From Demand for an Islamic State to the Boko Haram Insurgency: Historical Analysis of Nigeria’s Experience with Islamism (original) (raw)
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2015
The escalation of the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria that peaked in 2010 has led to the emergence of many theories to explain its causes. These theories focus on the socio-economic/ human needs, vengeance, the Islamic theocratic state, and political dimensions. Beside the socioeconomic perspective, which harps on the pervasive poverty in the North, the theocratic state analysis seems compelling not only because it fits into the sect's mission to Islamize Northern Nigeria and carve it out as a distinct political entity, but it also resonates with political Islam, the driving ideology behind such Jihadi groups as Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) with which the sect has been linked. While this paper identifies with the political causes perspective in offering more cogent explanation of the crisis, it goes beyond theory to underline empirical facts that have shaped the group's violence. It argues that in its current dimension, the Boko Ha...
The Boko Haram Uprising and Islamic Revivalism in Nigeria
Africa Spectrum, 2010
From the 1980 Maitatsine uprising to the 2009 Boko Haram uprising, Nigeria was bedevilled by ethno-religious conflicts with devastating human and material losses. But the Boko Haram uprising of July 2009 was significant in that it not only set a precedent, but also reinforced the attempts by Islamic conservative elements at imposing a variant of Islamic religious ideology on a secular state. Whereas the religious sensitivity of Nigerians provided fertile ground for the breeding of the Boko Haram sect, the sect's blossoming was also aided by the prevailing economic dislocation in Nigerian society, the advent of party politics (and the associated desperation of politicians for political power), and the ambivalence of some vocal Islamic leaders, who, though they did not actively embark on insurrection, either did nothing to stop it from fomenting, or only feebly condemned it. These internal factors coupled with growing Islamic fundamentalism around the world make a highly volatile Nigerian society prone to violence, as evidenced by the Boko Haram uprising. Given the approach of the Nigerian state to religious conflict, this violence may remain a recurring problem. This paper documents and analyses the Boko Haram uprising, as well as its links with the promotion of Islamic revivalism and the challenges it poses to the secularity of the Nigerian state.
The causes of Islamic fundamentalist violent movements in postcolonial Nigeria
2016
Nigeria is one of the first African states to be confronted with the violent Islamist fundamentalist group popularly known as Boko Haram. It declared war on the Nigerian secular state in 2009, and implements a program, if successful, to transform the country into an Islamic theocratic state led by sharia (Islamic law), in the country where only half of the population are Muslims. The article starts with clarification of the structure of the Nigerian society from the linguistic perspective, and from the point of view of political cultures of different societies, which were colonized and came under one British colonial rule to 1960. This study analyses the history of Islamist fundamental movements starting from the late 1970s, and focuses on the latest such group - Boko Haram. The authors examine the social, economical, and political causes of the brutal violent conflict in the northeastern Nigeria, which was the heartland of the pre-colonial Kanem Bornu state and the center of Kanuri...
Nigeria is one of the first African states to be confronted with the violent Islamist fundamentalist group popularly known as Boko Haram. It declared war on the Nigerian secular state in 2009, and implements a program, if successful, to transform the country into an Islamic theocratic state led by sharia (Islamic law), in the country where only half of the population are Muslims. The article starts with clarification of the structure of the Nigerian society from the linguistic perspective, and from the point of view of political cultures of different societies, which were colonized and came under one British colonial rule to 1960. This study analyses the history of Islamist fundamental movements starting from the late 1970s, and focuses on the latest such group - Boko Haram. The authors examine the social, economical, and political causes of the brutal violent conflict in the northeastern Nigeria, which was the heartland of the pre-colonial Kanem Bornu state and the center of Kanuri national culture. Finally, the authors identify social and political causes of the developmental chain of Salafist movements, particularly from 2009 when Boko Haram declared war against the Nigerian state in order to transform it into an Islamic caliphate; thus, there was a catastrophic human rights violation by the Nigerian Army in the name of fighting the Boko Haram terrorists. The authors do not suggest any decisions and do not provide any final conclusions - they admit the uncertainty of the current situation in Nigeria and call for the further research of internal politics tendencies under the new government led by President Buhari, who can either continue to solve the problems of the country by aggressive military means as two previous presidents of Nigeria, or, on the contrary, can prefer peaceful and conciliatory measures.
