International Negotiations November 25, 2017

Banzuela, Diana Rose A. Mr. Jumel G. Estraero

AB Foreign Service FS401

A. The Insurgence of Boko Haram and its Effects in West Africa

B. Chapters

I. Abstract

This paper explores the factors on how the Insurgence of Boko Haram emerged in
Nigeria. This research will tackle about the history of Boko Haram, it will also look through
the political history of Nigeria, the birth of Boko Haram and its casualties as well as Boko
Harams beliefs, it will also focus the factors that sparked its existence, how did Boko
Haram existed and through what reason and the effects of its insurgence in West Africa,
and it will also include recommendations to counter Boko Haram.

Introduction

Since 2009, Nigeria has been through a deadly insurgency led by Boko Haram, after the
extrajudicial killing of Boko Harams leader Muhammad Yusuf by the national police. The
group is originally known as Jamaatul alhul sunnah lidda wat, wal jihad (translated as
Association of the People of the Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad) or Boko Haram. In
March 2015, the group pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State and now, the
group calls itself Islamic States West African Province or Islamic States Wilayat Gharb
Afriqiyya.1 Nevertheless, the people still refer the group as Boko Haram. The armed
and dangerous group is responsible for the deaths of 15,525 civilians between May 2011
and May 2016.2 Additionally, Boko Haram has exceeded the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria) as the worlds deadliest organization.3 The insurgency has internally displaced
2.2 million people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.

In early 2015, Nigerian and neighboring militaries dislodged the sect from Northeastern
Nigerian towns it controlled; Boko Haram responded with a new wave of rural massacres

1 "Nigeria Boko Haram: Militants 'technically Defeated' - Buhari," BBC News, accessed July 15, 2016,
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35173618
2 Nigeria Security Tracker: Mapping Violence in Nigeria, Council of Foreign Relations, June 2016,

Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483

3 Rose Troup Buchanan, ISIS overtaken by Boko Haram as Worlds Deadliest Terrorist Organization,

The Independent, November 17, 2015, Retrieved from

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/boko-haram-overtakes-isis-asworlds-deadliest-terror-
organisation-a6737761.html
and suicide bombings, including bombings in Chads capital NDjamena. Regional
authorities lack long-term solutions for restoring peace and security, reflecting the
tendency of many policymakers to treat Boko Haram solely as a security threat, while
neglecting its political and religious dimensions. Despite the Nigerian governments
December 2015 announcement that it had technically won the war against Boko
Haram, attacks by the sect continue. The Islamist group Boko Haram, has arose as a
violent challenger to the authority of the Nigerian state. Despite a significant influx of
military personnel to the areas of its strongholds, Boko Haram remains capable of
launching significant attacks.

Boko Haram in Nigeria and West Africa

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with an estimated 2012 population of 166.6
million. Nigeria continues to have a high fertility rate, and a significant youth bulge with
nearly 71 percent of the population under the age of 307 and over 40 percent under the
young age of 14.

Boko Haram has also troubled Nigerias neighbors. Much of the affected resources has
been economic and humanitarian based. In terms of ideology, Boko Haram has found
new recruits from the neighboring countries: in 2012, Nigerien authorities arrested
suspected sect members in Diffa, a Southeastern regional capital relatively near
Maiduguri. Boko Haram reportedly paid the young Nigerien generation to join their
insurgency.4 And eventually operated and used Diffa mosques as their own base.5 It led
to sending preachers to Cameroon who seek followers through a money and religious
appeals.6 By 2013, Boko Haram had finally revealed its presence in Cameroon through
the form of conducting raids and kidnappings.7

Boko Haram seemed to be weaker in Chad, but judging its progress there is complication
due to unclear evidences and politicized rumors spreading. Fears and terrors are growing
about the possibility that Boko Haram will recruit the people inside camps for displaced
persons, but fortunately, there is little evidence of such situation.

