HOBBES SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY AS AN INTERPRETATIVE INSTRUMENT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE RESURGENCE OF INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study presents a philosophical interrogation of Thomas Hobbes’ social contract theory as an interpretive lens for understanding the resurgence of insurgency in Nigeria. It situates the proliferation of Boko Haram violence, banditry, and kidnapping within a deeper crisis of political authority and civic obligation, arguing that persistent insecurity reflects the state’s failure to realize the fundamental Hobbesian purpose of political association, namely, the protection of life. This failure raises critical questions about the moral grounds of citizens’ obedience to the state. The study asks whether Hobbes’ account of sovereignty illuminates Nigeria’s legitimacy deficit and whether insurgency can be understood as a regression toward a Hobbesian state of nature. Its central aim is to evaluate the explanatory and normative adequacy of Hobbes’ theory for understanding insurgency within a postcolonial African context. Methodologically, it adopts conceptual analysis and critical hermeneutics, engaging Leviathan in dialogue with African political philosophy and contemporary security studies. The study’s significance lies in reframing insurgency not merely as criminality or religious extremism but as a philosophically intelligible response to perceived state failure. Departing from dominant Lockean and Rousseauian approaches, it foregrounds Hobbes’ absolutist logic and tests its limits within Nigeria’s plural and postcolonial reality. The findings suggest that while Hobbes clarifies the link between insecurity and political disobedience, his defense of absolute sovereignty is normatively insufficient. The study concludes by advocating a context-sensitive reconfiguration of social contract theory grounded in accountability and justice.