Plato’s Ideal City And The Nigerian State -By Vincent Iheanacho

In every age and at every point in their life experiences, human beings are always tending towards their happiness and holistic welfare. The happiness men seek however is in a way dependent on the virtuousness of the circumstances that surround them as much as it does on their own interior state. Chief of all such circumstances is the nature of the polity in which they find themselves. A state that is racked by socio-economic instability, violence, moral degeneracy, political upheaval and inequality of persons is very unconducive to attaining the eudaimonic aspiration of man – to be happy. The Athenian society of Plato’s time was beleaguered by many socio-political, economic and moral challenges instigated mainly by the devastation arising from the Peloponnesian war. As was Athens in former centuries, so is Nigeria in our present day. In response to crisis bedeviling his city, this Greek philosopher set out to develop a solid philosophical framework that would guarantee a stable society capable of providing justice and equal opportunities for all its citizens to thrive and flourish.

The aim of this paper is to therefore examine some of the principles upon which Plato sought to build an ideal Athens and how they can be applied to the Nigerian situation. Because, if social stability is required for true happiness – a good desired by all men (including the Athenians of old and the Nigerians of today) – and corruption, inequality, incompetence and the likes are obstacles to this end (factors that existed in both milieus), then, the ideas of Plato would be of relevance in addressing the Nigerian issue since there is a similarity in ends desired and problems to deal with.

As already mentioned at the beginning, Plato believes happiness to be the highest good of man. For him, to attain this would only be possible by way of virtue. That is, only a man of virtue is a good man and only good men can achieve true happiness. But in discussing the concept of goodness and virtue in reference to individual men, Plato points also to a Good State. All three are co-terminus: a good man, a good state and happiness.¹This vital relationship between a good man and the Good State is expressed lucidly by the fact that Plato’s concept of the state is a replica of his understanding of man’s nature. For Plato, the human soul can be generally divided into three essential parts: the rational, the spirited, and the appetitive.

…The rational element, which is that part of an individual’s soul which enables him to reason, to argue, to deliberate and to engage in all sorts of intellectual exercise; the spirited element is that which makes a man courageous or cowardly and gives him strength of will: the appetitive element consists of desires and passions such as for games, drinks and so on.²

For the individual to achieve his/her ideal self, all three parts of his soul must work harmoniously and in good order. Reason must be in command of the other two parts while the spirited part must make sure to enforce the dictates of reason – and itself be subject to it – so that the appetitive part, which is considered by Plato to be the most unruly, would be well governed. Plato translated this classification of the parts making up the individual person to the State thereby making it in the image of man (Imago homo). The State, according to Plato, is also made up of three parts each of which reflects a part of an individual’s soul: the rulers(Reason) – who should be distinguished by their vastness in philosophical wisdom and knowledge and are thereby justified by this singular fact to rule and to command; the guardians or auxiliaries (the spirited part) – the soldiers and military officials who being noted for courage and physical power must see to the protection and defense of the state, and the maintenance of public order. They are to abide by the dictates of the legislators (rulers) and enforce then accordingly; the producers/artisans(appetitive part) – they make up the largest class of the state. Their duty is to provide the material resources required for the general well-being of all the citizens of the state through their works and labours.³

Plato’s notion of an ideal state is therefore one in which all the parts – the rulers, guardians and artisans – play their particular and distinctive roles as efficiently as possible. If there is no harmony between them, there can be no justice in the state. The rulers specifically have a huge role to play in this – but not an ultimate role. Plato believes that a state that is run based on opinions derived majorly from sense experience which he condemns as unreliable, and not on stable and objective scientific knowledge – the most important of all being the knowledge of the Good(goodness) – will be sure to collapse into ruin. This is the belief that motivated this Greek philosopher to establish a school for the training of prospective statesmen in the sciences, most especially in philosophy: the Academy. So, in the Platonic concept of the ideal state, having well-educated leaders who are versed and skilled through sound philosophical training in the art of leadership is non-negotiable and this training not just for the rulers. Each and every single part of the state must be proficient in its own sphere if the state is to attain its objectives. The artisans (tailors, merchants, cobblers and so on) must be skilled in their respective fields and likewise the guardians in their military prowess so that when effectiveness in the three parts come together, boom! We have an ideal state.

