Lockean Social Contract Theory and Insecurity in Nigeria, 2015 – 2023

This study is the theoretical application and examination of character and incidence of insecurity in Nigeria from 1999 to 2023 in the light of John Locke’s Social Contract theory. Insecurity has unquestionably generated intolerable levels of fear, anxiety, hopelessness and powerlessness in Nigeria. Consequently, insecurity in Nigeria has become so widespread and has taken so many lives on the daily basis. It then follows that something is wrong with our security affairs and also with the state called Nigeria which is contrary to the position of Lockean Social contract theory that the provision of state security is essential for cementing the state-society relationship. Against this backdrop, the objective of this study is to examine Lockean Social contract theory and insecurity in Nigeria with a reference to Buhari’s administration, 2015–2023, and the implication of the high level of insecurity witnessed during the period on the standard of living of the citizens. The methodology used is qualitative research through secondary method of data collection from books, academic journals, government publications, newspapers and magazines and web-based materials, among others. Content analysis was employed to analyze the data. Theoretically, the study adopted the Lockean Social contract theory as its framework of analysis. The study finds that the problem with Nigeria is that of failed leadership factor. Social contract visibly in periodic elections predicates on protection and preservation of human lives and properties; but consistent absence of this expectation in Nigerian state shows that successive governments have no regard for this contract. Instead, these governments engage in policies and governance that foster their personal aggrandizement and threaten human lives, properties and survival. This work will help in re-emphasizing and fostering ways by which the problem of insecurity can be addressed even with the regrettably number of lives that have been lost. Finally, the research recommends that; if the country is to progress from this ‘state of war’ in which it finds itself, then the state must be ready to reinvent/renegotiate the contract terms of this union.