western Sudanic states as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.
They are also known to have had trade links with the states of peoples of forest states where the
exchange of such items as hides and skins for Kola nuts and other southern products took place.
The Hausa were also known for crafts both (wood & metal) as well as other local manufactures
such as dyes and decorated calabashes. The Hausa states apparently benefited immensely from
taxes they collected from traders both indigenous and foreign, and this certainly facilitated the
transformation of their village settlements into early urban centers. Other various taxes like the
cattle tax 'Jingali, the 'Gandu ie. tax levied on conquered areas, and the Kharayin' or land tax
were also imposed. Also, the Hausa state systems are known to have developed a number of
fiefdoms and clientele relationships during the pre-colonial period.

22
ISLAMIC REVIVALISM (JIHAD) AND THE UNIFICATION OF HAUSA STATES
The nineteenth century was the great century of Islamic revivalism and expansion in West
Africa. In 1804, the learned Fulani scholar, Usman Dan.
Fodia had declared jihad against the Habe kings of Hausa land. A jihad is a holy war declared by
Islamic puritans against 'pagan' societies. The objective is usually to convert such societies into
DarIslam (Islamic society). According to R.A. Adeleye (1971), in the case of Hausa land, some
of the reasons given to justify the jihad which began in 1804, include:
(i) corruption of government officials
(ii) the unislamic practices of the Habe or Hausa kings (iii) 'illegal' and overburdened taxation
especially on minority elements (particularly the Fulani elements) in Hausa society. Though the
Hausa rulers thought of themselves as Muslims especially after the 15th century, they did not
always follow Muslim law and sometimes tolerated pagan practices.The jihad as it turned out
was very successful. Although the jihad in Hausa land came to an end in 1809, fighting for the
establishment of emirates as part of a wider caliphate continued in places throughout the first
half of the 19th century. Reasons for the success of the jihad include the following
(i) Weakness and disunity among the Hausa states;
(ii) Mass support for the jihadists from the population
(iii) The zeal and military tactics of the jihadists
(iv) The organizational ability of the leadership of the jihad.
The effect of the jihad on Hausa land include the following:
(i) It led to the establishment of the Sakata caliphate with its capital based at Sakata and Gwandu,
(il) It resulted in the unification of the Hausa states, although each state was now constituted into
an emirate under the caliph in Sakata,
(ili) The kings became known as Emirs;
(iv) It resulted in deeper Islamization of Hausa society.

A NOTE ON THE FULANI

Hausaland is also the home of the Fulani of Nigeria. The Fulani or Fulbe as they are sometimes
referred to are probably the only ethnic group in Africa without a distinct territory of their own.
They are believed to have originated from the Futa Jalon highland region of West Africa from
where they migrated to various places in the West Africa sub-region. The Fulani are to be found
in almost every country of the Sudan zone of West Africa extending from the Senegal area in the
West to the Upper Nile in the east.
They are also sometimes referred to as the Felata.

23
Two types of Fulani are usually recognized, there are the Cattle Fulani and the Town Fulani. The
cattle Fulani group as the name suggests, is basically nomadic and migrates regularly with their
cattle in search of water and good grazing grounds especially during the dry season. Their life is
principally basic and simple. The Town or settled Fulani lived in the conquered towns of Hausa
land, after the Jihad, where they functioned basically as administrators and sometimes as
cultivators. The Town Fulani are more devout as Muslims in comparison to the cattle Fulani who
combine paganism with Muslim religion. The town Fulani as we have seen were very
instrumental in assisting Uthman Dan Fodio, one of their ranks in executing the now famous
Sokoto Jihad which helped in the socio-political as well as the religious transformation of
Northern Nigerian, in the course of the Nineteenth century. Overtime a significant degree of
integration by way of intermarriage occurred between the Fulani and the Hausa that it is not out
of place to talk of a Hausa-Fulani culture in modern times.

The Yoruba Political System

The Yoruba ethnic group occupied the Western part of Nigeria and had a developed political
system of administration prior to the colonial era. These were several Kingdoms and chiefdoms
at various times among the Yorubas and the most outstanding Kingdom was the Oyo Kingdom
which consisted the nucleus of the Oyo Empire (Ekelegbe,2004:33). The Oyo Empire
exemplified a centralized political system, with the Alaafin of Oyo at the head of the
administrative system, who was assisted by palace officials and other local administrators
confirmed by him to oversee the governance process at various levels.
The central administration of the Oyo Empire revolved around the Alaafin who exercised
religious, political and judicial authority. He was assisted by a council of chiefs known as
Oyomesi, which was composed of seven hereditary Kingmakers. The Oyomesi, apart from
playing an advisory role and helping the Alaafin in the daily administration of the Kingdom, was
also responsible for the selection of a new Alaafin from among the nominees presented by the
royal families. The Oyomesi was headed by the Bashorun who was appointed by the Alaafin and
served as the chief minister and spokesman of the council. The Council of Oyomesi was very
powerful and wielded enormous influence in the kingdom. Ekelegbe (2004:33) noted that, the
Alaafin was bound to take the advice and policy choices of the Oyomesi, or else, in the event of
major disagreement, the Oyomesi could depose and force the Alaafin to commit suicide by
sending him an empty calabash which symbolized rejection.
Apart from the central administration, the Oyo Empire also maintained provincial and village
governments headed by Obas and Bales respectively. The village and provincial governments
were highly autonomous, but regarded the Alaafin as the overall head in the kingdom and pay
tributes to him on regular basis. Districts and village heads were selected by the people in line
with the principle of hereditary and their appointments were confirmed by the Alaafin.
The Oyo Empire portrayed the existence of checks and balances in its administrative system. For
instance, the Alaafin was very powerful in the administration of the Kingdom, he was not
autocratic as his powers were checkmated by the Council of Oyomesi. The Oyomesi was

24
empowered to dethrone the king and compel him to commit suicide. Before an Alaafin will
commit suicide, he must die with one member of the Oyomesi council, which also prevented the
Oyomesi from abusing its powers.