Now, let us take a look at our contemporary times and our own particular context – Nigeria. The first issue to be dealt with is one of mindset. There is this general attitude peculiar to a huge number of Nigerians of attributing all their national problems to the ineptitude and corruption of only one aspect of the nation: their leaders and all those of a higher social status. “They are the ones chopping all the money; they are the problem”. But this is a far cry from the view of Plato. Let us even take as true that all the leaders of this country on all the levels of government are bad and corrupt; how about the other aspects of the society, the military, the average citizens? What about their own contribution to the development of the state? Many of our teachers in schools and various other institutions of learning – knowing full well the importance of proper intellectual formation to the future leadership of the country – take their roles and duties with reproachable levity. And after polluting the society by providing us with half-baked and unqualified graduates who will eventually rise to leadership positions in the future, they blame the government ALONE for the predicaments of the state when they failed woefully in doing their tiny bit.

All the problems affecting our nation are the products of the lapses of its citizenry, and not just does in the ruling class but those in other spheres as well. It is only when there is a proper division and harmony of labor in the state between all its component parts that we can achieve the Nigeria of our dreams. Any deficiency from any corner no matter how minute will surely prove detrimental to this lofty project. But if we are to arrive at what could be termed “the perfection of parts” to achieve a synergy resulting to the “ideal whole”, the place of quality education is beyond question. Although it would be unrealistic to assert that merely having educated citizens suitable enough to run the society and contribute to its welfare is enough to solve all our problems, it would be a very costly oversight if we neglect to pay attention to the impact that standard education, or the lack thereof, makes on the polity. Education, at least in Plato’s idea of it, goes beyond lecture attendance, writing of examinations and awarding degrees as important as they might seem. Education should touch the concrete person in his/her totality: it should take cognizance of the moral dimension of the individual – very crucial – and it should be made as pragmatic as possible. The Nigerian educational system has many lapses that need urgent correction. Beginning from lack of proper administration (itself a manifestation of poor training), to insufficient funding, the irregularities that sometimes surround the employment of the teaching staff, we would affirm rightly that there is much to be desired. Also, being that even the lowest of citizens in their respective fields should be helped to attain proficiency in order to achieve a better state, Government should also pay closer attention to the need for well-funded and managed vocational/technical schools for all those who might not be too interested in more advanced forms of formal education, so that even in their tailoring, shoe-making, barbing, plumbing and the rest, they still contribute their own quota towards the actualization of an ideal state as envisioned by Plato.

It is such a shame that in our system of selecting leaders in this country often times little or no attention at all is paid to professional expertise and sound mindedness. Instead we allow nepotism and favoritism to becloud our sense of judgement. Plato would weep over us. He made it very clear and emphasized strongly that the rulers should be selected from among those who are endowed with wisdom (Philosopher-Kings) so as to be justified to lead others. “Blind men cannot lead blind men”. Not that being intellectually gifted is all that there is to leadership but that it plays a very crucial role in determining how the state will be governed. If the ruler is wise and is nothing else, at least, his wisdom would be of some use if applied rightly; but if he is a fool and is everything else, everything else will certainly be of no use, no matter how excellent they are, in a fool’s hand.

Although Plato’s political philosophy had been criticized by many as being unrealistic and implausible, some of the elements highlighted by him are very useful to the Nigerian polity. If our educational system, on all levels, can be given serious attention bearing in mind the consequences flowing from its effectiveness or failure; if Nigerians can develop a sense of responsibility to their country by doing their optimum in whatever sphere of life they find themselves and not put all the blame on corrupt governance when they failed in their own respective roles; if the system of  selecting rulers in our nation can become more merit-based and competence conscious, maybe, just maybe, Plato’s ideal state can be born in Nigeria. It may seem to be a goal too far beyond realization, but if we are to build this country, every hand must be on deck. If we are teachers then let us make sure we are well-loaded and able to enrich the minds and lives of our students; if we are business men and women, let us strive to provide quality products to the populace at reasonable prices; if we are soldiers and police officers, let our only interest be to safeguard the lives and property of the citizens and the territorial integrity of our nation; and if by lawful election, we become rulers and political leaders, the onus would lie on us to regulate the affairs of all these other branches and providing them with a suitable socio-economic environment to be at their optimum. This is Plato’s ideal state.

This is our ideal Nigeria.