THE SOCIAL CONTRACT is the foundation of the obligations and rights of citizens to the state. There cannot be a breach of its terms without an abdication of responsibility by one of the parties. Some states and citizens fully discharge their obligations under the contract, while many others neglect their responsibilities. The fulfilment or breach of contractual terms by states results in varying levels of exposure for citizens to the benefits of the social contract.
Modern citizenship evolved from the 18th-century French and American revolutions, embedding liberties unheard of under the ancient regime. Citizenship represents a two-sided trajectory of rights and obligations. A citizen is entitled to state protection and political rights while being obliged to pay tax and, if necessary, undertake military service to defend the state.
The 28th May Mokwa flood disaster, which claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands, was a tragedy waiting to happen. In stark contrast, the swift and effective response of the U.S. government to the 24-day California firestorm kept the death toll between 24 and 30. Had the lives of ordinary Nigerians been a priority, the state would have taken proactive measures to prevent the floods, especially given the numerous warnings before the disaster.
On 15th October 2008, United States Special Forces freed an unnamed abducted American working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kabul. The Afghan abduction, along with that of Walton Phillips, illustrates the commitment of the United States to protecting its citizens in peril, no matter where they are in the world.
But who is Walton Phillips? He was a young American abducted by unknown gunmen in October 2020 in Niger Republic. Within 96 hours of his captivity, he was rescued by U.S. Special Forces in Northern Nigeria. Following the operation, then-U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, stated that the United States remained committed to defending and protecting Americans wherever they might be. Secretary Pompeo was neither grandstanding nor exaggerating the significance of the rescue mission.
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True to the stance of America’s top diplomat, Brittney Griner — an American citizen jailed in Russia — was released two months after Phillips’ rescue through a prisoner swap brokered by the U.S. government. Three years later, Morad Tahbaz and four other Americans were not left to languish indefinitely in an Iranian prison; they were freed in another prisoner exchange.
The freed Americans, Cubans, evacuated Indians, and countless others rescued by their governments will remain eternally grateful to their states — and will repay that debt by being loyal citizens. But what of the millions of Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram, the terrorized villagers forced to pay taxes to non-state actors before farming their lands, or the victims of the Mokwa floods? What do they have to say about the Nigerian state?
After the eruption of the ongoing Sudanese conflict, Indian Air Force officers executed a daring night operation using a C-130J aircraft equipped with electro-optical/infrared sensors and night-vision goggles to evacuate trapped Indians who could not make it from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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To fulfil their obligations under the social contract, the American and Indian states had to temporarily assert dominance over parts of their external environments to rescue their citizens.
In contrast, many states, including Nigeria, have failed to demonstrate even the capacity to control their local environments. How, then, could such states be expected to exert influence abroad to protect their citizens held captive or imprisoned in foreign lands?
Eleven years after the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls, some remain in captivity. Seven years after 14-year-old Leah Sharibu was seized along with 109 other Dapchi schoolgirls in February 2018, she is still missing.
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The 28th May Mokwa flood disaster, which claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands, was a tragedy waiting to happen. In stark contrast, the swift and effective response of the U.S. government to the 24-day California firestorm kept the death toll between 24 and 30. Had the lives of ordinary Nigerians been a priority, the state would have taken proactive measures to prevent the floods, especially given the numerous warnings before the disaster.
Why wouldn’t Nigerians — who pay exorbitant fees for education and healthcare — envy Cubans, who enjoy free education, health services, and guaranteed employment under their socialist state?
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Since the life-protecting burden of the social contract has largely been shifted to local communities, how can the welfare-enhancing terms not be violated by the Nigerian state? These were the first casualties of the social contract. Nigeria stands as the only petrostate where oil has been weaponized as a poverty-generating resource.
Decades into the Fourth Republic, the Nigerian state has violated more terms of the social contract than it has honored. This reality makes Nigerian citizens envious of Americans, Cubans, and Indians, whose states respond far more effectively to their citizens’ distress than Nigeria does to its own. Why wouldn’t they willingly die for their states? And why shouldn’t Nigerians hesitate to die for theirs?
States fulfill their obligations under the social contract in different ways. Some consistently uphold their fundamental duties to citizens, while many others shirk their responsibilities. Responsive states are always prepared to rescue their captive citizens or those imprisoned abroad. Meanwhile, negligent states abandon their endangered citizens to their fate.
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Citizens proudly wear the citizenship of states with swift response to distress calls as a badge of honor and privilege. Conversely, they bear the citizenship of unresponsive states with shame.
The freed Americans, Cubans, evacuated Indians, and countless others rescued by their governments will remain eternally grateful to their states — and will repay that debt by being loyal citizens. But what of the millions of Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram, the terrorized villagers forced to pay taxes to non-state actors before farming their lands, or the victims of the Mokwa floods? What do they have to say about the Nigerian state?
Decades into the Fourth Republic, the Nigerian state has violated more terms of the social contract than it has honored. This reality makes Nigerian citizens envious of Americans, Cubans, and Indians, whose states respond far more effectively to their citizens’ distress than Nigeria does to its own. Why wouldn’t they willingly die for their states? And why shouldn’t Nigerians hesitate to die for theirs?
Jahun, a public affairs commentator, writes from Dutse, Jigawa State. He can be reached at 08039038088.