The Igbo Political System

The Igbos are predominant in the Eastern Flank of Nigeria and were made up of several
autonomous clans and villages. Unlike the Hausa/ Fulani and Yoruba political systems, the
political administration of the Igbo was decentralized, fragmented and acephalous. Political
observers agree that the village was the Centre of political, economic and social life of
administration in Igbo land ( Ndoh, 2006:49)
In the governance process of pre-colonial Igbo society, the council of elders, the title holders, age
grade and village Assembly played prominent roles. The village Assembly was made up of all
adult males who have equal rights to participate in the process of decision making. The elders
and titles holders directed the affairs of the general assembly and coordinated the activities
during the village meetings. Any decision reached in the village assembly was implemented by
the age grade under the guidance of the elders. The elders and the title holders were highly
respected and seen as the custodian of the culture of the people.
The Igbos practiced a form of direct democracy similar to what was obtainable in Ancient
Greece. Major issues affecting an entire village were resolved through consensus at the Village
Assembly ( Oha-na-eze),composed of the village of the village elders, the Ozo title holders, the
Ofo title holders, the age grades and all adult males. There was no central authority that wielded
enormous power, rather, decisions were arrived in a democratic manner (Ebi Warri,2018:101

The Dynamics of the Evolution of Nigeria as a Political Unit

The Evolution of Nigeria
Nigeria joined the comity of independent sovereign nations on October 1 st 1960 and become a
Republic on October 1st 1963. Before 1060, the people of later day Nigeria had gone through
close to two centuries of British colonial overlordship. The duration of British colonial control
over different parts of Nigeria varied, depending on the time the people of each area were
brought under effective Britain control. Long before the British eventually occupied the
territories of Nigeria they had maintained contacts with the people, mainly along commercial
lines. It was the developments in that erstwhile relationship and other socio-political and
economic developments in Europe that sparked off the now historic Europeans scramble and
partition of Africa which culminated in the Europeans sharing African territories among
themselves in the Berlin conference of 1884/1885.From that partition, the people of Nigeria
came under the British sphere of influence. It was in the post-Berlin conference era that the
British got to pay a decisive role in bringing together the diverse people that formed the nation
Nigeria.

25
The processes that eventually culminated in bringing together the people of Nigeria, went
through different stages and these were engineered by British colonial administrators. It is in this
sense of the role that the British played in bringing together the people of Nigeria, that they often
been credited with the creation of Nigeria. Furthermore, in bringing together the people, the
British were politically and economically pragmatic in their decisions and hence the decisions to
merge the different groups were not necessarily based on considerations of cultural unity or
political unity of the various entities before the coming of the British, some scholars especially
the apologists of Nigeria disintegration have often argued that Nigeria is an artificial creation of
the British and therefore has no true basis for unity.
Without doubt, within the geo-political boundaries of Nigeria there are numerous ethnic groups
with diverse languages, customs, beliefs systems and levels of political sophistication. As some
of the earlier presentations in this work have shown, in spite of the diversities there were still
certain discernible similarities in culture and different levels of inter-group relations among the
people of later day Nigeria long before the coming of the British. The interactions that had taken
place among the people including political, social and economic, meant that the people of
Nigeria were not alien to themselves, rather there had been basis for agreement and
disagreement, peace and war and general interactions before the British brought them together.
In a sense therefore, it could be argued that Nigeria was already evolving before the British
came, but their coming accelerated the process and this process of nation building is still on
today (Erhagbe E.O,1982:36-37)

The Amalgamation Processes

Before the year 1900, all the different parts of Nigeria conquered by the Britain were still under
their original administration. But by 1900, the whole Nigeria was under the responsibility of the
British Colonial Office.
Amalgamation
The name “Nigeria” was first used by Flora Shaw, who was to become the wife of Frederick
Lugard, in an article to the London Times of 1899 to refer to the territories around the River
Niger in Northern Nigeria. The name was originally applied to the Protectorate of Northern
Nigeria before it later came to be applied to the whole country. British interest in Northern
Nigeria predated the nineteenth century, however, by the beginning of the nineteenth century as
early as 1879 the British government allowed British trading companies access to these
territories for commercial activities. By 1826 British merchant ships had traded on the Bonny
River, and by 1886 up to 1900 the British allowed the United Africa Company (UAC), which
later became the chartered Royal Niger Company power to administer the Northern Nigeria
territories on its behalf.
This meant that the company was the government of Northern Nigeria at this period. By 1900 the
British government took over administration of the territory from the Royal Niger Company and
appointed Frederick (later Lord Lugard) as High Commissioner. It was Lugard who proclaimed
the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. What became Nigeria was an amalgam of various colonial

26
possessions which were acquired over different times and later amalgamated gradually even
though the general reference to amalgamation is the one of 1914 which brought the two giant
territories of the Northern and Southern protectorates together. In 1900 the Niger Coast
protectorate was amalgamated with the Colony of Lagos to form the Protectorate of Southern
Nigeria. This is different from the Colony of Lagos which had a different status.
Then in 1906 there was the second series of amalgamation when the Colony of Lagos was
merged with the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria to form a single entity known as the Colony
and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Finally, there was the amalgamation of 1914, which
brought the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern
Nigeria into one single entity known as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria on 1st January
1914 (retrieved from www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021: p.60-61)

