ABSTRACT
Looking at the Nigerian state one would see that it
harbours a variety of elements present the Hobbesian state of nature where
there is perpetual fear and strife, no laws, no authority, no sense of justice
or injustice and no sense of right or wrong. In the Hobbesian state of nature
force and fraud flourished with a general disposition to war of every man
against every man. In this state of nature self-interest was the rule of action
and people held on to whatever they could grab until a stronger man came and
snatched it from them. Life here was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
short”. Similar to the Hobbesian state of nature, the Nigeria state is one
where self interest and the spirit of corruption is the dominant rule - an
evident fact in the everyday living of Nigerians among political and public
office holders and even the commoner on the street. Lawlessness, fraud, armed
robbery, hired assassinations, political, religious and ethnic violence,
kidnaps, general insecurity of lives and properties causing perpetual fear and
strife and other stated issues in the Hobbesian state of nature are replicated
in the Nigerian state. They hold both individual and society to ransom owing to
their devastating effects and make progress and development a mirage. We are
still in a state of nature. Our task in this essay is a comparative analysis of
the Hobbesian state of nature vis-à-vis the Nigerian society. Our philosophical
lens will capture how these problems are replicated in the Nigerian society. We
shall attempt a critique and a panacea of issues here stated followed by the
conclusion.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
OF STUDY
The facts are clear, loud,
distinct, lucid and vivid. They are visible even to the blind, audible even to
the deaf and known to everyone and thing around us that the Nigerian state
several years after independence still harbours a varied number of elements
that existed prior to the setting up of a civil society as embodied in the
Hobbesian state of nature.
Antecedent to setting up an
organized state Hobbes avers that men lived in a society without laws,
authority and morality, no sense of right or wrong, justice or injustice. In it
self-interest was the order of the day; this resulted in struggles and conflict
making war prevalent among men who lived in perpetual danger and fear of death.
According to Hobbes “there was no permanent ownership of anything by anybody;
whatever anybody could grab was his own for as long as he was able to retain
it. A stronger man could come along and snatch it from him and it would become
his until another stronger man also snatches it from him”.1
This society had no progress, no development, no agriculture and no industry.
In it according to Hobbes, “the life of man was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish
and short”.
Likened to
the Nigerian situation, it calls to question the validity or strength of our
laws where we have a case of “complete erosion of our value system(s) such
that, corruption and other social vices have acquired the status of virtues and mediocrity has become a norm and legal
tender”2, where looters of public treasury with impunity walk freely
and are celebrated while a commoner with a far lesser degree of crime
languishes in detention – justice or injustice? A lot of other criminal acts
are being perpetrated daily and offenders with the backing of godfathers get
off the hooks without punishments. These expose the corruption and weakness of
our legal system and display a great degree of the immorality in our society.
Election rigging, exam malpractices, economic and financial crimes, prostitution
out of destitution and frustration, political thuggery, hired assassinations
and other societal vices confirm and depict the absence of morality in our
society.
Besides these, the Nigerian
state continues to struggle with ethno-religious, politico-economic and
socio-cultural realities of battles, pains and tears that are heart breaking.
These are indications of Hobbes’ state of war and insecurity which existed
among men in the state of nature and accounts for the collapsing
social-economic structural and apparent relative stagnation we face as a
nation. All these hinder societal progress, development and creation of more industries
because potential foreign investors see the Nigerian state as unsafe. What is
more? How else do we say that ours is an identical twin of the Hobbesian state
of nature? In terms that lack any form of ambiguity, I hold that that exactly
is what we have.
The issues mentioned above are
very striking and pose a lot of questions, thus making the need to answer the
questions raised and address issues therein an imperative. This is what this
essay has set out to tackle.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
It is an obvious fact that
Nigeria state is one that embodies a litany of problems which cover the areas
of economy, social, political, ethical, religious and otherwise. A critical
look at each of these problems would reveal that threads of similarities run
across all of them, namely selfishness or self-interest and corruption. The
element of self interest as it was in the Hobbesian state of nature, led to
strife and conflict which brought about a state of war of every one against
everyone. Following an ambivalence of interest, there is bound to be conflict
which leads to war and by extension insecurity.
Nigeria presently is not free
from these facts and as such one can say that these issues and others to be
exposed in this work are similar to what obtained in the Hobbesian state
of nature. Is this where we are supposed to be now as a country? How do we have
these issues eradicated to have a better Nigeria? Don’t we need a revolution to
move ahead? Which way Nigeria? How do we move forward from where we are? The
fact that these questions need answers and the need to redress the situation in
the Nigerian state which is still seen to be in the state of nature is what has
triggered off this essay.
1.3 PURPOSE
OF STUDY
In the light of the problems
enumerated above, this essay aims at taking a critical look at the practical
situations in the Nigerian state and how they replicate discouraging elements
of the Hobbesian state of nature with a view to advancing possible solutions to
combat them.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE
OF STUDY
This work is not just only a
comparative analysis of a philosophical postulation and a reality of life; it
is a critical philosophical look at the Nigerian state and the status quo. It
is going to expose the situation Nigeria has faced over the years and still
faces.
The research will be
significant because it is going to expose us to the need to eradicate of these
issues which are overlooked in our every day living and have come to be
accepted as ways of life. It is going to show the risks and dangers these issues
hold for posterity and finally, it is going to proffer possible solutions on
the way forward.
1.5 SCOPE
OF STUDY
The scope of this work lies in
its limitedness to the Hobbesian socio-political philosophy and how it relates
to the Nigerian situation.
This work is epistemological,
historical, anthropological and ethical. It is epistemological as it would
expose the notion of the Hobbesian state of nature and lay bare the situation
of the Nigerian state following a comprehensive and logical approach. On the
historical lane, it will survey the evolution of a civil society and also touch
areas in the Nigerian society that lie in the past. Anthropologically, it
studies man in society and from an ethical perspective looks at the morality,
immorality or even the amoral aspects of issues here discussed.
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Item Type: Project Material | Size: 123 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
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