JAMB Syllabus for History 2024/2025 | PDF Download

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has officially released the syllabus for History for the academic year 2024/2025.

This initiative is part of JAMB’s commitment to providing students with comprehensive preparatory materials for the upcoming Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Objectives of JAMB Syllabus for History

The JAMB syllabus for History aims to prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination and to test candidates’ understanding, knowledge, and acquisition of the following areas of the subject:

• Imparting the knowledge of Nigerian History from the earliest times to the present.
• Identifying the similarities and relationships among the people of Nigeria as it relates to the issues of national unity and integration.
• Appreciating Nigerian History as the basis for understanding West African and African History.
• Applying History to understand Nigerian and Africa’s relationship with the wider world.
• Analyzing issues of modernization and development.
• Relating the past to the present and planning for the future.

Topics Under JAMB History Syllabus

The topics in the JAMB syllabus for History are divided into two parts;

Part I

Section A: The Region of Nigeria up to 1800

Topic 1: Land and People of Nigeria

• Geographical zones and the people.
• The people’s relationship with the environment.
• Relations and integration among the people of different zones.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Identifying the geographical zones and the people within them.
• Establishing the relationship between the people and the environment.
• Comprehending the relationships among the various peoples of the Nigeria area.

Topic 2: Early Centres of Civilization

• Daima, Nok, Ife, Benin, Igbo Ukwu, and Iwo Eleru.
• Monuments and shelter systems:

Objectives:

Candidates must be capable of the following;

• Examining the significance of various centers of civilization.
• Establishing the historical significance of the various monuments such as caves and rocky formations.

Topic 3: Formation of States in the Nigeria Area

• Central Sudan –Kanuri and Hausa states.
• Niger-Benue Valley – Jukun, Nupe, Idoma, Igala, Tiv, and Ebira.
• Eastern Forest Belt – Igbo and Ibibio.
• Western Forest Belt – Yoruba and Edo
• Niger–Delta – Efik, Ijo, Itsekiri and Urhobo
• Factors influencing their origin and migration
• Social and political organizations
• Inter-State relations, religion, war, and peace.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Relating the different groups of people occupying the various zones to their traditions of origin.
• Determining the inter-state relations;
• Accounting for their social and political organizations.

Topic 4: The Economic Activities and Growth of States

• Agric – hunting, farming, fishing, animal husbandry, and horticulture.
• Industries – pottery, salt-making, ironsmelting, blacksmithing, leather-working, wood-carving, cloth-making, dyeing, and food processing.
• Trade and trade routes
• Expansion of states.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Identifying the various economic activities of the people.
• Differentiating the economic activities and specialties of the people.
• Relating trade and other economic activities to the growth of the states.

Topic 5: External Influences

• North Africans/Arabs – (i) introduction, spread, and impact of Islam; (ii) trans-Saharan trade.
• Europeans – (i) early European trade with the coastal states; (ii) the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the effect of the communication of North Africa on the people and states South of the Sahara.
• Examining the impact of early European contact with the coastal people.
• Tracing the root, organization, and effect of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Section B: THE NIGERIA AREA From 1800 – 1900

Topic 1: The Sokoto Caliphate

• The Sokoto Jihad – (causes, courses, and consequences);
• The causes and the processes of Jihad.
• The creation and administration of the caliphate and relations with neighbors.
• The achievements and impact of the caliphate.
• The collapse of the caliphate.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the causes and the processes of the Jihad.
• Determining the factors that led to the rise of the caliphate.
• Examining the administrative set-up of the caliphate and its relations with its neighbors.
• Examining the impact of the caliphate.
• Tracing the internal and external factors that led to the caliphate’s collapse.

Topic 2: Kanem-Borno

• The collapse of the Saifawa dynasty
• Borno under the Shehus
• Borno under Rabeh

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Determining the factors that led to the collapse of the Saifawa dynasty.
• Examining Borno under the administration of the Shehus
• Assessing the role of Rabeh in Borno’s History.

