Essential Study Hints for Law Students

Page 1 of 146 Onimisi's Care !
Onimisi’s Care, Volume 1.1.
This ―I‘ll strive‖ version of Onimisi‘s Care was first compiled in the year 2018,
and has currently undergone the first update in 2021, which is this copy.
This material belongs to ___________________________________ from

LL.B. _____, Faculty of Law, ______________________________________.
If found, return to the pre-mentioned class/faculty/university, or call
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Contents.
 Short Preface by Ahmed Olarewaju Sikiru.
 Hints to Effective Studying by Hadi Onimisi
Tijani.
 English for Legal Writing I (LAW 1309) Lecture
Notes.
 Legal Methods (LAW 1301) Lecture Notes.
 Basic Concepts of Political Science (LAW 1203)
Lecture Notes.
 Bonus (GSP – Use of English).
 Closing Remark by Onimisi – fluent in silence

Short Preface by Ahmed Olarewaju Sikiru.
The essence of human existence is to serve the Almighty Allah through

service to humanity. This is what inspired the writer of this material in
compiling the precise breakdown of the lectures into the simplest form
anyone can think of.
Being a student, speaker, and English teacher, the writer took his time and
resources in adopting a chronological arrangement of the lectures. The use of
grammatical cum vocabulary construction makes it an all-time reading
material which is a must for any zenith-aspiring student of law and other
related discipline. It is indeed direct from the source.
With this lecture note, you have no excuse to failure.
A.S.O. Ige.
LAW/17/LLB.

HINTS TO EFFECTIVE STUDYING. these useful hints. I don't believe that
witches and wizards can make one not to
They say; ―I spend 8 to 12hrs reading.‖
understand what one studies.
And whenever they say so, students be like;

a) Discover your reading time — that
―Wow! I wish I could, also.‖ I study very early in the morning

and understand it doesn't guarantee
Most students feel they haven't studied your understanding when you also
enough because they still study below 8hrs. read early in the morning. Some
people will do well when they read
Sometimes, they even make mockery of you
in the afternoon, evening, or,
by saying; ―he is not a serious type. The
mostly, at night. It's very important
highest time he spends studying is an hour?
to discover the particular time
OMG!"
when you'll read and understand.
Don't let what your teachers, friends or Don't follow that your roommate
COURSE MATES tell you to deceive you! who always reads in the evening,
My teacher would always say; ―Onimisi, as just because he/she understands it.
old as I am, I still spend 8 to 10hrs in reading. If you always read at night and you
Try to do the same.‖ One day, I asked him; discover that you don't always
―Sir, spending up to 8hrs reading can make understand most of all you read,
one to forget what one had learned in the the witches in your village are not
early 2hrs. Why stress myself to read for after you, my sweetheart! All you
8hrs?‖ need do is to change your reading

time — try some other time.
When you read continuously for 8 or more
hours, that part which you read earlier when b) Discover your reading place. Hello,
you just started reading will gradually escape love! Some people can read and
from your head. understand well when they are in a
noisy environment — it's not
When you're reading to MEMORISE, it's madness, who knows, that might also
good to spend 8 or more hours. However, if be your best place of reading; you
you're reading to UNDERSTAND, it is very just haven't discovered it. Some
wrong to spend up to that. people can read and understand well
when they are in the room. Some,
Hello, my prospective lawyers, journalists,
when they are in the library. Some
reporters, doctors, engineers, etc.! Take
when they are on a swing (in
Nigerian language, jangolover). e) Every time you're on earpiece, let it
Most can read and understand better not just be for music. Try recording
when in a quiet environment. The what your lecturers lecture you in
most important thing is to discover class and listen to them continuously
the category you belong to. Don't with earpiece and you'll see the
follow others to read in the library if improvement immediately. I,
the library is not your best place. sometimes, record myself reading
lecture notes and in turn listen to them
c) Discover your reading activity
daily. Just take your hand-out and
(activities). Discovering the activity
read aloud and record, start listening
(ies) that keep you moving while
to it. Try downloading lecture audio
reading is very vital. I know of three
files of different topics you want and
geniuses that can read and
listen to them. They should be your
understand better when listening to
music.
blues. Some understand better when
playing computer games and f) Know your reading ability. Honestly,
reading, simultaneously. Some it is not very advisable for one to read
understand better when lying down. for 8hrs. Don't follow them. Read for,
Some understand better in rigmarole highest, 2hrs. Try to understand the
reading (i.e., moving around and area you've read; you'll get to
reading). Some, the only way they discover that you understand better
understand what they've read is to, than someone who reads for 8hrs.
in turn, teach it or discuss it with Always go with this slogan; ―If you
others. Just try discovering your want to cram, read for 8hrs and
activity and you'll be a guru. Don't above. If you want to read and
believe in witches understand, read for at most 2hrs.‖
2hrs is even too much. Anyway, just
d) Using YouTube to study.
take it.
Technology has made learning so
easier that we no longer have to go g) Focus! Whenever you read, don't let
through much stress again. Any area that your boyfriend/girlfriend come
you fail to understand, just go to into your mind. Once you split your
YouTube and type in the topic in the attention, my love, you're doomed.
search box. Watch a lecture on that Give all your attention to that which
and you'll understand it. you read. The moment something odd
(like making your hair, getting new
shirts, and so on) starts coming into mean you can't make it this semester.
your mind while reading, QUIT NO ONE IN THE CLASS IS
READING IMMEDIATELY, else, all BETTER THAN YOU ARE.
you've read before that minute will Always believe that, ―I AM THE
format. BEST!‖ WALLAHI, YOU CAN DO
IT. (Meanwhile, don't forget to be
h) Determination! Don't be too
humble).
determined. Don't say; ―I must know
this thing today.‖ If you go through it l) Don't feel too big to meet people
three times and you don't still get it, to assist you in areas you find
stop and try some other time. difficult. Even if those you meet
humiliate you and embarrass you,
i) Food! Some people can read and
just ignore and don't, because of
understand better when they are
that, give up! Force yourself on
hungry. Why not try to check it out?
them if there is the need.
j) Sleeping! ―Oh, God! The witches

m) Edit your friends. Not everyone you
are after me again! Why is it that
move with or have a group
whenever I take my book to read, I
discussion with actually cares about
always feel sleepy?‖ No witches,
your result. Most of them only care
love! Sorcery (wizardry or
for their own results. Move with
witchcraft) only happens in fairy-
people who want the best for you.
tale. Get a cup of coffee when
That I smile and always joke with
reading or, take snacks or
you doesn't mean I care about your
equivalent. If after taking your cup
result.
of coffee, snacks or equivalent,
simultaneously with reading, you Thanks, and God bless.
still feel sleepy, 'GO AND
By Hadi Onimisi Tijani.
SLEEP'. Don't force yourself to
continue reading when you're dizzy! hadsbraincalm@gmail.com
k) Don't ever think that you can't do it. 08142489112.

That you couldn't have up to 3 points
in the previous semester doesn't LAW/17/LLB

LAW 1309 – ENGLISH FOR LEGAL WRITING I
Mallama Samira Abubakar’s Lecture Notes.
Lecture 1.
STUDY SKILLS
Study skills are arrays of skills which tackle the process of organising and
taking in new pieces of information, retaining pieces of information or
dealing in perceptions. They include concentration techniques and efficient
note making.
Basic Components of Study Skills.
 Listening skills.
 Note taking and note making.
 Speaking skills.
 Listening Skills
Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret information in the

communication process.
Contrary to popular presumptions, listening is not a naturally occurring

content. It is an expertise that needs to be cultivated and refined. Listening is a
deliberate cognitive undertaking which requires attention, curiosity, contextual
knowledge, comprehension and remembrance.
Types of Listening.
i. Informational Listening — listening to learn (listening to receive a

piece of information).
ii. Critical Listening — listening to evaluate and analyse.
iii. Emphatic/Therapeutic Listening — listening to understand feelings or

emotions.
For academic purpose;
iv. Sophisticated Listening — listening with the combination of the ears

and the eyes. A sophisticated listener is expected to use his/her
bisensory skill of hearing and seeing at the same time to comprehend
the message being communicated. Sophisticated listeners understand
that speech cannot be torn apart from nonverbal communication —
similarly, gestures cannot be comprehended without reading facial
expressions. Sophisticated listeners are expected to develop retention
skills.
Steps of Effective Listening.
 Listening to information carefully to determine the central idea being

communicated.
 Being prepared on the subject matter.
 Avoid unnecessary distractions — don't interrupt the speaker.
 Note Taking and Note Making.
The main aim of Note taking and Note making is to summarise the content
of a lecture or a written text into its most important point for the purpose of
reading, recalling, and evaluating the substance of the note at a later stage.

These two important processes require a number of skills which include:
 Listening attentively to the information;
 Recognising and understanding the major divisions of a lecture or text;
 Reading a written text actively and constructively;
 Distinguishing the major points from supporting details;
 Recognising digression from explanations;
 Using correct abbreviations and symbols;
 Summarising the content of a lecture or text in a useful outline format;
 Avoiding unnecessary distractions.
Definition of Notes.
Notes are essentially a form of summary of principal ideas and important

supporting details of an oral or written presentation.
Note Taking.
It is the art of reducing, into writing, an oral discourse for subsequent reflections
usually for the purpose of learning.
Note taking involves the use of receptive language skill of listening. You are
required not to take too little or too much of the note.
Purposes of Note Taking.
 It helps to remember the discourse.

 It helps in concentrating on the topic while a lecture takes place.
 It assists in making further research on the topic.
Stages of Note Taking.
There are three basic steps in note taking:
 The Preparatory Stage: This entails actions done before the lecture, such
as: reading a reference material on the topic, and being physically,
psychologically, and mentally prepared for the note taking.
 Note Taking Stage: This involves the note-taking activity and it requires
active listening during the lecture, which is characterized by
concentrating and remaining focused on the lecturer and what is being
discussed. You should take note of important points and useful
explanations.
 Reorganisation Stage: This entails activities, done after the lecture. This
involves reading over the notes, classifying the missing part, and adding
more notes and examples to the main points.
Note Taking Methods.
 Cornel Method: This is done by using two columns to take note. One
contains the key words or concept and the other contains the description
or notes associated with the key words.
 Outlining Method: This method involves writing a series of topics and

sub-topics, and identifying them by indenting the text, numbering and
lines, using dashes (-) or bullet points (•).

 Visual Method: This is a mind-mapping method which entails the use of
diagrams or charts to demonstrate where ideas, concepts and images are
linked together around a central key-word or idea. It helps the reader to
visualise the information given.
 Sentencing Method: In the sentencing method, you simply write down

new concepts or topics and then the explanations on the same paragraph.
Note Making.
Note making is the act of reducing into writing, information from textbooks,
articles, journals, newspapers, or internet sources in your own words. It equally
includes note made after reading and comprehending lecture notes.
Similarly, ideas, points, or explanations of a topic received from electronic

media could also be reduced into writing to form notes.
Note making could be distinguished from note taking in that, while note taking
involves writing what is being heard from a lecture, speech or presentation, note
making involves writing what is understood from written materials.
Purposes of Note Making.
 Essay Writing.
 Report Writing.
 Examination.
 Answers to questions.
 Seminar presentations.

 Group assignment.
Hints for Efficient Note Making.
 Read and understand the texts or materials consulted before making the
note.
 Avoid plagiarism. If, however, there's need to use plagiarism,

acknowledge the original writer and make sure to put such in quotation
marks.
 Use good English grammar to make note, for you are not the only one
who is going to use the note — your friends could borrow them or so.
 Avoid unnecessary or irrelevant details. Your note should consist of only

such points, ideas or issues which you consider of being important and
relevant to your research. An example of things that should be avoided is
historical aspect of your research topic, except where necessary.
 Use of array of dictionaries in the course of making note. It is usual to

come across some words or phrases of which you may not be familiar
with. Some of such words or phrases are so important as to render the
passage or essay meaningless if their meanings are not known. To avoid
such a situation, it is advisable that one should have an array of
dictionaries at one's disposal while making note.
 Use of correct punctuation marks. A good note should be properly

punctuated in order to pass across the intended meaning.
 While making note, you should arrange the relevant points into
paragraphs for easy reading and comprehension.

 Use correct spellings, acronyms and abbreviations.
 Take note of the reference material you use.
 Speaking Skills.
Experts in communication posit that personal communication from one person

to one or more others is the strongest and most persuasive means of putting
across a message.
The purpose of discussing this topic of speaking skills is to understand and

develop effective communication skills in oral presentations.
Principles of Effective Oral Communication.
 Good Planning and Adequate Preparation: This involves gathering

enough points or facts from relevant materials on the topic of discussion.
This helps the speaker to have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter.
The speaker should also arrange such points in a logically sequential
manner, i.e., from a good introduction to the main body, then to a
conclusion.
 Fluency or Good Understanding of the Language of the Speech: A

good oral presentation is largely based on the speaker‘s phonological
competence and vocabulary skills. The speaker should develop good
pronunciations, intonations, assignments of stress and phonology, to be
able to convey the intended message, fact or information in the speech.
This speaker should also choose good vocabulary and grammatical
constructions while giving the speech.
 Use of Paralinguistic Features: Facial expressions, gestures, postures,

body movements, are paralinguistic features that can also be used to
support, reinforce, or contradict the verbal means of communication. The
use of such features makes the speech or presentation more lively because
the language of the speaker will be well demonstrated, thus, aiding the
audience in understanding the message clearly.
 Avoid Individualisation of the Audience: Do not concentrate on the

personality of the audience as a whole to avoid distraction.
 Develop Self-Confidence.
 Be Time Conscious: Take note of the time limit. While you are being
conscious of your time, take note of attitudes of the audience, which may
signify boredom.
 Use Appropriate Illustrations: Vital illustrations should be used to

explain main points in a presentation. This is necessary because some
facts or ideas can best be explained using illustrations. Examples of such
illustrations are: statistics, evidence on facts, historical facts, quotations,
stories, maps, drafts, diagrams, etc.
 Adapting the Speech to the Subject, Purpose, and Audience: A good

speech should fit the message, purpose, occasion, and audience. The body
language and choice of words of the speaker should be in accordance
with the topic, context of speech, and mood of the audience.
 Avoid Intercalary Expressions: These are superfluous speech units

inserted between words that carry the meaning of the oral message. The
most common are: ―I mean‖, ―You know‖, ―Speaking quite frankly‖,
―Between you and me‖, ―To tell you the truth‖, ―As a matter of fact‖, etc.

 Good Speech Delivery: This refers to the way and manner in which a
speech is presented. The method of the speech is very important. There
are many modes of speech delivery. The speech could be read,
memorised, or delivered with outlined points.
Kinds of Speech.
A speech that is read is simple as it aids the speaker to convey the intended
message, verbatim.
A memorised speech is the kind of speech where the speaker memorises all
pieces information that he or she intends to pass across to the audience. This
kind of speech is not favourable as the speaker may forget important points he
or she wishes to say.
A speech given by outlining the relevant points is where the speaker

summarises the main points of the speech and, thereafter, explains them. This is
the most favoured kind of speech in an academic discourse.
The impromptu speech is the speech delivered without any prior preparation.
Such kinds of speeches are usually short and precise.
Lecture 2.
HISTORY OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN NIGERIA.
The history of the legal profession in Nigeria is closely identified with the
history of the British system of court and colonial rule.

Prior to the colonial era, professional advocacy did not feature much in the
traditional systems of adjudication found in Nigeria. This was so, because the
primary objective of traditional adjudication was to reconcile parties and
maintain the brotherly community, and the unwritten customary laws were
simple enough. After colonisation, the English type courts were established
which invariably called for legal advocacy that was capable of handling English
laws and procedures.
The first legislative step to regulate this legal advocacy was taken in 1876 with
the enactment of the Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876. By its provisions, three
classes of people were allowed to practice as legal practitioners in Nigeria,
namely:
 Professionally qualified legal practitioners who were called to bar in

England, Ireland or Scotland.
 Those who have worked with legal practitioners for a period of at least 5
years and were deemed sufficiently knowledgeable in the law to practice
as attorneys.
 The local attorneys appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria whom were
other fit and proper persons considered capable of appearing as barristers
before the courts.
See, generally, section 71-76 of the Supreme Court Ordinance.
The first Nigerian Lawyer who made his appearance at the Supreme Court in
1880 was Mr M.H. Sapara Williams.
By 1914, there were protests by the professionally qualified legal practitioners

on the appointment of local attorneys. These protests ended the era of the
appointment of local attorneys. It was restricted to formally trained lawyers.
However, there was no institution in Nigeria to train aspirants to the bar.
Lawyers received their trainings from England where they qualify either as
barristers or solicitors. This distant training raised concerns over their capability
to practice before the Nigerian courts. The concerns were that the dichotomy
between the barristers and solicitors in England, as they were so trained,
rendered them inadequately equipped for the combined role in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the English trained legal practitioners were considered not well-
grounded in the customary law which formed the integral part of the Nigerian
Legal System.
In order to correct these anomalies, the committee, known as the UNSWORTH

COMMITTEE, was formed to consider and make recommendations for the
future of legal profession in Nigeria, with regards to: legal education, admission
to practice, and the right of audience before the court, amongst others.
The committee made the following recommendations:
1. That Nigeria should start her own system of legal education.
2. That a faculty of law should be established, first, in the University

College of Ibadan, and subsequently in the other universities to be stated
in the future.
3. That a law school to be known as Nigerian Law School should be

established.
4. That the qualification for admission to legal practice in Nigeria should be

a degree in law.

