12/10/2022
SOCIAL CONTRACT AND THE PEOPLE OF NIGERIA.
Man was born in a state of nature where there were no criteria of right and wrong; In that state anarchy reigns supreme, it was a free for all kind of an animalistic living. This situation and condition make life very harsh, solitary, brutal, war-like and short. According to Thomas Hobbes, the Leviathan, 1651. John Locke in the second of the two treaties of Government, 1650 and Jean Jacques Rousseau in discourse on the origin of inequality, 1755; though with little differences of opinion, all agree that for man to escape the state of nature man must enter into a civil Society where man will be governed by the sovereign. This sovereign shall be elected or chosen by the people to represent and govern them through laws which will spell out the rights and duties on one hand and the duties of the sovereign on the other hand. What makes the civil society different from the state of nature is an organized government that recognizes and protect the citizen from the oppression of herself and from the oppression and injustice of every citizen on another.
PERSONAL SACRIFICE
Evidently, through this procedure of governance, there is a contract with those chosen by the people to make law to protect and govern them and the people that choose them. This contract of representation which is the bedrock of Democracy is termed SOCIAL CONTRACT. The life-wire of this arrangement that enliven the contract is sacrifice; sacrifice in the sense of the readiness of the citizen to sacrifice some of their rights to the sovereign in exchange for some duties to be performed by the sovereign to the citizen. A kind of quid proquo agreement where each party are benefits equally. It needs to be mentioned that this equality has its limitation and can be circumscribed by the sovereign to the extent of perming her duties to the citizen.
The power to override the rights of the citizen in deserving circumstances shall not be used arbitrarily by the government and if the sovereign uses the power arbitrarily to violate the rights of the citizen the citizen shall also have the rights to ventilate his grievances against such act of the sovereign in an impartial institution. For example, in trying to protect the entire country from an outbreak of disease the government can restrict the right to liberty of the citizen, so also, the government can restrict movement of the citizen in times of insurrection. In trying to protect the right of a private citizen the sovereign has the power to curtail the rights of another citizen. All these are made possible by the sovereign or the government through the willing sacrifice of the citizen under the social contract agreement.
For the government to meet up with her own duty to the citizen the personal sacrifices are not enough, every citizen must be prepared to sacrifice economically.
ECONOMIC SACRIFICE AND ITS IMPLICATION
Good roads network, standard security architecture with swift response, Standard health Care facilities, Standard education from Primary to tertiary and other social amenities are the things the citizen expects from the sovereign but these things don’t come cheap. This is where tax comes in. For the citizen to enjoy premium protection, premium health provision, standard education and other premium social amenities provisions the citizen must be ready to pay for or buy it, hence the importance of tax. Ordinarily, tax deduction either at source of payment or from every one’s account ought to be illegal and every citizen ought to bring an action against the government for stealing but this is justified under social contract. It is through this various tax payment imposed by the government and the cumulation of the deduction that enables every citizen buy his own portion of good life.
Apart from the direct contribution through tax deduction there is also and indirect contribution by every citizen through which government makes money. This indirect contribution are monies made from vast natural resources in the country through which Government makes money. The direct contribution by the citizen through tax and the indirect contribution through tapping and making money from our natural resources by makes every citizen a partner in the business of governance. The Provision of social amenities by the government vis a vis, good roads, good pipe born water, constant electricity, good health care, subsidization of some commodities are the duties of the government owe the citizen for various sacrifices of the citizen. All these duties owed the citizens are not privileges but rights of every citizen who is a stakeholder and a partner in the business of governance. In fact, under the concept of social contract, the sovereign or Governments official are the employee of the citizen not the masters.
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY AND NIGERIA DEMOCARCY
Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 and up till date, Nigeria still practices democracy. Just like every nation democracy, Nigerian’s democracy is enshrined in the principle of social contract. This contract of representation is put into effect every four-four years of our democracy life. This principle presupposes that the government isn’t the master of the citizen, neither is the citizen the master of the government/ sovereign, both are equal partners in the business of governance
Regrettably, and as a result of ignorance of the Social Contract theory some Nigerians has turned the government at various levels into a deity for simply doing what the duties of their offices require them to do. This ignoramus behavior isn’t limited to the unlettered but also to those who pride themselves as being educated. By the nature of the contract every government official elected to represent the people is expected to pay back the personal and economic sacrifice of the citizen by making the life of those that chose them for representation better. What better way is to make their life blissful other than the provision of adequate security, good health care, good road networks et al.
Security is the most important because lack of it means the citizen sacrifice of their rights is to no effect. Life in a civil society is expected to be better and different to that in the state of Nature. If life in a civil society is worse or the same as that in the state of nature then the government has failed the people. Apart from the innumerable rights sacrificed by the people, they are also the ones bankrolling the government to provide the good life. Why then do the people praise or turn elected President, Governors, Senators, Local Government Chairmen to god? No one elects a governor to go and sleep, chat, eats, and play in the office for 4 years. That office requires him to perform some duties, the performance of such duty isn’t a favor to the people but their rights. The Reasons why many of the citizens in Nigeria turn elected official into an object of worship isn’t as a result of ignorance alone but because of poverty.
MATERIALL AND MENTAL POVERTY
Poverty takes away human dignity. Poverty is a weapon that robs man of his self-worth and dignity. There are two types of Poverty; material poverty and mental poverty. I must note that, It is possible to be materially poor and mentally rich; also, it is possible to be materially rich and be mentally poor and it is also possible for a man to suffer from both diseases. The likelihood of being materially poor and mentally poor is higher and the government understands the direct link, that is the reason for weaponizing poverty against Nigerians. Once man loses his dignity, he has no sense of self-worth. If a person that deserve so much is starved of the thing he deserves for a very long time and is latter given little of that, he will be so joyous that he will turn those who he ought to take as his tormentor as his benefactor.
A vivid example of this is the aspect of electricity distribution in Nigeria. When the company saddled with the distributing electricity in country starve the populace or supply the electricity irregularly and then decided to leave it for some hours and then take it again, it is very common to hear people saying “ha!! they tried oh” can we see the direct link between material poverty and mental poverty. The government is waging a psychological warfare against the citizen, the target is our dignity and self-worth while the choice of their weapon is poverty. The earlier we understand this is the moment we shall start to demand the quantum of duty commiserate to our Sacrifice under the Social Contract agreement.
I am not against showing appreciation for a job well done but I detest when we start to turn elected officials into a deity for doing what they are constitutionally burdened to do. No one turns his auto-Mechanic or tailor into a deity for doing a fixing his car or cloth by going to his office every day to praise him.
