One Voice, Multiple Tongues: Dialoguing with Boko Haram

Abstract

Using "official" documents from the government and Boko Haram and other fundamentalist Islamic groups in Nigeria, this study examines the prognosis of the dialogue option between the Boko Haram fundamentalist Islamist group and the federal government of Nigeria. To achieve this, the study compares the stated and inferential motives of Boko Haram with Nigeria's pluralist nature and argues that insofar as Boko Haram remains an internal dialogue within Islam, especially in northern Nigeria, and an offshoot of a process derived from socioeconomic and political imbalances in contemporary Nigeria, the government could dialogue with Boko Haram on the second issue but would breach its own constitution and legal codes on the first.

Dialoguing and negotiating with terrorists: any prospect for Boko Haram?

“…The primary concession poses a serious challenge to Nigeria's political system and a substantial threat to its multi-cultural and multireligious character. It is this seemingly difficult proposition that makes Oyeniyi (2014) dismiss the idea of negotiation with Boko Haram. Oyeniyi (2014) draws a clear boundary between the group's stated objectives (mainly the Islamisation of Nigeria) and its more negotiable objectives (mainly political and socio-economic needs including reparation to the group, releasing its detained members and providing governance).…”

“…Scholars such as Oyeniyi (2014) believe that Boko Haram is driven by greed, while others like Adegbulu (2013) present contradiction in the attempt to present a delicate balance between the greed and grievance argument. The greed factor largely refers to the irony in the lavish lifestyle of Boko Haram generals and the life of frugality that they preach as well as the personal economic gains they pursue (obviously using religion as a cover).…”

“…However, such negotiations or counterinsurgency may not succeed without offering alternative sources of power and selfworth to the insurgents willing to give up violence (Metz, 2007). The argument that Boko Haram is underlined by an impenetrable religious ideology that forecloses any political solution (Walker, 2012;Nwankpa, 2014;Oyeniyi, 2014) can no longer be substantiated.…”

“…Oyeniyi (2014) argues that the resolution of this conflict should be entirely left in the hands of the northern people. This can be interpreted as the harmonisation of Islamic ideals (potentially under the leadership of the conservative Islamic authority in Nigeria -the Sultan) (Cook, 2014).…”

Boko Haram in the Nigerian press: The politics of labelling

“…Other authors have pointed to factors such as identity conflict arising from Nigeria's complex multi-religious/ethnic composition (Loimeier. 2012;Oyeniyi, 2014), modernisation strain (Idowu, 2013), and increase in rent-seeking behaviours (Gourley, 2012), as possible causes of the campaign of violence by Boko Haram.…”