A1Arena Open the app

Values, National Consciousness and Duties

Civic Education · WAEC · SS2 and SS3

This topic is where Civic Education states what kind of citizen the country is trying to produce. The Constitution itself lists national ethics and the duties of the citizen, so the answers are not matters of opinion and can be learnt exactly.

What you need to know

  • Values are the beliefs and standards a society accepts as right and worth upholding. They guide behaviour, shape law, hold a community together and give people a basis for judging conduct.
  • The main types are moral values such as honesty and integrity, social values such as cooperation and respect for elders, religious values such as reverence and charity, political values such as patriotism and tolerance, economic values such as hard work and thrift, and aesthetic values concerning beauty and culture.
  • Section 23 of the Constitution states the national ethics in seven words: Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of Labour, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance, Self-Reliance and Patriotism. Learn them as a list because they are directly examinable.
  • Section 24 states the duties of the citizen: to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals, the national flag, the National Anthem, the National Pledge and legitimate authorities; to help enhance the power, prestige and good name of Nigeria; to respect the dignity of other citizens and their rights; to make positive contributions to the advancement and well-being of the community; to render assistance to lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order; and to declare income honestly and pay tax promptly.
  • Set duties against the obligations of government, which include securing the lives and property of citizens, providing social amenities, maintaining law and order, defending the territory, providing education and health care, and running a fair legal system. The Constitution states that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.
  • National consciousness is the awareness of belonging to one Nigeria and the pride and responsibility that follow from it. It shows in respect for national symbols, use of Nigerian products, willingness to serve, and refusal to think only in ethnic or religious terms.
  • The National Youth Service Corps, established in 1973 after the civil war, posts graduates to states other than their own for one year of service. Its aim is to break ethnic suspicion, promote national unity and deploy skilled young people where they are needed, and it is the single most cited instrument of national integration.
  • The Federal Character principle requires that appointments into federal bodies reflect the diversity of the country so that no one state or ethnic group dominates. The Federal Character Commission enforces it. Unity Schools, the quota system in admissions and the rotation of political offices follow the same logic.
  • The National Orientation Agency is charged with reorienting citizens towards positive values and mobilising public support for government policy. Earlier campaigns in the same tradition were the War Against Indiscipline launched in 1984, the Ethical Revolution and MAMSER.
  • Factors that weaken national consciousness are ethnicity and tribal loyalty, religious intolerance, nepotism, corruption, the marginalisation felt by minorities, unequal development between regions and insecurity that keeps people within their own areas.
  • Practical ways to build it include teaching Civic Education and Nigerian history in schools, celebrating national days properly rather than as mere holidays, inter-state exchange programmes, national sporting competitions, fair and transparent appointments, even development across regions, and using the media to project shared Nigerian achievements.
  • Discipline is the trained willingness to obey rules and to control oneself even when nobody is watching. Indiscipline in Nigeria shows as examination malpractice, queue jumping, traffic violations, lateness, vandalism, littering and the refusal to maintain public property.
  • Integrity means being the same person in public and in private and keeping to the truth when it is costly. In civic terms it shows in declaring income honestly, refusing bribes, returning lost property and admitting error. Honesty, probity, accountability and transparency are the related words examiners use.
  • Dignity of labour is the attitude that every lawful work, however humble, deserves respect and that no honest job is beneath a person. Its opposite, the contempt for manual and technical work, is a standard explanation for youth unemployment and for the rush into white-collar and quick-money paths.

Key terms

Value
A belief or standard that a person or society holds to be right, desirable and worth upholding in conduct.
National consciousness
The awareness of belonging to one nation and the sense of pride and duty that comes with it.
Patriotism
Love of and devotion to one's country, shown in loyalty, defence of its good name and willingness to serve and sacrifice for it.
Civic duty
An obligation a citizen owes to the state and to fellow citizens, such as obeying the law, paying tax and assisting law enforcement.
Discipline
The trained ability to control oneself and comply with rules and lawful authority, including when no one is watching.
Dignity of labour
The principle that all honest work is worthy of respect and that no legitimate occupation should be despised.
Federal Character
The constitutional principle that appointments and the distribution of federal benefits must reflect Nigeria's ethnic and geographical diversity.

Worked examples

State five duties of a Nigerian citizen as contained in the Constitution. (10 marks)

  1. Recall that these are set out in section 24, so they are fixed and should be reproduced rather than invented.
  2. Write each duty as something the citizen must do, beginning with a verb.
  3. Do not mix them with the obligations of government, which run in the opposite direction.

In what four ways has the NYSC scheme promoted national unity? (8 marks)

  1. Identify the stages of the scheme: orientation camp, posting away from home, primary assignment, community development service.
  2. Turn each stage into a unity outcome.
  3. Give one concrete illustration, such as inter-ethnic marriages or corps members teaching in rural schools, to lift the answer.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates answer the duties question with the obligations of government, writing things like provide electricity and build roads, which is the state's duty and not the citizen's. Read the direction of the question before writing. The second trap is listing the national ethics loosely; the seven words in section 23 are precise and partial recall costs marks.

In the exam

Almost every paper carries a listing question from this topic worth eight to twelve marks, and it is the easiest place to score full marks because the answers are fixed. Memorise the seven national ethics and the six duties under section 24 word for word. When asked to explain a value, give a short definition and then one Nigerian example of it in practice; examiners reward the example.