Terrorism personified: The Boko Haram in Nigeria (Part 3 of Fundamentalism vs. Extremism)

Third in a series by guest contributor Emmanuel C. Mbaezue

Map of Nigerian states with Boko Haram activity between 2010-2013
Nigerian states with Boko Haram activity between 2010-2013. By Nerika, used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. From Wikimedia Commons

At first they started as a political interest group, seeking, since the 1999 elections, to return the “Northern Oligarchy” in Nigeria to power. But today, the true face of the group has been revealed and their real intentions exposed.

Boko Haram has gone from a politico-religious extremist group to global terrorists—at least according to the global terrorist watch list published by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

As the state of unrest, chaos, and political instability in Nigeria continues to worsen, Boko Haram has consistently taken advantage of the situation, using it to expand their frontiers and strengthen their affiliation with other terrorist groups operating in sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb region, and the horn of Africa.

In recognition of this deepening crisis, the African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), in collaboration with intellectuals from both Africa and the U.S., recently came together to deliberate on this developing situation under the platform of “understanding and mitigating the drivers of Islamist extremism in Northern Nigeria.”

This video provides information about those discussions. It also serves as introduction to the development of extremism within a context of colonialism and post-colonialism and its links to religion in Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, Africa’s most populous Muslim country.

Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Mbaezue has a Master of Science in Conflict Management and Peace Studies from University of Jos, Jos, Plateau State. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, and works as a paralegal counsel at the Legal Aid Council for the Federal Ministry of Justice in Nigeria.