General Knowledge and Current Affairs - Post-UTME Study Guide
General Knowledge and Current Affairs checks Nigerian history and civics, geography, international organisations and recent events. Stable facts are more reliable than memorised headlines that date quickly.
Core rules
- Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 and a republic in 1963; the capital moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991.
- The 1999 Constitution is supreme; Nigeria has 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 774 local government areas.
- The three tiers are federal, state and local; the three arms are executive, legislature and judiciary.
- ECOWAS was founded in 1975 in Lagos; the African Union replaced the OAU in 2002; the UN was founded in 1945.
- Nigeria is a member of OPEC (joined 1971) and the Commonwealth.
Worked example
Which ECOWAS body is the supreme policy-making organ? The answer is the Authority of Heads of State and Government. The reasoning is institutional: the Authority sets broad policy, while the ECOWAS Commission handles administration and the Community Court handles disputes. Naming the Commission instead is a common error.
Traps
Do not confuse the AU with ECOWAS or the UN. Do not use old capital or state-structure facts. In current-affairs items, officeholders and appointments change; verify the date of your source. Read each option fully, because two may sound plausible and one may be technically precise. Avoid guessing on constitutional procedure without recalling the specific body involved.