5. Lastly, that a council of legal education be established.
The recommendations led to the enactment of the Legal Education Act, 1962,
dealing with the training of legal practitioners; and the Legal Practitioners' Act,
1962, providing for regulations of legal practice in Nigeria.
By the Legal Practitioners' Act, 1962, three categories of persons were

authorized to practice as Legal Practitioners in Nigeria:
 Those enrolled in the roll of legal practitioners at the Supreme Court. For
a person to be enrolled in the list, such person must have been called to
the bar and must produce the certificate of the call to the registrar of the
Supreme Court.
 Those permitted by warrant whom are persons authorised by the Chief

Justice of Nigeria to appear as legal practitioners in particular
proceedings.
 Those entitled to practice by virtue of their offices such as the attorneys-

general, solicitors-general, state council, directors of public prosecutions,
etc.
To crown it all, the two enactments mentioned above have been replaced by
another Legal Practitioners' Act, 1975. They can be found in the Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria 2004 — CAPS L10 $ L11.

Dr Aliyu Mustapha’s Lecture Notes.
Course’s Outline:
1. General Overview of English for Legal Writing.

2. Brief history of legal profession in Nigeria.
3. Language and thought.
4. Legal writing.
5. General principle of legal writing.
6. Distinctive/special features of legal writing.
7. Drafting skills.
8. Habits to be avoided by draftsman.

Lecture 1.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH FOR LEGAL WRITING.
A lawyer may acquire different skills for argument, but whichever skill a lawyer
may acquire without knowing how to write is considered useless. This course
(English for Legal Writing) is aimed at teaching you the techniques involved.
For you to write – you need to know the skills involved.
BRIEF HISTORY OF LEGAL PROFESSION IN NIGERIA
The history of legal profession in Nigeria is traceable to the period before the
advent of the British into the territory now called Nigeria. The country Nigeria
only came into existence in 1914 after the amalgamation of the three distinct
administrative unit of Nigeria by the then Governor-General, Sir Fredric Lord
Lugard.
Prior to this era, legal advocacy did not feature in the Nigeria system of rule
because, before the emergence of the Colonial masters, Nigeria was
administering justice through the Islamic and Customary law.
In 1808, Usman Dan Fodio assembled the Fulani army to lead a war against the
Hausa Kingdom of the Northern Nigeria. After this incident, the Northern
Nigerians (Hausa and Fulani) started administering justice via the Islamic
Sharia. Prior to this incident, the Southern Nigerians were made of different
communities with various customs and traditions. The communities
administered justice via a means known as the customary law.
In 1861, the British colonial masters annexed Lagos and made it a colony.
Starting from this era, the British masters started colonizing us via a method
known as the ―indirect rule system‖. When the British came into Nigeria, they
brought three things which were; Christianity, English Language and the
Common law practice of the people of England. Common law is the legislation
common to the people of England and it is being practiced by them. After the
emergence of the colonial masters, it was argued that whenever there was a
dispute between the Nigerian indigenous men and the British men, the Common
law practice of the people of England should be used in settling such disputes.
The first step to regulate the legal advocacy in Nigeria was taken in 1876.
During this period, ―The Supreme Court Ordinance‖ was established. By the
virtue of the provisions of the Supreme Court Ordinance, three kinds of people
were allowed to practice as an active legal practitioner:
i. Professionally qualified advocates who were called to bar in England,

Ireland and Scotland;
ii. The indigenous lawyers;
iii. The local attorneys, who were given license which lasted for a period
of 6 months and renews it.
The first indigenous lawyer who made his appearance at the Supreme Court in
1880 was Chief Alexander Sapara Williams popularly known as M.H Sapara
Williams.
The then CJN had the power to appoint the local attorneys/charlatans.
In 1908, the qualified attorneys protested against the appointment of the local
attorneys which restricted the local attorneys/charlatans from practicing and
thereby only limiting legal practice to the qualified advocates.
Subsequently, there were challenges encountered by the professionally qualified

advocates, these challenges were:
i. They were trained in England to practice as either a solicitor or an

advocate but Nigeria practice fused profession
ii. They had problems with the understanding of our customary law
iii. They were trained in England and they had problem with the nature of
Nigeria justice system.
In 1957, Unsworth Committee was established to regulate those problems, and

study the entire Nigeria legal system, to make a reciprocal arrangement with
other common law countries and make some recommendations. Some of these
recommendations were:
i. A Faculty of Law should be established in the University College of

Ibadan and subsequently in other Universities to be created.
ii. A Law school to be known as Nigerian Law School should be
established to give practical legal training to law students.
iii. A council for legal education should be established to regulate Legal
education in Nigeria.
iv. The qualification for admission to legal practice in Nigeria should be a
degree in law.
v. Lastly that a council for legal education should be established to
regulate legal education in Nigeria.
Remarkably, two legislations were enacted, these legislations are:
i. The Legal Education (Consolidation) Act of 1962

ii. The Legal Practitioners Act of 1962.

By the virtue of the Legal Practitioner Act 1962, three categories of persons
were authorized to practice as Legal Practitioner in Nigeria:
i. Those enrolled on the roll of legal practice at the Supreme Court; for a
person to be enrolled, such person must have been called to bar and
must produce the certificate of call to the registrar of the Supreme
Court.
ii. Those permitted by warrant; those authorized by the Chief Justice of
Nigeria to appear as legal practitioners in particular proceedings.
iii. Those entitled to practice by virtue of their offices, such as the
attorney-general, solicitor-general, director of public prosecutions, etc.
The two legislations mentioned above have been replaced by another Legal
Practitioners Act, 1975. They can be found in the laws of the federation of
Nigeria 2004 – CAPS L10 and L11.S
Lecture 2.
LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT.
Language is a vehicle through which we convey information from one person to

another.
Language can also be seen as a medium or a tool for communication.
Thought is just a piece of idea or the innermost feelings of ours that we have in
our brain and mind. However, these innermost feelings of ours can be arranged
beautifully but without a vehicle to express your feelings, that thought is
considered useless and worthless.

Differences between Language and Thought.
While language is a means through which we convey general information to our

audience, thought is the innermost feelings of ours that will not be understood
by them unless it is being conveyed. Therefore, both language and thought work
hand in hand.
No matter how convincing our thought may be, it can never be understood
unless it is communicated through language. Therefore, language and thought,
as far as communication is concerned, are inseparable, i.e., they work together
as far as legal profession is concerned.
In achieving your objective, you need to organize your thought and apply proper
usage of the right phrase. According to Lord Stevensen, ―it is not for you to
write but to write what you mean, not to affect your reader but to affect him
precisely as you wish‖. Therefore a good writer must learn how to apply the
proper usage of the right phrase in order to achieve his/her aims and objective.
Forms of Language.
The vehicle through which we convey information exists in three forms:
i. Oral
ii. Written
iii. Gesture
 Oral: The oral form of language is the form of language in which
information is being passed from one person to another through the use of
mouth and all other related components. This form of communication is
also known as ‗spoken‘.
 Written: In this form of language, information is passed through the

medium of writing.
 Gesture: Gesture can be seen as the use of body movement to pass

information to another person. As a law student or a legal practitioner, it
is not only the information contained in the draft or the ones spoken that
will convince the judge, the use of gestures play a vital role in convincing
him.
The Language of the Law.
As clearly noted above, among the things that were imported to Nigeria during
the colonial era is the English Language.
English Language is the language of England used in many varieties throughout

the world of which Nigeria is not an exception.
The official language of our Superior Court of record is English language.

Therefore the official language of Nigeria is English language.
In the case of Muhammed Oladapo Ojengbede v Esan & Anr it was

decleared openly that:
―There can be no doubt that the official language of superior courts of record
in Nigeria is English and that if documents written in an language other than
English are to be tendered and properly used in evidence, they must be duly
translated into English either by a competent witnesses called by the party to
the proceedings who needs them to prove his case or by the official interpreter
of the court.‖
In Ogunye v State, Iguh, J.S.C. stated that:
―I cannot over-emphasize the fact and it is a matter of common knowledge and

notoriety of which judicial notice, ought now, to be taken, that the lingua franca
in this country is English and that this is the official language employed in all
proceedings before the superior courts of records throughout Nigeria.‖
The case of Damina v The State is also very instructive in this case.
Furthermore to this effect, section 36(6)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria gives the right to an accused to be provided an
interpreter if he does not understand the language of the law.
However, there are some circumstances where a language other than English is
used at the inferior courts.
The relevance of language in the study and practice of Law cannot be

overemphasized because English is the language of our superior courts of
record. It is also the official language of Nigeria. Therefore, aspirants to the bar
(law students) and lawyers alike must master the language which is regarded as
one of the important tools of the trade.
Similarly, our thoughts and ideas which are abstract in form can only be
conveyed to our audience through the use of carefully organized words, phrases
and sentences.
Lecture 3.
LEGAL WRITING
Before we proceed, we will have to take the definition of the phrase, ‗legal
writing‘. The phrase ―legal writing‖ contains two words; ‗legal‘ and ‗writing‘.
‗Legal‘, which is an adjective, refers to something that is related to law, while
‗writing‘, which is used as a noun, refers to one of the most popular means of
communicating, or the process through which members of the legal profession
communicate in writing.
In the legal parlance, writing is the medium in which lawyers must express their
analysis of an issue and seek to persuade others on their clients‘ behalf. It is also
the law and fact or synthesis of law put together in a written form. When a
lawyer writes, he basically does two things:
i. Trying to pass information

ii. Trying to persuade or convince his audience.
Any legal document must be concise, clear and conform to the standard that has
evolved in the legal profession.
Legal Drafting.
Drafting/legal drafting is the process of drawing or bringing up legal writing.
Documents used by a Lawyer while Drafting
i. Letters
ii. Memo
iii. Rejoinment
iv. Conveyer
v. Motion
vi. Affidavit
Who is an Attorney?
An attorney or a lawyer is a person who acts for another in legal matters. An

attorney has the power to write a document which he has authority over.
Stages of Writing.
 Pre-writing stage
 Writing stage
 Post-writing stage
 Pre-Writing Stage.
‗Pre‘ is a prefix used to mean ‗before‘. This is the stage of thought formation; it
is the stage where you organize your thought in a logical way. In this stage you
try to know the person you are writing to
 Writing Stage.
The writing stage is a stage where you put your thoughts in black and white.
Here you are expected to put a requisite minimum skill in writing.
 Post-Writing Stage.
As the prefix implies ‗post‘ (after); this is the stage where you have to ask
yourself some question pertaining to the work you‘ve written; if it contains
spelling error, syntactic and grammatical error, will the document achieve its
purpose, and so on.
Lecture 4.
GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF LEGAL WRITING
Principles are the fundamental considerations or rules that guide a draftsman

(lawyer/law student) when he drafts a document. In order words, principles are
fundamental or general laws used as bases for a theory or system of belief.
If a legal practitioner wants to write, he does not just write, rather he considers
the skills involved. Therefore, if you write, you should be able to appreciate the
principles of legal writing. Most of these principles, are better understood
through the ―Pre-writing stage‖:
Pre-Writing Stage
Aims of writing Audience Planning Layout
 Aims of Writing.
Aim is what you seek to achieve, or having the intention to achieve something.
Your aim of studying law is to become a legal practitioner, so, whenever you
write, you should know your aim of writing the piece. If you write, your aim
should be to inform and convince your reader/audience; in any instance,
knowing your aim will assist you in your draft.
 Audience.
An audience is a group of listeners, readers or spectator.
Apart from knowing your aim of writing, you should also know your audience
because it is they who would tell you if you should choose high sounding words
or not. At times, you should be mindful of the words you use for your audience
because your audience may end up being confused instead of being convinced.
Our audience help us to know the way and manner we write, but if you do not
know your audience, you will have to assume his personality. For example you
are asked to write to the Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Lagos.
Since you don‘t know the person in question, you will have to write based on
his educational background and not his personality. Sometimes when you write
or draft a document, you will have to place yourself at the audience‘s shoe.
 Planning.
Planning is simply the process when you:
i. Organize your thought;

ii. Have all the necessary materials with you;
iii. Have where to write and how to write, and
iv. Conduct research: at times you don‘t just write, but you will have to
consult the necessary literature. Remember we said that a lawyer must
be analytical i.e., he must master the law but if he wants to draft a
document, he must make sure that he consults the necessary literature.
 Layout.
This is the structure or organization of document, i.e., is it a letter or an essay?

Layout is important because documents are not just written a free flow from the
first page to the last page, it needs a structural organization. It is a layout that
tells you to start with the introduction, body and conclusion. Layout also shows
the importance of dividing your work into paragraphs.
In the actual sense, layout simply means how the document looks like. Layout
could also be important in the ‗writing stage‘ as at the point of implementation
because you are putting down the structure on a sheet of paper.

Special Features of Legal Writing.
a. Authority
b. Formality
c. Diction
d. Precedent
 Authority.
Whenever someone from History, Medicine, or Agric writes, you may or may
not see him/her citing any authority. However, if someone from Law writes, you
will always see him/her citing authorities.
An authority is any piece of information that gives support or strength to your

points. An authority can also be seen as ―any portion of the law that is used to
support your statements‖. Any assertion made in Law should be backed by
authorities, which gives rise to the Law of Evidence principle of ―he who
asserts must prove‖.
For example, someone writing about fundamental human rights will postulate
that ―everyone has the right to life‖. Yes, everyone has the right to life, but, in
law, whenever you say anything, you will have to back it up with proves. For
example, if you postulate that everyone has the right to life, you will have to
support your postulation by making reference to section 33 (1) of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which says that ―Every person
has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life.‖
One of the things you will see in legal writing is authority and it is also one of
the most important/special features of legal writing.

Forms of Authority.
Authority exists in two forms:
i. Statutory authority
ii. Judicial authority
i. Statutory Authority
This is a kind of authority that is derived from ―statutes‖. A statue is a law

enacted by either the federal or state parliament. Therefore, any written form of
law is a statute. Another name for a statute is ‗law‘ or ‗legislation‘, but the best
synonym of statute is ‗legislation‘.
ii. Judicial Authority.
This simply means courts‘ decisions and that is what we call case law in the
Nigeria Legal System.
If a court decides a matter, the decision of the court becomes an authority, and,
to some extent, used as stare decisis (judicial precedent). Therefore, be
informed that whenever you write without any authority, you may not gain
judgment.
 Formality.
One of the features of legal writing is formality. While writing, you must be
careful of your diction, so that you may not end up becoming too technical or
too literal.
Whenever you want your writing to be formal, you can concoct statements like
―the decision of the trial court was set aside by the appellate court‖ or you can
say ―there is a lawsuit between Mr A and B pending before the Supreme
Court‖.
 Diction.
Diction in law can be seen as the choice of words that relates to law. Choosing a
good diction will make the document to look like a legal document. In the use
of diction, if someone who is not a lawyer writes, you will know.
For example, a statement like ―Mr A reports Mr B in one Magistrate Court‖

will be used by someone who is not a lawyer, but a statement like ―Mr A
institutes an action against Mr B‖ will be used by a lawyer or a competent law
student.
 Legal Vocabularies.
Our aim is to teach you how to use those words whenever you see them, and if
you use them, they make your work look legal.
Some of those vocabularies include:
i. Plaintiff: the person who institutes an action in a law court because of

the breach of trust, contract or other civil issues.
ii. Claimant: the person who institutes lawsuits as a result of the breach
of his or her constitutional right.
iii. Charge: a statement of offence or offences with which an accused is
charged.
iv. Complainant: includes any informant or prosecutor in any case
relating to summary conviction offence.
v. Defendant: any person against whom a complaint is made.