Reasons for the Amalgamation

The British amalgamated Nigeria for the same reasons that made them to colonize it in the first
place. That is, to serve their imperial interests.
The main reasons for the amalgamation are:
1.they wanted a cheap and secure source of raw materials for their industries.
2.they wanted a market for their manufactured goods.
3.they needed a source for generating capital resources for investment in Britain thereby
strengthening the British pound sterling against other currencies.
4.they needed a manpower reserve for military and other purposes.
5.they wanted the ports, water ways, roads, railways, and air spaces for transportation and
imperial communication systems (retrieved from www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021: p.62)

The Colonial Administration In Nigeria

The colonization of Nigeria was necessitated by the expansionist activities of explorers and
missionaries dating from the formation of the African Association in 1788 and the formal
colonization of Nigeria by Britain in 1860 (Ndoh,2006:18).Although, Lagos was annexed as a
colony by the British in 1861,the agreement reached at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885
under the auspices of the German Chancellor, Von Bismark marked a significant period in the
colonization of Nigeria. During the height of the scramble for Africa, British was formally
accorded powers to establish effective administration in Nigeria, while other parts of the
continent were partitioned to the remaining major players in the conquest and colonization
business such as France, Germany, Portugal etc.
The British, based on Lord Lugard’s recommendations, decided to interfere as little as possible
in the day to day administration of the peoples they ruled. It was decided that interference should

27
be limited to what was necessary to the basic needs of colonial administration and economic
exploitation of the country or to eliminate what they perceived as repugnant to British conception
of justice and morality. To this end, a system of British rule through local traditional rulers
known as Indirect Rule was instituted. These rulers would be responsible for carrying out
colonial policies and tax collection under the supervision of British colonial officers. This system
created the illusion of Africans ruling themselves and significantly reduced the cost of
administration. It also created a wedge between the traditional rulers who became beneficiaries
of the colonial system and patriots resisting colonial domination.
In Northern Nigeria, Indirect rule, in part, insulated Islam from the Christian influences which
might have led to resistance to colonialism. The northern part of Nigeria, with its large states and
developed emirates system was the most fertile ground for the indirect rule system of
administration. The system was a success in the northern region. However, in the western and
eastern regions it was not so successful. In Benin and Yorubaland the British re-enacted the
former empires in 1916 and an unpopular attempt to bring back the Oyo Empire was also
attempted. The Oba now appointed and backed by the British were expected to serve them.
Many of them became autocratic because the mechanism for removing despotic ones was no
longer effective. This did not eliminate resistance as four officials of the Oyo Native Authority
were killed at Iseyin in 1916. Similarly, in 1918 a rebellion broke out after the Abeokuta Native
Authority introduced direct taxation.
In Igboland, for example, there were no chiefs; the British had to create a class of chiefs referred
to as warrant chiefs, to collect taxes and enforce colonial policies. The policy of indirect rule was
premised on local peoples being ruled by their local traditional rulers without disruption to their
lives. However the warrant chiefs had no prior legitimacy in the places they ruled and were
invariably corrupt and unscrupulous; therefore they were deeply resented. In most of the
southern provinces indirect rule was a problem because of the absence of traditional rulers and
centralized governments. This did not stop the British from introducing them anyway.
Throughout Nigeria when traditional rulers or British appointed rulers served as intermediaries
between the government and the people, the result was always misrule and corruption by local
officials and eventually anti-colonial resistance. The 1929 Aba Riots arose because of tax abuse
and other forms of bad governance.
In spite of the claim of mutual benefits to both the British and local traditional rulers as well as
the claim of minimum disruption of people’s lives and livelihood, British interference was
widespread and very negative.
Some of the visibly negative impacts included the following:
1. Most emirs and chiefs who resisted British rule in any form were deposed and new pliant ones
installed. Therefore, only those who collaborated with the colonial regime were maintained.
2. The British reduced the status of both the Caliph at Sokoto and the Shehu of Borno to that of
emirs. The Caliph was renamed Sultan.

28
3. The judicial system was changed to reduce the potency of the Islamic legal system (shari’ah).
Shari’ah courts became subordinate to customary and common law courts.(retrieved from
www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021: p.62-64)

Reasons for the Adoption of Indirect Rule System

The introduction of this system of administration in Nigeria by the British was necessitated by
several factors as presented below:
1.The dearth of manpower was one of the major reasons that propelled Lord Lugard to introduce
the indirect rule system in Nigeria. During the colonial era, many British administrators were not
interested in residing in Nigeria due to the prevalence of malaria caused by mosquitoes. This
created a gap of the required manpower needed for direct administration.
2.The system of indirect rule was economical and cost effective. Colonialism was not interested
in economic wastage rather, it was concerned with the exploitation of the colonized people. That
is, British needed the best cost saving means in order to maximize profit in investment.
3.Indirect rule system of administration was introduced in Nigeria because of its success in Idia
and Uganda where the system was earlier applied.
4.British was very keen in the preservation of the culture and tradition of the indigenous people,
hence, the traditional institutions of the people were retained and refined to suit the aims and
objectives of colonialism.
5.Language barrier is yet another reason for the adoption of indirect rule system in Nigeria. At
the wake of colonialism, many Nigerians cannot speak, nor understand the English Language
therefore the traditional rulers were used as intermediaries in the administration process.(Ebi
W.T.,2018:104)

Constitutional Development In Nigeria

Since the annexation of Lagos in 1861 as a colony, British gradually increased its influence over
the territory now refers to as Nigeria. The Royal Niger Company, a British conglomerate was
particularly instrumental to the consolidation and spread of colonialism to several parts of the
territory now called Nigeria. A landmark development in the formation of the Nigerian state was
the amalgamation of the northern and Southern Protectorate in 1914 by Lord Lugard who
became the first Governor of Nigeria. The merger of the Northern and Southern protectorates
was done by the colonial masters in order to promote administrative convenience, but to the
subjects concerned, it was a forceful act of subjugation and oppression against their own political
will and cultural background (Otoghagua 2007:17)

