THE BUHARI ADMINISTRATION AND THE MISCARRIAGE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social justice is the fair and just relation between the individual and society. This is measured in terms of wealth distribution, opportunities for personal activity and social privileges. In Western as well as in older Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fulfill their societal roles and receive what was their due from society.  In the current global grassroots movements for social justice, the emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets and economic justice.

The concept of social justice became embedded in international law and institutions since the 20^th century. Thus the preamble to the International Labour Organization treaty recalled that "universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice." In the later 20th century, social justice was made central to the philosophy of the social contract, primarily by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice (1971).

Nigeria is currently at the lowest ebb of social justice what with the situation of untold human suffering engendered by socio-economic and political crisis. The government of President Buhari that promised change has inflicted monumental hardship on Nigerians. While the government pretends to fight corruption, it adopts a grossly corrupt procedure in doing so by conducting the fight in a slipshod, skewed, lopsided, and dishonest fashion. To start with, the government of Buhari in making appointments into key government positions sacrificed integrity, merit and inclusivity on the altars of nepotism, tribalism and hollow religiosity. Some of these political appointees are tainted with allegations of corrupt political or public service pedigree, but because they enjoy the sympathy of the president, it seems they have been absolved of their sinful past. A large majority of these political appointees were found worthy of the offices they occupy by virtue of their relationship with the President or simply because they are Fulani and/or muslims. This wanton disregard of the diversity and federal character of the country in making appointments savors of gross impunity, and is in itself the worst form of corruption.

Disregard of the principles of meritocracy and inclusivity in government is discriminatory and constitutes a crass derogation from the dictates of social justice. When injustice is thus enthroned in a government, one of the inevitable results or consequences is public disaffection with the government, which manifests in the form of public rebellion or rampant criticism of the government. If the government, in the face of public rebellion, protest and criticism of its modus operandi reverses its course and makes amend, then it is a listening government; but a government that remains adamant and perseveres in it voyage of injustice is a recidivist government doomed to failure. Unfortunately, the Buhari administration has so far not shown any inclination to listen to the strident cry of many Nigerians especially from the south east and south south of the country. There seems to be a deliberate ploy to subjugate and marginalize the people of these parts of the country apparently because they largely did not vote for President Buhari during the 2015 election or for whatever reason best known to the President.

The seeming focus of the president in achieving an Islamic agenda rather than focusing on the transformation of the economy and unification of the country is progressively aggravating the hardship of the Nigerian people. Unemployment is currently at its highest level in the history of the country; the few available vacancies in public service are automatically filled by muslims, especially from the President’s Fulani tribe. Abject poverty is pervasive, hunger is ubiquitous, and the incidence of human mortality occasioned by hunger and lack of good health care is alarming. The education sector is near comatose, electric power supply is in an epileptic state, public service is ineffective and dysfunctional, and public infrastructure are in moribund conditions. All these because government has failed to broadmindedly assemble a community of experts, widely picked from across the country, to tinker with the challenges of the country and restore it to the path of peace and development. Instead the government is obsessed with a myopic scheme of promoting Islamic supremacy. This neo-colonialism agenda is the height of social injustice.

Government must therefore understand that the wave of conflict and rebellion in the country is directly connected with the monumental level of social injustice in the country. The quest for self determination by groups such as IPOB, MASSOB, MEND and NDA is in exercise of the right to self determination by a people who feel discontented with the way the affairs of government is run – with a perception that they are sidelined, marginalized, subjugated and oppressed by the government. Article 20 (1) & (2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights provide that: “all peoples shall have the right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination. They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen. Colonized or oppressed peoples shall have the right to free themselves from the bonds of domination by resorting to any means recognized by the international community.”

It is therefore a wrong way to go by attempting to use force to put down expressions of disaffection and quest for self determination. The true solution lies in changing the discriminatory and oppressive attitude of government and promoting the principles of equal treatment, equal participation and equal distribution of state resources, which are the components of the doctrine of social justice.

Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people. ‘The people’ is always understood in the sense of a majority of the people. So, when a government comes into power, it means that the generality of the people have brought the government into place by a function of their majority. That government must therefore be for the generality of the people. A government that purports to favour a section of the people because most of the votes that brought it into power came from that section has failed in its democratic mandate to work for the collective and common good of the entire citizenry. In that scenario, the government runs the risk of losing its legitimacy for failure to uphold its own side of the bargain in the social contract by virtue of which it is entrusted with the State power and authority.

Social contract is the common agreement of a people, one with another, to vest the powers and authority, which ordinarily reside in the people, on an elected person or persons, in whom are reposed the collective confidence for a just and fair use of such power and authority for the common wellbeing of the generality of the people. The idea of social contract is premised on the need to avoid anarchy and chaos, and to enthrone law and order in a society built on the rule of law.

Derogation from the social contract results in failure of social justice. When elected officials begin to abuse public power and authority, they betray the confidence reposed on them as a consequence of the social contract – they therefore lose legitimacy and thus open a window for public rebellion, which predispose society to violent crimes, mass disobedience to laws and internal conflicts.

Therefore, to abate the socio-economic and political crisis in the country, and to promote peace, unity, development, prosperity and progress of Nigeria, the Buhari administration must immediately enthrone social justice in the country, by reversing the trend of nepotism and tribalism, and eschewing any form of bitterness or hatred against any segment of the country. Inclusivity, non-discrimination, due process, transparency and adherence to the rule of law must be wholeheartedly embraced and strictly enforced as panacea for a peaceful nation founded on social justice.

By: Barr. Francis Chigozie Moneke, LLM (London)

Executive Director: Human Rights & Empowerment Project Ltd/Gte (HREP).

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