 Precedent.
Precedent in the legal parlance means ‗example‘ i.e. the way and manner a
particular thing was done before. In summary, if you write, you will have to
enquire if there has been a laid down example.
If you use precedent, you should be very careful to change or edit the necessary
pieces of information. Therefore, it is argued that precedent should be used with
caution.
Advantage of Precedents.
i. It saves time
ii. It aids in maintaining uniformity: what is important in precedent is the
layout, its consistency and uniformity.
Lecture 5.
DRAFTING SKILLS/LEGAL WRITING SKILLS
Drafting is a legal composition.
Drafting is a form of Legal writing. Drafting skill means the same thing with
legal writing skill. Legal writing /drafting skill is the process of expressing our
thoughts through the medium of communication. Remember that the main
function of a lawyer is to represent his client. The client is the master of the
facts while lawyers are the masters of the laws.
Legal writing may also mean the synthesis of fact and law in a written form. For
instance, if a client comes to tell you that he/she has bought a plot of land, for

you to gather facts from him, you may need to ask him questions like; the
location of the land, how much he bought the land, etc. This process of
gathering the fact and marrying it with the appropriate law is called legal
writing.
Differences between Legal Writing and any Other Form of Writing.
1. Vocabulary: a legal practitioner uses legal terminologies while

composing a draft.
2. Authority: making reference to a statute or precedent plays an important
role in legal writing.
3. Persuasion: in most cases, legal writing is composed to persuade and
convince the audience, which is the judge.
4. Short and precise: a good legal writing must be short and precise
What is a Skill?
A skill is the ability to do something well. The attribute, the technique, the
intensive mental creative ability to do something unique and presentable is a
skill. Some advocates argue that a draftsman is a craftsman. Therefore, he
should be able to introduce a skill to make his work look special. That ability
that a lawyer has to write well to organize his thought is a skill.
Skills of Drafting.
 Understanding the Client’s Instruction.
Instructions are guidelines; they are things that regulate you on what to do.
Therefore, understanding the client‘s instructions is very important since the
business of a lawyer is to represent his client. The best way to understand the
client‘s instruction is by client interview; this is a process whereby a legal
practitioner elicits all the relevant facts with a view of rendering legal services
to his client.
How is a Client Interview Done?
For you to really understand the instruction of your client, you will have to use
your knowledge of Psychology (study of the mind) to know his state of mind. A
client may say that all what he or she wants is a divorce; as a legal personnel,
you have the responsibility to calm him or her down.
To start an effective conversation with your client, you will have to start your
opening speech by introducing yourself. If he or she is not in a good mood, you
can skip it. Having introduced yourself, you will have to start your conversation
by either asking a close-ended question or an open-ended question.
What is a Close-Ended Question?
A close-ended question is a form of question that can either be answered with

‗yes‘ or ‗no‘ response, or a very specific and concise response that does not
afford the client the opportunity to elaborate.
Examples include:
 Will you please do me a favour?

 Are you feeling better today?
 Is he dead?
 What is your name?
 What did you eat?
What is an Open-Ended Question?
An open-ended question is a question that requires the personnel or respondent

to explain in great details. It is a kind of question that gives the client the
opportunity to elaborate and even narrate the chain of events.
Examples include:
 What transpired between you and him?

 Who is Mr John?
 How exactly did the fight between the two of you start?
 How did you find yourself inside the house?
Finally, when your client starts divulging the facts, you will have to develop an
active listening technique so as to fully understand the facts divulged by the
client. An active listening technique is a technique where you listen to your
client actively.
The first skill you need as a legal practitioner is to understand the instruction of
your client. To appreciate the skill of drafting, I will refer you to my Journal
―Legal Writing: an Indispensable Skill in Legal Practice.‖
In legal practice, there are two complementary skills; advocacy and legal
writing. Be informed that the success of an advocate is his ability to write to the
court of law. Your ability to use skills and language is very important as well.
Understanding the client‘s instruction is very important. If you write, you must
display the instruction of your client in your document.
Interviewing the client is another vital skill. While interviewing the client, you
must create enough confidence in your client.
For you to get enough facts from your client, you can ask him or her either an
open-ended question or a close-ended question so as to know if there is any

missing piece of information. It is the totality of this document with the oral
facts that makes up a draft.
Note taking is another important skill when interviewing the client. While
taking note, you must avoid all distractions in order to get the necessary facts.
Endeavour to advise your client based on the position of the law; if, however,
you are not sure about the position of the law, you will have to give him a
preliminary piece of advice and later make research about the exact position of
the law. After the interview, you will have to ask the client what he wants you
to do for him.
 Mastering of Legal Language.
The minimum standard as far as the language of law is concerned is for you to
understand the basic rules of grammar. Since the English Language is the
language of the profession, you must master the basic rules of the English
grammar so that when you write or speak, people will not look at you in an odd
manner.
For every trade, there are tools. The tools of legal profession are three;
i. Knowledge of the law

ii. Language
iii. Confidence
The knowledge of the law is very important in legal practice since you are the
master of the law. When your client lays a complaint, it is your responsibility to
know the applicable law.
There is this argument that between the knowledge of the law and language,

which is more important? Language is very important, since it is the vehicle that
helps you to air your view to the general public. No matter how beautiful your
thought is or how knowledgeable you are, without the vehicle of
communication, your thought is considered useless and worthless. On the other
hand, some argued that knowledge of the law is more important that the
language. The most applicable skill is the use of language.
Confidence is simply your academic and professional courage to either speak or

write with professionalism without having fear of being intimidated. Confidence
is an important tool of legal practice. If you understand the language and
knowledge of the law without confidence, you may feel intimidated and will not
be able to convince your audience to the fullest.
 Use of Plain and Simple Words.
Plain English is a good professional language. The use of simple words makes
your argument clear to your audience and the third party. When drafting, draft
in such a way that your drafts will be so clean that the intended audience will
understand. The modern trend in Legal writing is the use of simple words. So,
try as much as possible to write plainly with the use of diction that will be
understood by your audience. When drafting, you don‘t longer need to write
high sounding words. Your usage of legal terminologies should be with caution
so that you will not confuse your audience.
 Use of Paragraphs.
When you write without paragraphs, it looks untidy. So when you write, you
have to break it into paragraphs and each paragraph should contain a single
subject matter.

Emphatically, while writing, the use of paragraphs is an important tool. Always
break your work into paragraphs. While doing so, make sure that each
paragraph contains different subject matter because paragraphs contain different
themes.
 Short Sentences.
Short sentences are better understood than long sentences and whenever you use
short sentences, it has the ability to present the issue in a straightforward
manner. Do not write in long sentences; try to break the sentence for easy
understanding.
 Avoiding Ambiguity.
You should use words that can clearly say what you mean. From the reading of
the document, the reader should be able to predict where you are heading. For
instance, ―if the dog doesn‘t like cold water, boil it.‖ From this statement, we
can see that it is somewhat ambiguous as we do not know if we are too boil the
water or kill the dog and boil it.
 Proper Use of Punctuation Marks.
Proper use of punctuation marks is very important. Punctuation mark is

described as a traffic signal to the reader; they are marks that direct you and
give your reader directives. It makes your document elegant if they are properly
used but makes it inelegant if they are not properly used.
It is important to note, however, that punctuation marks are not cosmetics, even
if they are cosmetics, they should be used carefully.
Compare the statements below:

The V.C. said ―the student is not serious‖, and
―The V.C.,‖ said the student, ―is not serious.‖
From the above example, we can see that the power of punctuation has helped
to change the meaning of the statement. The first statement refers to the student
as an unserious type, while the second statement refers to the V.C. as unserious.
 Spelling.
Most of us are guilty of spelling wrongly.
Below are examples of words that can easily be spelt wrongly:
i. Write/right
ii. Break/brake
iii. Cent/sent
iv. Die/dye
v. Sea/see
vi. Great/grate etc.
 Editing.
Editing is a post-writing stage. After you finish writing your documents, you
need one last skill which is editing.
As a draftsman, you can‘t just write and submit, you will have to edit it by
scrutinizing what you‘ve written by the time you have finished writing.

Final Lecture.
TIPS TO ANSWER EXAM QUESTION
 Read and Understand the Instruction(s) Very Well:
The ways of answering examination questions vary. The number one thing you
should take cognizance of is the instruction of the examination. Each of the
examinations comes with instructions, please, do not rush. You may be asked to
answer question one as a compulsory question and then pick any other two, that
makes a total of three questions. In this kind of exam, your expectation is to
give special attention to question one because, usually, compulsory questions
carry more marks; sometimes twenty to twenty five marks out of the forty pass
mark. If you are able to answer the compulsory question very well, it means you
are half-way (without your C.A.). If you don‘t understand the instruction of the
question, don‘t hesitate to call the attention of the course lecturer or the
invigilator in the hall.
 Read the Questions Very Well and Start with the One you
Understand Best.
There is no rule that says you must start with number one, you can start with the
first, second third and even the last question. In fact, there are times when you
start with the last question.
Your expectation after understanding the instruction is to read the questions.

Pay attention to the compulsory question, make sure you answer it correctly and
give it adequate timing. You have two hours.

Selected English for Legal Writing I Past Questions.
1. Writing is an art, and legal writing requires the application of special mental and
practical skills. In view of the above, professionally discuss the relationship between
thought and language.
2. You are a junior counsel with A. A. Zunnurain & Co. after your call to the Bar. One
morning, Madam Fauzau came to your office with a matrimonial problem while your
Principal was away for a meeting. You called him on phone and he asked you to go
ahead and professionally assist her. He however cautioned you to use your legal
skills. Please, oblige Madam Fauzau.
3. The application of skills of Legal writing is as important as writing, itself. Identify

and discuss five (5) skills of legal writing.
4. The general principles of legal writing demonstrate the specialty and distinctiveness
of drafting legal documents. Discuss.
5. Write short notes on any two (2) of the following:
a) Legal Writing.
b) Educate your friend who is a medical student on the importance of mastering

writing skills by law students and lawyers.
c) Distinguish between Legal Method and Legal Writing.
6. Briefly trace the history of the legal profession in Nigeria.
7. Experts in communication posit that personal communication from one person to one
or more others is the strongest and most persuasive means of putting across a
message. Considering this assertion, comment fully on the principles of effective oral
communication.
8. Figurative Language is often associated with literature and with poetry in particular.
Whether we're conscious of it or not, we use figures of speech every day in our own
writing and conversations. What are these figures of speech? Explain the functions of
any seven (7) types of figures of speech using at least two (2) relevant examples of
each.
9. Mention 10 punctuation marks used in legal writing and while citing relevant
examples, explain the functions of any five of them.
10. Write notes on the following:
a) Paragraphing technique.
b) Note taking skills.
c) Note making skills.
Onimisi – fluent in silence!

LAW 1301 – LEGAL METHODS.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF LEGAL METHODS.
— Prof. Yadudu's Lecture.
Legal Methods is made up of two words — "Legal", an Adjective, and

"Methods", a noun. Method simply means a way of doing something. Legal
means in relation to the law. Hence, Legal Methods are methods that have to
do with law. It can also be seen as learning to study the use and construction of
legal rules, with a view to gaining insight into how law is planned and
organised to achieve its objective in the community.
Nature of Law.
 It is the nature of law to prescribe or define conduct — i.e., it tells you

what to do and what not to do, like stealing, murder, and so on. It
enjoins conduct — it imposes an obligation in you to do certain things at
certain times.
 It proscribes/prohibits conduct.
 It takes consequences or sanctions for noncompliance.
 It stipulates the procedures for establishing consequence

for noncompliance.
A legal norm by its nature has other attributes:
 It creates rights — between individuals, societies, etc. It gives

certain rights and obligations to individuals, society, and so on.
 It recognises rights.
 It protects rights.
 It provides remedies for breach of rights.
Legal Methods is one of the courses that gives you the process or the
methodology of law, i.e., it introduces you to law. It is not a course that teaches
you the law of a particular sector but rather it is a course that gives or inculcate
in you the technique of ‗thinking like a Lawyer‘. That technique that gives you
the rudiment of law, the process is known as ‗Legal Methods‘.
The aim of Legal Methods is to teach you the methods of appreciating and
applying the law as you meet it in your subsequent levels.
Legal Methods can, therefore, be defined as an attempt to explain or analyse the

technique of ‗thinking like a Lawyer‘. It is also the use and construction of legal
rules with a view to gaining insight into how law is planned and organized to
attain its objective in a society.
Importance of Legal Methods
1. It helps us understand the nature and the functions of law;

2. It helps us understand the diversities of law;
3. It helps us understand how to apply legal rules;
4. It equips us with the skill of constructing legal arguments and analyses;
5. It also assists with the skills of legal reasoning for all the members of the
legal profession;
6. It helps us understand how the law evolves and how to achieve its
objective, and
7. It helps us understand the fundamental concepts and principles of law.

Lecture 1.
WHAT IS LAW?
- Dr Aliyu Mustapha.
General Overview.
The word ‗law‘ has no generally agreed definition; in fact, an attempt to define
law is an attempt in futility. Law is viewed from different field of study. For
example, in Economics, we have the Law of diminishing return; in Physics we
have numerous of laws which include: Boyle‘s law, Charles‘ law, Hooks‘ law,
Ohm‘s law, etc. The Laws mentioned above have various principles guiding
them and if a principle is breached, there will be no punishment accorded to it.
To an active legal practitioner, he is not concerned with the definition of law,

but the principles and applications of the law. As a newly admitted candidate of
law (aspirant to the bar), it is very important for you to know the scope and
definition of law.
Keypoints to Note about Law.
 Law is either "man-made" or ―divine‖.
 It changes over time to accommodate society's needs.
 Law is an act enacted by legislature.
 Law is interpreted by courts to determine:
o Whether it is constitutional;
o Who is right or wrong.

 Law is what regulates a particular country.
 Law is the whole system of rules of a country.
 Law is the cement that synchronizes the people in the society in a

harmonious way.
Characteristics of Law.
1. Dynamism;
2. Normative;
3. Man-made;
4. Binding;
5. Sanction‘;
6. Territorial.
Dynamism: The opposite of dynamic is static. If a law is static, it means it does

not change. According to the Oxford Advance Learners‘ Dictionary, static
means ―not moving or changing‖ while dynamism means the quality of
changing. Therefore, a law is dynamic when it changes with respect to time.
Twenty to thirty years back there was nothing like law regulating cybercrime
but with the growth of the society, there is currently a law regulating
cybercrime. Therefore, be informed that ―law is a living thing; it develops with
the development of the society‖.
Normative: Laws are Normative in the sense that they are accepted rules and
regulations to govern the people in a given society. For example, the members
of the Nigeria legislature represent the people and, in return, make laws for the
benefit of the people. If a law is made by the representative of the people for
their benefit, it is said to be normative.