29
You may know that the colonial government set out how they can rule Nigeria through defined
rules and regulations. A constitution is a document which clearly defines how a state should be
governed. It contains statements that depict the relationship between the rulers and the ruled and
the basic rights and duties of citizens in a country. A constitution, therefore, is a body of rules
and regulations that set out how a state should be governed. It defines the structure, powers,
functions of the government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Constitutionalism is a basic principle that states that the government should rule the people
according to the constitution of the land. The essence is to make sure that the activities and
operations of the government are within the confines of the law. Constitutionalism promotes
respect for the operations of the rule of law. The historical development of constitutions and
constitutionalism in Nigeria can be traced to the establishment of colonial rule in the 1860s.
However, constitutional government in the formal sense began with the institution of the
Nigerian Council by Lord Lugard after the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern
Protectorates in 1914. The evolution of the Nigerian Council marked the beginning of
constitutional development in Nigeria. The council was however dissolved in 1922 following the
adoption of the Clifford Constitution. Between 1922 and 1954, four different notable
constitutions were operated in Nigeria. These are the Clifford Constitution (1922), the Richard
Constitution (1946), the Macpherson Constitution (1951) and the Lyttletton Constitution (1954).
The Richard Constitution gave birth to the idea of regionalism, which enabled the different
regions: East, West and North to develop at their own pace. The 1951 constitution introduced a
quasi-federal model into the administration of the regions. This allowed for power to be shared
between the central and the regional governments but the central government was empowered to
have control over the regional governments in some matters.
The Lyttleton constitution of 1954 rearranged the whole system and introduced a federal system
of government. The constitution marked the beginning of the operation of federal system in
Nigeria. In 1957 and 1958 constitutional conferences were held for the purpose of resolving
some issues such as the minority problem and charting the way forward for the granting of self-
government in 1960. Between 1960 and 1979, three constitutions were put in place in the
country. These are the 1960 Independence, the 1963 Republican and the 1979 Presidential
constitutions. The amended 1999 constitutions is an improvement of the 1979 constitution
(retrieved from www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021: p.64-65)

Major Trends in Nigeria’s Post-Independence Development

Nigeria transited into an independent nation in 1960 with a number of unresolved issues. Added
to these earlier problems were new ones which were soon created by those to whom the reins of
power had been handed by the British. The most obvious of these problems was the lack of trust
among the various tribal groups that made up the federation and their jostle for political and
economic power of the federation. Between 1960 and 1966 those latent divisive elements within
Nigerian politics came to the forefront and this period witnessed political conflicts that
eventually led to the take-over of government by the army. The issues that led to the political
conflagration that engulfed Nigeria in the immediate post-independence era revolved round the
30
questions of ethnic minorities, internal conflict in the Western Region which resulted in the
break-up of the Action Group Party, the census manipulation controversy of 1962-1964 and the
electoral malpractices in the Western and Federal elections of 1964 and 1965.These issues
generated intense conflicts among the different sections of the country and they were
exacerbated by the desperate efforts by politicians to dominate the political scene.
The conflict in the West led to political instability which witnessed broad day light murders,
killings violence of various forms including arson and theft and this became known in local
parlance as “operation wetie”. It was in order to arrest this drift to self-destruction and the
politicians’ inability to resolve their differences that led a group of young Majors in the army led
by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu to stage a military coup. Although they gained only
control of the north and executed many senior officers, including the Prime Minister Sir
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Federal Minister of Finance, the premier of Northern Region
Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto and the Premier of Western Region Chief Samuel
Akintola, they were unable to impose their authority over the rest of the country. Hence the
remaining senior officers led by Major- General Aguiyi Ironsi took over government. This first
coup of January 1966 marked the emergence of the military in Nigeria politics which has
continued to haunt the political life of the country.
The January 1966 coup was followed by a counter-coup on July29,1966 when the then Head of
State and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Ironsi was overthrown with himself and
Fajuyi the Governor of Western Region being killed. It was on August1,1966 after the counter-
coup that Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, a northerner from the Middle Belt, took over as Head of
State. Steps were taken by the military leaders to restore the people’s confidence in the Nigerian
nation and in this direction a conference was held in Lagos on September 7, 1966 at which many
issues including that of state creation were discussed. But the efforts at cementing the bonds of
unity were greatly hampered by the fact that the military itself had become factionalized along
ethnic lines- especially as exhibited in the counter-coup. Even when on May 27 th 1967, Gowon
enacted a decree which created for Nigeria a twelve states structure, it was not acceptable to
certain leaders, especially Lt. Col.Odumegwu Ojukwu then in charge of the Eastern Region.
Thus two days later, Ojukwu announced the succession of the Eastern Region from the
Federation and declared the break-away states as the Republic of Biafra.
Gowon’s administration that successfully prosecuted the war remained in power until 1975 when
it was ousted by a General Murtala Mohammed led bloodless coup. The Gowon’s administration
in the later part of its tenure became stinkingly corrupt and insensitive to public criticisms. The
administration’s problems were compounded by the fact that it was dominated by sycophantic
advisers who lost touch with the genuine wishes of the people and worse still, Gowon on a
number of occasions vacillated on the issue of the return of power to civilians.
The Murtala regime is noted in Nigerian history for its attempt to sanitize the public service
terrain and this was done by mass dismissals of public officers who were guilty or accused of
impropriety, declining productivity, doubtful integrity and corruption. This purge affected many
governors, ministers, state commissioners and numerous public officers. The regime sought to
further strengthen the bonds of Nigerian federalism by further dividing the country into nineteen
states. Murtala, before his assassination in an abortive coup led by Lt. Colonel B.S. Dimka in

