At present, the Boko Haram terrorism marks a major threat to the survival of Nigeria. Since the beginning of Boko Haram's terrorist activities in 2009, a body of literature is increasingly emerging in the research community with an array of analyses of the phenomenon from various dimensions. However, there has not been any useful analysis on the implications of Boko Haram for existing relations between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. This study, therefore, aims to contribute to the literature by demonstrating how Boko Haram has heightened the historical tension between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. This study shows the different patterns of conflicts between the religious groups in the era of Boko Haram which border on their different perspectives on the sponsors and agenda of the group, the principal targets of the group, and the counter-terrorism strategy to fight the group. Following this, the study illustrates a number of violent clashes that have emerged from the conflicts between the religious groups. Given evidence provided in the paper suggesting that Boko Haram marks an enemy to both Christians and Muslims, the authors advocate unity between the religious groups to address the problem of Boko Haram.

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Islamic finance (IF) is the latest form of international financial system that emerged to offer an alternative source of financing development particularly among some countries in the global South. The aim of this article is to explore the role of diplomacy in the emergence of IF as an alternative financing source particularly for the global South. This article argues that IF was born out of diplomatic process, like its counterpart the Bretton Woods system. It further argues that, to understand the emergence and the forces behind the emergence of Islamic financial system, there is need to look at the context of the notion of South-South Cooperation that was conceived in 1950s and gained momentum in 1960s. The notion of South-South Cooperation showed to the Muslim world the possibility of creating a new financial system that began with the formation of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1969, the establishment of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in 1973 and consolidated with the Mecca Conference in 1976. This article concludes that although international financial systems are always the product of diplomacy, however, the nexus between the two has been overlooked by researchers. It, therefore, recommends that future studies examine this relationship in an in-depth manner.

Boko Haram's (BH) denunciation of Western education (WE) is an aspect of the movement that is widely known and which BH employed as a significant point of differentiation for advancing its cause and in attracting attention domestically and internationally. Despite its significance to BH's ideology, there is inadequate explanation of its origin and how BH adopted it. The aim of this paper is to explain the origin of BH's denunciation of WE and how BH finds it conveniently useful for advancing its cause. To achieve the objective of the paper, a reflexive thematic analysis approach was employed to analyze literatures on the history of WE in colonial days within the Muslim world and videos produced by BH. The paper argues that BH's denunciation of WE can be traced back to the Muslim world's colonial experience, its perception of WE and the responses WE's imposition elicited among the Muslims. Muslim's attitude is broadly classified into three: assimilation, adaptation, and rejection. Northern Nigerian Muslims initially rejected WE but eventually adapted it. This article shows that not only that BH exploited this earlier history of rejection but the rejection also evolved overtime from partial to total rejection. The rejection was precipitated by the personality of BH leaders, secular Nigerian system's systemic exclusion of those educated under Islamic system. Nigeria's government and relevant stakeholders should therefore focus on blending Western and Islamic education particularly in the North and create employment opportunities for the educated.

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