Man-Made: Law is either made by man, or made by God to guide the conduct
of men. A typical example of divine law is the Islamic Law. Shari‘ah (Islamic
Law) is a law or legislation made by Allah via His Holy Prophet to guide the
conducts of men. In essence, law cannot only be made by man but it can also be
divine (made by God).
Binding: The law made should be applicable to all its subjects. The law is
supreme to all and sundry.
Sanction: The process of using acceptable and reasonable mechanism to

implement the law is known as sanction. Therefore the law should be enforced
through the element of coercion.
Territorial: In the legal parlance, a territory means a jurisdiction i.e. the

location in which the law is applicable. Example includes; Acts, Laws, Decrees,
Edicts, Bye-laws, Codes, etc.
Lecture 2.
SOURCES OF NIGERIAN LAW
— Dr Nuhu.
The study of the sources of Nigerian law could be carried out from two
perspectives, that is, to examine the source as it relates to Origin, as well as
the sources as it relates to Authority.
The source by Origin covers the discussion on the historical development of

Nigerian law, that is, from where Nigerian law emanated. In source by Origin,
we are going to examine the various aspects of law that are put together to
form Nigerian law.
The source by Authority, on the other hand, examines the nature of laws that a
person or court relies upon in arriving at a decision. This includes; Statutory
and Judicial Authority.
Sources of Nigerian Law, Based on Origin.
In terms of origin, Nigerian law derives its source from the following.
 Received English Law.
 Nigerian Legislation.
 Customary Law.
 Islamic Law.
 Case Law.
The Received English Laws in Nigeria.
Received English Laws are the laws imported by the colonial masters and
were received by the people of Nigeria — voluntarily or involuntarily.
Before they became colonial masters, they were business people. They came
to Nigeria in order to do business — in their mind, they had the intention to
colonise us. They came to buy from Nigerians. When they entrenched their
business activities in Nigeria, they discovered that there usually used to be
disputes in their businesses. They noticed that the way we settled our disputes
(Islamic Law and Customary Law) were not in line with theirs. They,
therefore, refused to subject themselves to the rules of the Nigerians.
Gradually, they decided that if they must do business with Nigerians, the
Nigerians must agree to apply their own English laws. Because our people
weren't very wise back then, they agreed. Most of their transactions back then
were done in Lagos, because of the Sea. They seized one opportunity back
then when the king of Lagos died. The European supported a Nigerian
(Dosunmu) to ascend the throne. After three years, the England brought some
documents to this king and asked him to sign the agreement that England
should send troops to protect them in order for him to rule the people with
ease. Because the king trusted them so much, he didn't bother to read the
contents of the document before signing. The essence of the signature was the
beginning of colonisation in Nigeria. That was how the England brought their
Laws to Nigeria and started to rule Nigeria.
What are these Received English Laws?
They are;
 Common Law.
 Equity.
 Statute of General Application.
Common Law.
Common laws are the laws common to all the people of England.
Why is it Called Common Law and How Did it Come?
The whole of England was a village before 1200. By 12th Century, Norman
Conquest took place — it marked the beginning of a centralised system of
Law in England. Before that time, each village had its own customs. It was
the Norman Conquest that merged all the communities of England together.
By merging them together, common law came into existence.
Each village in England had its own customs. The Norman king assigned
Judges to the various villages of the city to settle issues. Whenever all the
judges came for congress, they picked some laws, which they considered
being of good conscience, from each village and that was what brought about
common law.
Common Laws are laws derived from the various customary laws of the
various villages in England. It is the unified customary laws of the villages in
England.
Thus, what we have is The England Common Law. We don't have The
Nigeria Common Law, because Nigeria is a country with over 250 ethnic
groups with divergent tribes. You can only have common law when you have
ONE tribe operating in a different system of law.
How Common Law Developed.
Before the Norman Conquest of 1060, the inhabitants of the present day
England were governed by different types of customs. This continued even
after the conquest because King Williams 1 allowed the English people to
maintain their rights and laws. That is to say, the people of England continued
to operate their local customary laws even after the conquest. King Williams
met much diversified laws in England. Therefore, it took another two hundred
years before having a central government, as well as a uniform legal system.
The machinery set out to unify these diversified customs was the appointment
of judges by the king in each and every local community in England. The
judges so appointed used to select and apply certain customary laws and made
those laws applicable in all cases rather than relying on a particular custom to
decide on each and every matter presented before the court. In other words, the
system of laws which those judges met in their areas of jurisdiction was that
each case has a particular law applicable to it. Therefore, if you have ten cases
before you, you are to apply ten different customary laws. By selecting a
particular customary law and making it applicable to all cases, the judges were
able to arrive at a unified system. The end result of this process was that the
local customs or customary laws were replaced by a body of rules applicable
throughout the whole country. This body of rules is known as the common
law — that is, the law which is common to all people of England. At that time,
there was no parliament in England, therefore, there was no form of written
law. The judges only relied on their previous decisions for guidance in order to
have consistency in the application of the common law.
In view of the last part of the previous paragraph, during the early time of the
common law, there was no written law in England. The only law that governs
the affairs of English people at that time was the common law, and the
common law judges developed the law by making references to their previous
decisions — this is, if a case was brought before them and they decided that
case in a particular way, the decision they arrived at in that case will serve as
a reference point in any subsequent similar case. This process is technically
referred to as stare decisis.
How Common Law Operates.
The common law operates with rigidity. This rigidity led to people running to
the King to get the remedies to their problems which, unfortunately, are not in
the catalogue of common law. The King, in turn, would speak with the bishops
surrounding him and would come up with a suitable decision for the people.

These current decisions that were now being reviewed and made brought about
another form of English Law, called the Doctrine of Equity.
Doctrine of Equity is the principle the bishops used to apply to issues that
don't have remedies in the common law.
The King, therefore, appointed one of these bishops surrounding him to handle
the affairs of Doctrine of Equity on his behalf, as he was too busy with other
monarchical duties. The bishop was given a title known as Lord Chancellor.
The King opened a court for him and named the court Chancery Court. This
led to having two courts in England — the High Court and the Chancery
Court.
The common law was applicable in the High Court while the Doctrine of
Equity was applicable in the Chancery Court. This led to conflict between the
common law judges and Lord Chancellor. The common law court saw the
Chancery Court to be undermining its (common law court‘s) powers. It was
until 1875 that the conflict was resolved by King James who made the order
that all issues must first be reviewed in the High Court before taking them to
the Chancery Court.
Statutes of General Application.
Apart from common law and equity, the British also brought to Nigeria, The
Statute of General Application (S.G.A.)
The British system, as we know, has its own parliament and, as at the time
when they brought their laws to Nigeria, they came with the law made by the
British Parliament.

1st January 1900 (Cut-off date).
Before the 1st of January, 1900, all Laws made by the British Parliament from
1863 till then were applicable in Nigeria. After this cut-off date, all laws
passed in British Parliament stopped being applicable in Nigeria. They will be
applicable in Nigeria if and only if the Nigeria Parliament accept them and
modify them to become Nigeria Laws.
Statutes of General Application, therefore, are the laws passed by the British
Parliament that is applicable throughout the United Kingdom and also applies
in Nigeria before 1st January, 1900. It can also be seen as laws passed by the
British Parliament which were meant to apply to all colonies.
For a Statute of General Application to be considered as one, it needs not be

applicable in England — that is, British Parliament could make law that was
specifically applicable to the colonies or protectorates only.
In Nigeria, 1st January, 1900 is the cut-off date for the application of Statutes
of General Application — i.e., any Statute passed by the British Parliament
after 1st January, 1900 is not applicable in Nigeria as a Statute of General
Application.
The following are the examples of Statutes of General Application:
 The Sales of Goods Act.
 The Wills Act.
 The Property and Conveyance Act...... etc.
These laws are still applicable in Nigeria because our various high court
laws authorize the continuation of the application.
It should be noted that the cut-off date mentioned above is not applicable to
common law and equity.
Statutes of General Application can be found in books of statutes. Common

law and Equity can be found through cases (Law Reports).
Customary Law.
The local laws that were operative in Nigeria before the advent of the British
are still in operation in Nigeria, and they shape our laws. However, not all
customary laws are applicable in Nigeria. Before a native law can be applicable
in Nigeria, it has to pass the validity tests. When it passes this test, it becomes
a primary source of Nigerian Law.
What is a Customary Law?
A customary law is a general term that includes all laws that were in operation
in Nigeria before the colonial rule.
In the pre-colonial period, there were numerous autonomous entities in

Nigeria. The Sokoto Caliphate, which comprised most parts of northern
Nigeria, used Islamic law. In other parts of Nigeria, the native laws of the
indigenous peoples operated as the laws of the lands.
When the British colonized the territory known as Nigeria, in typical

colonial fashion, they classified all indigenous laws (including Islamic
Law) as customary law and subjected them to English law.
This is what informed the definition of customary law in the case of

Joseph Ohai vs. Samuel Akpoemonye 1999 1 SCNJ 73 @ 77as:
―any system of law not being the common law and not being a law enacted
by any competent legislature in Nigeria but which is enforceable and
binding within Nigeria as between the parties subject of its sway.‖
From this definition, the courts would recognise all laws that are neither
common law nor enacted by the legislature as customary law.
Establishment of the Customary Law.
There are two methods of proving or establishing customary laws in the system
of this country before a superior court of record. They are:
i. Judicial notice
ii. Proof of Evidence
The above methods of establishing a customary law is provided for in section

14(1) of the Evidence Act. The citation goes thus:
‖a custom may be adopted as part of the law governing a particular set of

circumstances if it can be noticed judicially or can be proved to exist by
evidence; the burden of proving a custom shall lie upon the person alleging its
existence.‖
Essentially, this section provides the existence of customary law in two parts;
the first part is by judicial notice or proof of evidence and the second part is that
the burden of prove of a customary law will be upon the person who asserts to
the existence of such customary law.
 Judicial Notice.
The circumstance which brings about the rule of customary law to be judicially
noticed by the court of law is contained under section 14(2) of the Evidence Act
which provides thus:
‖A custom may be judicially noticed by the court if it has been acted upon by a
court of superior or coordinate jurisdiction in the same area to an extent which
justifies the court asked to apply it in assuming that the person or the class of
persons is concerned in that area look upon the same as binding in relation to
circumstances similar to those under consideration.‖
Essentially, what this refers to is that a custom will be judicially noticed if it has
been acted upon by a superior court or a court of coordinate jurisdiction in the
same territory that it is being tested. These are the only two circumstances in
which customs can be judicially noticed.
For a custom to be judicially noticed, the court will have to inquire if any court
above it has acted upon that customary law or (if there is no superior court that
has acted upon it) if there is any court that the court is of the same power and
status existing in the same territorial jurisdiction that has acted upon that
particular customary law. If there is, then the court can take that particular
customary law. These are the only circumstances which the provision of section
14(1) and (2) of the Evidence Act has been reported to take judicial notice of.
Note that the superior court or the court of coordinate jurisdiction that has acted
on that customary law must exist in the same territorial jurisdiction. The reason
why they must exist within the same territorial jurisdiction is that the ethnic
customary law is applicable to its territorial jurisdiction. Apart from it to be
judicially noticed, the custom must be recognized or accepted by the people in
the territorial location.
Before the enactment of the Evidence Act, a court took judicial notice of a
particular customary law if it had been frequently acted upon. What we mean
here is that the court would inquire to know if a superior court has acted upon

that particular custom severally (if cases have been decided by a superior court
based on the applicability of the custom, the court is left with no choice but to
follow the decision of the superior court).
 Proof of Evidence.
This will only come in place if the court does not take proper judicial notice.
The second part of the establishment of the customary law in the court of law is
the proof of evidence. This is stipulated in section 14(3) of the Evidence Act
which says:
―…where a custom cannot be established as one judicially noticed it may be

established and adopted as part of the law governing particular circumstances
by calling evidence to show that person or the class of person concerned in the
particular area regard the alleged custom as binding upon them.‖
Customary law is always centralized in the issue of acceptance and recognition;

the people must accept and recognize it before it can become a law binding on
them. As we have been saying, the burden of proving the existence of a
customary law is based upon the person who alleges its existence. Therefore, a
person who alleges the existence of a customary law before a court of law is
required to adduce adequate materials since a customary law is presumed to be
established through evidence.
The existence of customary law can be proved using either the testimony of
experts or books/manuscripts.
Section 57 of the Evidence Act refers to the expert testimony. What the experts
do is to give their own opinion about customary law. This section says that:
―When the court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law, native law
or custom, or of science or art, or as to identity of hand writing or finger
impressions, the opinions upon that point of persons specially skilled in such
foreign law, native law or custom, or science or art or in question as to identity
of hand writing or finger impressions are relevant facts.‖
The experts mentioned here are chiefs, elders and traditional rulers who are
considered as the custodian of the customary practices.
Section 58 of the Evidence Act provides for the use of books and manuscripts,
which provides that you can use books to prove the existence of customs.
According to this section, in deciding the question of native laws and customs,
any book or manuscript recognized by the natives as their legal authority
containing their customary practices is relevant, and it is obvious that a book or
manuscript may be used in the court of law in determining the question of
customary law only if the book or manuscript is recognized by the indigenous
people of that particular community as an authoritative document containing
their customary practice.
The Validity Test.
Nigerian customary law has its fair share of laws that we would outrightly
consider abhorrent. A very popular instance is the killing of twins that Mary
Slessor stopped in the pre-colonial Calabar. There were also numerous other
gory instances like human sacrifice.
It was due to instances like this that the colonialists created the validity tests.
Before the court can apply a custom in Nigerian jurisdiction, it has to pass these
validity tests.
The validity tests have remained in Nigerian legislation since the colonial times.

In the present dispensation, you can find them in the High Court Laws of the
various states and the FCT. According to S. 44 of the High Court Law of Oyo
State (1978), Customary Law would be applicable in the court if it is not:
— Repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience.
— Contrary to public policy.
— Incompatible directly or by implication with any law for the time being in
force.
The Evidence Act 2011 also provides in S. 18 (3) that a custom would not be
applicable as a law if it is contrary to public policy or is repugnant to natural
justice, equity and good conscience.
Natural Justice, Equity, and Good Conscience
It can be quite tricky to try getting an exact meaning of natural justice, equity
and good conscience. The concept of natural justice and equity varies from
society to society. Some societies view respect for elders as immutable while
some pay a passing reference to it.
Regardless of this confusion, we can get a bearing on the meaning of this term
by looking at the various decisions of the court.
The case of Dawodu vs. Danmole which was a case about the Yoruba law of
inheritance is very illustrative to this effect. Under this custom, if a man dies
intestate with multiple wives, his property was divided according to the number
of wives he left behind.
As a result, all the children of one wife inherited the property allocated to the
wife‘s branch of the family. For instance, if Tofunmi has two children and Tayo
has six children, the property of Tayo‘s children would be the equal to
Tofunmi‘s children‘s share. The Yoruba called this the idi igi system of
inheritance.
The trial court ruled that this custom was repugnant to natural justice. This was
because it negated the common law doctrine of equality of inheritance among
the children. At the appeal, the appellate court allowed the appeal. They stated
that it would be erroneous to import doctrines of natural justice that applied in a
monogamous society to a polygamous one like Nigeria.
An instance of a case where the courts did not apply a custom because it was
not compatible with natural justice is the case of Guri vs. Hadejia Native
Authority. In this case, the custom in question was one that didn‘t allow a
suspected Highway robber to defend himself in court. The court did not apply
this custom because it was contrary to the principle of fair hearing.
A Custom has to be Compatible with Public Policy.
A custom will not apply on the grounds of public policy if it undermines the
already established laws. In the case of Cole vs. Akinleye, the custom in
question was one concerning the legitimacy of children born out of wedlock.
Under Yoruba custom, if a father acknowledges a child born out of wedlock as

his child, he would become a legitimate child. This means that he would have
an equal right to inheritance along with those born legitimately in the marriage.
In the case, the father acknowledged the illegitimate child while he had other
legitimate children under the Marriage Ordinance. The court held that equating
the right of a child born out of wedlock with the rights of children born under
the Marriage Ordinance would be contrary to public policy.

The rationale behind the decision was that the Marriage Ordinance was of
colonial origin. As a result, any custom that would try to undermine a colonial
law would be contrary to public policy.
If a customary law can pass these validity tests, it is well on its way to becoming
a primary source of Nigerian law.
Islamic Law, is a portion of the customary law except in the Northern Nigeria.
Up till the year 2000, Islamic Law was generally a portion of customary law. It
was in year 2000 that Sharia court was established in the north which lead to the
separation of the duo in NORTHERN NIGERIA ALONE.
Features of Customary Law.
 It is flexible.
 It is unwritten.
 It comprises the customs of the people.
 It is superstitious.
 It is linked to some deity.
Nigerian Legislation.
Legislation is the law passed by the legislature.
The Nigerian legislature comprises of the National Assembly (Federal Level)

and the State House of Assembly (State Level).
The Federal level is called House of Senate while the State level is called
House of Assembly.

The laws passed by the National Assembly are called ACTS.
The laws passed by the State House of Assembly are called LAWS.
DECREES are legislations the central government make during a military

regime. (All Decrees, by Section 315 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, are now known as Acts).
EDICTS are laws that the regional/state government make during a military
regime. (All Edicts are now known as Laws, by section 315 of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria).
BYE-LAWS are legislations by the local government's legislative authority.

