International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 4, April – 2019, Pages: 10-16 Plato‟s Concept of Democracy and Contemporary Political Scenario in Nigeria Eugene Anowai, PhD (Louvain) Philosophy Department, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Igbariam Campus, Anambra State
[email protected] +234-7032852434 Abstract: Plato finds that the necessity for society and the state resides in human nature itself. No one is sufficient in himself; everyone needs the aid of others in order to live life worthy of man. Hence man must live with others in society in order to make use of them both materially and morally. So from the moment society arises out of necessity of meeting the needs of man, the members which make up society must be organised into different classes according to the diversity of works to be performed. This paper examines the Plato’s ideal state and criticisms of democracy and tries to prove that it is relevant in Nigeria’s present democratic scenario. The paper will show how significant they are to abate Nigerian democratic corruption and some of his suggestions for good governance could be utilized to address the problem of present day democracy in Nigeria. Keywords: Society, Democracy, good governance, Ideal State, Corruption. 1. INTRODUCTION extremely prosperous commercial state, a thorough-going democracy, a community in which material prosperity went Plato has exerted a greater influence over human thought together with a magnificent culture, a culture in which art than any other individual with the possible exception of went together with science and both were overtopped by Aristotle.