31
1976, had already released and set in motion a programme for returning the country to civilian
rule. His successor, Lt. General Olusegun Obasanjo continued with Muhammed’s time table and
after the General Elections of 1979 that were contested by five new political parties namely, the
National Party of Nigeria (NPN),Unity Party of Nigeria(UPN),Nigerian Peoples Party(NPP),
People’s Redemption Party(PRP) and Great Nigeria’s People Party(GNPP),handed over power
to civilians under a Presidential system of government with Alhaji Shehu Shagari as the First
Executive President of the Federation, under the 1979 Federal Constitution.
This euphoria of civilians taking over power was short-lived, for on December 31 st 1983, the
military struck again with a bloodless coup that ousted Shagari’s government. This led to the
institution of a new government headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari. But the Buhari
government was shortly to be overthrown by the General Ibrahim Babangida’s led coupists in
August 1985.The Babangida’s regime remained and bestrode Nigeria’s political landscape until
August 1993 when he was forced to “step aside”. The babangida’s regime got notorious for
introducing the Structural Adjustment Programme(SAP), manipulating the political transition
programme instituted by him in what has been referred to euphemistically as “Maradonic style”.
The ultimate in Babangida’s minister manipulation of the political life of Nigeria came by way
of his annulment of the June 12,1993 Presidential election which from all indications had been
won by Chief Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party(SDP), who had defeated Alhaji
Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC).The attempts by Babangida to
scheme himself into a civilian president failed and in shameful circumstances was forced to
relinquish power to an interim National Government, headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan.
The interim National Government was unable to contain the political agitations such as trade
union strikes that confronted it. It was in a near state of anarchy that a ‘new saviour’ once again
came from the military ranks, this time in the name of General Sani Abacha who on November
17, 1993 sacked the interim National Government. Likely out of political naivety, some believed
that Abacha had taken over power in order to install the perceived winner of the June 12, 1993
elections. Later events, such as the Abacha transition programme that is scheduled to end in
1998, that is after five years, the incarceration of Abiola for a charge of treason, the detention of
numerous opponents of the government, and the emergence of various groups calling on Abacha
to contest the 1998 elections as a civilian, all went to show that the Abacha agenda was clearly
different from the altruist perception of those that had hoped he had come to help to bring about
the actualization of the June 12, 1993 mandate. Rather than work for the actualization of the
mandate, Abacha worked to self-succeed himself in 1998. He therefore continued to hold Abiola
in detention, and added General Olusegun Obasanjo, Major General Musa Yar’Adua, Dr. Beko
Ransome Kuti and many other journalists and Human Rights activists. He banned the Punch and
the Guardian Newspapers for their criticisms of his programmes. In his bid to quell all forms of
opposition, General Abacha’s government executed by hanging in November, 1995, Mr. Ken
Saro Wiwa, a minority right activist with eight other Ogoni indigenes. In spite of all opposition,
Abacha with his cohorts were determined that he was going to succeed himself.
More than any other military government in Nigeria, the Abacha regime came under the greatest
pressure from external bodies because of the government’s very negative human right record,
and the obvious insincerity of the transition to civilian rule programme of the government.

32
Internal agitations, originally orchestrated by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and
labour unions, were now augmented with external pressures in form of political and economic
sanctions against the government from other countries and international organizations. Canada
was the most vocal and critical of Abacha’s regime. Groups such as the commonwealth of
Nations and the European Union were some of the prominent groups that rallied against Abacha.
Ultimately however, it was obvious that Abacha would not have bowed to these pressures. In the
final analysis, it was nature that eventually stopped Abacha, for he suddenly died in mysterious
circumstances on June 8, 1998. In yet, another controversial situation, Chief M.K.O. Abiola died
on July 8, 1998 while meeting with Nigerian and American government officials. Earlier on with
the death of Abacha, Major General Abdusalami Abubakar succeeded him. He was the one that
eventually put in place the transition programme that ushered in the New democratic government
in Nigeria.
To the credit of General Abubakar he was faithful to his transition plan which started on 24 th
September, 1998 with the release of the provisional list of the Independent National Electoral
Commission’s (INEC) registered political parties and ended with the conduct of presidential
elections on 27th February, 1999 and the swearing in of the elected president on 29 th May, 1999.
The 1999 elections were contested by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Alliance for
Democracy (AD) and the All Peoples Party (ANPP). The swearing in of Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo of the PDP, a former Military Head of State, as the democratically elected President of
Nigeria in the new dispensation of the Third Republic marked the beginning of a new
experiment at democratic governance for Nigeria. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was sworn in as the
Vice President.
It has become obvious that Nigeria still has a long way to go. This new experiment at democratic
practice has been marked by political tensions and contests that seem to threaten the nascent
democracy. Ethnic and religious conflicts have reached unprecedented heights. Militant ethnic
groups such as the Odua’s People Congress (OPC), the Egbesus boys and the Arewa People
Congress (APC), have at different times caused real tension in the country. Political ethnic
groups, such as the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Afenifere and the OhanezeN’digbo are all
fanning the ambers of ethnic chauvinism. The conduct of elected officials, especially in pursuit
of selfish and acquisitive tendencies has left much to be desired. In spite of the shortcomings of
these politicians, the dominant opinion seems that democracy must stay, after all, that is the
direction the entire world is moving. Whatever mistakes are made; they can be corrected. So all
must work for the sustenance of democratic governance in Nigeria (Erhabge; 1985:46-51)

Lesson Seven: Revision of Lesson 1-6/Mid-Semester Test Lesson

Origins of Citizenship
Ancient Origins
It is very difficult if not impossible to trace the origins of citizenship without going back to
Greek philosophers. Indeed, Greek philosophers are best known as the systematizers of early
“scientific thought”. In early Athenian society, the concept of citizen was very different from

33
what we know of it today. Plato and Aristotle, for instance, had a strange and unique
understanding of citizenship. According to them, a citizen was he who was born into or classified
within the penumbra of the ruling class or the Aristocratic class. That is, the Philosopher-King,
the guardian and the like. Only this category of people could exercise the right to life, private
property, education, leadership, vote and be voted for, etc. To Plato and Aristotle, anyone outside
the foregoing categories was just an ordinary person, someone of low birth or a servant. He did
not deserve the status of a citizen. His lifestyle could not go beyond that of an animal. Indeed, he
was someone totally imbued with passions instead of reason.
Contemporary Origins
The contemporary origin and understanding of citizenship different from that of Plato and
Aristotle can be traced to as far back as 1789.The declaration of the Rights of Man issued by the
National Assembly of France during the French Revolution in 1789 gave a universal and an
unbiased dimension to citizenship. We could hear statements such as Men are born and always
continue, free and equal in respect of their rights (Appadoral,1976: 86). We hold these
truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal…was also found in the American
Declaration of independence in 1776.

