THE SOCIAL CONTRACT AND THE CRISIS OF GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA: A ROUSSEAUIAN ANALYSIS OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND STATE LEGITIMACY

Abstract

Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. Since then, the country has faced unresolved political challenges, particularly endemic corruption, limited civic participation and the problem of political legitimacy. These challenges are largely rooted in political corruption and crisis of leadership succession often orchestrated by the country’s political elite have fostered widespread apathy among citizens. There is therefore tension between civic responsibilities and political authority especially regarding how the state reflects the collective will of the people. Deploying Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s social contract theory as its theoretical framework, the study deploys the documentary method of data collection and hermeneutics analysis to explore how political corruption and weak civic participation undermine the legitimacy of the Nigerian state. According to Rousseau, legitimate authority does not only derives from the consent of the governed and but more importantly, on its continual alignment with the general will. In order words, any state that neglect the aspiration of its citizens or undermine their political participation faces fundamental crisis of legitimacy. Applying this Rousseau’s insight to the Nigerian context, the study argues that governance in the country is punctuated by systemic disconnect between the ruling class and the populace resulting in persistent legitimacy crisis and political apathy. Based on this, the paper recommends the reconstruction of Nigeria’s social contract through deliberate efforts toward participatory governance, civic reorientation, and institutional accountability. It concludes that such reform are essential for restoring public trust and accelerating Nigeria’s democratic consolidation legitimacy as the hallmark of liberal democracy