Topic 3: Yorubaland

• The fall of the Old Oyo Empire
• The Yoruba wars and their impact
• The peace treaty of 1886 and its aftermath

Objectives:

Candidates must be capable of the following;

• Examining the causes of the fall of the Old Oyo.
• Examining the causes and effects of the Yoruba wars.
• Assessing the impact of the 1886 peace treaty.

Topic 4: Benin

• Internal political development
• Relations with neighbors
• Relations with the Europeans

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the internal political development.
• Examining her relations with her neighbors.
• Assessing her relationship with the Europeans.

Topic 5: Nupe

• Internal political development
• Relations with neighbors.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining Nupe’s internal political development.
• Assessing her relations with her neighbors.

Topic 6: Igbo

• Internal political development.
• Relations with neighbors.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the Igbo internal political development.
• Assessing her relations with her neighbors.

Topic 7: Efik

• Internal political development.
• Relations with neighbors.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examing Efik’s internal political development.
• Assessing her relations with her neighbors.

Topic 8: European Penetration and Impact

• European exploration of the interior.
• The suppression of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
• The development of commodity trade and the rise of consular authority.
• Christian missionary activities.
• The activities of the trading companies.
• Effect of European activities on the coast and the hinterland.

Objectives:

Candidates must be capable of the following;

• Examining the motive for the exploration of the interior.
• Giving reasons for the suppression of the trans-Atlantic slave trade;
• Tracing the development of commodity trade;
• Examining missionary and European activities in the area;
• Assessing the activities of the European trading companies
• Accounting for the increase of the consular authority.

Topic 9: British Conquest in the Nigeria Area

• Motives for the conquest
• Methods of the conquest and its result.
• Resistance to and aftermath of the conquest.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Determining the reasons for the conquest and the methods used;
• Examining the various resistance to the conquest
• Evaluating the results and the aftermath of the conquest.

Section C: NIGERIA From 1900 to 1960

Topic 1: The Creation of Colonial Rule up to 1914

• Administration of the protectorates

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the administrative set-up of the protectorates.

Topic 2: The Amalgamation of 1914

• Reasons
• Effects

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the reasons for the 1914 Amalgamation and its effects.

Topic 3: Colonial Administration After the Amalgamation

• Central Administration – Legislative and Executive Councils.
• Indirect Rule – reasons, working, and effects.
• Resistance to colonial rule

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Relating the composition of the central administrative set-up to its consequences.
• Identifying the reasons for the introduction and workings of the indirect rule system.
• Assessing the effects of indirect rule.
• Examining the local administrative units.
• Accounting for the anti-colonial movements and their significance.

Topic 4: The Colonial Economy

• Currency, taxation, and forced labor.
• Infrastructure (transportation, post, and telecommunication)
• Agriculture
• Mining
• Industry
• Commerce
• Banking

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the nature of the economy and its effect on tax.
• Understanding concepts like; Currency, infrastructures, agriculture, mining, industry, commerce, and banking.

Topic 5: Social Development in the Colonial Rule

• Western education
• Urbanization/social integration
• Improvement unions
• Health institutions

Objectives

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Identifying the areas of social development under colonial rule.
• Examining the impact of urbanization on the people.
• Examining the level of social integration among the people.

Topic 6: Nationalism, Constitutional Developments, and Independence

• The rise of nationalist movements.
• 1922 Clifford Constitution and the growth of Nigeria’s first political party.
• World War II and the agitation for independence.
• The Richards Constitution of 1946.
• The Macpherson Constitution of 1951.
• Party politics – regionalism, federalism, and minorities agitations.
• Lyttleton Constitution of 1954.
• The Constitutional conferences in Lagos in 1957 and London in 1958.
• General elections of 1959 and the independence in 1960.