President Muhammadu Buhari, after assuming power in May 2015, vowed to exterminate
the insurgency using military forces. The military operations have been quite successful
as Boko Haram is losing their occupied grounds. However, it remains as a dangerous

4 BBC Meets Gang Paid to Join Boko Haram in Niger, BBC News, April 22, 2014, Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27107375.
5 Joris Fioriti, Once Bustling Niger Border Town in Lockdown over Boko Haram, AFP, June 3, 2015,

Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/ once-bustling-niger-border-town-lockdown-over-boko-

065903460.html
6 Fears in Cameroon of Boko Haram Recruitment, IRIN News, April 16, 2014, Retrieved from

http://www.irinnews.org/report/99949/fearsin-cameroon-of-boko-haram-recruitment
7 Adam Nossiter, French Family Kidnapped in Cameroon, New York Times, February 19, 2013,

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes. com/2013/02/20/world/africa/seven-members-of-french-family-

kidnapped-in-cameroon.html; Boko Haram Steps Up Cameroon Raids, IRIN News, July 24, 2014,
http://www.irinnews.org/fr/report/100401/boko-haram-steps-up-cameroonraids; and Cameroon Says 27
Boko Haram Hostages Released, Daily Trust, October 12, 2014, http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/
sunday/index.php/news/18400-cameroon-says-27-boko-haram-hostages-released.
threat to the firmness and peace in Nigeria. Due to historical political instability, an
example is the collapse of successive governments because of military coups and the
lack of ability of the governmental institutions to support the needs of their own citizens
on the time of war calamities.8 The people of Northeastern Nigeria have lost their trust in
the federal and state governments and their political leaders and members. The
communities have distanced themselves from participating in the political and
governmental system.

II. A. Statement of the Problem

Boko Haram has become one of the worlds most dangerous terrorist
organizations, this research examines how this insurgency influenced the west African
region, specifically through economy and politics.

1. What is Boko Haram the Nigerian state before and after the county
experienced political instability?

2. What are the factors that have sparked the Boko Harams insurgency?

3. How does Boko Haram insurgency affect the economy of the west
Africa?

II. B. Methodology

This research applied the Historical Analogy approach. This method uses evidences
whether from primary or secondary resources. This method of research applies to all
fields of study because it encompasses their origins, growth, theories, personalities,
crisis, etc.9 The main objective of Historical Analogy Approach is to understand the
background of how such phenomenon developed into how it is today. It emphasizes the
factors that answers who, what, where and why questions.

In relation to the study, Historical Analogy allowed the researcher to see the factors that
have triggered Boko Haram on starting an insurgency in Nigeria. Through collecting
evidences before Boko Haram was formed and after the insurgency, this method will
scrutinize the details of the cause and effects of Boko Haram itself not only to the citizens
of Nigeria but as well as its neighboring countries and the West Africa region. Looking
through the gathered evidences, therefore the study will conclude the influences of Boko
Haram in the said region.

III. Review of Related Literature

8 Global Peace Index, Institute for Economics and Peace, last accessed June 20, 2016, Retrieved from
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#page/indexes/global-peace-index/2016/NGA/OVER
9 Torou Elena, Research Methodology on Historical Archives, National and Kapodistrian University of

Athens Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, n.d

Foreign Studies

In 1960, when Nigeria gained independence from Britain after being a federal state for six
years,10 there was a hope of optimism about the future of the country. However, it became
troublesome in political instability at the very onset of independence (rends, 2016).
From the beginning of the independence, Nigerian politicians remained focused on the
fight for power between the ruling governing classes that belongs to the majority of ethnic
group in each region and their minority counterparts. Political instability was created as
governments replaced one after the other by successive coups, which did not create an
adequate atmosphere to start a properly planned government for the whole country,
spiraling itself to a political instability. Nigerian politics have been divided between ethnic,
tribal and regional.

