Observation

This was a fairly popular question but was poorly answered by many candidates. So, candidates’ performance in this question was very low. Some simply explained the features of the environment without linking it to the historical specificity. The points were explained out of historical context. Candidates were expected to explain for example how the environment conditioned most Hausa to be Muslims and the people of southern Nigeria mostly as Christians. Generally candidates were expected to explain and contextualize the following points in order to score good marks:

1. The distribution of ethnic groups was influenced by the environment;
2. location affected occupation e.g. those located in areas with mineral deposits engaged in mining and blacksmithing e.g. Kano;
3. the environment determined the type of crops planted;
4.    environmental factors also encouraged external influences in Nigeria e.g. trans-Saharan

        trade for those in the north and the trans-Atlantic trade in the coastal region;

1.   the environment also influenced the introduction of foreign religions e.g. Islam in the

North, and Christianity in the South.