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Tracing the emergence of the nationalist movement.
• Assessing the roles of the different constitutions in constitutional development.
• Examine World War II’s effect on the agitation for independence and constitutional developments.
• Tracing the development of party politics and its impact on regionalism and minority question.
• Examining the impact of the constitutional conferences.
• Determining the factors that aided the attainment of independence

Section D: Nigeria Since Independence

Topic 1: The politics of the First Republic and Military intervention

• The struggle for control of the center
• Minority question
• Issue of revenue allocation
• The 1962/63 census controversies
• Action Group crisis and General Elections of 1964/65
• Coup d’etat of January 1966 and Ironsi Regime

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Giving reasons behind the struggle for control of the center.
• Accounting for the controversies in revenue allocation.
• Accounting for the controversies generated by the minority question and the creation of states.
• Accounting for the controversies generated by the 1962/63 census.
• Examining the problems created by the Action Group crisis and the General Elections of 1964/65.
• Assessing the significance of military intervention and the Ironsi Regime.

Topic 2: The Civil War

• Causes
• Course
• Effects

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the remote and immediate causes of the war.
• Examining the course.
• Assessing the effects of the war.

Topic 3: The Gowon Regime

Objectives

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the challenges and achievements of the Gowon Regime.

Topic 4: Murtala/Obasanjo Regime

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the challenges and achievements of the Murtala/Obasanjo Regime.

Topic 5: The Second Republic

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Evaluating the challenges and achievements of the Second Republic.

Topic 6: The Buhari Regime

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the challenges and achievements of the Buhari Regime.

Topic 7: The Babangida Regime

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the challenges and achievements of the Babangida regime.

Topic 8: The Interim National Government (ING)

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the role and challenges of the Interim National Government.

Topic 9: The Abacha Regime

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the challenges and achievements of the Abacha Regime.

Topic 10: Nigeria in International Organizations

• Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),
• African Union (AU)
• Commonwealth of Nations
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• United Nations Organization
• The Role of Nigeria in Conflict Resolution

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the role of Nigeria in ECOWAS
• Assessing the role of Nigeria in the AU
• Evaluating the role of Nigeria in the Common Wealth of Nations
• Assessing the role of Nigeria in the OPEC
• Examining the role of Nigeria in the UN
• Examine Nigeria’s role in conflict resolutions in the Congo, Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Sudan.

Part II: Africa and the World Since 1800

Section A: West and North Africa

Topic 1: Islamic Reform Movements and State Building in West Africa

• Relationship between Sokoto and other Jihads.
• The Jihads of Seku Ahmadu and Al-Hajj Umar
• The activities of Samori Toure

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Establishing the relationship between the Sokoto Jihad and other Jihads in West Africa
• Comparing the achievements of the Jihads of Seku Ahmadu and Al-Hajj Umar.
• Examining the activities of Samori Toure of the Madinka Empire.

Topic 2: Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa

• The foundation of Sierra Leone and Liberia and the spread of Christianity
• The activities and impact of Christian missionaries

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Determining the factors that led to the founding of Sierra Leone and Liberia.
• Examining the importance of Sierra Leone and Liberia in the spread and impact of Christianity in West Africa.
• Assessing the impact of Christian missionary activities in West Africa.

Topic 3: Egypt under Mohammed Ali and Khedive Ismail

• The rise of Mohammad Ali and his reforms
• Mohammad Ali’s relations with the Europeans
• Ismail’s fiscal policies
• The British occupation of Egypt

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Determining the factors that aided Mohammad Ali’s rise to power and his reforms.
• Establishing the relationship between Mohammad Ali’s Empire and the Europeans.
• Accounting for the fiscal policies of Ismail.
• Examining the reasons for the British occupation of Egypt.

Topic 4: The Mahdi and Mahdiyya Movement in Sudan

• Causes
• Course
• Consequences

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the causes, course, and consequences of the Mahdiyya Movement in Sudan.

Section B: Eastern and Southern Africa

Topic 1: The Omani Empire

• The rise of the Omani Empire
• The empire’s commercial and political relations with the coast and the hinterland
• The empire’s relations with the Europeans

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Determining the factors that led to the rise of the Omani Empire.
• Assessing the establishment of commercial and political relations between the Omani Empire, the coast, and the hinterland.
• Examining the relationship that existed between the Omani Empire and the Europeans.

