TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement
of Problem………………………………………3
1.2
Purpose
of the Study………………………………….……5
1.3
Scope
of the Study………………………………………....6
1.4
Methodology……………………………………………….7
1.5
Literature
Review …………………………………………8
CHAPTER
TWO
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
2.1 General notion of justice………………………………….11
2.2 Justice
in John Rawls……………………………………….14
2.2.1 The Background of John Rawls ……………...14
2.2.2 Justice as Fairness…………………………..…16
2.2.3 The
two Principles of Justice……………….18
2.2.4 Fair
Equality of Opportunity and Pure Procedural Justice…21
2.2.5 Civil
Disobedience……………………………….23
CHAPTER THREE
NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY
1.1 The
concept of democracy ………………………...25
1.2 Democracy
in Nigeria ……………………………….30
3.2.1 Major
Features and Flaws of Nigerian Democracy ……..34
3.2.2 Nigerian Leadership style…………………………….37
3.2.3 Fundamental Human Rights………………….39
3.2.4 Share of Resources………………………………...43
CHAPTER
FOUR
NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY VIS-À-VIS RAWLS’ CONCEPT OF JUSTICE
4.1 Fairness……………………………………………………45
4.2 Individual’s
Rights…………………………………..47
4.3
Equitable
distribution of Resources…………52
CHAPTER
FIVE
CRITICAL EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1
Critical
Evaluation..……………………………….…..54
5.2
Conclusion………………………………………………..58
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………60
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Man, says Aristotle, is by nature a
political animal. This implies that man
is naturally inclined to live in a political society. Joseph Omoregbe aptly captures this idea when he says that no
one can rightly claim to be independent of the society, because no man is an
island. To buttress these points, Aristotle maintained that: “he who is unable to live in a society or who
has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a
god.”
This is to say that man is a social
being by nature. Thus, man identifies and associates with his fellow man and
the society in which he lives. More so, man as a member of the human society
has been endowed with some fundamental human rights. Hence, it is the duty of justice to get their
rights protected and ensure a peaceful co-existence of man in the society he
lives.
Justice is
something essential to a society, for right is both the basis of the political
association and the criterion for deciding what is just. This is because where
justice fails to reign, man will face the difficulties in life; he cannot again
attain the goal of life. The rich gets
richer while the poor gets poorer, power becomes might; and there will be a
survival of the fittest. These above
facts however, are evident in the case of Nigeria. Our polity is devoid of justice, and as a
result, we are living in a corrupt and unjust society. Those at the corridors of power have
completely lost the sense of justice in piloting the affairs of the public.
They pursue their selfish interest and make conflicting claims on public
resources, which most often lead to economic hardship and violation of human
rights. This situation therefore, calls
for an urgent and lasting solution which could definitely assist in the
restoration of justice into Nigerian democratic government.
As it could be
noticed right from the ancient era, philosophers and social theorists equally
uphold this view that justice is a virtue, which is pertinent or dialectically
related to moral conduct. And in line with this thought, Rawls had to say this,
Justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is
made right by a greater good shared by others.
It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by
the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many.
That is to say that end does
not justify the means. So, the investigation into the social significance of
justice in Nigeria democratic system is our guiding spirit.
1.1
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
History
indicates that right from the ancient times to the contemporary period, justice
has been regarded as one of the cardinal virtues which man as a political
animal makes quixotic effort to establish in the society he lives. Thus, justice is the ultimate goal of
political life, but experience has shown us that it is injustice that dominates
political debate. The reason is that it
is easier to identify and deplore injustice than define precisely what is
lacking in an unjust political society or what an ideally just political
society might be like. This however, is
the kind of predicament John Rawls sees in modern period, where moral thought
and the means of assessing moral behaviour are dominated by utilitarianism.
Those who set out, according to him to criticize it often did so, on much
narrower front. They pointed out the
obscurities of the principle of utility and noted apparent incongruities
between many of its implications and our moral sentiments. But they failed to construct a workable and
systematic moral conception of justice to oppose it. In reacting to this, Rawls had to develop the
concept of justice in which he wanted to work out certain principles that will
provide a reasonably systematic alternative to utilitarian conception of
justice. The principles he developed
dwell strongly on the constant way of equal distribution of wealth and division
of benefits and burdens resulting from social cooperation in well-ordered
society. Similarly, in Nigerian
democratic government today, I think it could be an obligation if not
indispensable task to seek social justice, where the political elites in the
country have completely lost the sense of justice in piloting public affairs
and engaged constantly in violation of human rights and injustice.