They are called bye-laws in both military and civilian regime.
Nigerian Legislation is divided into two;
 Primary Legislation — the legislation made by the federal and state

government.
 Secondary/Subsidiary Legislation — legislations made by any body

outside the federal and state.
The only primary legislations are acts, decrees, edicts and laws. Bye-laws are
subsidiary legislations.
The only bodies entitled to make laws in Nigeria are the National Assembly
and State House of Assembly, and the legislations they make are called
Primary Legislations.
Any legislation made by any body aside the recognised body (National
Assembly and State House of Assembly) falls under the Secondary/Subsidiary

Legislation, and the body must be backed by, at least, one of the two recognised
bodies. Hence, local government legislative bodies, which are councillors, make
legislations that fall under the subsidiary legislation.
Case Law.
Case laws are laws that emanate from judicial decisions as regards to a
particular case or specific legal situation which has been formulated over the
years. The principle of case law or judicial precedent is based on ‗stare decisis‘
which means stand by what has been decided.
What is Stare Decisis?
The doctrine of stare decisis is the principle of English law that precedents are
authoritative, binding and must be followed unless there is a reason to deviate
from them.
For this principle to work, we need a well-established judicial system. Section 6

of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides a well-
established judicial system in Nigeria by empowering the courts to interpret the
Law and administer justice.
This section does not only empower the judiciary, it also gives room for the
establishment of courts. The courts established by this section are known as the
Superior Courts of Record. Any form of decision from the Superior Courts of
Record becomes a precedent to the Inferior Courts.
Forms/Types of Judicial Precedent
1. Original
2. Derivative

3. Declarative
A judicial precedent is original if it establishes a new rule for the first time.
A judicial precedent is derivative when it extends an existing rule of law to

cover a certain issue which was not covered before.
A judicial precedent is said to be declarative when it does not create a new

principle but rather declares the position of an existing law.
What is a Ratio Decidendi?
Whenever a judge delivers a judgment, it is not every part of the judge‘s

pronouncement that is binding, the ones that are binding are known as ratio
decidendi. Ratio decidendi is the reason for reaching that decision; it is the point
of law which determines the ruling of the court.
The ratio decidendi is made up of facts and legal principles.
What is an Obita Dictum?
Obita is a Latin word meaning ―by the way.‖ It is a pronouncement of law

made by the judge in the course of his verdict which is not relevant to the topic
of discussion.
Obita dictum are ―by-the-way‖ statements made by the courts, and, as such,
they are only persuasive and not binding. This is in accordance with the
definition given by the court in the case of Buhari v Obansanjo (2000) FWLR
part 1988.
Relationship between Judicial Precedent and Hierarchy of Courts.
Generally, courts of inferior status are bound to follow the decisions of courts of
superior status.
Hierarchy of Courts.
A perfect understanding of how case laws operate works hand-in-hand with the
understanding of hierarchy of courts in the system of this country. Below are the
arrangements of the courts in Nigeria in order of their hierarchy.
 The Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is the Apex Court of the land; all the decisions of Supreme
Court must be followed by all other courts. The Supreme Court is not bound by
its previous decisions, neither is it bound by the decisions of other courts, but
those decisions only serve as persuasion and not binding.
The decision of the Supreme Court is reversed if:
i. it is given per incurium;

ii. it is wrongly decided;
iii. it perpetuates uncertainty in law;
iv. it causes a hard time for the parties.
 Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal is bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court. All
inferior courts to the Court of Appeal are bound by the decisions of the Court of
Appeal. The Court of Appeal is bound by its own decision, except in the
following instances:
i. When there are two of its decisions that conflict. It is free to choose
between two conflicting decision of its own;

ii. Where the decision cannot stand with a decision of the Supreme
Court. It is not bound to follow its own decision which, though not
expressly over-ruled, cannot stand with a decision of the Supreme
Court, and
iii. Decisions given per incurium. It is also not bound to follow its own
decision which was given per incurium.
 Courts of Coordinate Jurisdiction.
The following are courts of coordinate jurisdiction:
i. Federal High Court

ii. State High Court
iii. Sharia Court of Appeal
iv. Industrial Court
The above named courts are courts of coordinate jurisdiction. This means that
they are courts of equal status and they are bound by their decisions in their
jurisdiction. The courts of coordinate jurisdictions are all bound by the decision
of the higher courts in the hierarchy; however, they are not bound by the
decisions of one another.
 Magistrate Courts.
The decisions of Magistrate Courts do not bind other court and they are also not
bound by their previous decisions, although they serve as persuasions. The
Magistrate Court is bound by the decisions of the higher courts in the hierarchy.
 Customary/Area Courts.
The decisions of the higher courts in the hierarchy do not bind the
Customary/Area Courts neither do their decisions bind others.
Conditions for Departing from the Decisions of Higher Courts.
i. Overruled by either statute or the Supreme Court;

ii. Conflicting decisions;
iii. Decisions per incurium.
Lecture 3.
TYPES AND CLASSIFICATION OF LAW.
The major (almost all) part of this post is basically from Dr Nuhu's Lecture
on Sources, Types and Classification of (Nigerian) Law (four lectures). Just
a VERY LITTLE PART is gotten from the below;
1. A.O Sanni: Introduction to Nigerian Legal Method
2. Evidence Act 2011
3. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) OK, let's
go!
There are different meanings of the word law. Perhaps this is best conveyed by
the view of Baron De Montesquieu in his book, Spirit of the Law, where he
wrote:
―Laws in the wider possible connotations are any necessary relation arising
from a thing in nature. In this sense, all beings have their laws; the Deity his
laws, the material world it laws, the intelligence superior to man its laws, the
beasts their laws, man his law…‖
From the above, it can be seen that law is used in multiple senses. Thus it is
imperative for the different types of laws to be considered. They are:
1. Eternal Law.
2. Divine Law.
3. Natural Law.
4. Human or Positive Law.
 Eternal Law: The word eternal means something that would last forever.
Eternal laws are laws that have applied since the beginning of time and
would exist till the end of time. These laws cannot be changed. A very
good example of eternal law is the law of gravity. From the inception of
time, it has been understood that what goes up must come down. This law
would not be changed and is thus right to be regarded as eternal.
 Divine Law: Divine Law is referred to as laws made by a deity to govern

the affairs of man. A good example of divine law can be found in Islamic
law as postulated in the Q‘uran. These laws are said to be given by God
to the Prophet Muhammed in order to guide the affairs of man.
The logic behind the use of divine law stems from the fact that God,
accepted as all knowing and all wise, is in the best position to make laws
for the use of mankind.
 Natural Law: In the legal sense, natural law can be said to be law as
espoused by the natural law theorists. This law is said to be the law that is
innate in all mankind and can be deduced through the use of reason. For
example, it is accepted in all cultures that murder is wrong and should be
punished.

Natural law is said to be the guide which positive law must follow in
order for it to be valid. If Positive Law is at variance with natural law, it
could lead to injustice in the society.
 Positive or Human Law: Positive Law can also be regarded as human

law. These are laws made by man in order to guide the conduct of
members of the society. They are laws made by persons given the
authority to do so either directly or indirectly by the society. Legal
positivism doesn‘t concern itself with morals. Once a law has been
enacted by persons in authority, it is valid.
According to Professor HLA Hart, a positivist,
―Law is a command and there is no necessary connection between law

and morals or law as it is (lex lata ) and law as it ought to be (de lege
ferenda).‖
Examples of positivist law include the 1999 Constitution , Company and

Allied Matters Act, Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and a host
of others enacted by man.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW.
The classifications of law are the different categories into which all areas of law
can be collated. A particular classification of law encompasses all types of law
but it distributes them according to a particular unique characteristic.
The following are the major classifications of law:
1. Public and Private Law
2. Civil Law and Criminal Law

3. Substantive and Procedural Law
4. Municipal and International Law
5. Written and Unwritten Law
6. Common Law and Equity
Public and Private Law.
 Public Law can be defined as that aspect of Law that deals with the
relationship between the state, its citizens, and other states. It is one that
governs the relationship between a higher party — the state — and a
lower one, the citizens. Examples of public law include Constitutional
Law, Administrative Law, Criminal Law, International Law and so on.
 Private law, on the other hand, is that category of the law that concerns
itself with the relationship amongst private citizens. Examples include the
Law of Torts, the Law of Contract, the Law of Trust and so on.
Civil Law and Criminal Law.
 Civil law in this regard can be defined as the aspect of Law that deals
with the relationship between citizens and provides means for remedies if
the right of a citizen is breached. Examples of civil law include the Law
of Contract, the Law of Torts, Family Law etc.
 Criminal Law, on the other hand, can be referred to as that aspect of Law
that regulates crime in the society. It punishes acts which are considered
harmful to the society at large. An example of criminal law is the
Criminal Code Act which is applicable in the Southern part of Nigeria.

When treating a criminal case, the standard of proof to be used is a proof
beyond reasonable doubts, as provided for in section 135 of the Evidence
Act, 2011. Also, the burden of proof does not shift from the prosecution.
What this means is that before a conviction can be gotten, the state has to
prove the commission of the crime to be beyond reasonable doubt.
On the other hand, in civil cases, the standard of proof is on the balance
of probabilities, as seen in section 134 of the Evidence Act, 2011. Also,
the burden of proof shifts between both parties when they need to
establish their case.
Judgement normally goes in favour of the particular party that has been
able to prove its case more successfully.
Substantive and Procedural Law.
 Substantive Law is the main body of the law dealing with a particular
area of law. For example, the substantive law in relation to Criminal Law
includes the Criminal Code Act and the Penal Code Act.
 Procedural law, on the other hand, is law in that deals with the process
which the courts must follow in order to enforce the substantive law.
Examples include the rules of the various courts and the Administration
of Criminal Justice Act 2015, which is the procedural law in relation to
the Criminal Code Act and the Penal Code Act .
Municipal/Domestic and International Law.
 Municipal/Domestic law is the aspect of law which emanates from and

has effect on members of a specific state. An example of a municipal
Nigerian law is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999(as amended) which applies in only Nigeria.
 International law, on the other hand, is the law between countries. It

regulates the relationship between different independent countries and is
usually in the form of treaties, international customs etc. Examples of
International law include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the African Charter on Human and People‘s Rights.
It should be noted that according to the provision of S.12 of the 1999

Constitution (as amended) International treaties cannot have the force of
law in Nigeria except they are enacted by the Nigerian National
Assembly.
Written and Unwritten Law.
 A law would not be regarded as written just because it is written down in

a document. Written laws are those laws that have been validly enacted
by the legislature of a country.
 Unwritten laws, on the other hand, are those laws that are not enacted by
the legislature. They include both customary and case law. Customary
Law as part of its basic characteristic is generally unwritten. Case law,
though written down in a documentary format, would be regarded as
unwritten law based on the fact that it is not enacted by the legislature.
An example of this is the good neighbour principle established in the case

of Donoghue vs. Stevenson. The principle posits that manufacturers of
products should take utmost care in their manufacturing activities to
ensure that the consumption of their product doesn‘t result in harm to the
consumer. This principle is not enacted in a statute but is a case law

which is applicable in Nigerian Courts.
Final Lecture.
- Dr Aliyu Mustapha.
LAW AS A MEANS OF REGULATING THE SOCIETY.
General Background.
For every profession, there are skills, techniques, and ways in which that
profession is being practiced. A medical doctor or an engineer is different from
a lawyer because of their different calling.
A medical doctor who wants to examine a patient may start asking about his
name, the symptoms or complaints of the patient. An engineer may ask
questions about what the client wants. We must know that the background of an
engineer or a medical doctor is different from that of a lawyer.
Importance of Legal Method
With the aid of legal method, you understand legal terminologies. For example,
you meet a history student and tell him you are going to prison to interview the
convict. He may not understand what convict is. You may also tell him that
after the defendant was convicted by the Court, he pleaded allocutus. You may
also tell him that, the ratio decidendi for the decision of A against B was for the
society to live in peace. He may still not understand those terminologies. Legal
Methods helps to understand those terminologies. Legal Methods also teaches
you the background as you grow and take other courses in law.

Two people came to my office and told me that their cousin was convicted by a
Sharia Court for drug trafficking and another offence closely related to it and he
is currently serving his sentence in the prison and they needed my help. Now to
think and act like a lawyer, what are some of the questions you need to ask so
that you will be able to give them legal advice or legal assistance?
Fundamentally, the Court is functus officio, the Court has done its own part (it
has heard the case and it has passed the judgment). To render legal assistance,
you may decide to ask questions like:
i. The name of the convict;

ii. The age of the convict;
iii. The religion of the convict;
iv. The profession of the convict (whether he is a student or a business
man);
v. How was he arraigned before the Court (was he arraigned alone or
with others);
vi. When was he arrested (was he arrested by the police or other law
enforcement agents);
vii. How long was he taken into custody;
viii. When was he arraigned before the court;
ix. What where the facts that was put before the Court;
x. Was he represented in Court, if he was not represented how did the
trial happen;
xi. Was he given the chance to defend himself;
xii. After conviction, where was he taken to;
xiii. Was he allowed to say anything to the judge after he was convicted,
etc.

After all these questions, it is still not over, two things must be done:
i. You must see the convict since he is the one affected and he is the one
that will tell you the entire truth. The need to see him is because some
of the stories may not be the actual fact
ii. You need to look at the record of proceedings. From the records, you
will see how the trial went. After you have done all these, you will
come back to your office to find out certain things.
a. Whether the offence he is charged with is known to law; is it
written? If it is written, under which law and what are the
provisions, the actual wordings of the offence he was charged?
b. Is he of age (because there are differences between arraigning a
minor and someone who is mature)? If he is of age, is he a first
time offender or he had been convicted before?
c. What were the evidences that were put before the Court?
d. And what was the capacity of the prosecutor; was he prosecuted by
a police officer, or by a lawyer from the federal or state ministry of
justice? Does the prosecutor even have the legal capacity to
prosecute?
e. Does the court have the jurisdiction to try the case?
f. Was he given fair-hearing since he was not represented?
These are some of the things you need to ask yourself and analyse. It is only
Legal Methods that gives you the capacity to do all these. Your ability to marry
the facts with the law is what Legal Methods is aimed at teaching you. As much
as I love your cell-phone, I cannot take it; as much as you love my car you
cannot have it except with my express permission; as much as we (lecturers)
have rights against you, we cannot insult your parents; as much as you have

rights too, there are certain things you cannot do because of ethics and law.
You cannot just be arrested by the police, they are meant to arrest if there is a
good reason, if there is a reasonable suspicion. The duty of a policeman is to
prevent crimes, enforce law and order, and protect lives and property. These are
the primary functions of the police, they cannot do that except there are
circumstances warranting same. In a nutshell, as long as the policeman has
rights as enshrined in the Police Act, those rights are not absolute. Law sets the
principles that individuals enjoy in the society and it also sets its limitations.
Therefore, we can say that law is a necessity – without law, there will be no
peace. A lot of people outside there would want to be law students, even those
in the university may be in love with law, but they cannot join this class because
there is law. It is only when you are allowed and you have followed the set-
down legal procedures by applying, scoring the required point, securing the
admission, and registering as a law student that you would have the right to
come into this class. Our actions, our utterances, our behaviours as individuals
or the society are regulated by law consciously or unconsciously.
Law provides checks and balances. Inasmuch as you have a right as a husband,
your wife also has rights over you. Yes, you are the head of the family, you
provide food, shelter, clothing and other necessities of life, but that does not
give you the guarantee or the power to beat your wife when she misbehaves,
because that may be tortious or even criminal.
Therefore, law is a necessity just like air and water, whether we like it or not we
have laws that regulate and monitor us and we must abide by them. That is
when we will have peace in the society free from chaos and anarchy.

