Civic Education SS 1 Curriculum Guides – Pillar of Democracy

THEME – PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY

TOPIC 1 – THE MAJOR PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

1. Nigerian constitution.

2. Textbooks

3. Charts

4. Video tapes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. define and explain the constitution.

2. discuss the strong institution like the three Arms of government.

3. define and explain federalism, state and local government.

4. outline citizens responsibilities.

5. political parties and free press.

CONTENTS OF THE LESSON

FOCUS LESSONS 

1. The constitution

2. Strong institutions, e.g. the arms of the government, armed forces, civil societies, etc

3. Federalism, state and local governments.

4. Citizen’s responsibilities.

5. Political parties and free press.

LESSON PRESENTATION

TEACHER’S ACTIVITIES

The teacher,

1. guides students to define and explain the meaning of constitution.

2. identify the strong institutions, e.g. Arms of government, Armed forces, Civil societies, etc.

3. guides students to examine federalism, state and local governments.

4. explains citizens responsibilities.

5. discusses political parties and free press.

 

 

STUDENT’S ACTIVITIES

The students,

1. Define and explain the types of constitution.

2. explain the strong institutions like Armed forces, Civil societies etc.

3. define and explain the meaning of federalism, state and local governments,

4. analyze citizens responsibilities.

5. explain political parties and free press.

LESSON EVALUATION

Students to,

1. define and explain constitution

2. explain the strong institutions like Armed Forces, Trade Unions, Civil Societies, etc.

3. define and explain federalism, state and local governments

4. highlight five citizens responsibilities.

5. list five political parties

6. explain free press.

LESSON NOTES

CONSTITUTION

A constitution is the body of rules and regulations that define the power government, the relationship between the agencies of the government, duties and responsibilities of the citizens.

TYPES OF CONSTITUTION 

1. Written and unwritten constitution

Flexible and Rigid Constitution

Unitary and Federal Constitution

Democratic constitution

Republican and Monarchical constitution

Presidential and parliamentary constitution

ARMS OF GOVERNMENT

There are three (3) arms of government,

1. Legislature

2. Executive

3. Judiciary

SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 

There are three main systems of government,

1. Unitary system

2. Federal system

3. Confederate system

1. UNITARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 

Unitary system of government is a centralized government that held all the powers of government.

In this structure, power is not share.

2. FEDERAL SYSTEM GOVERNMENT 

Federal system of government is the government that shared powers among the components states and their local governments.

3. CONFEDERATION SYSTEM GOVERNMENT 

Confederation system of government is the union of sovereign states agreed to delegate power to a central government for specific purposes.

ARMED FORCES

The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the combined military forces of Nigeria. It consists of three uniformed service branches:

• Nigerian Army

• Nigerian Navy

• Nigerian Air Force

The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising his constitutional authority through the Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for the management of the military and its personnel.

CIVIC SOCIETIES 

Civic society is the organization of people created to promote the interests of a local community.

CONCEPTS OF FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

As stated in federal system of government.

STATE GOVERNMENT

State Government is a body of people who control public affairs of the state level.

The affairs of many local governments is under the state government.

A state government is much bigger than the local government.

The state government is headed by a governor and assisted by a commissioner, special advisers, etc.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

Local Government is one of the types of government and the most closest to the people.

Local Government is a body of people who control public affairs of the local communities.

It is also called grassroot government and headed by the chairman.

FREE PRESS

Free press is the right to publish and disseminate information, thoughts, and opinions without restricted by government censorship in political or ideological matters.

PRESSURE GROUPS

Pressure group is the group of people that tries to influence the policies or decisions of government.

POLITICAL PARTIES 

Political parties are groups of people that work to be in charge of a government through election.

For example the president, government, local government chairman, etc.