Social injustice, corruption and Nigeria’s national security quest: A theoretical discourse

Abstract

While across known histories of societies the human societies had always developed within the confines of their limits of social justice, the security or otherwise of societies had always been directly proportional to their level of social justice. Invariably, this implies the higher the acceptance and recognition of the need for social justice by a society, the higher the society’s chances for national security. Social justice has thus proven to be a critical sine qua non for an egalitarian and a just society where equity, selflessness and equitable distribution of resources reign. However, the lack and deliberate emasculation of social justice within the society by the state and/or its machineries has over time, consequentially, informed a pathological situation; a situation where, due to the absence or deliberate neglect of the need for social justice in the accumulation of wealth, distribution of wealth and resources as well as social, economic and political relationships amongst the people, the rich are becoming richer whilst the less privileged are becoming more disadvantaged. The social implication and effect of this social pathology is the impulse by the rich or the privileged to see and use corruption to accumulate more wealth, resources and power in unjust social, economic and political exchanges in their bid to maintain the unjust socio-economic and political systems, whilst the poor and the less privileged tend to see and use corruption as a leveller and means to accumulating their own share of the societal wealth, resources and power. The corrupt environment created by social injustice is therefore antithetical to any country’s quest for national security. This is chiefly because national security objectives and corruption are two parallel lines that cannot and have never met. This article therefore argues that social justice backed by egalitarian and equitable distribution of wealth, resources and social services by the government would bring about a corrupt-free society where insecurity would be minimised and reduced to the barest minimum. Keywords: Social injustice, corruption, insecurity, Nigeria’s National Security, Nigeria.

Factors that contribute to integrity of academicians in Malaysian public university: A case study

“…According to Hanapiyah et al (2019), the quality of the workforce is affected by how good the integrity practices are. Conversely, corruption, misuse of authority, and a lack of justice are invariably linked to a lack of integrity (Akinrinde, 2020). Integrity is connected to ethical human conduct of doing the right thing, observing regulations, and having excellent values.…”

Human insecurities in Afrika, the politics of non-refoulement and the plights of the African refugees along Mexican-American borders

“…the degradation of the environment, hunger, famine and disease are tremendous threats to the lives of millions of people all over the world, and indeed in Africa (Akinrinde 2020a, pp. 120;Akinrinde 2020b).…”

“…Poverty therefore, as it were, does not simply mean a lack of material possessions, but, more generally, the deprivation of the three basic economic needs: Food, Water and Shelter (Akinrinde 2020a, pp. 121;Akinrinde 2020b;Akinrinde 2018a;Akinrinde 2018b). Many of the African refugees that had fled the African continent did so with the aims of finding greener pastures where they would be able to at least have their three square meals, clothing and basic security.…”

“…Environmental problems, coupled with poverty and underdevelopment, which are both serious threats to the welfare of the person, have become ready-made drivers of the increase in african refugee migrations to the Mexico-American border (Akinrinde 2020a, pp. 124;Akinrinde 2020b).…”