Citizenship Education
A citizen can be defined as a legal and bonafide member of a state (country) who enjoys basic
fundamental rights and performs some duties for the peaceful co-existence and development of
the state, while citizenship is the act of being a citizen of a state. Citizenship Education, on the
other hand, can be defined as the process of creating awareness and enlightening citizens on their
rights and duties/ responsibilities towards the state. Every citizen owes the state and obligated
responsibility if they must enjoy their fundamental rights peacefully (Oparaku; 2017:21)

Right of Individual
1. Natural Rights
Natural rights are the rights of the individual as a creation of God on this planet. They are rights
which an individual is automatically entitled to enjoy as a result of his /her being a human being.
Examples are right to life, right to human dignity, right to fair hearing, freedom of thought,
conscience and religion, freedom of expression and movement, peaceful assembly and
association and right to property
2. Civil Rights
Civil Rights restrict what others (including the state) may do. They include right to life, liberty
and freedom from torture.
3. Political Rights

34
Like civil rights, political rights also restrict what the state other persons may do. Examples of
political rights are right to vote and be voted for, right to criticize the government of the state,
right to participate in political activities and right to form political parties or associations.
Political rights can only be enjoyed by the citizens of a country. Aliens or non-nationals are not
entitled to the enjoyment of these rights.
4. Social Rights
Social rights include right to a home, right to aid in time of trouble, right to family or community
care during sickness, right to use roads, markets and other social amenities provided by the
community or government, right to equal share in all benefits from community projects provided
one has contributed to the fullest according to one’s ability.
5. Economic Rights
Economic rights include right to work, right to change one’s occupation, right to work in any
part of the country, right to own property and right to establish business ventures.

6. Legal Rights
Examples of legal rights are right to equal protection of the law, right to fair trial in which the
punishment must not be greater than the offence and the fines must not be beyond the ability to
pay, and right to fair and equitable compensation for personal property acquired for public
purposes (Akinbade;2013:43-44)

Duties and Obligation of a Citizen

When these rights are violated, a person can seek redress in the law courts. Therefore, in
guaranteeing these rights by the state, a person is expected to perform a certain duties and
obligations to the state.
What is a Duty? Duties are those responsibilities a citizen performs in the state and to other
citizens.
There are as follows:
(a) Obedience
Obedience to the law of the state and the norms and values of the society is an important duty of
a citizen. If rules of behaviour are not obeyed, there will be breakdown of law and order in the
society.
(b) Payment of Taxes
Taxes are levies exacted by the government or its agents, on individuals, goods and services.
Taxation or payment of tax is crucial to the survival of any society since it is the major source of
revenue for the government.

35
(c) Loyalty to the State/Community
Every citizen is required to owe unqualified allegiance or loyalty to the state and his community.
If a person is not loyal or does not owe allegiance to his country, it implies that he is not a good
citizen. He can be punished for being disloyal. In the same vein, a person who is not loyal to his
immediate community may be ostracized
(D). Performance of Civic Duties/Responsibilities

A citizen is required to take part in all civic and political activities of the state or immediate
community e.g. assisting in the maintenance of the community, providing information to law
enforcement agents on crimes committed in his/her presence, obedience to law, respect for
constituted authority etc.
(E) Social Responsibilities

Another important duty of citizens is participation in the social activities in his community e.g.
engaging in communal work and other development projects being undertaken by the community
in which he resides. Citizens are also required to take part in environmental sanitation activities
and the security of the community. He may, for example, serve as a member of the vigilante
groups. Failure to participate is an offence against the society and is punishable by the payment
of fines or imprisonment by the state or both.

Obligations of Citizens
Obligation is the performance of civil and political rights which directly or indirectly contributes
to the success of the government.
These obligations may be summarized as follows:
a. To respect the National Flag
b. To promote the prestige and good name of the nation.
c. To uphold and defend the constitution or law of the country or any other law
d. To promote national unity and live in harmony with others
e. To declare his income honestly to the appropriate and lawful authorities and satisfy all
tax obligations
f. To protect and safeguard the environment
g. To work conscientiously in his lawfully chosen occupation (Akinbade;2013:135-136)

Citizenship Education
Patterns of Citizenship Education
Acquisition Citizenship can be acquired through the following ways:
Citizenship by Birth: When one is born into a country of which both parents are members,
automatically one becomes a member of that country.

