WASSCE Government · Paper 1 style

Colonial administration

One sample question with the full working. 8 more in the app, with instant feedback and repair sessions for the traps below.

Indirect rule in British West Africa was most successful in

AEastern Nigeria
BNorthern Nigeria
CSenegal
DSierra Leone Colony (Freetown)

Show the answer and working

Answer: B

The emirate system with established taxation and hierarchy suited indirect rule.

Trap A Picks the wrong country or place: Learn the place with its distinguishing fact (OPEC HQ: Vienna; founded in Baghdad). Read whether the stem asks where something began or where it is now.

Trap C Picks the wrong country or place: Learn the place with its distinguishing fact (OPEC HQ: Vienna; founded in Baghdad). Read whether the stem asks where something began or where it is now.

Trap D Mixes colonial administration policies: Britain: indirect rule through traditional rulers (Lugard, Northern Nigeria). France: assimilation/association — making Africans 'French'. Portugal: assimilado.

Traps in Colonial administration

Picks the wrong country or place
Learn the place with its distinguishing fact (OPEC HQ: Vienna; founded in Baghdad). Read whether the stem asks where something began or where it is now.
Mixes colonial administration policies
Britain: indirect rule through traditional rulers (Lugard, Northern Nigeria). France: assimilation/association — making Africans 'French'. Portugal: assimilado.
Picks a closely related concept
Learn related terms as contrasting pairs with one-line definitions, then identify which one the stem describes.
Attributes the idea or event to the wrong person
Pair each thinker with one book and one key idea (Montesquieu – Spirit of the Laws – separation of powers; Hobbes – Leviathan – absolute sovereign; Locke – limited government).
Confuses Nigerian constitutional history
Clifford 1922: elective principle (Lagos, Calabar). Richards 1946: regionalism. Macpherson 1951: wider consultation, central council of ministers. Lyttleton 1954: true federalism. 1960: independence; 1963: republic.
Picks a neighbouring date
Learn key dates as a timeline with the event attached (1957 Ghana independence; 1960 republic; 1963 OAU). Check the event, not just a familiar year.
Reverses the principle or its effect
Ask what problem the principle is meant to solve; the right answer serves that purpose, the reversal defeats it.
Over-generalises a feature
Political systems vary; options with all/always/never are usually wrong unless the definition itself is absolute.

Practise Colonial administration (8 questions)Send to your class on WhatsApp