Question 8
(a) List three political parties and their leaders who contested the 1979 presidential elections in Nigeria.
(b) Highlight three failures of political parties in Nigeria since independence.
Observation
This was a popular question and well attempted by most of the candidates. The performance of the candidates who answered the (a) part did very well, as they really understood its demands. However, some candidate misunderstood the (b) aspect and scored low marks. The candidates were expected to give the following points as answers to the question.
(a)
- National Party of Nigeria (NPN); Alhaji Shehu Shagari,
- Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN); Chief Obafemi Awolowo,
- Nigerian People’s Party (NPP); Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe,
- People’s Redemption Party (PRP); Alhaji Aminu Kano,
- The Great Nigerian People’s Party (GNPP); Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim.
(b)
- The parties do not have a national outlook.
- The parties failed to promote unity and harmony.
- The parties harped on ethnicity which sharply divided the nation.
- The parties projected personalities rather than raising issues of national concern to be addressed.
- Lack of internal democracy/factionalism
- Corruption among high ranking leaders of the party,