36
Citizenship by Registration: A person can become a citizen of another country by registration by
going through the guidelines stipulated by the law of the land. For example, in Nigeria any
woman who is married to a Nigerian, those born outside Nigeria but whose grandparents are
Nigerians and any person born outside Nigeria but whose parents are Nigerians can apply for
citizenship through registration. This, however, is predicated on government’s approval of such
an application.
Citizenship by Naturalization: One can become a citizen of another country through
naturalization. Before this can happen, there are certain conditions that one must have fulfilled in
that country before applying to naturalize.
Honorary Citizenship: The government of a country can honour distinguished eminent
personalities with the rights of citizenship ( (retrieved from www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021:
p.79)

Negative Attitudes of Nigerian Youth

Many Nigerian youths have ruined their lives by taking to excessive partying, obscenity, armed
robbery, sexual immorality, participating in secret cults and other social vices inimical to the
well-being of the society. Bribery and corruption are the two deadly unwholesome practices that
have disturbed the conscience of many Nigerian patriots. Bribery and corruption take place in the
process of obtaining a legitimate official service or right. Many Nigerians have been made to
offer bribe along the line because a deliberate obstacle has been placed on the path of rendering
normal service or right without delay. Indeed, both the demand for a bribe and the offer of a
bribe are regarded as corrupt practices. As Oladumi (1991:67) rightly observes, “it is the joint
responsibility of all citizens to fight these evil elements”. Bribery and corruption are workers and
students’ enemies. In order to overcome the negative attitudes of Nigerians, several governments
have come up with different programmes: President Shehu Shagari’s policy of Ethical
Revolution, General Buhari’s War Against Indiscipline and General Babangida’s National
Orientation agency.

Some of these Negative Attitudes among our Youths are as Follows

(a) Cultism
Some Nigerians are members of secret cults. General Yakubu Gowon, one time Nigeria’s Head
of State, on one occasion remarked that cultism in our tertiary institutions is a threat to peace and
national security (Gowon, 1998). There are many cases of cultism in Nigerian higher institutions.
We should be aware that cultism, is an evil association engaged in negative activities that can
destroy one’s career and can also ruin one’s life. Not only that, cultism can be a stumbling block
to Nigeria’s quest for peace and prosperity. Besides, the idea of a secret cult is falsehood and
avant garde.

37
 (b) Indecent Dressing
Another area that calls for our attention is our mode of dressing. There is no doubt that there is a
moral bankruptcy in Nigeria as a result of cultural imperialism manifesting in wearing dresses
that do not belong to Nigerian culture. Today, many Nigerians have abandoned their traditional
ways of dressing. Instead, they have adopted western style of dressing. Many Nigerians want to
dress like the Americans, i.e. in jeans patched up all over. Some even dress as if they are naked.
In general, they pretend to be ‘westernized’. It is this negative dressing that entices some
fraudulent youngsters to develop the taste for illicit sex and other forms of immorality. The dress
code which is currently being enforced in our educational institutions should be supported. All
religions, especially Islam and Christianity, encourage decent dressing. It is even considered a
sin before God for one to expose any part of one’s body that is considered sacred. We need to
know the dangers inherent in western cultural imperialism which threatens the existence of
Nigeria’s national culture and counter such. Sexual laxity is also harmful to the moral well-
being of any nation. Besides, the people who are engaged in illegitimate and reckless sexual acts
stand the risk of contracting all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS,
Syphilis, etc. In addition to this, nobody wants to marry a harlot.

© Thuggery
Political thuggery and gangsterism are becoming a fashion in Nigerian politics. The Nigerian
politicians recruit, train and arm our teeming youth and then use them as thugs in their political
campaigns. In the 2003 Federal elections, for instance, thugs were used to intimidate political
opponents, in the process of which many lives were lost. But those who survived are now turning
around to intimidate their former masters, i.e. those they assisted during the 2003 elections.
Thugs who have been trained in the art of using modern weapons are now using the weapons at
their disposal negatively. To put it in another way, they have become armed robbers on highways
and villages, towns and cities.
(d)Examination Malpractices
In another vein, examination misconduct has become endemic in our nation’s institutions. Many
students have perfected ways of cheating in examinations. Some students now use modern
technology like the GSM handsets, calculators, etc. to cheat in examinations. This makes
governments at all levels to come out with various laws and penalties to curb examination
misconducts. Students should know that cheating in examinations may be a disgrace to parents,
friends, relations and even the person who is involved in the acts. There are various penalties
which the Nigerian universities have spelt out for examination offenders. The penalties depend
on the nature of the examination offence committed.
Some of these penalties are:
1. Expulsion from the University
2. Repeating a session
3. Repeating two academic sessions

38
4. Warning
5. Carrying over the paper in which the candidate cheated ( (retrieved from
www.cdl.mautech.edu.ng in 2021: p.79-83)

The Economy and the National Development

An Introduction
Earlier in the previous sessions, you have studied some notable cultures and peoples of Nigeria.
You need to know about the economy of the Nigerian people as they strive for their ends meet. It
is on this basis that this Study Session shall be discussing with you the Nigerian economy and its
strive toward national development.

Nigerian Economic System Pre- and post- independence

Nigeria is an economically powerful nation. Here is a country made up of land covering 98.321
million hectares of which about 74.036 million hectares are arable. Nigeria was also one of the
leading countries in agriculture, thanks to the good quality of its soil, good heat and adequate
moisture. But what still remains of immense importance to the Nigerian economy is the large
size of her population. The Nigerian population is noted to have been increasing astronomically.
Between 1952 and 1991, the Nigerian population increased from 31.1 million to 88.5 million.
Currently, population estimates put Nigeria’s figure at 167 million (2012). In 1990 the World
Bank ranked Nigeria the seventh most populous country in the world, after China, India, USA,
Indonesia, Brazil and Japan. Before independence, agriculture accounted for over fifty percent of
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria. Again, about three quarters of the Nigerian
population were engaged fully either in agriculture or agriculture-related activities. Cedar, iroko
and walnut are very much found in the mangrove and rain forest while within the Savannah,
cocoa, rubber, palm produce, kola nut and gum-Arabic flourish. Crops such as yam, cassava,
maize and citrus are generated. It is also easier in the Nigeria’s grassland to raise cattle and
obtain other dairy products. This is also true with the cultivation of grains such as guinea corn,
millet, rice, cotton, groundnuts, beans and other leguminous crops.

