GOALS OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION II

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Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking more about the goals of citizenship education. Enjoy the class!

Goals Of Citizenship Education II

Meaning of government

A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, often a state. It also means exercising control over a society through ordered rule. At the same time, the government is a set of institutions and concerns a body of actors, which define how and to what extent the public affairs within society are shaped and directed.

Government regulate the relationships among members of a society and between the society and outsiders and that they have the authority to make decisions for the society’ to meet goals and maintain order.

 Function of government

• Law Making
• Military defence of the country
• Provision of employment
• Maintenance of law and order
• Promotion of economic growth and development
• Maintaining good relations with other sovereign states or countries (foreign diplomacy)
• Protection of civil liberties
• Protection of lives and properties
• Administration of justice
• Formulation and implementation of policies
• Provision of social-welfare service

Structure of government

There is three main structure of government. They include the legislature, executive and the judiciary.

• The legislature:

The term “legislature” means a body of elected representatives that makes laws. They formulate debate and pass legislation which is needed for the government and the country to function. The legislature also provides a forum in which the public can participate in issues and watch over the executive arm of government.

The legislature performs three basic Roles namely: lawmaking, representation and oversight. Whether at the federal or the state level, the legislatures in Nigeria make laws, carry out representative functions on behalf of the people who in this case, are demarcated in senatorial, federal and state constituencies. They carry out oversight on the executive arm of government which includes the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

In Nigeria, the legislative arm of government is referred to as the National Assembly. The National Assembly of Nigeria is bicameral, that is it has two chambers: the House of Representatives which is the lower house and the Senate which is the upper chamber. The House of Representatives is presided over by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It has 360 members, who are elected for four-year terms in single-seat constituencies. The Senate, which has 109 members, is presided over by the President of the Senate. 108 members are elected for four-year terms in 36 three-seat constituencies, which correspond to the country’s 36 states. One member is selected in the single-seat constituency of the federal capital

Functions of the Legislature

In a democracy generally, the following are the functions of Legislature:

1. Law Making
2. Control over the Budget
3. Control over Finances
4. Control over Executive
5. Amendment of the Constitution
6. Educative Function
7. Ratification Functions: The legislature ratifies the international agreements signed by the government.
8. Deliberative Function
9. Control over External Relations
10. Control over Public Administration

• The executive:

It is that organ which implements the laws passed by the legislature and the policies of the government. Put simply, the executive is the organ exercising authority in and holding responsibility for the governance of a state. The executive executes and enforces the law.

The executive consists of the President, the Vice President and the Cabinet ministers at the national level, and Members of the Executive Councils (MECs) at federal and state levels. It also includes government departments and civil servants.

Functions of the Executive

1. Enforcement of Laws
2. Appointment-making Functions
3. Signing of Treaties
4. Defence,
5. Declaration of War and Peace Functions
6. Foreign Policy-making and the Conduct of Foreign Relations
7. Policy-making
8. Functions relating to Law-making
9. Preparation of budget/Financial Functions
10. Conferment of Titles and Honours to deserving citizens

• The judiciary:

The judiciary as an organ of government is vested with the power of interpretation and application of the law. The judiciary (also known as the judicial system or court system) applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes.

Functions of the Judiciary

The judiciary organ of government plays an important role in serving as the last hope of a common man in the society.

1. Interpretation and application of laws
2. Gives justice to the people
3. Lawmaking
4. Protection of people’s rights
5. Settlement of disputes
6. Punishment and pardoning of criminals
7. Guardian/custodian of the constitution
8. Get its decisions and judgments enforced
9. Judiciary runs the judicial administration
10. Advisory functions
11. Conducts judicial inquiries

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Nationalism.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

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