General Introduction

With a critical and well founded and established fact built and accumulated over the
years, it has been established that man has always found ways to stay and live amongst
other beings which includes animates and inanimate objects. This call of man to live among
other being especially amongst fellow humans has made man to seek different ways and
options through which existence may be possible even with the presence of some
ontological attributes of man which might make communal living difficult.
Although man is a being among beings, man tends to create avenue like society,
politics, and state, so as to enhance the mutual existence and living together of different
individuals. On this note, man wishes to delve into discussion which will further help man
to live together in societies and also help to organize the society. Hence, man have
embarked on discussing issues like this from the Ancient era till date with philosophers like
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Aquinas,
Augustine of Hippo etc, as an established reference point.
Hence, in this work, we shall make an appraisal of Plato’s Theory of Justice and its
relevance in the political sphere of Nigeria today. We shall view justice as a virtue of man
which should be encouraged and advocated for in the Nigerian political system. Pointing
out some of our problem in today Nigeria, it would not be out of place to strictly opine that,
justice is lacking in the state in a general sense, and also in the political arena.
However, In Plato’s work titled “The Republic”, which is our primary source in this
research, there is a contrast built on opposition between the just and unjust life, rationality
and appetite, necessary and unnecessary appetites and evolution and devolution of political
and psychological constitutions among others.1
0.1. Background of the Study
One of the bases of Plato’s theory of justice as a virtue of man was built on the
opposition of the just and unjust life.2 Plato’s ultimate goal in Books II and IV of “The
Republic “ is to discover what justice is in an individual soul , or psyche rather than what it
is in a city or polis.3
1
. Kenneth Dorter, The Transformation of Plato’s Republic, (lanham: Rowman & Littlefield publishers,
2006), 1.
2
. Dorter, The Transformation of Plato’s Republic, 1.
3
. Blackwell companion to philosophy, A Companion to Plato ,ed. Hugh H. Benson, (Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing, 2006), 343.

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 Hence, it is evident that in the world today, there exist a lot of injustices,
inequalities and insecurity which currently affects the wellbeing and life span of the human
person. In every corner and segment of the society today, discussions have always focused
on how the present world can build a workable political order in which justice will rule.
However, the unattended question remains: what does political order mean? What does
justice mean and how can injustice exist in politics? If justice is considered to be a virtue of
man-in-politics, to what degree is it necessary? These are some of the questions we shall
attempt to answer in this work.
Therefore, Nigeria as the sole focus of this work, cannot but accept that she has
been diagnosed with the aforementioned illnesses and she needs to be treated so as to
enable her healthy existence. So, within the context of this discussion, it is necessary to
arose hope to the hopeless, to draw an invitation for metanoia through a method of self-
change and sanctification of our political space.
0.2. Statement of the Problem
In a quest to justapose between the problem and the issue of justice, one has to
outline the political issues facing Nigeria today. In this light, it is justifiable to pick out
issues like, poverty, corruption, tribalism or in a broad sense marginalization, religion,
colonization and neo-colonization to mention but these few issues and problems whether
directly or indirectly. This work is a clarion call on all Nigerians to aim at obtaining justice,
equity, and fairness in the state by emulating or making reference to the idea of justice
postulated by Plato who was an ancient philosopher.
0.3. Objective of the Study
Building upon the aforementioned problems, this thesis aims at making the
following contributions:
a) Creating awareness on the issues ravaging the Nigerian political system and proposing
the idea of justice according to Plato as a panacea to the issues on ground.
b) To explore Plato’s concept of justice as a virtue of man and also his idea of political
justice and how it could be relevant in the Nigeria political setting.
0.4. Scope of Study
Taking cognizance of Plato’s vast contribution in the field of philosophy, the study
is limited to his theory of justice which is well stipulated in his Book II and IV of The