The Structure of Economic Activities in Nigeria

Though most Nigerians engage in agriculture or agriculture- related activities, economists say
there are at least eighteen activity sectors of the Nigerian economy. These include agriculture,
livestock, forestry, fishing, crude petroleum, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, utilities,
building and construction, transport, communication, wholesale and retail trade, hotels and
restaurants, finance and insurance, real estate and business service, housing, producers of
government services, and community, social and personal services. As already mentioned,

39
agricultural activities are spread all over the federation. In 1960 agriculture absorbed over 75
percent of the work force while industry and other sectors together employed the rest.
Therefore, in contributing to the Nigerian GDP, agriculture was the leading sector. With respect
to that, Nigeria enjoyed the modest tag of a middle-income country. However, from 1980 to the
present, GNP per capita dropped. This situation, coupled with the deteriorating social services,
continuous high rates of inflation, declining productivity and high rates of unemployment, have
made the average Nigerian poor by Besides agriculture, there are some very important mineral
deposits as well. These deposits are scattered in almost all parts the country. In the West, for
instance, we have the alluvial gold deposits, while there is tin in the North. The East is the centre
of coal. Edo/Delta, Rivers, Imo/Abia and Cross River/Akwa-Ibom States share the lion’s part of
petroleum products. Iron, brass and bronze are found in Lokoja. Although scattered, limestone,
kaolin, diatomite and clay are found in abundance in Nigeria. A nation is said to be self reliant
when her citizens depend largely on her human and material resources for most of their basic
needs. In other words, self- reliance as a national development strategy usually refers to a
nation’s determination to rely on the utilization of domestic resources to produce most of her
required goods and services.
As far as Nigeria is concerned, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to claim that she is
economically self-reliant. Here is a country where the economic underdevelopment is so
obvious. Almost all the economic indicators are on the negative side: low capacity utilization in
industries, primitive and abandoned agriculture, debt problems, inflation, balance of payments
crisis, unemployment and underemployment, malnutrition and misdirection of resources. Also,
the over-dependence on oil and other imported inputs are serious problems in the Nigerian
economy. This simply shows that Nigeria for now is not economically self-reliant.
On the contrary, a nation is said to be economically self-reliant when there are: heavy reliance on
domestic resources for the production of required goods and services; reduced dependence on
outsiders for the supply of required goods and services; active use of international trade policy
instrument for controlling imports and domestic prices that are relatively higher than they would
otherwise have been in the absence of development strategies of self-reliance. However, you
should always remember that achieving self-reliance is a perpetual task. Self-reliance is a process
that needs to be sustained. That is why even when a country is called self- reliant it is always
very necessary to identify and examine likely factors which enhance a country’s economic self-
reliance capabilities on a consistent basis.

Major Problems of the Nigerian Economy

Nigeria is a country of paradox: Nigeria is regarded as a poor country despite the abundance of
human and natural resources. This is obvious when we look at the standard of living index as
mentioned earlier. The economic situation of Nigeria today is negatively different from that of
the past. In the year 1970, for instance, Nigeria was self-sufficient in food production and the
economy was somehow balanced. But the relegation of agriculture to the second rank to the
benefit of the so-called oil boom has put Nigerian economy in a very precarious situation. The

40
consequence is that almost all the non-oil sectors of the economy have become stagnant. Worst
still, revenues accruing from crude oil sales are mismanaged.
This situation has led to some serious problems facing the Nigerian economy today. These
problems are:
1. Slow growth of the industrial sector with capacity utilization averaging about 3%
2. High and growing rate of unemployment
3. Slow growth of the agricultural sector
4. High internal and external debt burden

Some Solutions to the Nigerian Economy

There is no doubt that, over the years many attempts have been made to address the problems of
the Nigerian economy. On agriculture, many policies have been put in place. The most important
of these policies are: Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) under the military regime of General
Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) and the Green Revolution programme under the civilian administration
of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Also, many successive administrations have put in place fiscal and
monetary policies to address Nigeria’s economic problems.
In respect of fiscal policy, various administrations have set the following objectives:
1. Reduction of the level of price inflation
2. Provision of the necessary protection for local industries
3. Provision of a suitable price incentive framework in favour of increased agricultural and
industrial production;
4. Expansion of agriculture and industry
5. Encouragement of local production of import- substituting goods by encouraging local
industries with heavy local content;
6. Encouragement of dispersal of industrial location;
7. Discouragement of importation of consumer goods which are available locally in order to
curtail the out flow of foreign exchange;
8. Enhancement of government revenue
9. Moderation of the rate of price inflation,
10. Stimulation of industrial and agricultural production
11. High level of employment
12. Improvement of balance of payment positions,

41
13. Reduction of foreign indebtedness, and
14. Generation of more revenue, especially from the non-oil sector of the economy.
We should also remember that to achieve fiscal and monetary objectives mentioned above,
governments also put some measures in place such as:
1. Reduction of government expenditure with the intention of reducing offensive demand, and
subsequently checking inflationary pressures;
2. Continuous reorganization and reformation of customs and excise tariff;
3. Encouragement of investment in agriculture through the abolition of duties on machinery for
exclusive use in agriculture and subsidizing inputs employed in the sector;
4. Setting credit ceiling for banks and encouraging sectoral distribution of credit;
5. Regulation of the liquidity ratio and cash ratio of commercial banks;
6. Introduction of compulsory advance deposits scheme to restrict imports.
In 1986, the Babangida administration decided to modify and extend the previous fiscal and
monetary objectives and measures. Consequently, the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)
was introduced. It was mainly aimed at:
1. Restructuring and diversifying the productive base of the economy with a view to reducing
dependence on the oil sector and imports;
2. Achieving fiscal balance and ensuring balance of payments viability;
3. Laying the basis for sustainable and non-inflationary growth
4. Intensifying private sector growth potential.

42
43