The Menace of Legitimacy Crisis and Insecurity in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic : A Discourse Using Thomas Hobbes Social Contract Theory

The paper establishes a link between ineffective performance, declining legitimacy and increasing violence and insecurity in Nigeria’s fourth republic through the lens of Hobbes Social Contract. The paper is an attempt to closely examine a much-talked-about but largely misunderstood legitimacy concept, so that its significance to the democratic project can be better appreciated, using a composite model that measures economic and political performance as the indicators of legitimacy. Some of the issues the paper outline are; suppressing opposition, corruption, inefficiency and the discriminatory utilization and exploitation of Nigeria’s resources, insecurity of lives and property; the miscarriage of justice and political tussles among and within the political classes have largely undermined internal security the baseline of Nigeria’s defense. This is the foundation to understanding the menace of legitimacy crises and insecurity in Nigeria’s fourth republic. Findings of the study revealed that a small minority has illegitimately imposed themselves over the vast majority, against all proper patterns of leadership and through all sorts of corrupt and tyrannical practices, The paper concludes that the dominant class in control of the Nigerian state and economy lacks the capacity to administer through simple democratic relations; instead, it is creating a plutocracy that is hindering the process of humane societal development in the country. Furthermore, the paper recommends the need for government to address the issues of religious intolerance, political extremism, and criminal mismanagement of the nation commonwealth