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 Republic. Hence, we shall also make reference to other authors who have also worked in
accordance with the ideas of Plato especially his theory of justice. It is important to note
that in this work, both criticisms and appraisals will be put into consideration. Therefore,
contributing by seeking to implement and discuss how relevant it may be to our political
system in Nigeria.
0.5. Methodology of Research
The method used in this research is simply expository with a critical conceptual
analysis of concepts which is key to this research. The thesis is divided three chapters with
each chapter designed in a way that it scientifically addresses different topics. The first
chapter explicitly describes the concept of justice in an historic manner beginning with the
ancient period to the contemporary period. While in chapter two, we discussed Plato’s ideal
state theory and his idea of leadership. Lastly, in chapter three we sort to see how Plato’s
idea of justice is relevant to the Politics in Nigeria and how man can be just .
0.6. Relevance of Study
With a critical thought and meditation on all the happenings in Nigeria today
especially in the political sphere, one could categorically imply that justice is far-fetched .
In other to be prudent with language we could infer from all indication that if an atom of
justice was present in Nigeria politics, then most of the issues we would be discussing in
this work would not exist or would seize to exist.
Therefore, from the above premises, it is crystal clear that justice is needed in the
politics of Nigeria. In this light, we will need to understand that even though the idea of
justice according to Plato is founded in the ancient society , it is still very relevant
today in our system and our country Nigeria because I am convinced that Nigeria political
system could be revived simply with the advent , practice , and implementation of justice.

0.7. Life and Works of Plato

Plato was a great philosopher whose leading thought was the world of ideas. “Plato
was born in 427BC to aristocratic family”. 4 As a matter of fact, both his mother and
father’s genealogy springs up from the aristocratic family. His father was in the lineage of
4
. Nicholas Pappias, Routledge Philosophical Guide Book to Plato and The Republic, (New York:
Routledge, 1995), 3.

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 king Codrus, and the mother of Solon.5 History has it that the real name of Plato was
Aristotle, the name “Plato” was a nickname given to him because of the seize of his
forehead or shoulder or in honor of his grandfather who bore the same name. At the age of
twenty, he became a student of Socrates whose teachings Plato kept alive.6
After the death of Socrates, Plato stayed in Athens, devoting himself to teaching
philosophy and science. He was out of Athens only for philosophical reasons. He went to
Italy and Sicily where he got into trouble with the family tyrant of Syracuse. For this
reason, he was sold as a slave but thanks to his friend Aniceris, Plato was ransomed. 7
Returning to Athens at the age of forty, he established his school called the Academy
which is considered the first institution of higher learning in the western world. 8 The chief
aim of the academy was to pursue scientific knowledge though original research. Plato was
particularly concerned with the education of future political leaders. He was convinced that
their education must consist of rigorous intellectual activity, by which he meant scientific
study including mathematics, astronomy, and harmony.9
As for his works, Plato was prolific writer. Most of his works are written in
dialogue form. In his dialogues, there is a main speaker who establishes the topic of
discussion and presides over it. However, Plato never presented himself as a participant in
any of the dialogues, instead he presented Socrates as the main speaker and the Socratic
work and the second group of dialogue with the exception of Parmenides.10
It is generally accepted that Plato’s works is very effective in all areas of
philosophy to the extent that one notable philosopher, A.N. Whitehead argues that
subsequent works in philosophy after Plato are just footnotes to his work. 11 Platonic
writings consist of thirty-five dialogues and thirteen letters, even so, not all of them are
now considered genuine. Moreover, all platonic dialogues refer more or less directly to the
political question. However, among the dialogues, three are dedicated to political

5
. Composta Dario, History of Ancient Philosophy, (Bangalore: Theological Publications, 1990), 146.
6
. Dario, History of Ancient Philosophy, 146.
7
. Ignatius Yarza, History of Ancient Philosophy, Trans. Santos Ceaser, (Manila: Sinag-Tala Publishers,
1994), 81.
8
. Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Philosophy, History and Problems, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994), 49.
9
. Stumpf, Philosophy, History and Problems, 50.
10
. John M. Cooper, Plato, Complete Works, (Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997), 7.
11
. Cooper, Plato, Complete Works, 7-8.