Boko Haram: Islamism, politics, security and the state in Nigeria
African Security Review, 2015
Hence the necessity for a different type of analysis. Written by Nigerian, French, British, German, and American contributors, this book is the first of its kind. It not only offers different perspectives from northern and southern Nigeria, but also combines fieldwork and theory, qualitative and quantitative analysis. Moreover, it is not just another monograph study on Boko Haram. Rather, the following chapters investigate how radical Islamism destabilises the Nigerian state and challenges its secularity. In a pluralistic society, the jihad of Boko Haram raises many fears regarding Shariah, freedom of religion, the clash of civilisations, and the prospect of a civil war with Christians. Yet all these issues are usually oversimplified in the rhetoric of the war on terrorism. Shariah, for instance, is a whole way of life for Muslims. It should not be reduced to criminal law. Likewise, jihad is first and foremost an internal spiritual struggle, rather than a holy war against Christians (Cruise O'
Islamic Fundamentalism and Religious Conflicts in Nigeria: Reflections on the Boko Haram Insurgence
The Politics and Religion Journal, 2018
The paper examines the nature, operations and driving force behind the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria. It argues that while portending Islamic fundamentalist credentials, Boko Haram is also representative of the socio-economic aspirations of most ordinary citizens in the Northeast of Nigeria who are excluded from the socio-economic spheres in modern Nigeria. Boko Haram posits both the irrelevance and decadence of the state and the need for its violent overthrow and establishment of pure Islamic society. It argues that even though Boko Haram cannot be fully explained by socio-economic factors, extant structural and socio-economic conditions in the Northeast produce many frustrated and deprived young people who feed into the fundamentalist aspirations of Boko Haram. Thus, the coincidence between socio-economic conditions in the Northeast which compares unfavorably with other zones in Nigeria; the structural deficiencies of the state and a long history of Islamic fundamentalism creat...
Radical Islam and Insurgency in Northern Nigeria: Tensions and Challenges
Religions
Located within a broad appraisal of Nigeria’s nascent democracy, this paper examined the roots and triggers of radical Islam and religious extremism in Northern Nigeria. It also investigated its implication in the region through the lenses of religion and politics. Since 1804, a tradition of jihadist Islam in the north, introduced by Sheikh Uthman dan Fodio, has shaped not only the politics of the region but has festered into modern-day insurgency. This radicalism enthroned an intolerant, anti-Western and violent Islamic ideology used against minorities within and against other religions, ethno-regional groups, and political blocs in Nigeria. What exactly are the triggers of religious violence in today’s Northern Nigeria? Furthermore, if any, what are the implications for this region? Drawing on archival materials and secondary sources, findings reveal deep-seated, anti-southern sentiments in the north, complicated by religious, cultural, and economic suspicions, whipped up at polit...
A Sociological Reflection on the Grounds of Shaping and Developing Islamic Extremism in Nigeria
This article tries tostudy the formation process of Islamic radicalism in Nigeria. In this regard, efforts have been made to answer this question: “what are the underlying factors of emergence and growth of radicalism, generally, and Boko Haram group, specifically?”. Factors behind the rise of Boko Haram are very complex and include demographic, economic, political and educational contexts. Islamist radicals are some masses who stand against the process of modernity integration and ask for return of religion to the scene of their country’s politics. Due to the lack of accessibility to legal mechanisms, these groups use violence as an instrument to reach their goals. In other words, the adherents of this policy consider it as a new identity for Muslims and a solution to prevent of Muslim societies’ decline. One of the latest Islamic groups that are radicalized is Boko Haram in Nigeria. Accordingly, variables such as widespread poverty in Muslim areas, in compare with Christian areas, absence of Muslims in political field, long lasting ethnic conflicts, feeling of identity removing of Islamists by secular government have led to further radicalization of this group. Solution to the problem is twofold: Initiating a dialogue with Boko Haram in order to stop their attacks in the first place and implementing human security-based policies to improve living conditions in northern Nigeria secondly
The Dynamics of Islamic Radicalisation in Nigeria
The religious structural view in northern Nigeria presents the radical Islamists crisis as one example of an inbuilt tendency, which causes periodic incidents of violence. Incident should be seen in the context of social, political and generational dynamics within the larger field of northern Nigerian radical Islam as the site of repeated jihad, going back to the 19 th century jihad of Usman Dan Fodio. The key to understanding contemporary radical Islamism in northern Nigeria is to comprehend the role and place of the Sokoto jihad. The basic message of radical Islam, whether in the Middle East, North Africa, or northern Nigeria, is the same: it is the duty of Muslims to revolt against and change traitor rulers and governments in order to help re-establish a proper Islamic state. The main differences among radical groups are in the methods and not the ideals. Islamic radicalisation encompasses engagement in manners to Islamize the social and political systems. These goals are to be realized through revival or establishment of Islamic state based on Sharia law. The emphasis is on the control of the state institutions, which is seen as the main instrument for actualizing the Islamic law that will guarantee the revival of and a total return to the Holy Qu'ran and the Noble Hadith.
“Slicing Off the Tumour”: The History of Global Jihad in Nigeria, as Narrated by the Islamic State
POLITICS AND RELIGION JOURNAL, 2019
This paper provides a detailed summary and analysis of “Slicing Off the Tumour,” a text written by two sons of Muhammad Yusuf (d. 2009), founder of the Nigerian Jihadi movement known as “Boko Haram,” and recently (2018) published by the Islamic State. The paper argues that although obviously biased, this book provides important insights into the history of Jihad in Nigeria as seen through the lenses of Global Jihadi actors, which the analysts should not dismiss. In the conclusion, the author questions the heuristic usefulness of the term “Boko Haram” in the literature on local and global manifestations of Jihad in contemporary Nigeria. Finally, the author locates his position in the recent debate around the nature of the global links entertained by Nigerian Jihadi actors and around the role of these links in the development of the “Boko Haram phenomenon.”