Mohammed Yusuf was a graduate student of Sheik Abubakar Gumi, he is also a spiritual
leader of the Izala movement,11 in the early 1990s and he was a student and was
mentored by Sheik Jafaar Adam.12 Accordingly, many of Yusufs earliest followers were
from the Izala movement.13 Later on, he moved into a leadership position at the Ndimi
and Daggash mosques in Maiduguri, Borno State, He was expelled from both by the year
of 2002 due to his increasing and excessive extremism mentality.14 After his expulsions
from Ndimi and Daggash mosques, Yusuf established his own mosque and his own
Islamic school to be a magnet for primary and secondary school pupils who would
abandon Westernized schools in the belief that Western education (Boko) is a sin
(Haram).15

Boko Haram is a Nigerian jihadi group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in
March 2015,16 This terrorist group has killed over 15,000 people in Nigeria and the
surrounding countries of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.17 Boko Haram does not pose an
show threat to these states, but it due to its political instability via disrupted governance it
10 Ladipo Adamolekum, Introduction: Federalism in Nigeria, Publius, 21,4 (1991): 1, accessed April 4,
2016, Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3330307
11 Ulph, Stephen. 2013. Boko Haram: Investigating the ideological background to the rise of an Islamic

militant organization. Westminster Institute. 20

12 Owolade, Femi. 2014. Boko Haram: How a Militant Islamist Group Emerged in Nigeria. Gatestone

Institute, March 27. Retrieved from http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4232/bokoharamnigeria#

13 Civil society representative and researcher. Interviewed by Amy Pate, Bukola AdemolaAdelehin, and

Kopep Dabugat. August 13, 2014. Abuja, Nigeria.

14 Owolade, Femi. 2014. Boko Haram: How a Militant Islamist Group Emerged in Nigeria. Gatestone

Institute, March 27. Retrieved from http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4232/bokoharamnigeria#

15
Owolade, Femi. 2014. Boko Haram: How a Militant Islamist Group Emerged in Nigeria. Gatestone
Institute, March 27. Retrieved from http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4232/bokoharamnigeria#;
Government Security Official. Interviewed by Kopep Dabugat. August 18, 2014. Kano, Nigeria.
16
Cole Bunzel, From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State, The Brookings Project
on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, March 2015, Retrieved from
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/ files/papers/2015/03/ideology-of-islamic-state-bunzel/the-
ideology-of-the-islamic-state.pdf.
17
The Council on Foreign Relations Nigeria Security Tracker keeps a tally of violent deaths in Nigeria by
state, month, and perpetrator. January, 2016. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-
tracker/p29483
has spread humanitarian emergency around Lake Chad. Its harsh messages worsen
tensions within Muslim community and declined the Muslim-Christian relations in the
region.18

According to Umar Mamodu,19 a scholar and a Boko Haram historian-its birth in 2002
resulted from a clash between the ideologies of moderate Islamic teachings of the
prominent Sheikh Jafaar Adam at the Mahammadu Ndimi Mosque in Maiduguri-Borno
State in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, and the more militant interpretation of the Qur'an
by his disciple, Mohammed Yusuf. Yusuf believed in the creation of a new order in which
the wretched should inherit the earth.

The recent Boko Haram crises that began in 2009 were considered an off-shot of the
Maitasine initially, but the differences between the two groups sets them apart even
though both have considered terrorism as a weapon. The Maitatsine violence ended
when the security forces killed the sects leader, but Boko Haram only escalated when
the groups leader was killed. Other reasons that could be the drivers of terrorism include
the absence of political reformations and the failure to establish a participatory politics.
The lack of politics of inclusion and representation could lead to terrorist activities by the
aggrieved parties.20 Additionally, weak democratic governance could also be responsible
for the emergence and evolution of domestic terrorist groups. It is further argued that
consolidated, mature democracies and totalitarian states are less likely to experience
domestic terrorism than semi-authoritarian states.21