Selected Legal Methods Past Questions.
Question One:
a) ―Lawyers are called learned not because they know all the laws but because they
know where to find the laws. Therefore, a Lawyer must be able to display a first-
hand knowledge of the sources of law.‖ In the light of this statement, fully discuss
the sources of Nigerian Law.
b) Explain the sections of a Law library and list the sources of Law that can be found
in each section.
Question Two:
Legal Method deals with the study of the basic principles, nature, sources, role of
law and various methods law can be effectively used to meet the needs of the
society.
From your personal experience and knowledge of Legal Method, freely express
an opinion on the propriety or otherwise of teaching Legal Method in the first
year of LL.B. programme.
Question Three:
Dispute between two or more persons could be either settled or resolved. In the
course of settling disputes, the Courts and the Counsels representing the parties
invoke the technique of legal reasoning. With the aid of relevant examples discuss
the concept of legal reasoning and its ramification.
Question Four:
a) What do you understand by the terms ‗Nature‘ and ‗Characteristics‘ of Law?
b) What functions does the Law serve in society?
Question Five:
Your friend from the Faculty of Agriculture begged your pardon and asked
whether it is true that law can be classified in various ways. Is it true? What are the
major classifications you know? Support your answer with relevant examples.
Question Six:
Law is both a means and tool of regulating the society. Discuss.
Question Seven:
Level 100 law students are taught several courses including Political Science,
Sociology, Logic and Philosophy of Thought, Psychology, etc. Using your general
and legal knowledge, synchronise and present an objective analysis on the
connectivity and interrelationship of these branches of the knowledge you offer at
LL.B.1 and their relevance to the study and understanding of law.
Question Number Eight:
Legal Methods is concerned with the techniques of thinking like a lawyer. Analyse
the above statement.
Question Number Nine:
Itemize and discuss the relevance of Legal Methods to the study and practice of the
law.
Question Number Ten:
Write short notes on any two of the following:
a. Divine law.
b. Legal Methods.
c. Functions of law.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE (POL 1301) LECTURE
NOTES.
DEFINITION OF POLITICS.
— Dr Abubakar Salihu.
Politics is a derivative of three Greek words: ―police‖ (city state); ―politic‖

(government); ―politia‖ (constitution).
Politics is a loaded term as it is many times being mis-conceptualized

(sometimes even by intellectuals) as a dirty game. According to politicians,
politics is about trouble, disruption, violence, deceit, manipulation, lies,
cheating, corruption, electoral malpractice, bloodshed, brutality etc.
Politics is a concept that has been viewed and defined by different scholars
over time. However, below are some of the scholars' definitions of politics.
Harold Laswell says politics is the struggle for power. To him, politics is
basically concerned with who gets what, when and how.
David Easton sees politics as the authoritative allocation of values within a

society.
According to Thomas Hobbes, the function of politics is that of maintaining

order among the naturally egoistic and competitive human beings. He sees
politics as all about power in the society.
According to Allan Bold, politics is any issue in the community that arises as
a result of conflict.
Max Weber defined politics as striving to influence the distribution of power

either among states or groups within the state.
According to Mallam Aminu Kano, politics is man management.
Karl Marx sees politics as basically an interclass struggle for redistribution of

social goods.
Peter Mark argued that, at its best, politics is a noble quest for a good order
and justice at its worst, a selfish grab for power and aggrandizement (riches).
Mao Tse-tung defines it as war with bloodshed and war without bloodshed.
Mayerson and Banfield see politics as an activity by which an issue is

agitated and settled.
Hans Mayan Tau defines politics as the struggle to share and distribute
power in the society.
According to Alfred De Gracia, politics are the events that happen in the
decision making centre of the government.
Valan Daic defines it as the struggle amongst actors in pursuing conflicting

desires on public issues in a group.
According to Roger Owen, politics is the art and science of decision making.
Astoka argued that politics is designed to disappoint; its outcome is often

messy, ambiguous and never final.
Nicolo Micaffeline, in his famous book ‗The Prince‘, develops a strictly

realistic account of politics that draws attention to the use by political leaders
in terms of cunning, cruelty, manipulation, deception, lies and
misrepresentation.
Finally, according to Abubakar Salihu (the course facilitator), politics is the
actual operation of the state.
Discussing further…
In the ideal sense, politics is about social contract between the people and the
leader; it is about political holding; it is about political organization; it is about
resource allocation, law making, provision of security, conflict and conflict
resolution, public administration, exercise of power, science of government,
collective decision, allocation of scarce resource, and many more.
Andrian Leftwich (2004) assumes that politics is the heart of all collective
social activity, formal or informal, public or private in all human group,
institution and societies. In this sense, we can understand that politics takes
place at every level of social interaction; it can be found within families and
among group of friends just as much as amongst nation-state at the global stage.
David Easton (1979, 1981) defines politics as the authoritative allocation of

societal values. This means politics encompasses the various processes through
which government responds to pressure from the larger society; in particular, by
allocating benefits, rewards or penalties. Authoritative values are those that are
widely accepted in the society and are considered binding by the mass of
citizen. In this view, politics is associated with policies, i.e., with formal or
authoritative decision that establishes a plan of action or the board of society.
Harold Lasswell defines politics as who get what, when and how. Here,
Lasswell implies that politics is about value acquisition. Available values may
be classified into income, safety, property, rights, privileges, etc. In a nutshell,
the essential ingredient is the existence of scarcity.

The simple fact is that while human needs and desires are infinite, the resources
available to certify them are always limited. Politics can therefore, in this
regard, be seen as a struggle over scarce resources, and power can be seen as the
means through which political struggle is conducted.
The above view corroborates with Marxist‘s radical perspective which sees
politics in two senses. On one level, Marx referred to politics as apparatus of the
state. Thus, in the communist manifesto, Marx and Angel referred to political
power as organized power of upper-class for oppressing the lower class.
Bernard Crick (1962) sees politics as an activity by which different interests

within a given unit of rule are conciliated by giving them a share in power in
proportion to their importance, welfare, and the survival of the whole
community.
William Bluhm defines politics as a social process characterized by an activity

involving rivalry and corporation in the exercise of power and culminating in
the making of decisions for a group.
THE CONCEPT OF POWER
Power, like any other concept, is essentially contested depending on the

perspective from which it is viewed. The concept of power is so central to the
study of politics that the discipline of political science will be empty without it.
This is because the concept is on the heart of political philosophy, political
methodology, political enquiry, political administration, political economy,
political communication, political socialization, geo-political science, political
history and infinitum.
The concept of power derives its origin from the Latin word ‗patere‘, which

means ―to be able‖. The concept, therefore, has a clear affinity with the Latin
concept of ‗dominicum‘ which originally means domination; a concept
synonymous with power. Power is a necessary tool in understanding the
dynamics of both domestic and international politics.
According to Gray and Web, power in its broadest sense is the ability to
achieve a desired outcome, sometimes seen as the power to do something. More
narrowly, power may be associated with the ability to punish or reward.
Robert Dahl in his book, ―Who Governs Democracy and Power in an

American City‖, displays the role of power in the societal organization and the
manifestation of power in the multi-layered and diverse relationships that exist
between the government, the individual and other social group in our society.
Power is therefore seen as having the capacity to get others to do what they
would not otherwise do or to set things in motion and change the order of
events.
On the other hand, scholars like Nicolo Macabeli and Hans Morganthar have
emphasized the unavoidable necessity of power as a tool to control the
individual. In his book ‗The Prince‘, Macabeli denotes that a leader must use a
mixture of carrot and stick in his exercise of power. In other words, he must be
a fox in order to detect the trap, and a lion in order to frighten up his wolves.
This essentially means that individuals, groups, and even nation-state in the
international system must make use of the combination of carrot and stick in
order to achieve the interest.
Marx Weber defines power as the probability that one actor in a social
relationship will carry out his own will against the resistance of others.
Bram Barry writes that power is the possession of means of compliance by the
manipulation of reward or punishment.
Types of Power.
By Sulaiman Muhammad from IMS.
 Expert Power: this power is best on the control of information by those

who are recognized to be authoritative in their own area of profession as
the saying goes, ―knowledge is power‖.
 Normative Power: this power is based on prevailing norms and values of
the society which have a recognized belief. This is why religious people
and traditionalist are seen as powerful.
 Economic Power: this is the power one has because of his control of the
economic wealth. It may include: money, man power or any means of
production and distribution.
 Physical Power: this is the power based on naked physical strength to
fight other men either in boxing wrestling etc.
Sources of Power.
 Military: the military control state atomic weapons, armoured cars, and
conventional weapons. Therefore, whoever has control of these is said to
be powerful.
 Wealth: those who have control over means of production and other
material. Wealth can easily be the conforming behaviour of others.
 Position or Authority: those who control the state machineries have
power to affect other people‘s life and action.
 Inheritance: people get power by virtue of their birth. For example,
monarchical system of governance.

Other sources of power may include charisma, intelligence, etc.
THE CONCEPT OF STATE
The concept of state is also another essentially contested concept. This is simply
because different people try to conceptualize it from a different angle.
The most simplistic of all is the one which looks at state from the legal point of
view which says that a state is only a state when it is characterized by the
following:
i. Population
ii. Territory
iii. Government
iv. Sovereignty
Being that this definition is simplistic, it is desirable to look at the concept of

state from the organic, social contract and radical point of view.
For example, early philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Acquinas, etc.,
see the state as an embodiment of organization and society, community, by way
of sovereignty and government. Plato went on to say ‗all within the state and
non-outside it.‘ This is further juxtaposed in the social contract theory
propounded by Thomas and advocated by John Log and JJ Rosseau.
From the radical perspective, Karl Max sees the state as a creation of the
bourgeoisies and therefore meant to serve the interest of the bourgeoisies.
Characteristics of a State.
 Population: A state must be an area inhabited by people. This would

make the relationship between the government and the governed
meaningful enough to give recognition to its existence. The inhabitants
are called citizens, and they include men, women, the young and the old,
etc., who enjoy full civil rights and owe allegiance to the state.
 Boundary: A state must occupy a definite territorial boundary which
includes, not only physical feature but, air space above land the water
extending toward mile distance from coastline, and other topographical
features including seas, mountains and mineral resources.
 Government: This is an agency through which the will of a state is
formulated and realized. Government constitutes political authority of the
state with absolute power to compel obedience to its policies and sign
treaty with other states.
 Sovereignty: This is the power of a state to make and enforce policies
and laws free from foreign control which is absolutely comprehensive
and in division that continues without any form of interruption as long as
the state exists.
Political Science.
Political science is the study of state and government in the past, present, and
future aspect. It is the systematic study and analysis of politics.
Nature/Characteristics of Politics.
 It is dynamic.
 It is pervasive.
 It deals with interest.
 It deals with values.

Importance of Studying Political Science.
 The study of political science is important because politics is about power

in the human society.
 We study politics because we want to understand ideologies.
 We study politics in order to know all the basic concepts (Nascism,

Fascism, Democracy, etc.).
 The study of politics makes us to understand stability and instability of

some countries.
 We study political science because it helps us to understand war and

peace.
 The study of political science makes us to understand repression and

liberty.
 We study political science in order to understand dictatorship, inequality

and equality.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND OTHER

SOCIAL SCIENCES.
Prof. Abdullahi Sule's lecture.
Social sciences study how people interact with and relate to one another.
Political science, with its emphasis on political systems and the distribution of
power, falls into this larger academic category. A multidisciplinary field,
political science draws from some other social sciences, including sociology,
economics, psychology, and anthropology.

Sociology.
Sociology studies social life and human interactions from how groups form to
how large organizations run to how people interact with one another. Political
scientists make use of sociological studies and methods when examining, for
example, how small group dynamics affect the decision-making process, how
people acquire and maintain power, and how political culture shapes our
attitudes.
Economics.
Politics and economics often intersect. Studying government without also

studying economics, especially in free-market societies such as the United
States, is not possible. Political scientists examine such economic issues as the
effects government policy has on the economy, the role money plays in
campaigns, and how nations arrive at trade agreements.
Psychology.
Psychology studies the way the human mind works, helping us to understand
why people behave the way that they do. Political scientists sometimes use the
insights of psychology to analyse a president‘s or voter‘s behaviour or to
explain why some people are more prone to supporting certain governments and
ideologies.
Anthropology.
Anthropology examines cultures within a society and theorizes about how those
cultures affect society. Anthropologists explore how people acquire cultural
values. Because culture often has a strong effect on behaviour, political
scientists rely on anthropological studies and methods.
NATION AND ITS CONCEPT.
Dr Abubakar Salihu.
Nation has been used interchangeably with some other concepts in political
science, such as state, ethnicity, nation state, etc.
Nation is being defined as a group of people coming together to share similar

attachment, traditions and values.
Nation can also be defined as a group of homogenous people (i.e., people that
share same characteristics and are united for a certain goal).
Modern Definition
Nation is the association of men and women who agree to stay together as a
group.
Nation vs. Ethnicity.
In a particular nation, you can find different ethnic groups. A nation has a
political connotation while ethnicity has a sociological connotation.
Nation State.
Nation state is a nation and a state — the group of people (nation) coming
together to occupy a definite territory. The coming together of ethnicity to form
a nation is a nation state.
If we are to define nation, it should be viewed from two dimensions —

subjective and objective.
Subjectively, nation is the association of people that have feelings, attitude and

love towards nationalism.
Objectively, nation is the association of people that share similar sentiments in

relation to tradition, norms, values, language, etc.
Attributes/Elements of a Nation.
 Racism and kingship.
 Common religion.
 Common culture and history.
 Common language.
NATIONALISM.
— Prof. Abdullahi Sulle's last lecture.
Nationalism is about spirit or aspiration that is common to all citizen.

Nationalism is about devotion and loyalty to one's own country.
Nationalism is about excessive patriotism that you are highly committed

because of your nation.
Nationalism is also about the desire for the advancement of the nation.
Nationalism is a policy or a doctrine ascertaining the interest of one's own

country.
Factors that Led to the Rise and Growth of Nationalism in Nigeria.
There are several factors the led to rise and growth of nationalism in Nigeria. It
should be noted that each of these factors is responsible for the intensification of

nationalist struggle and the subsequent achievement of independence in Nigeria.
These factors can be classified into two:
1. Internal factors:
a. Economic exploitation
b. Political domination
c. Social discrimination
d. The establishment of radical newspaper
e. The formation political parties
f. The establishment of tribal and cultural association
2. External factors:
a. Pan Africanism
b. The activities of national congress of British West Africa
c. The role played by British labour party
d. The role played by United States congress
e. Psychological impact
f. The activities of W.A.S.U

SOVEREIGNTY.
Sovereignty, according to a French philosopher, Jean Borden, in 1576, is the

supreme power of the state that is beyond any power that exists but should be
subjected to the law of God.
Attributes of Sovereignty.
 Absoluteness — it has no limitation.
 Comprehensiveness — it covers virtually every transaction in a political

community and it is easily understood.
 It is permanent — it cannot be divided in as much as the state exists.
 It is inalienable — it can't be removed.
Types of Sovereignty.
a) Nominal/Actual Sovereignty: It is said to be nominal because of the fact

that the leader in the society is not the actual person enjoining the
authority.
b) Legal/Constitutional Sovereignty: It has to do with the law being made

by the legal practitioners. The law is supreme.
c) Political Sovereignty: Sovereignty in this sense refers to the power of the

electorate to elect their leaders — the power to conduct election. It refers
to the power to vote and be voted for.
d) Popular Sovereignty: It is the general will of the people. This general

will should overtake and supersede every other will.
e) De Facto Sovereignty: This is a type of sovereignty where the sovereign

(leader) come into power through violent means. It also implies a
sovereignty through coercion (force); through struggle — coup d‘état.
f) De Jure Sovereignty: Contrary to De Facto, De Jure is where leaders

capture power through legal means — through peaceful means by
following due process.
Where Does Sovereignty Lie?
Where sovereignty lies is subjective because it is debatable.
Limitations to Sovereignty.
 Constitutional Limitations: It is limited to constitution. For example, the

power of judicial review can undermine the power of the sovereign.
 Membership of International Organisation may limit sovereignty.
 The Formations of Associations and Public Opinions undermine the

power of sovereignty.
 Declaration of International Law also limits the sovereignty of a

particular nation.
 Inter-dependency of Nation States Due to Technology, Economy, etc,

reduces the sovereignty of a nation.

AUTHORITY, POWER AND LEGITIMACY.
Power.
The concept of power is used interchangeably with influence, authority,

domination.
Generally, power is the ability to change (or control) the behaviours (or
actions) of others in a way they would not have, otherwise, behaved (acted).
In political science, power has many faces — it is not precise. Power exists in
our daily transactions — in marketing, sport, production, erotic relationship, etc.
Power is relational — it involves two persons (a leader and a follower) — and
bilateral — it goes with two or more countries.
According to Hubert Simeon, power is asymmetrical because there must be an

influencee and an influencer.
Max Weber defined power as the possibility of imposing your will against
some people.
Abraham Kaplan and Harold Laswell see power from the angle of influence
— decision making. They see power as the ability to give out decisions and to
make people follow the decisions.
Bertrand Roselle defined power as the production of intended result on other

persons.
Robert defines power as the outcome of the relationship between two parties.
Political power is the ability to impose your policies and programmes to the
people, whether or not they like it.
Thomas Hobbes sees power as the urge for power.
Frederick Natchez summarises power thus:
―Whenever you are taking an action as a leader, either it will be beneficial or

non-beneficial to the people, go ahead and take the action.‖
He also stated that ―Never build a relationship where you will not have an
instrument/weapon of influencing the other.‖
Remi Anifowase observed that there are three types of power based on the
behaviour of the individual receiving the power. They are;
a) Force — the exercise of power through coercion. The leader under this is
usually an Autocratic leader.
b) Domination — the exercise of power in any relational or asymmetrical

relationship through explicit disposition of the person exercising the
power — through command or request. The leader under this is usually
an Autocratic leader.
c) Manipulation — an act of power by propaganda to be in a position of

influence. The leader under this is usually a Democratic leader.
Elements of Power in the International System.
i. Physical/Geographical Factor — the geographical situation of a state

determines its power.
ii. Demographic Factor — the demography (i.e., the population) of a

country determines its power.
iii. Military Factor — the capability to use military strength to seek
compliance through threat of attack or direct attack; military capability or
superiority may make one nation-state have power and influence over the
other. The typical example is U.S. power position in the international
community today. The U.S. and Russia military superiority in the
international community is so much that most countries are afraid to go to
war with them.
iv. Economic Factor — it denotes the GDP and GNP of a state. If it is high,
the state is, therefore, powerful.
Authority.
Just like every other concept in political science, authority is also relational. It is
relational because it needs someone that will exercise the authority and someone
that will adhere to it.
The concept of authority has been used interchangeably with the concept of
power.
As a student of Political Science, there is need to dichotomize distinctively

between these two concepts.
Inasmuch as nation needs to acquire power to influence people, it needs

authority.
Authority has been defined by various scholars. From a layman‘s perspective,

it is the right to exercise power, dominate, decide, command.
From scholarly opinions…
Charles Adrian defines authority as the right to decide on public policy.

