WEEK: 4th.

DATE: 17th-21st May, 2021.

SUBJECT: History.
CLASS: J.S.S. 2.
TOPIC: Factors That Led To The Fall Of Ghana Empire.
DURATION: 40 minutes.
PERIOD: 6th.
REFERENCES: History For Junior Secondary Schools 2, by Christopher Ogbogbo. (
Unit 6, page 32-33 ).
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: A chart showing the Almoravid soldiers.
OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
State and explain the factors that led to the fall of Ghana empire.
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE: The students are familiar with the factors that led to
the rise of Ghana empire.
CONTENT: Factors That Led To The Fall Of Ghana Empire.
Two factors were responsible for the collapse of Ghana Empire, they were internal factors and
external factors.
Internal Factors.
(1). Size of the empire: There was unchecked expansion of territory in the empire, so much that it
became almost impossible for the leaders to effectively control their vassal states. A vassal state is a
country that is controlled by another country.
(2). Autonomy of the vassal states: Right from the beginning, vassal states had always wanted
autonomy. They had always had the feelings of nationalism and desire for independence. But as time
elapsed, they fought for complete independence.
(3). Ethno-regional crises: Ghana suffered from many ethnic and regional conflicts among its
heterogeneous communities.
(4). Internal political crises: There were various disputes and political crises and these gradually became
one of the major characteristics of Ghana's political history.
(5). Bad leadership: As the empire expanded and control became difficult, incompetent rulers
contributed to the decline of the land as they disappointed the people and rebellion began. Also, Islamic
religious leaders taught the people that their kings were not divine, but mere men that were prone to
errors and bad judgment. This made the people further lose their trust in the kings and ruling houses.
External Factors
(1). Envy from neighbouring countries: Due to Ghana's wealth and activities in gold, the empire was
envied by her neighbouring countries.
(2). External hostility: The frequent external agression and attacks from the Berber groups weakened the
empire and aided their secession, thus leading to the creation of a confederacy at Awdaghust.
(3). Conquest of Ghana: Sundiata Keita conquered ancient Ghana in 1240 A.D and established the
kingdom of Kangaba, which later became the ancient Mali Empire.
(4). Bad climate: During the 12th century, the ancient Ghana empire was affected by climate change,
desert encroachment and their fertile lands which were good for agriculture lost their nutrients and
became barren and wasted.
(5). Almoravids activities: The Almoravids were the Berber Muslims from Morocco. They attacked the
empire for ten to fourteen years.
PRESENTATION
STEP I: The teacher revises the previous topic with the students.
STEP II: The teacher introduces the new topic to the students.
STEP III: The teacher explains the topic in details to the students.
STEP IV: The teacher evaluates the students and gives out the note.
EVALUATION: The teacher evaluates the students by giving them classwork and
assignment.
CLASSWORK:
State three benefits of having camel caravans in the ancient Ghana empire.
ASSIGNMENT:
(1). Mention four factors that led to the rise of Ghana empire.
(2). State the three vegetation zones in Ghana empire.
CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by summarising the main points
of the topic to the students.