Local Studies

Nigeria's Islamic extremist terrorist group Boko Haram are blamed for using teens and
women to carry out suicide bombings in neighboring Chad and Cameroon, killing more
than 45 people announced by the Cameroon's government spokesman, they said it is
one of their movements to spread terror as a multinational force prepares to deploy
against them. The group has been too dedicated to spread terror that they sent two girls
between the ages of 13 and 17 carried out suicide bombings in the northern Cameroon
village of Kangeleri near Mora town on yesterday, killing at least 9 and wounding 29
others, said Cameroon's Minister of Communications Issa Tchiroma Bakary. Boko Haram
using girls and women in recent suicide bombings in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger

18 Onapajo, Usman, Fuelling the Flames: Boko Haram and Deteriorating Christian-Muslim Relations in
Nigeria, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 35, no. 1 (2015): 106122.
19 Umar Mamodu, "Boko Haram - The Beginning" Lagos, n.d
20 Haider, Drivers of Extremism, n.d
21 Report of the International Workshop on Global Terrorism, Terror, and Response Strategies,

Alexandria: SMWIPM Peace Studies Institute and Strategic Foresight Group,n.d

raises fears and terrors that Boko Haram is using abducted victims to target countries
that are helping to eliminate the terrorist group.22

The British warning says the extremists terrorist group Boko Haram is targeting Western
foreign workers in the Bama area of Borno state, close to the Cameroon border. The
Nigeria-based Boko Haram has been pushed out of strongholds by military efforts but
continues to control parts of the countrys northeast. That has challenged aid group efforts
to address a hunger crisis that the United Nations says has left 4.7 million people in urgent
need of food aid. Nigeria is part of what the U.N. has called the largest humanitarian crisis
since the world body was founded in 1945. The World Food Program has warned of aid
cuts if more help doesnt arrive.23

Leaders from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger were among the delegates, with French
President Francois Hollande, and high-ranking diplomats from the United States, Britain and the
European Union. Nigeria is looking closer military cooperation to bring an end to the nearly seven
years of violence in the remote northeast of the country, which has left at least 20,000 dead and
dispatched more than 2.6 million people from their own homes. UN Security Council said that the
talks should help develop a more comprehensive strategy to address the governance, security,
development, socio-economic and humanitarian dimensions of this national terrorism crisis.
Boko Harams shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to his IS counterpart Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi last year, although there has since been little evidence so far of direct support
on the ground which brings more tension to the current situation of this West African country.24

The fear of people against the extremist terrorist group Boko Haram sends 7,000 people
from Niger to seek refuge in Chad and expectedly thousands more may cross the border
if the violence in the country escalates, the United Nations said on Monday. Diffa has
been experiencing intense fighting over the past year between Niger's national army and
Boko Haram militants as they fight to regain their country. The west Africa region hosts
almost a quarter-of-a-million uprooted people, from Niger and Nigeria, who have all forced
to flee their homes by the violence and for their own safety. Those who crossed the border
into Chad said at least 10,000 more people could follow suit imminently due to fears over
their safety in southern Niger, according to the UN agency.25

22Carley Petesch, Boko Haram stages suicide bombings in Cameroon, Chad, PhilStar Global. October
12, 2015, Retrieved from http://www.philstar.com/world/2015/10/12/1509886/boko-haram-stages-suicide-
bombings- cameroon-chad
23Associated Press, US, UK say Boko Haram wants to kidnap foreigners in Nigeria, Manila Bulletin,
May 6, 2017 Retrieved from https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/05/06/us-uk-say-boko-haram-wants-to-kidnap-
foreigners-in-nigeria/
24Agence France-Presse, Nigeria hosts international summit on Boko Haram, Inquirer.Net, May 14,
2016, Retrieved from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/785608/nigeria-hosts-international-summit-on-boko-
haram

Thomson Reuters Foundation, Fear of Boko Haram drives thousands to flee from Niger to Chad,
25

