Common Social Problems And Issues in Nigeria JSS1 Social Studies Lesson Note

SOCIAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS EXAMINATION

COMMON SOCIAL PROBLEMS / ISSUES IN NIGERIA 

Social issues and problems, directly and indirectly, affect a person or many members of a society that are considered problems or controversial issues that relate to moral values. Social issues and problems, directly and indirectly, affect a person or many members of a society that are considered problems or controversial issues that relate to moral values. 

Examples of social issues are; 

(i) corruption, 

(ii) Poverty 

(iii) Exam-Malpractice 

(iv) Disease 

(v) Building 

(vi) Prostitution 

(vii) Rape 

(viii) Racism 

(ix) Increase in crime wave 

(x) Human trafficking, 

(xi) Kidnapping, etc. 

Exam malpractice: – Exam malpractice means any wrongdoing before, during, or after an examination. It is when students go into the examination hall with various items to cheat e.g.  

1. Use of already answered question paper. 
2. Copying at neighbor’s work 
3. Using key points 
4. Impersonation 
5. Assault and intimidation by candidates against supervisors 

Causes of Exam Malpractice 

1. Inadequate Preparation on the part of the students 
2. The desire of parents to have their children leave secondary school quickly and enter higher institutions of learning without bothering about their preparations for academic standards. 
3. Greedy Proprietors and proprietress 
4. Registration of sub-standard private schools by the Ministry of Education 5. Large numbers of students: The number of students per teacher is high and this makes assessment and proper supervision difficult 
5. The syllabus of Exam Malpractice  

Agents of Exam Malpractice. 

Some people encourage exam malpractice in any form and they include 

1. Supervisors 
2. Parents who give their children money to commit malpractice  
3. Examiners 
4. Invigilators 
5. Teachers 
6. Security agent 

Solutions to exam malpractice  

1. Proper monitoring of external examinations in both public and private schools. 
2. The exam bodies like WAEC, NECO, and JAMB make decisive laws to punish offenders. 
3. Offenders are to be reported to the appropriate quarters for prosecution 4. Parents should train their children in the right ways 
4. The government should develop or formulate policies and programs that would gear towards redirecting our education system and de-emphasis paper qualification 
5. Teachers to be well taken care of by the Government. The welfare of teachers is paramount just as in advanced countries  

Crime wave in Nigeria 

Crime wave in Nigeria – crime. This is an evil act punishable by law. It is also anything that violates the penal code of a country. Any act that violates either the political or moral law. 

A criminal is anyone who is involved in a crime. The act of crime wave in Nigeria today is high. It ranges from stealing, armed robbery, child trafficking, Kidnapping, etc. 

The kidnapping rate in Nigeria especially in the Eastern part of the country is high. This is a situation where people both the young and the old are taken into custody by unknown gunmen while their relations are called for ransom before they are released. 

Businessmen and women, politicians, Journalists, men in the religious order like priests, reverends, Pastors, etc., and their children are targets of kidnappers. Also notable are Nigerians of all ranks who are of the Igbo extraction, who run away from their country homes for fear of being kidnapped. 

Causes of Crime Wave  

1. Idleness 
2. Lack of integrity 
3. Lack of transparency  
4. Lack of accountability 

Effects of Crime Wave 

1. The economy is adversely affected. Potential investors refuse to invest their money in an unsecured environment 
2. The socio-cultural life of the people is now ruled by fear and insecurity. 3. It breeds suspicion in the air. People are in no way giving out information about people. 

Solutions to Crime Wave 

1. Police to be properly equipped with modern criminal tracking devices  
2. Registration of GSM phones and SIM cards to be made compulsory so that criminals can easily be tracked  
3. Community policing involving traditional institutions, Vigilant groups, Churches, and Town Unions should be established. 

Child Abuse 

Child Abuse in recent times has become a social problem of great concern to well-meaning individuals in Nigeria and the world at large. 

Child Abuse can be defined as the intentional unintentional or well-intentioned act that endangers the physical, emotional, moral, and academic welfare of the child. It can also be maltreatment of a child. It includes all actions that an adult does to bring about physical, mental, psychological, and social misfortune on the child, for example, child labour, child neglect, child battering, child marriage, child trafficking, child sexual abuse, female genital mutilation forced prostitution. 

All these examples infringe on the fundamental human rights of the child as guaranteed in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Child’s Rights Act of 2003. 

1. Child Labour: – This involves buying, selling, hiring, or any forced labor on the child to make money e.g. hawking or begging for alms, guiding beggars, or even prostituting. Also going to live in a house helps with adult families other than their own.
2. Child Trafficking – This is an organized form of business in which a child is traded for the exchange of money by wicked businessmen and women. They sometimes steal, kidnap, or lure them with sweets. This act today takes place more in the churches, in the streets, and homes. 
3. Child Battering: – This is a process by which parents or guardians deliberately inflict harm or torture on their child or ward. Sometimes this act may not be intentional, but may be in the process of correcting the child for an offence committed. Punishment can be executed in anger which might result in deformity or death of the child. 
4. Child Neglect – This involves the failure of parents or guardians to provide the child with the basic needs of life within the limits of their resources 
5. Child Marriage:- The Child Rights Act makes it an offense for a person to marry or get engaged to anyone or person under 18 years. Any such marriage or betrothal is null and void of no effect. The person guilty of this can be sentenced to jail for five (5) years or fined or both.