According to Wombuzor, authority is the power that is constitutionally and
popularly recognised as right or legitimate.
To Thomas Hobbes, authority is the right to carry out any right or any action
– it is the right of doing anything.
All governments need authority (constituted authority) to manage its affairs.
Authoritarianism is a government that use dictatorship. It is a dictatorial

government. It is a political system that talks about ruling with domination and
dictatorship.
Authority is the right to formulate policy, the right to command.
According to Charles Merriam, there are some articles of faith surrounding

authority. These articles are called the Credenda of Authority. Max Weber
calls those articles posed by Charles as the types surrounding authority. They
are also called sources of authority:
 Traditional Authority: Authority can emanate from traditional

institutions — through the values and traditions of people; through the
norms of people; through inheritance. For example, the Emirate, the Oyo
Caliphate, etc. This source of authority is usually through inheritance.
Authority through traditional institutions is recognised. They have their
laws and their system of administration. According to Max Weber, this
kind of authority cannot work in the modern era.
 Charismatic Authority: Charisma means the gift of nature/grace.

Charismatic authority emanates from an individual exemplary leadership
quality he or she possesses. It comes from the extraordinary quality of
an individual. The superhuman and supernatural qualities of an
individual is what charisma is all about. The oratorical, and heroism
qualities of an individual is what charisma is all about. Because of these
qualities, they exercise power over their subjects.
Authority is exercised through charisma. They give orders and control

people.
 Legal Rational Authority: This is the kind of authority through the law
or the constitutional framework of the society. It is the type of authority
where all the do's and don't's are spelt out in the constitution. Max Weber
describes this as the modern system of exercising authority.
Types of Authority.
i. Constitutional Authority: The type of authority that is through

constitution.
ii. Political Authority: The type of authority that the exerciser emerges by
winning election.
iii. Delegated Authority: It signifies a situation where the person that is

supposed to exercise the authority is not there but chooses (delegates his
power to) someone to represent him.
Legitimacy.
This word is a Latin derivative ―legitimus‖ which means ―according to

law/constitution.‖ Therefore, in any political setting, there are ways or
processes of acquiring political powers. The following of due processes and
adhering to law is what legitimacy is all about.
Legitimacy is the total acceptance of the people about a particular act being
carried out by the government. It can also be defined as the process of
recognition of the leadership of a particular regime by the people.
Factors that Determine Legitimacy.
There are so many factors that determine legitimacy. They are also called
sources of legitimacy:
 Ideology: It refers to the situation whereby a particular society is having

its particular behavioural pattern enshrined into the society. The political
ideology of Russia is "socialism" while that of America is "capitalism".
 Structural/Institutional Factor: The structure of government and

administration determines legitimacy — if they are effective, people will
have hope.
 Popular Support: This has to do with the general election conducted

where the majority support the elected.
 Moral Justification: Legitimacy is determined through moral justification

of the leaders.
 Personal Factor: The leadership quality of an individual determines his

or her legitimacy.
Relationship between Authority and Legitimacy.
Authority is the exercise of power. However, when this power is exercised

through proper ways, for example, according to the laws of the land, it is called
legitimate use of power. Hence ideally authority is someone who exercises
power with legitimacy. So, legitimacy is like tacit consent. Without it any
authority might not be able to use power over citizens. When authority loses
legitimacy, the use of power becomes violent. For example, when dictators lose
legitimacy and try to protect themselves, it is termed as violence and not an act
of authority.
Any unjust or illegitimate use of power devoid authority of its authoritativeness.
Relationship between Power, Authority and Legitimacy.
Power is the ability to do something. If you have a hammer, you have the power
to drive a nail. If you have a gun, you have the power to kill someone. If you
have an army, you have the power to attack another nation.
Authority is a specific kind of social power. Authority means that you are
'authorized' to wield certain kinds of power within the bounds of an organized
group, and, moreover, that you wield power over the collectivism, some or all
members of that group are bound to comply with your use of that power. In the
senses above, a carpenter hired by a contractor is given authority to hammer
wood, but not authority to lay bricks. A police officer has the authority to use
his gun against members of the public, but (except in Florida) standard citizens
do not. A General has the authority to apply the power of an army, and all
soldiers (members of that group) must comply.
Legitimacy refers to whether or not the use of authority is perceived as correct

and proper. If a carpenter works with wood poorly, his legitimacy as a carpenter
comes into question and he will get fired, nullifying his authority at the job. If a
police officer shoots an unarmed citizen, the legitimacy of his action comes into
question and he may lose his position of authority. If it is discovered that a
General was given his post because he gave a campaign donation to a politician,
and that he has never worked with an army before, he loses legitimacy and
soldiers may stop obeying his authority.
Hannah Arendt preferred to distinguish between power and force, where the
latter was related to mechanical advantage and the former to public action. In
this sense, public protests are considered an act of pure power, while the use of
tear gas, military-grade weapons and armored vehicles by police to quell riots
are applications of force. There are a lot of nuances like this to tease out, if you
want to go looking.
Neocolonialism.
Neocolonialism is the control of less-developed countries by developed

countries through indirect means. The term neocolonialism was first used after
World War II to refer to the continuing dependence of former colonies on
foreign countries, but its meaning soon broadened to apply, more generally, to
places where the power of developed countries was used to produce a colonial-
like exploitation—for instance, in Latin America, where direct foreign rule had
ended in the early 19th century. The term is now an unambiguously negative one
that is widely used to refer to a form of global power in which transnational
corporations and global and multilateral institutions combine to perpetuate
colonial forms of exploitation of developing countries.
Neocolonialism has been broadly theorized as a further development of

capitalism that enables capitalist powers (both nations and corporations) to
dominate subject nations through the operations of international capitalism
rather than by means of direct rule.
The term neocolonialism was originally applied to European policies that were
seen as schemes to maintain control of Africa and other dependencies. The
event that marked the beginning of this usage was the European Summit in Paris
in 1957, where six European heads of government agreed to include their

overseas territories within the European Common Market under trade
arrangements that were seen by some national leaders and groups as
representing a new form of economic domination over French-occupied Africa
and the colonial territories of Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Citizenship.
A citizen is a legal member of a place who enjoys certain privileges for being a
member.
Citizenship is defined as the status of being a legal member of a particular

country.
A citizen of a country is someone on whom all the social and political rights of
the country are conferred upon.
Citizens of Nigeria have the rights to live, work and take part in the civic life.
They also need to pay taxes as citizens of the country.
Those born on Nigeria soil are natural born citizens. Those who are natives of
other countries and who obtain Nigeria citizenship through a process called
naturalization are called naturalized Nigerian citizens. They are the people
who choose to make Nigeria their adoptive homeland.
Both, naturalized citizens and natural born citizens enjoy the same citizenship
rights and protections.
Those born within the country need not file applications or go through special
processes to obtain citizenship. They are citizens of Nigeria by default as the
country is their birth place.
But this is not the case with those who choose to make Nigeria their adoptive
home. They will have to go through a lengthy process to become citizens of the
country. This includes understanding the country‘s laws and history and
assimilating into the country‘s culture.
Naturalization is a multi-step process that they need to go through, the first step
of which is to become a legal permanent resident of Nigeria.
Selected Political Science Past Questions.
1. Describe the study of Politics. How scientific is the study of Political Science?
2. Explain why the study of Political Science is important.
3. Who is a citizen? What is the difference between a Citizen and a Slave?
4. Examine the difference between power and authority.
5. What is Nationalism? With illustrations, identify some citizens of your country that
are/were nationalists.
6. What does Aristotle mean when he referred to politics as a master science?
7. The concept of power is believed to be essentially contested. Discuss.
8. The state as a concept can be viewed from different angles. Explain.
9. Critically examine the distinction between a government with a constitution and

constitutionalism, and a government with a constitution without constitutionalism.
10. Define the concept of sovereignty from the perspectives of different scholars. Explain
the limitations to sovereignty and how it could be sustained.
11. With reference to A. V. Dicey‘s basic tenets of the rule of law, assess the continuing
value of the actual existence of the rule of law today.

BONUS.
GSP — Use of English.
By Onimisi – fluent in silence.
Compiled Past Questions and Answers for: GSP 1201/2201 Use of English
1. Language users sometimes place a strong pressure on a particular sound to give

emphasis to it. That is called:
a. Syllables
b. Sounds
c. Stress
d. Emphasis.
2. Which of the following should be avoided when writing a formal report/letter?
a. Archaism
b. Slangs
c. Colloquialisms
d. All of the above
3. Which section of the outline presents the findings of the essay, or even a
solution, or an approach to the solution of the problem initially stated?
a. Main Body
b. Introduction
c. Conclusion.
d. Opening paragraph

4. Pick out the odd word:
a. Preposition
b. Pronoun
c. Verb
d. Phrase
5. A form of essay that explains a process or gives an information about something

is called
a. argumentative essay
b. narrative essay
c. descriptive essay
d. expository essay
6. Which of the following is not among the issues to be indicated in report

writing?
a. Terms of reference
b. Method of investigation
c. Findings and conclusions
d. Final submission
7. The following words except one are usually not stressed:
a. Pronouns
b. Articles
c. Prepositions

d. Verbs
8. is used to separate sentences which are closely connected in

thought.
a. Comma
b. Full stop
c. Semi-colon
d. Exclamation mark
9. meaning is the literal meaning of a word as it is in the dictionary.
a. Computational
b. Denotative
c. Connotative
d. All of the above
10. are two-word phrases, consisting of a verb and a particle.
a. Syllables
b. Idioms
c. Phrasal verbs
d. Synonyms
11. The sentence ‗Muhammad attends the wedding‘ is an example of
a. Present simple tense
b. Present perfect
c. Future perfect

d. Future Continuous
Indicate the correct stress pattern in the following words from question 12-14
12. guardroom:
a. GUARDroom
b. guardroom
c. Guardroom
d. GUARDROOM
13. plenty:
a. Plenty
b. PLENty
c. plenty
d. PLENTY
14. madam:
a. Madam
b. madam
c. madam
d. MADAM
15. The main essence of the use of English is not to train students to be specialists in
English but to raise their linguistic and competence.
a. Syntactic
b. communicative
c. morphological
d. literary
16. As the bricks for language building, words are categorized into _________
a. parts of speech and word classes
b. major and minor classes
c. open and minor classes
d. open and closed classes
17. Read, write, sleep, do, go change in their participle forms because they are
a. transitive verbs
b. finite verbs
c. irregular verbs
d. regular verbs
18. Elements in sentences determine their
a. Grammaticality
b. Objectivity
c. Patterns
d. importance
19. The following are the features of adverbial element in sentences or clauses except
___________
a. Optionality
b. Mobility

c. Multiplicity
d. constant nature
20. In terms of hierarchy, the term clause precedes
a. Paragraph
b. Phrase
c. Sentence
d. word
21. The following are the aspects of language except _
a. writing
b. reading
c. thinking
d. listening
22. Reading as a skill enhances the following except
a. syntactic structure
b. retentive memory
c. spelling
d. stunted
23. Which of the following is not a function of controlling ideas in paragraph

development?
a. presenting viewpoints
b. exemplifying

c. promoting topic sentence
d. illustrating
24. All of the following are examples of narrative essay except _
a. autobiography
b. novel
c. biography
d. poetry
25. Writing as a process emphasizes much on the following except
a. pre-writing
b. linguistic units
c. brainstorming
d. editing
26. Which of the following pairs serve as particle(s) in phrasal verb

construction?
a. adjectives and articles
b. adverbs and adjectives
c. prepositions and adjectives
d. adverbs and prepositions
27. The following are reading strategies except
a. skimming
b. speed
c. intensive reading
d. scanning
28. Pick out a word with silent letter in one of its syllables
a. edition
b. plumber
c. sociology
d. mechanical
29. The following are types of conjunction except
a. correlatives
b. coherence
c. coordinatives
d. subordinatives
30. Dictionaries equip readers with obvious knowledge of the following areas except
a. pronunciation
b. inflection
c. discourse
d. meaning
31. Pick out the optional element in the following
a. Subject
b. Object

c. Adverbial
d. complement
32. Pick out the odd one in the following
a. may
b. am
c. have
d. write
33. Points discussed in essays are summed up in
a. narratives
b. summaries
c. conclusions
d. body
34. Voice quality is an important feature of
a. Listening
b. Reading
c. Thinking
d. speaking
35. Mode as a variable of register denotes
a. Spoken text
b. Written text

c. Medium of the text
d. Field of discourse
36. Particles in phrasal verbs can be all of the following except
a. conjunction
b. preposition
c. adverb
d. adverb and preposition
37. Multi-word verbs can be the following except
a. Separable
b. Transitive
c. Idiomatic
d. Adverbial
38. The following are among the traditional word classes except
a. Interjection
b. Pronoun
c. Article
d. Conjunction
39. Identify the punctuation mark that is used in introducing a list
a. Semi-colon
b. Comma

c. Dash
d. Colon
40. Sentences according to function can have the following mood except
a. Declarative
b. Imperative
c. Correlative
d. Interrogative
41. is the technique of reading that is used in searching for a

specific piece of information.
a. Scanning
b. Extensive reading
c. Skimming
d. Intensive reading
42. In summary writing, is the

most important item.
a. Supporting sentences
b. Topic sentence
c. Paragraph
d. Unity
43. Letters are written for the following purposes except
a. Reference

b. Complaint
c. Apology
d. Complimentary close
44. Decisions in organizations are made and send down from management to other
staff through the following channels except
a. Memos
b. Circulars
c. Letters
d. Curriculum Vitae
45. The following are the genres of literature except
a. Play
b. Prose
c. Poetry
d. Personification
46. The description of consonant sounds observes the following levels except
a. Manner of articulation
b. Articulation of phonemes
c. State of the glottis
d. Place of articulation
47. A phrasal verb whose meaning cannot be derived from the constituent words
is known as phrasal verb.

a. Literal
b. Idiomatic
c. Transitive
d. Intransitive
48. Sit down, stand up, answer back and wait behind are examples of ____ phrasal verb.
a. Literal
b. Idiomatic
c. Transitive
d. Intransitive
49. How many addresses are written in a business letter?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
50. A writer of a descriptive essay uses a lot of and to describe an o
a. Nouns and Pronouns
b. Nouns and Adverbs
c. Adjectives and Adverbs
d. Adjectives and Conjunctions
51. While Prepositions are used to relate nouns or pronouns with other words in
sentences, are used to join items of grammatical equivalence.

a. Interjection
b. Preposition
c. Demonstratives
d. Conjunctions
52. Zeal, seal, deal, meal and heal are examples of
a. Phonological elements
b. Word segments
c. Intervening vowels
d. Minimal pairs
53. When I entered the class, the teacher had started the lecture. This is an
example of sentence.
a. Simple
b. Compound
c. Complex
d. Compound-complex
54. is a process through which a new word is created by

joining two or more words together.
a. Acronymy
b. Blending
c. Compounding
d. Reduplication

55. Traditional grammarians classify parts of speech into groups.
a. 7
b. 8
c. 9
d. 10
56. All the following are impediments to reading except
a. Scanning
b. Lisping
c. Regression
d. Finger pointing
57. simply means reading a text very quickly so as to note only

the important points.
a. Intensive reading
b. Extensive reading
c. Skimming
d. Scanning
58. Which of the following words does not contain a silent letter?
a. Listen
b. Teacher
c. Plumber
d. Subtle