GMA News Online, April 1, 2017, Retrieved from

A regional force put in place to counter the extremist Boko Haram jihadist group in Nigeria
will start operations in November. West African leaders decided after a summit that took
place in Niger. All of the invited leaders agreed to speed up the creation of a headquarters
for the force and to build military battalions to deploy to their respective borders by
November 1, all the heads of state said in a joint statement. On July 2014, Niger, Nigeria,
Chad and Cameroon had each pledged 700 soldiers to start a multi-national force to fight
the Nigeria-based terrorist group, which has slaughtered more than 10,000 people since
2009. In May, African leaders agreed at a Paris summit arranged by French President Francois
Hollande to cooperate and lend arms against the group through a list of agreed measures
including joint border patrols and intelligence sharing.26

IV. Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data or PAID

Nigerias Political History

Nigeria had four major political entities in the past:

The Northern Empire which was composed of the Borno Empire, some Hausa states
such as Birori, Daura, Zazzau, Kano, Gobir, Kano, Katsina, and others as Nupe, Yelwa,
Gwari, and Kebbi.
The Calabar Kingdom is the oldest kingdom which also had the oldest contact with early
Europeans dating back to 1850. Much of this Kingdom is in the present-day Niger-delta
region.
The Yoruba Empire which consisted of two main groups. One of these groups was the
indigenous people, whose central religious and cultural centre was Ile-Ife and presently
make up the Yoruba people in present Nigeria. The Berbers, who were the second group,
eventually established the Borno and Hausa states. The area is in present day Western
Nigeria.
The Benin Empire extended as far as some parts of present-day Ghana. It was very
famous for its African arts and sculptures. Benin is in present day Niger-Delta region.

In 1914, Lord Lugard, united the Southern and Northern empires to form what his wife,
Flora Shaw, named Nigeria. Gaining independence on October 1st, 1960 and becoming
a republic in 1963, Nigeria in most parts of its existence has been ruled by military

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/world/620195/fear-of-boko-haram-drives-thousands-to-flee-from-
niger-to-chad/story/

26The Manila Times, West African force formed vs Boko Haram, The Manila Times Online Newspaper,
October 8, 2014, Retrieved from http://www.manilatimes.net/west-african-force-formed-vs-boko-
haram/132753/
dictators specifically from the Northern part of the country. In 1999 however, the country
returned to democracy and has been under it ever since.

The Rise Boko Haram Islamism

The group known as Boko Haram emerged in 2002 under the leadership of Mohammed
Yusuf. He had a strict, he believed that the creation of Nigeria by British colonialists had
imposed a Western and un-Islamic way of life on Muslims. Yusu built a religious complex,
which included a mosque and an Islamic school. Many poor Muslim families from across
Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries, enrolled their children at the school. But Boko
Haram is focused with a political goal and it was to create an Islamic state, and the school
became a recruiting ground for jihadis instead of a learning place. The most commonly
accepted translation of the name Boko Haram is Western education is forbidden. It
also meant Westernization is sacrilege. After 17 Boko Haram members were killed in
2009, the group became more violent. (Banjo, 2016)

Attacks increased violently on government officials, religious leaders, police officers and
students. A series of bombs explode in several towns across Nigeria. The boldest
assaults target the UN regional headquarters in Abuja, killing dozens of people.27 More
than 5,000 civilians flee the southern state of Bayelsa following threats of Boko Haram
attacks against Christians there. After a few months, the insurgents carry out a series of
coordinated attacks in Kano, Nigerias second biggest city. They detonate bomb-laden
cars in market areas and churches, killing almost 200 civilians. In April (2012), Boko
Haram release a video calling for a jihad against the UK, the US and Israel, although
these countries were not directly targeted.28
Boko Haram make its first invasion towards the border with Cameroon. The Cameroonian
government fortifies the security of its border with Nigeria. But Boko Haram suicide
bombers attack newspaper offices in the religiously mixed northern city of Kaduna. In
other parts of the country, they detonate explosives in several churches, a bakery and
police headquarters. Their tactics change from shooting few people and starting a little
raid to mass-casualty attacks and operations targeting infrastructure especially public
places. From that incident, Boko Haram was known as a terrorist and not just
insurgence.29
In February (2013), Boko Haram fighters killed female health workers and days later
killed three North Korean doctors, by slitting their throats. In May, 200 heavily armed
members attacked the town of Bama, killing dozens of residents and freeing 100

