WHO IS A JUST MAN?
In an imperfect world like ours, people, institutions, nations are required to be just. Justice is an ideal which the world fails to live up to, sometimes despite good intentions, sometimes disastrously. We are imperfect creations, living in an imperfect world thus it is difficult (if not impossible) for any body, institution or nation to claim to be just. Even America that parades itself as the world leader is notorious for exploiting weaker nations. A scholar once wrote that America prosper because she exploits weaker nations. If a country like the US (which is the richest, strongest and most powerful) lives on exploitation, what do you expect smaller countries with weaker economies to do?
Before going further in discussing the subject matter, let us look at what justice is...."According to utilitarian thinkers including John Stuart Mill, justice is not as fundamental as we often think. Rather, it is derived from the more basic standard of rightness, consequentialism: what is right is what has the best consequences (usually measured by the total or average welfare caused). So, the proper principles of justice are those which tend to have the best consequences".
According to Thomas Hobbes, “justice is created by public, enforceable, authoritative rules, and injustice is whatever those rules forbid, regardless of their relation to morality. Justice is created, not merely described or approximated, by the command of an absolute sovereign power".
In his dialogue Republic, Plato's definition of justice is that justice is the having and doing of what is one's own. "A just man is a man in just the right place, doing his best and giving the precise equivalent of what he has received". This applies both at the individual level and at the universal level.
From the above description of justice, it is evident that justice is a human creation and not a supernatural creation and thus has limitations. Justice is relative. It is subject to various interpretations. What is good for you and your people might not be good for my people and me. For instance, Truman the atomic president of the US during the second world war was seen as a hero by his aides and allies after the devastation of the two cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan with atomic bomb, while to others his decision and subsequent action was very cruel considering the destruction that ensued and the effect of that bombing over 50 years ,which have caused 50% of children born in the two cities deformed till date.Also,during the September 11,attack on the World Trade Centre, New York and Pentagon, by Osama Bin Laden and his al-Queda network, the US government and her allies cried foul play but Osama was seen as a hero by many American enemies. The examples are endless.
The underlying factor of every nation’s foreign policy is the protection and advancement of her national interest. Napoleon Bonaparte wrote that “a man will fight harder for his interest than his right”. In line with this philosophy, most nations adopt various strategies to pursue and protect their national interest. The stronger nations bully weaker nations in what is commonly referred to as "might makes right" approach in the pursuit of their foreign policy, while the weaker nations adopt a clandestine and surreptitious means in the advancement of their national interest.
If from the argument posited above it can be understood that there is no just man, institution or nation in the world, how then could a particular people, country or race refer to others as a corrupt people or nation? What is the moral justification for such accusations?
Nigeria is widely seen as a corrupt nation probably because of the actions of her past governments and some of her citizens’ resident abroad. Various efforts have been made by successive governments to redeem the image of Nigeria and her people to no avail. The current campaign now by the incumbent administration (President Umaru Yaradua) is to restore hope to Nigerians and change their perception about the world through the rebranding Campaign. The project is aimed at boosting the morale of good thinking Nigerians that there is still hope for the country.
I feel worried each time I have to introduce myself to a foreigner on the Internet as a Nigerian. Sometimes the discussion is getting interesting; he or she discovers my ingenuity and is contemplating getting serious with me. Suddenly a pause, then the question, where are you from? And once I reply a Nigerian, (which is always my response) he/she becomes uncomfortable.
I know most good Nigerians have faced similar situations or greater embarrassment for being proud of their country. It is because of this stigma attached unduly to our country and people that I decided to write this piece.
Tell me, who is a just man? Does it mean that every Nigerian is corrupt because her government and some of her citizens’ are corrupt? Are the likes of Dr. Philip Emeagwali (father of internet),Ngozi Okonjo Iwuela (World Bank Managing Director),Profs.Wole Soyinka ,Chinua Achebe,to mention but a few not Nigerians? We cannot throw away a good wine skin because the wine is sour.
Nigeria and her people are not the only corrupt people in the world. Like I said in the beginning, the US, which parades itself as the role model for other countries of the world flourishes by exploiting weaker nations. Check out America policy in the Middle East and Asia they are classic examples of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The economic crisis hit The US hard because of the fraudlent activities of some big banks in the US. Recently a court in the US found a US company Kellogg Brown and Root Inc.a subsidiary of Halliburton, guilty of offering bribes to some officials of the Nigeria government between 1994 and 2004 in order to secure a contract. Siemens, a German company was also found guilty for a similar offence some years back in Germany.
World over, from Europe to Asia to America there are high rates of fraudlent activities among nations and her citizens. On the Internet, most people believe that majority of the scam is perpetrated by Nigerians. How I wish your eyes could be open to see that most of the internet hackers are from technological advance countries like India, Pakistan, Japan, Britain, US, Canada, Germany, etc. No doubt, you know this truth but you are only being sentimental. The information and tools most scammers in Nigeria work with are provided by these hackers in the advanced world. Also some of the foreigners that reside in Nigeria exploit the advantage of the absence of a developed internet monitoring technology to perpetrate fraudulent activities. Thus, while you are say in America brooding over the loss of your hard earned money to scammers in Nigeria, perhaps the scammer might be your country man based in Nigeria. What an irony!
I hereby urge you to do away with your notion about Nigeria and her people as fraudsters. Come to think of it, nobody forced you into parting with your money. You willingly did that. This is because most people that are scammed begged for it. They are lured by their greed, desperaton and Ignorance (see why people fall for scam).Often times, they are forewarned that they are being scammed but they wouldn’t listen. They hardly take time to verify the organisation, individual or government official they are dealing with. Their attention is only focused on the large amount of money they are about to receive from Nigeria, which is a mirage.
Wake up from your slumber. You can still deal with Nigeria and her citizens without being ripped off your money. There are still credible people, organization and government institution you can still do business with and your investment and money will be protected. Sizeable amount of foreigners are doing business in Nigeria today and many more will still do because Nigeria is a land of golden opportunity. I have offered myself, to change your perception about Nigeria and her citizens. To refer you to the right people, organisations and institutions to do business with in Nigeria. To help you verify any suspicious information about Nigeria or from Nigeria. To inform you about major events in Nigeria; to help you succeed and above all to be your friend.
