ABSTRACT:
This paper is an interrogation of the activities of the Boko Haram sect especially since the killing of it leader Mohammed Yusuf under very controversial circumstances in 2009. It examines how the activities of Boko Haram have threatened the security and well-being of Nigerians and how it seems to have in turn undermined the Nigerian government’s ability to justify the reason for its existence, namely, to ensure the security and welfare of her citizens. Boko Haram has with seeming ease unleashed an orgy of violence characterized by bombing and killing Nigerians, especially in the north. This paper argues that sects like Boko Haram are a reaction to perceived and real injustices perpetrated by the state and its agencies. This paper is also of the opinion that the activities of Boko Haram have stretched Nigeria’s delicate socio-political and ethno-religious divides to the limit. The paper makes the point that a political solution, a well-meaning engagement between the government and the Boko Haram sect, is a more probable solution than the current attempt to engage the sect militarily. A political solution is not to be seen as a sign of weakness on the part of government but is, on the contrary, a sign of responsibility. The need to explore such a solution in the face of the crisis cannot be overemphasized. As a corollary, the government needs to tackle the crisis of infrastructure in the country. Education for the teeming Almajiri population in the north should be given priority in order to reduce the number of would-be Boko Haram recruits. More importantly, there is a need to overhaul the country’s security network so that activities such as those by Boko Haram can easily be nipped in the bud and/or controlled.