27
Locke et al., Timeline: Boko Harams deadly evolution, The Financial Times Ltd., 2016, para. 2,
Retrieved from https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/boko-haram-timeline/
28
Locke et al., Timeline: Boko Harams deadly evolution, The Financial Times Ltd., 2016, para. 2-3,
Retrieved from https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/boko-haram-timeline/
29
Locke et al., Timeline: Boko Harams deadly evolution, The Financial Times Ltd., 2016, para. 4,
Retrieved from https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/boko-haram-timeline/
prisoners. Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan declares a state of emergency in the
northeast, allowing the military additional powers of arrest as part of the countrys fight
against the insurgents.30
Death toll rises as Boko Haram members targeted both Christians and Muslims.
Insurgents raid a Christian boarding school, burning 30 students as they sleep in a
dormitory. They shoot Muslim worshippers in mosques in Borno state, and displace an
estimated 4,000 people as they flee for shelter.31
The fighting spills into the territory of Cameroon. Massive bombings and gun raids come
from various towns. The militants attacked a theological college in Buni Yadi, slitting
students throats and burning others alive. In April (2014), the group gets global attention
after militants abduct more than 250 school girls in the small town of Chibok. The world
had finally opened their eyes as it alarmed everyone. The event was spread fast and an
outcry for the abducted girls was done through a Twitter campaign with the
hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.32
The term Islamism or Political Islam was coined in the 1970s to refer to the rise of
movements and ideologies drawing on traditional Islamic terms, symbols and events in
order to articulate a distinctly political agenda. Islamism is an ideology which is a 20th
century to counter the Westernized secular nation-state-based international system. The
aim of Islamism is to follow a more conservative and traditional Islam.

30
Locke et al., Timeline: Boko Harams deadly evolution, The Financial Times Ltd., 2016, para. 5,
Retrieved from https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/boko-haram-timeline/
31
Locke et al., Timeline: Boko Harams deadly evolution, The Financial Times Ltd., 2016, para. 6,
Retrieved from https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/boko-haram-timeline/
32
Locke et al., Timeline: Boko Harams deadly evolution, The Financial Times Ltd., 2016, para. 7,
Retrieved from https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/boko-haram-timeline/\
Source: Anatomy of African terrorism. (2012). World Policy Journal, 29(4), 16+. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA314275631&v=2.1&u=otta77973&it=r&p=AO
NE&sw=w&asid=1c9418425bbb30b5030d2119e0208c5d

The figure shows that Boko Haram has a lot of connections in Nigeria, they have ties in North
Nigeria, they commit crimes like robbing banks to gain funds and that Boko Haram has a group
of terrorist affiliates supporting their troop.

Political Instability

The main reason of the downfall of the Nigerian government and the insurgence of the
extremist group Boko Haram is the Political Instability. The country was a federal state
under United Kingdom and was officially independent by 1960. The Nigerian government
was ruled by elites who was more interested in the countrys money and resources
instead of its citizens. The presence of imbalance of power was present and that is also
the reason why coups started, in order to gain power. The people started lusting over
power, dictator after dictator. The government was crumbling down and the birth of Boko
Haram took place, but the consistency of its purpose was fading through the years of its
existence.

Boko Haram and West Africa

The rise of Boko Haram in West Africa clearly affected the economy of the region
especially the neighboring countries of Nigeria. Not only was Africa concerned but as
well as the whole world. Boko Haram started in Nigeria, but its impact has spread
throughout the region of west Africa. They also committed their heinous crimes against
the people of Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Nigerian civilians live in fear of the terror that
Boko Haram has inflicted on their communities.