Topic 2: Ethiopia in the 19th century

• The rise of Theodore II and his attempt at the unification of Ethiopia
• Menelik II and Ethiopian independence

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the factors that led to the rise of Theodore II as the Emperor of Ethiopia.
• Analyzing the strategies that were adopted to achieve Ethiopian unification.
• Assessing the role of Menelik II in the maintenance of Ethiopia’s independence.

Topic 3: The Mfecane

• The rise of the Zulu Nation
• Causes, course, and consequences of the Mfecane

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Tracing events in Nguniland before the Mfecane.
• Determining the factors that led to the rapid rise of Shaka.
• Examining the causes, course, and consequences of the Mfecane.

Topics 4: The Great Trek

• The frontier wars
• British intervention in the Boer-African relations
• The Great Trek and its consequences

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Determining the factors that led to the frontier wars.
• Accounting for British intervention in the Boer-African relations.
• Describing the nature of the Great Trek.
• Examining its consequences.

Section C: Imperialism, Colonialism, And Problems of Nation-Building in Africa

Topic 1: The New Imperialism and European Occupation of Africa

• The New Imperialism in Africa
• European scramble for Africa
• The Berlin Conference
• The occupation and resistance by Africans

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Assessing the causes of the New Imperialism.
• Examining the causes of the scramble.
• Accounting for the significance of the Berlin Conference.
• Examining African resistance to the occupation.

Topic 2: Patterns of Colonial Rule in Africa

• The British
• The French
• The Portuguese
• The Belgians

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining and comparing the patterns of colonial rule by the various European powers.

Topic 3: The Politics of Decolonization

• Colonial policies and African discontent
• The impact of the two world wars
• Nationalist activities and the emergence of political parties and associations
• Strategies for attaining independence

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the policies employed by the colonial masters and the magnitude of African discontent.
• Assessing the impact of the First and Second World Wars on African nationalism.
• Determining the strategies used in the attainment of independence.

Topic 4: Apartheid in South Africa

• The origin of apartheid
• Rise of Afrikaner nationalism
• Enactment of apartheid laws
• Internal reaction and the suppression of African nationalist movements
• External reaction to apartheid, the
• Frontline States, the Commonwealth of Nations, OAU, and the UN.
• The dismantling of apartheid
• Post-apartheid development

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Tracing the origin of apartheid in South Africa.
• Giving reasons for the rise of Afrikaner nationalism.
• Evaluating apartheid laws.
• Relating the internal reactions to apartheid to the African struggle for majority rule.
• Relating the contributions of African states and international organizations to the fight against apartheid.
• Identifying the steps taken towards the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.
• Assessing the post-apartheid development in South Africa.

Topic 5: Problems of Nation-building in Africa

• Political and economic challenges and constraints
• Physical and environmental challenges
• Ethnic and religious pluralism
• Military intervention and political instability
• Neo-colonialism and under-development
• Boundary disputes and threat to African unity
• Civil wars and the refugee problem

Objectives:

Candidates should be capable of the following;

• Examining the political and economic problems faced by African countries in nation-building.
• Assessing the effects of natural disasters on Africa.
• Determining the role of ethnic and religious problems in Africa.
• Examining the role of the military in African politics.
• Examining the role of neo-colonialism in Africa.
• Assessing the problems of boundary disputes.
• Establishing the relationship between civil wars and refugee problems in Africa.

PDF Download of JAMB Syllabus for History 2024/2025

You can now download the JAMB History syllabus as you prepare for your exams.

Conclusion

The syllabus for History provided by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is an essential resource for candidates preparing for the JAMB examinations.

Candidates can confidently expect that the majority of the examination questions will be derived directly from the syllabus content.

We encourage all prospective examinees to download the syllabus in PDF format available in the post. Furthermore, sharing this information with peers is highly recommended to facilitate outstanding performance in their examinations.