And to do that
however, the Rawlsian concept of social justice should be our stepping stone
through which we shall endeavor to restore justice economically, socially and
politically in Nigeria.
1.2
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
A nation as a
political society is fundamentally characterized by association of human beings
working together for common good and possessing adequate means for attaining
it. Nigeria is a typical political
society but seriously lacks the quality of a good political society. The national peace is threatened by
self-interest at all levels of the society.
Caught in the grip of Nigerian systems of government, leaders and
various sectors in government are led to pursue their particular aims and
ambitious of power, progress and wealth, without taking sufficiently into
account the necessity and duty of national solidarity and co-operation for
benefit of the common good of all people who make up the human society.
However, the
fundamental task or purpose of this research work is to expose the principles of
justice as fairness in Rawls and then to extract its relevance and apply it
accordingly for the restoration of justice in Nigerian democratic system. Thus, the summit of our task is how best
could these principles of social justice in Rawls help in salvaging the
decadent, dilapidating and wounded Nigerian society.
1.3
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
IT is believed
that all humans as social being cling to justice in some kinds or another, but
the difference is in the application of the concept of justice. But it is required that justice as a virtue
should be interpreted in terms of goodness in human society. In line with these thoughts, Rawls affirms
that “injustice, then, is simply inequalities that are not to the benefit of
all.”
Thus, our concentration in this work dwells specifically on Rawls notion
of justice as fairness and its relevance to Nigerian democratic
government. We shall therefore, rely so
much on his famous work, A Theory of
Justice as our primary source in this research work.
1.4
METHODOLOGY
The method will
be more of analytical and expository in approach. Our primary and specific aim is to analyze
critically the primary aim of Rawls, why he decided to invent and develop the
principles of justice as fairness. After
that, we shall carefully and adequately place them side by side with Nigerian
democratic government, to find out the difference and similarities between the
principles, and then to incorporate the good aspects of the principles into the
Nigerian democratic system. In general,
the work is to be divided into five chapters. Chapter one will be the
introduction, methodological consideration and literature review. The second chapter, will expose the general
notion of justice, and examine the background of Rawls and some key principles
of his notion of justice. Consequently,
the analysis of the concept of democracy and Nigerian democracy should be taken
care of in chapter three. In chapter
four, the exposition and examination of Rawls’ principles of justice and the
social implication of it to Nigerian democracy takes place. Finally, the last chapter will be the
critical evaluation and conclusion.
1.5
LITERATURE REVIEW.
Our overriding
aim in this brief literature survey is to explore and examine how some
philosophers conceive the concept of justice.
Their notions
will be considered with the aim of affirming justice as an important virtue in
Nigerian democracy. In his famous work, the Republic, Plato states
that justice regulates and equilibrates other virtues. Thus, he noted also in his Republic that:
Justice is so great a good that anyone who fully
possesses it is better off, even in the midst of severe misfortune, than a
consummately unjust person who enjoys the social rewards usually received by
the just.
Plato, just like
John Rawls emphasizes justice as the virtue which one must make effort to
attain even in the midst of hardship since it appears in human life as
important as truth is of systems of thought.
Thomas Aquinas
on his own part views justice as “a virtue in a person, is a habit by which a
man has the constant and perpetual will to render to everyone what is due to
him. Justice is the virtue, which
observes the right of all.” From Aquinas’ views above it is quite clear
that he advocates the equality of citizens by giving them what is their due,
which perfectly defines man as an end and not a means as some individuals
think.
Augustine in his
contribution to sustain justice in human society, accepted the formula that
said “Justice is virtue distributing to everyone his due.”
But, he asked what is “due” to anyone? He rejected the notion that justice is
conventional, that it will differ with each society. For him, justice is to be discovered in the
structure of human nature with its relation to God. Hence, he said justice is “the habit of the
soul which imparts to every man the dignity due to him.”
Consequently,
Augustine shared the same view with Rawls when he (Rawls) said: “justice is the
first virtue of social institution, as truth is of systems of thought”.
Therefore, the notion
of justice is based on the fundamental equality of all men. In other words, all men are fundamentally
equal, and as such they should also be treated as equals. To treat them unequally is injustice.
Finally, it is
pertinent and significant to note that each of these views of philosophers is
dialectical related to Rawlsian notion of justice. Therefore, to employ the above principles
into Nigeria democratic government, will be the preoccupation of the subsequent
chapters.
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