The conflict has created a major humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin, with some
about 2.4 million internally displaced people in the region and more than 180,000
Nigerians living as refugees in neighboring countries. Boko Haram's connections to ISIL
are tenuous, but worrisome, and real. Countries will need to work together with all
states in the region to prevent these ties from getting stronger and break the ties that do
exist. This is a global fight - it is not just a Nigerian fight.

V. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

Summary

he political instability of the country and the elites being absorbed in gaining control of the
country while neglecting development have started the economic decline, especially in
Northern Nigeria. At the same time, this act created the North-South divide. In addition,
the political elite became focused on creating and becoming an oil nation and neglected
other sectors of social and economic development, mainly agriculture, which was
supposed to be the economic strength of Northern Nigeria. Deep into poverty, Northern
Nigeria became a nest of different groups such as Boko Haram, which was able to cause
terror and grievances to the region in exchange of their lust for power.

Also, the inability of the government to provide social services to its population, corruption,
and patron-client relationships provided an atmosphere of for people to either demand
changes and government reforms or, if the demands are not met accordingly, to retaliate
against the state and its officials.

The inability of the government to provide social services to its population, corruption, and
patron-client relationships provided an environment conducive for people to either
demand reforms or, if the demands are not addressed, to retaliate against the state
machinery. The above analysis has also shown that politicians turned a blind eye or even
sympathised with BH, and provided their patronage in the formative stage of the group
for political reasons, which set the stage for future chaos in Northern Nigeria.

Conclusion

As previous conflicts in the past in other parts of the world have happened, it is difficult to
defeat through only conventional military means a with the use of guerrilla warfare
methods. The government has a very important role to play in providing social services,
proper education, employment to the youth, and economic development in general in the
region in order to convince people not to support Boko Haram anymore, but as well as to
prevent a similar insurgency from reappearing again. Only the future will know whether
the Nigerian government will be willing and capable to rise up to the challenge and stand
up on their own.

Everyone has their own beliefs, no one has the same DNA as anyone else, everyone is
different. The Boko Haram and Nigerian government both shares different ideologies and
such ideologies usually clash when one wants to outsmart and overpower the other. This
research therefore concludes that the Insurgence of Boko Haram sparked through the
political instability and this regional warfare developed into a humanitarian crisis in west
Africa.

Recommendation

1. The Nigerian government needs to train the military, police and civilian militia. The
Nigeria itself is under a civil warfare where fellow brothers are fighting each other,
the best way to counter and protect the country is to have a more advanced and
skilled military power. The mandatory training for civilians will greatly help increase
the defense population against the extremist group.
 2. The Nigerian government needs to ensure that it will provide fair trial to the
captured militants, according to domestic laws and International Humanitarian
Law. The government must apply and provide a court trial to a captured militant,
through this step, the citizens will be ensured that the assigned penalty for each
person is correctly follows in law

3. The Nigerian government should provide programs for womens education and
women rights knowledge. As the Boko Haram targeted women, the Nigerian
women should know their own rights through a proper education provided freely in
a safe environment.

4. Nigerian government should also introduce a program which can enlighten and
educate the masses of a moderate version of Islam and counter the narratives of
the likes of Ahmed Gumi, who could spread their movements through their
propaganda and teachings.

5. The Nigerian government has to incorporate both Islamic and Christian education
in Northern Nigeria. It is about time for Nigerian citizens to break their religion
barriers and accept each others chosen faiths.

6. President Buharis government needs to provide social services, including

healthcare, education, food, and housing to the population of the areas affected
by the insurgency. The insurgence caused a humanitarian crisis in the region and
to gain the peoples support, it is necessary for the president to act his role and
help his citizens.

7. The Nigerian government can meet one of the demands of Boko Haram (e.g.
prosecution of the killers of Muhammad Yusuf, the previous leader of the group).
It is highly recommended for both parties to agree into one decision that would
benefit both in order to take a step closer to a peaceful Nigeria.

VI. Reference

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