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 philosophy, namely: The Republic, The State Man and The Laws. It is iun this three works
that we have access to Plato’s political teaching.12
0.8. Clarification of Concepts
In this research, there are some concepts which are key in the materialization or the
bringing to a meaningful understanding of this work; some of these concepts include:
Politics, justice, virtue, state etc. The clarification of these concept is needed in this
research so as to lay bare the “how” and “why” with regards to the usage in the research.
0.8.1. Politics
The concept politics has been in existence since man was known to live together in
community with a shared sense of responsibility towards one another and task of
responsibility with regard to how the day to day activity of the community is been ran.
The first known use of the term politics was Circa 1529,13 but the etymology of the
word could be traced as far back as the ancient era in the time of Aristotle. This depicts
that, the term politics is from the Greek term Politika which means “affair of the state”. In
the mid 15th century, Aristotle’s composition would be rendered in early modern English as
“Polethiques” which will be translated to “Politics” in modern English.14 The traditional
modern understanding of politics is “politics is the act of science of government”, the act or
science concerned with guiding or influencing government policies.15
In this work, the meaning of politics as a concept will connote a deeper meaning as
it will not only emphasize politics as the activity of the government or any governing body
but the activity of man in general because studies have shown that everything man does is
political. hence, we shall delve into its ontological and intrinsic ineptness in man and how
man can through his ontological goodness, practice politics in a way that is for his own
benefit and benefit of others because man cannot live in isolation.
0.8.2. Justice

12
. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, History of Political Philosophy, 3rd ed., (London: University of
Chicago Press, 1987), 33.
13
.“The meaning and Etymology of Politics”, Marriam-webster Dictionary, accessed 4th December 2022.
10:16pm https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politics
14
. Leftwich Adrain, What is Politics?: The Activity and its Study, (New York: Polity Press, 2015), 6.
15
. Adrain, What is Politics?: The Activity and its Study, 6.

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 The term “Justice” is from the old French word “Jostise” meaning “legal rights ,
jurisdiction ’’ and from the latin word “lustitia” meaning “righteousness , equity”.16
In order words, justices is also derived from the Latin term ‘‘Jus’’ which is defined in
dictionaries as ‘‘right’’. Although the idea of justice has been debated for thousands of
years, justice is a concept that applies only to other human actions. The question of justice
and Injustice only arises when there are multiple Individuals and some practical
considerations regarding their situations and or interactions with one another. That is,
respect for individual rights that provide the foundation for a free society.17
0.8.3. Virtue
Virtue is the quality of being morally good. The word Virtue has its origin from the
Latin root word ‘‘Vir’’ meaning man. In its Initial usage, Virtue meant manliness or valor,
but over time, it changed to become what we associate it to be today. That is, in the sense
of moral excellence. It also has its origin from the middle English word “Vertu,Virtu”,
which is from Anglo French.18
After the mythical period, man began to use more of reason, the Ionian
philosophers dwelled more in the aspect of cosmology because they were majorly
preoccupied with issues concerning the cosmos. It was only with the advent of Socrates and
some great thinkers and philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, and those after them that the
attention was shifted to man. At this time questions about how man should live his life
began to arise. Hence, the issue of Virtue which led philosophers like Plato to posit that a
virtuous man is one who possesses the virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation and
justice.19

16
. Jason Boatright, “Meaning and Etymology of Justice” The History, Meaning, and use of the Word
Justice and Judge. St. Mary’s Law Journal, 5. No. 3 (2018): 8. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-
law-and-religion/article/abs/john-locke-justice-and-the-social-compact/76EF3A420209CFE1781C1EB70B3FE486
17
. Dr. Edward Younkins, Justice in a free Society, (New York: Liberty Free Press, 2000), accessed 6th
December 2022, http://www.quebecoislibre.org/younkins27.htm
18
. “Meaning and Etymology of Virtue”, accessed 6th December 2022,
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/virtue
19
. “Meaning, Origin, and Etymology of Virtue”, Marriam Webster Dictionary accessed 6th December,
2022, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virtue