The political economy of securitization: The case of Boko Haram, Nigeria

Abstract

Since the abduction in 2014 of 276 high school girls in a remote village, Chibok, in Borno state, Nigeria, the activities of the proscribed group Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, has received elevated domestic and international attention, as has the Nigerian government's strategy to deal with the group. Criticisms of the government's ineffective handling of the situation have been made by a number of foreign governments, and several of them have offered military, intelligence, diplomatic, and law enforcement assistance to Nigeria. From a political economy perspective, this article presents a critical reading and analysis of the local and international response to Boko Haram. It finds that an interest in the "securitization" of development prevails over a genuine peace and security agenda.

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

“…The court ruling against three arraigned Boko Haram suspects, whom have received a pay-out of Nigerian Naira 70 million from a member of the government's amnesty committee under the impression that they will convince the group to surrender their arms, clearly demonstrates this point (Nwankpa, 2015a). Another possibility is that the government does not have a 'clear understanding of the perceptions, associations, and scope of [Boko Haram's] network' (Nwankpa, 2014, p. 73).…”

Poverty and living conditions with Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin: the case of southeastern Niger

“…The economic opportunity view does not deny the significance of political and religious views of insurgency. According to some scholars, the religious ideology, classified as jihad, is a significant factor in fomenting the Boko Haram insurgency (Higazi and Brisset-Foucault 2013;Okwuchi Nwankpa 2015). Boko Haram's ideology is embedded in radical Islamism, which is not a new phenomenon in northern Nigeria, having started with the violent confrontations that took place between a sect of Muslim fanatics (the Maitatsine uprisings) and the Nigerian police force in the 1980s.…”