ABSENCE OF JUSTICE EQUALS ABSENCE OF PEACE

ABSENCE OF JUSTICE EQUALS ABSENCE OF PEACE

Man according to the Ancient philosopher Aristotle is a social being who must exist with others in the society or he is either a beast or a God. This social nature of man becomes very clear when naturally he and others form various associations from the family to the village and then to members of the same community. As they live together within a geographical entity, they all pool their resources and help each other in the actualization of their different and important needs.

 

Fortunately, because of these resources pooled together and the naturally given; because of the need to have a fair judge and custodian of all these, they assign a group of individuals to manage those properties. These individuals known today as the Government is charged with the responsibility of providing and distributing the resources equally to all the members of the society. This is certainly the basic requirement for the reigning of peace in the society. The atmosphere of the society will be that of peace since not only is everybody treated equal but also each one is given his due without the others neglected. This is simply social justice at play here which is a sine qua non for the existence of peace in the land and the continuous promotion of it.

However, the peaceful atmosphere is bound to fall when the contrary of the above is seen in the society. That is, when one party is treated very well at the expense of others, these neglected party will ordinarily complain about it; and when nothing is done about it, especially after their patience have been tested over a long period of time, they are bound to use all available means to make sure that they are not just treated like others but also are given their due. And unfortunate enough, these people may use violent measures in the bid to achieve their desire which of course is natural.

The act of injustice can take several shapes of which one may not easily be aware of it. The unequal distribution of the common wealth is an evidence of injustice in the society. This is the concentration of the common wealth into the hands of some instead of the whole members. Also the uneven development of the group is another sign of injustice in the society. Politically noticed often, the uneven development of the society is a sign of injustice especially when this takes a long time. Again, the unequal recognition of all the members of the group or society is a sign of injustice. This is the case when within a particular group or society, while some members are seen as very important and then are given adequate attention and recognition, others are neglected always. These and many others are various signs of injustice.

One thing about the examples listed above is that they cut across all the facets of the human society. These acts of injustice can be found in politics which is usually the case, in the church, in business, within organizations and associations, even in the family and all other areas. And wherever it happens there may not be peace there; if there is, it is temporal and will explode within a short time. And this explosion which may take any shape is aimed at restoring what ought to be the case and then annihilating the contrary. That is why politically there is Niger Delta crises in Nigeria. This is to show the length people can go to when they are treated unjustly.

 However, it is worthy to note here that sometimes people react over what they conceive to be acts of injustice melted on them. Most often people find it very difficult to differentiate between corrections, punishment, and justice and then know the relationship between them. Hence, people complain over what they term injustice which may not really be the case. Again, whenever there is a matter of sharing the common wealth, people often hold on to the principle of equality which means that everybody will get the same measure and when the contrary is done, it has become injustice for them, thereby giving them the tendency to react in any way they could.

But it must be made clear here that equality as a quality of justice does not necessarily mean taking everybody as equal and upon which things could be shared equally. Instead equality is giving each member the ontological status of getting a share in the common property; after which the sharing will be done according to equity and desert. For a student cannot expect to get the same quantity with the teacher, or can one get the same with the elder in a “sharing venture”. All these need to be understood before people complain about injustice and begin to make plans on how to go about it, whereas the said action was never unjust.

In conclusion, wherever there is injustice, there can never be peace even it if seems to exist. Whether in the church, in politics, in business, even in the family, any act of injustice will always bring about discord and uproar within the group. And as the man cannot be naturally okay with injustice, he must do all in his power to avert it. And that is why peace will be non-existent when justice is non-existent. We all must avoid unjust actions wherever we may be so long as it is among human beings, else we will only be calling down chaos while peace is sent to oblivion. For even within animals, injustice cause squabbles. If this is the case with animals, what about human beings?

           

Nwanyanwu Christopher