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2024 - Volume 7 - Number 2

Social Justice in Tiv Thought System

Nicholas Tughhemba Terfa
Federal University of Wukari, Department of Philosophy, Taraba State, NIGERIA

Open Journal for Legal Studies, 2024, 7(2), 53-66 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojls.0702.03053t
Received: 28 June 2024 ▪ Revised: 16 November 2024 ▪ Accepted: 30 December 2024

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

ABSTRACT:
Every human society demands justice which reflect not only in its laws, institutions, but social systems as well, and, it is expected that the major social institutions should distribute fundamental rights and duties and, determine the division of advantages from social cooperation. This expresses the conviction that social justice is the highest of values in the society and imperative in the ordering of societal priorities. The study appraised the concept of social justice as understood in Tiv traditional thought system. The study employed qualitative research where data were derived from books, journal articles and the internet. The historical, expository and critical methods were adopted for this paper. The historical method presented the views of various philosophers on the concept of justice as well as the history of Tiv people. The expository method relayed the concept of justice in Tiv traditional thought system while the analytical method focused on the appraisal of Tiv notion of social justice. The paper found out that, lack of social justice has bedeviled the Tiv nation. This is evidenced in jealousy, envy, land disputes, poverty, politics of bitterness, decline in value orientation, individualism, sectionalism etc. These indices have thwarted development in Tivland, retarded growth and bred suspicion and scorn. The paper therefore, concluded that if Tiv people revive their traditional value system of social justice encapsulated in Gbaaondo, swem, as well as ya na angbian, the much needed cohesion, integration, unity, growth and development that has eluded Tiv people and Tivland for so long would be realised.

KEY WORDS: Angbian, swem, justice, social justice, cohesion and gbaaondo.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Nicholas Tughhemba Terfa, Federal University of Wukari, Department of Philosophy, Taraba state, NIGERIA.

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