Philosophy, Justice and the Re-Making of the Nigerian Nation

Abstract

  This paper is in pursuit of a new Nigeria. The Re-making of Nigeria demands critical and creative thinking which must be built on the throne of justice. This work appeals to the concept of justice in John Rawls as a tool of analysis for the re-making of Nigeria. Primarily, justice according to Rawls, is the basic structure of the society in which major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social co-operation. For the re-making of Nigeria, John Rawls' theory of justice should be given pride of place to eschew ethnicity, tribalism, illiteracy, poverty, sectionalism, corruption, poor economic growth, poor educational system and other ills ravaging the nation. This paper calls for a new constitution for Nigeria predicated upon Rawls principles of justice and values of liberal democracy. The analytical method of research has been employed for this article. It is revealed by the research that the problem of Nigeria is the absence of justice in governance. If justice is enthroned in Nigeria, there will be political equality, economic advancement and social transformation leading to the rebirth of a new nation.