JAMB History 2024 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2024 JAMB History paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 76 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB History 2024 questions and answers

1. 1.

   Which of the following cash crops became highly significant in Nigeria during the colonial period?

   1. A
      Cassava
   2. B
      Yam
   3. C
      Cocoa
      Correct
   4. D
      Maize
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   Cocoa is correct. During the colonial era, the British administration promoted the cultivation of cash crops for export to Europe, and cocoa became one of the most economically significant crops in Nigeria, especially in the Western Region (Ibadan, Ondo, Ijebu areas), turning Nigeria into one of the world's leading cocoa producers.

2. 2.

   The Satiru Uprising of 1906 was a significant event in colonial Nigeria. What was the primary cause of this rebellion?

   1. A
      A dispute over land ownership between Sokoto and neighbouring emirates
   2. B
      Resistance to the introduction of Western education by Christian missionaries
   3. C
      A succession dispute within the leadership of the Sokoto Caliphate
   4. D
      Opposition to British colonial taxation and forced labour, driven by Mahdist religious ideology
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   The Satiru Uprising of 1906 broke out near Sokoto, led by Malam Isa (also called Dan Makafo). It combined Mahdist religious belief — the conviction that a divinely guided leader would rise up and expel foreign rule — with deep resentment of the new British colonial administration's taxation and forced labour demands imposed after the fall of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1903.

3. 3.

   Mohammed Ali's economic reforms in Egypt included

   1. A
      Introduction of free trade by removing state control over agriculture and commerce
   2. B
      State monopoly over agricultural production and trade, especially in cotton
      Correct
   3. C
      Distribution of all crown lands to peasants as freehold property
   4. D
      Abolition of all forms of taxation on peasant farmers
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   Answer: B

   Muhammad Ali's economic reforms in Egypt (early 19th century) were built around strong state control, not free enterprise. He introduced a government monopoly over agricultural production and trade, forcing peasants to grow cash crops such as cotton, rice and indigo, which the state then bought at fixed low prices and sold abroad at a profit. This monopoly system funded his army modernisation and industrialisation drive.

4. 4.

   The capital of the Kanem-Borno Empire moved from Kanem to Borno primarily due to

   1. A
      Persistent attacks and invasions by the Bulala people
      Correct
   2. B
      The jihad led by Usman dan Fodio against the Sayfawa rulers
   3. C
      Desertification that made Kanem unsuitable for farming
   4. D
      A shift in trans-Saharan trade routes away from Kanem
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   From the late fourteenth century, the ruling Sayfawa dynasty of Kanem faced sustained attacks and invasions from the Bulala people, who came from the east around Lake Fitri. These wars, combined with internal succession disputes among Sayfawa princes, made Kanem too unstable and dangerous to remain the seat of power.

5. 5.

   The Nupe rulers, known as the Emir, exercised control through

   1. A
      Appointed district and village heads answerable to the Emir
      Correct
   2. B
      Hereditary lineage heads who paid no allegiance to the Emir
   3. C
      A council of elected village elders who ruled independently
   4. D
      Warrant chiefs installed directly by the colonial government
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   The Nupe kingdom adopted the emirate system after the 19th-century Fulani jihad, with the ruler taking the title Etsu (the Nupe equivalent of Emir).

6. 6.

   The Kanem-Borno Empire was one of the most powerful states in the Nigeria area during the 19th century. Its capital during this period was

   1. A
      Kukawa
      Correct
   2. B
      Dikwa
   3. C
      Ngazargamu
   4. D
      Njimi
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   By the 19th century, the old capital Ngazargamu had been abandoned after repeated Fulani jihadist attacks weakened it. Around 1814, Shehu Muhammad al-Kanemi, who had risen to save the Borno throne, established a new capital at Kukawa, and it remained the seat of the Kanem-Borno (Borno) Empire for the rest of the 19th century.

7. 7.

   One of the key factors that led to military intervention in Nigeria's First Republic was

   1. A
      The federal government's decision to relocate the capital from Lagos
   2. B
      Disagreement among regions over the location of the national assembly
   3. C
      The refusal of regional governments to adopt a common national currency
   4. D
      Rampant corruption and rigging of the disputed 1964/65 elections by politicians
      Correct
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: D

   The military intervened in Nigeria's First Republic in January 1966 mainly because civilian rule had been badly discredited by corruption and the massive rigging of the December 1964 federal election and the 1965 Western Region election. These disputed elections triggered violence (notably the "Operation Wetie" unrest in the Western Region), a collapse of public confidence in the politicians, and a breakdown of law and order that the army used as justification for seizing power.

8. 8.

   The primary aim of the Ekumeku Movement in the Asaba hinterland was to

   1. A
      To unite the Asaba hinterland communities under a single warrant chief system
   2. B
      To spread Christianity among the Igbo communities west of the Niger
   3. C
      To establish a trade monopoly over the palm produce trade with the Royal Niger Company
   4. D
      To resist British colonial occupation and preserve the independence of the Anioma communities
      Correct
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: D

   The Ekumeku Movement was a long guerrilla resistance (about 1883-1914) fought by the Anioma (Western Igbo) communities of the Asaba hinterland against the British.

9. 9.

   The British amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 was primarily motivated by

   1. A
      To reduce the cost of administration by merging the deficit-running Northern Protectorate with the financially buoyant South
      Correct
   2. B
      To unify the diverse ethnic groups of Nigeria into one nation
   3. C
      To curb the growing influence of French traders along the Nigerian coast
   4. D
      To prepare Nigeria for self-government and eventual independence
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   Before 1914, Nigeria was administered as two separate protectorates: the Northern Protectorate, which was poor and ran on an annual deficit, and the Southern Protectorate, which was financially buoyant because of trade in palm produce and other exports through the coastal ports.

10. 10.

    The apartheid policy of "separate development" was also known as

    1. A
       Bantustanisation
       Correct
    2. B
       Federalism
    3. C
       Indirect rule
    4. D
       Trusteeship
    Show answerHide answer

    Answer: A

    The apartheid regime in South Africa used the phrase "separate development" as an official, softer-sounding label for its policy of creating ethnic "homelands" (Bantustans) where Black South Africans were assigned citizenship, separate from "white" South Africa. This is why the policy became widely known as Bantustanisation — the correct answer.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

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Practise all 76 questions we hold from the 2024 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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