59. The pronunciation of ch in character, chair and charlatan exemplifies
a. the inconsistency of the English language
b. the consistency of the English language C: all of the above
c. none of the above
60. I wish she my

wife
a. is
b. was
c. are
d. were
61. Ask for repetition of what you do not understand politely by saying A:
come again
a. what?
b. I beg your pardon?
c. I am lost
62. Strategies for effective reading include:
a. Lisping
b. Underlining and annotation
c. Sub-vocalisation
d. Regression
63. Buhari is the president of Nigeria. This sentence is an example of

a. Interrogative sentence
b. Exclamatory sentence
c. Imperative sentence
d. Declarative sentence
64. The following should be avoided in writing a formal letter except
a. contraction
b. coherence
c. colloquialism
d. clichés
65. Yesterday was a black Friday. The word ―black‖ is used in this sentence with a:
a. connotative meaning
b. denotative meaning
c. none of the above
d. all of the above
66. Words such as heel and heal; knight and night are called
a. Best friends
b. Worst Friends
c. True Friends
d. False Friends
67. He is older than

a. I
b. Me
c. Him
d. her
68. A condenses clearly and accurately what you have read.
a. Comprehension
b. Topic Sentence
c. Summary
d. Memorandum
69. The police arrested him, and he begged for mercy. This sentence has
a. Two clauses
b. No clause
c. Three clauses
d. One clause
70. She cried an ocean of tears. This sentence is an example of:
a. Simile
b. Hyperbole
c. Personification
d. Metaphor
71. Textual mechanical features may include

a. Punctuation
b. Spelling
c. a and b above
d. none of above
72. Register in grammar refers to a set of professional terminologies peculiar to

disciplines, for example, the following set belongs to the register of
club, quarter-final, players, trophy, team, tournament, referee, goal kick
a. Politics
b. Sports
c. Business
d. Law
73. Inverted commas can be used in all the following ways except
a. to separate direct speech from the rest of the sentence
b. to enclose the title of films or books
c. to show that a word or phrase is being used in an unusual way
d. to show that some words have been omitted from a direct quotation
74. Which among the following is a feature of a report?
a. Address
b. topic sentence
c. term of reference
d. work experience

75. In writing a curriculum vitae, one is expected to provide all the following except
a. signature
b. education and qualification
c. skills
d. interest
76. Which of the following vowels are formed through the gliding of the
articulators from one vowel position to another?
a. /ᴂ/
b. /℮i/
c. /ᴈ:/
d. /ð/
77. Which of the following compound words have a double stress?
a. Vicepresident
b. Earthquake
c. post-office
d. a and c above
78. Which of the following clusters is a verbal group?
a. in the morning
b. of the writing
c. has come

d. defending champions
79. Both primary and modal auxiliaries are referred to as
a. helping verbs
b. operators
c. auxiliary verbs
d. all of the above
80. The expressive use of language in which words are used not just in their literal
sense in order to suggest a picture, image or some other special effects is called
a. figures of speech
b. parts of speech
c. fundamentals of speech
d. indirect speech
81. ―The Aso Rock has plans for the economy.‖ In this sentence, the underlined phrase
is an example of
a. metaphor
b. apostrophe
c. synecdoche
d. hyperbole
82. A comparison between two distinctly different things indicated by the word ―like‖
or ―as‖ is called
a. Metaphor
b. Personification
c. Paradox
d. simile
83. The process of writing involves four distinct but related steps which include:
prewriting, , revising and editing.
a. drafting
b. pre-drafting
c. re-revising
d. re-writing
84. Language users sometimes place a strong pressure on a particular sound to give
emphasis to it. That is called:
a. Syllables
b. Sounds
c. Stress
d. Emphasis
85. is the rendition of the meaning of an author without quoting him

directly.
a. Summary
b. Comprehension
c. Paraphrase
d. Topic sentence
86. Dictionaries normally show all except one of the following features of a word:
a. Stress pattern
b. Syllable
c. Meaning
d. Future
87. Which section of the outline presents the findings of the essay, or even a
solution, or an approach to the solution of the problem initially stated?
a. Main Body
b. Introduction
c. Conclusion.
d. Opening paragraph
88. Pick out the odd word:
a. Preposition
b. Pronoun
c. Verb
d. Phrase
89. A form of essay that explains a process or gives an information about

something is called
b. narrative essay
d. expository essay
90. In learning language speaking skills, one should do the following except

a. avoid first language based interference in pronunciation
b. overcome inhibition
c. learn to stress properly
d. how to use punctuation marks
91. The process of writing involves the following except
a. Pre-revising
b. Pre-writing
c. Drafting
d. Editing
92. In learning language speaking skills, one should do the following except
a. avoid first language based interference in pronunciation
b. overcome inhibition
c. learn to stress properly
d. how to use punctuation marks
93. Give me your book. This sentence is an example of
a. Interrogative sentence
b. Exclamatory sentence
d. Declarative sentence
94. Preparing may be necessary in most writing tasks.

a. An outline.
b. A paragraph
c. A sentence
d. An abstract
95. Writing should not be thought of, or treated as a effort

which produces a written document at a single sitting.
a. Double shot
b. Triple shot
c. Single shot
d. Quadruple shot
96. An outline may be written in sentence form, for the main points to be in
a. Chronological order.
b. Haphazard order
c. Alphabetical order
d. First come order
97. Writing process is indubitably and therefore largely personalised to

the individual writer.
a. Imperative
b. Superlative
c. Decisive
d. Creative.

98. The stage is where grammar, mechanics and spelling etc., are
checked.
a. Spelling
b. Revision
c. Drafting
d. Editing.
99. A form of essay that gives an explanation or information about something is called
b. narrative essay
d. expository essay
100. UNESCO, WHO, INEC and AIDS are examples

of
a. synonyms
b. acronyms
c. antonyms
d. abbreviation
101. When reading, one should use the dictionary as
a. soon as he comes across an unfamiliar word
b. he feels like doing
c. his last resort

d. none of the above
102. The following should be avoided in writing a formal letter except
a. Contraction
b. Slang
c. punctuation
d. abbreviation
103. Failure to stress a word correctly may lead to
a. ambiguity
b. misunderstanding
c. vagueness
d. all of the above
104. The following are bad reading habits except
a. regression
b. finger-pointing
c. re-reading
d. sub-vocalization
105. Article, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, interjection are called closed

system items because.
a. they have no provision for admitting new members
b. they are old parts of speech
c. they are new parts of speech

d. none of the above
106. A __ summarizes a particular paragraph in which it appears.
a. subject
b. object
c. topic sentence
d. subject sentence
107. The terminal punctuations include:
a. The full stop (.)
b. The question mark (?)
c. The exclamation mark (!)
d. All of the above
108. Reading for academic analysis belongs to kind of reading.
a. extensive
b. intensive
c. skimming
d. scanning
109. In dictionary, readers can get the following except
a. the future of words
b. the etymology of words C: the meaning of words
c. the pronunciation of words

110. The /f/ sound is found in all the following but
a. Rough
b. Beef
c. Sip
d. Cough
111. A summarizes a particular paragraph in which it appears.
a. Subject
b. Object
c. topic sentence
d. subject sentence
112. A form of essay that gives an explanation or information about something

is called
b. narrative essay
d. expository essay
113. The terminal punctuations include:
a. The full stop (.)
b. The question mark (?)
c. The exclamation mark (!)
d. All of the above

114. Reading for academic analysis belongs to kind of reading.
a. Extensive
b. Intensive
c. Skimming
d. Scanning
115. She visits her sister every two weeks
a. Daily
b. Weekly
c. Fortnightly
d. Forth-rightly
116. The type of sentence that contains two simple sentences joined together by
coordinating conjunction is known as:
a. Simple sentence
b. Complex sentence
c. Compound sentence
d. Compound-complex sentence
117. is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relationship

with some other words in a sentence.
a. Noun
b. Preposition
c. Verb

d. Conjunction
118. A two-word phrases, consisting of a verb and a particle are called:
a. Particles
b. Phrases
c. Phrasal verbs
d. Verbs
119. In English we have and .
a. 26 consonants and 24 vowels
b. 24 consonants and 20 vowels
c. 16 consonants and 17 vowels
d. 20 consonants and 20 vowels
120. All but one of the following form part of the functional classification of a
sentence:
a. Interrogative
b. Declarative
c. Generative
d. Imperative
121. are group of words whose meaning is different from the meaning
of the individual words.
a. Idioms
b. Dictionary

c. Sentences
d. Phrases
122. The process through which two or more words are joined together to
create a new word is called ____
a. Prefix
b. Derivation
c. Inflection
d. Compounding
123. ___ is the most difficult of the four

language skills.
a. Writing
b. Reading
c. Listening
d. Speaking
124. Which of the following is an example of

terminal punctuation:
a. Comma
b. Hyphen
c. Full stop
d. Semi-colon
125. Identify the odd one out of the following:
a. /i/
b. /e/
c. /p/
d. /o/
126. Which of the following verbs takes

addition of –ed in its past form?
a. Regular
b. Auxiliary
c. Transitive
d. Event
127. A topic sentence appears in all of the following positions in a sentence

except:
a. End
b. Middle
c. Beginning
d. Bracket
128. Which of the following grammarians recognise nine (9) parts of speech?
a. Rodney Huddleston (1996)
b. Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaun (2006)
c. Noam Chomsky (2012)
d. Karl Levis (1990)
129. The parts of speech are broadly divided in to two groups as follows:

a. Closed system and open-class system
b. Regular and irregular
c. Countable and Uncountable
d. Transitive and intransitive
130. All of the following are examples of sentence elements except:
a. Subject
b. Complement
c. Phrase
d. Verb
131. In the academic context, continuous writing involves writing a composition

which can be in any of the following forms except
a. Essay
b. Passage
c. Letter
d. Report
132. Paragraph simply means a collection of which discuss a particular idea.
a. Sentences
b. Clauses
c. Phrases
d. Words
133. summarizes a particular paragraph in which it

appears.
a. a sentence
b. a phrase
c. a topic sentence
d. a topic phrase
134. A kind of essay which persuades or convinces the reader to believe in a

particular point of view is known as
a. Narrative essay
b. Descriptive essay
c. Expository essay
d. Argumentative essay
135. A topic sentence appears at which position of the paragraph?
a. Beginning of the paragraph
b. Middle of the paragraph
c. End of the paragraph
d. Any position of the paragraph
136. _ essay requires the writer to narrate or recall an

event or experience that has happened.
a. Narrative
b. Descriptive
c. Expository

d. Argumentative
137. The purpose, structure and scope of a formal report are

contained in which of the following?
a. Terms of reference
b. Method of investigation
c. Findings and conclusions
d. Recommendation
138. Application letters, letters of enquiry and government/official letters are

examples of which type of letter?
a. Formal letter
b. Informal letter
c. Semi-formal letter
d. Semi-informal letter
139. The language of is relaxed and friendly.
a. Formal letter
b. Informal letter
c. Semi-formal letter
d. Semi-informal letter
140. Formal letters contain how many address(es)?
a. One
b. Two

c. Three
d. Four
141. In letter writing, a complimentary close is otherwise known a
a. Substitution
b. Subscription
c. Substantiation
d. Subsection
142. All but one of the following should be avoided when writing a formal
letter.
a. Slangs
b. Clichés
c. Clauses
d. Archaism
143. All but one of the following punctuation marks indicate pause in
speech.
a. The full stop
b. The colon
c. The apostrophe
d. The comma
144. All but one of the following end in full stops.
a. Direct statements

b. Indirect questions
c. Polite request
d. Interrogative sentences
145. NESCO, ECOWAS, NITEL, JAMB and NEPA are examples of
a. Acronyms
b. Homonyms
c. Antonyms
d. Abbreviations
146. Which of the following punctuation marks is represented by three dots?
a. The full stop
b. The colon
c. The semi-colon
d. The ellipsis
147. is a sentence that lacks a finite verb or an obvious subject, and

therefore not strictly allowed as a sentence.
a. Defective sentence
b. Declarative sentence
d. Exclamatory sentence
148. Which of the following punctuation marks is used to separate items in a list?
a. The full stop

b. The comma
c. The question mark
d. The apostrophe
149. Which of the following pair are receptive skills of language?
a. Reading/Writing
b. Speaking/Writing
c. Reading/Listening
d. Listening/Speaking
150. Which of the following is not a closed class item?
a. Noun
b. Preposition
c. Conjunction
d. Interjection

Closing Remark by Onimisi – fluent in silence.
Never has there been a greater need to make sure to jot down most part of the
lecturers‘ lectures while the lectures are ongoing in the class. Jotting of lectures in the class
has, to a great extent, been neglected in recent years.
This, chiefly, is not as a result of the unserious nature of the students (even if some
actually fall in the category), perhaps, as some students term it, it‘s as a result of the
inaudibility of some lecturers, and, of course, the twinkle- like method of dictation some
lecturers adopt (factors which are always NOT TRUE). However, students still tend not to
jot in the lectures of some lecturers they see to be audible enough and, as well, dictate
slowly, mainly because, not all students actually fancy jotting in the class, and, of course,
some students miss lectures, intentionally or unintentionally.
But, how do we get these notes we can‘t get from the lecturers due to the above
factors? Does the thought of getting the notes and reading them to pass your examination
fill you with despair?
Don‘t panic, my love!
―Onimisi’s Care‖, A.K.A., ―I’ll Strive…‖ is to help you get all the notes which
you have missed in the class in the most comprehensive and suitable way in preparation for
the examination. In an accessible and friendly way, we will lead you through the
framework of all the lectures.
Meanwhile, I am Onimisi. So, if you‘re too tired to speak, sit next to me for I, too,
am fluent in silence (smiles).
Special thanks to Adaira Muhammed Jamiu for his contributory efforts towards the success
of this update.
Proudly anchored by the entire crew of Onimisi’s Care!

Essential Study Hints for Law Students

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Page 1 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

Onimisi’s Care, Volume 1.1.

This material belongs to ___________________________________ from

Page 2 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

 Short Preface by Ahmed Olarewaju Sikiru.

 Hints to Effective Studying by Hadi Onimisi

 English for Legal Writing I (LAW 1309) Lecture

 Legal Methods (LAW 1301) Lecture Notes.

 Basic Concepts of Political Science (LAW 1203)

 Bonus (GSP – Use of English).

 Closing Remark by Onimisi – fluent in silence

Page 3 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

The essence of human existence is to serve the Almighty Allah through

With this lecture note, you have no excuse to failure.

Page 4 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

And whenever they say so, students be like;

―Wow! I wish I could, also.‖ I study very early in the morning

8hrs?‖ need do is to change your reading

j) Sleeping! ―Oh, God! The witches

k) Don't ever think that you can't do it. 08142489112.

Page 7 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

Mallama Samira Abubakar’s Lecture Notes.

Basic Components of Study Skills.

 Note taking and note making.

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret information in the

Contrary to popular presumptions, listening is not a naturally occurring

i. Informational Listening — listening to learn (listening to receive a

ii. Critical Listening — listening to evaluate and analyse.

iii. Emphatic/Therapeutic Listening — listening to understand feelings or

For academic purpose;

iv. Sophisticated Listening — listening with the combination of the ears

Steps of Effective Listening.

 Listening to information carefully to determine the central idea being

 Being prepared on the subject matter.

 Avoid unnecessary distractions — don't interrupt the speaker.

 Note Taking and Note Making.

Page 9 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

 Listening attentively to the information;

 Recognising and understanding the major divisions of a lecture or text;

 Reading a written text actively and constructively;

 Distinguishing the major points from supporting details;

 Recognising digression from explanations;

 Using correct abbreviations and symbols;

 Summarising the content of a lecture or text in a useful outline format;

 Avoiding unnecessary distractions.

Notes are essentially a form of summary of principal ideas and important

Purposes of Note Taking.

 It helps to remember the discourse.

Page 10 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

 It assists in making further research on the topic.

Stages of Note Taking.

There are three basic steps in note taking:

Note Taking Methods.

 Outlining Method: This method involves writing a series of topics and

Page 11 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

 Sentencing Method: In the sentencing method, you simply write down

Similarly, ideas, points, or explanations of a topic received from electronic

Purposes of Note Making.

Page 12 of 146 Onimisi's Care !

Hints for Efficient Note Making.

 Avoid plagiarism. If, however, there's need to use plagiarism,

 Avoid unnecessary or irrelevant details. Your note should consist of only

 Use of array of dictionaries in the course of making note. It is usual to