Veritatis Gaudium: Multidisciplinary Journal of Postgraduate Studies

Contemporary Nigeria is characterized by extensive socio-economic deprivation and a systemic failure in public welfare delivery. Although the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria outlines fundamental objectives for health, education, and social security under Chapter II, these provisions remain largely non-justiciable and aspirational. Consequently, the social contract between the state and its citizens is severely eroded. This paper critically explores the intersection between Thomas Hill Green’s idealist philosophy, specifically his theory of the common good, and the current crisis of welfare rights in Nigeria. Employing a philosophical methodology of critical analysis and evaluation, the study examines how Green’s conceptualization of positive freedom and state responsibility can reformulate the foundations of social justice. By integrating Greenian thought with indigenous African communitarian ethics, this paper offers a distinctive Greenian-Ubuntu synthesis that establishes a culturally grounded normative framework for socio-economic rights in an African context. Green posits that human freedom is realized through moral and political institutions, where the state acts as a moral agent duty-bound to remove obstacles to human flourishing. The paper argues for a re-envisioned state apparatus actively engaged in the moral and material upliftment of its citizens. It recommends a paradigm shift from a “charity-based” welfare model to one grounded in justice and institutional guarantees.

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