Nigeria has had a long history of ethnic conflicts and cultural divides, leading to widespread distrust and unrest. Muslims make up the majority of the population, with Christians and indigenous people making up the remainder. Not only is there a religious divide but an ethnic divide between Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, and the Igbo. There are constant struggles for power and influences. A portion of unrest rose in the form of the terrorist group Boko Haram. For the past four years this group has committed countless atrocities with a huge body count.
As a Muslim extremist group, Boko Haram’s goal is eradicate western influence and return to fundamental, strict Muslim rule and Shari ‘a law. Boko Haram was founded as an indigenous group which initially ran a religious complex with a mosque and school where many families enrolled their children. The group used the center to recruit “future jihadis” and was a stepping stone towards the group turning itself into a Jihadist group in 2009. The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad” (Who are Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists?), its Hausa name being Boko Haram or "Western education is sinful" (Chothia). They seek to establish a "pure" Islamic state ruled by sharia law eliminating Westernization. They are known for attacking “Christians and government targets, bombing churches, attacking schools and police stations, kidnapping western tourists, but have also assassinated members of the Islamic establishment” (Sergie). According to the World Outline, violence and killings have resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013. Chris Kwaja, a Nigerian university rese...
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...at shocked me through all these articles is how there weren’t a single positive story about Nigeria. I had to get to the third page before I found something that was “kind of positive” about Nigeria. These definitely illustrate what the speaker was saying about single stories. Also 8 out of 10 stories where related to Boko haram. Therefore it won’t be a surprise for me to hear that people believe that Boko haram is the daily cup of tea. I didn’t really found anything that was directly related to the chapter because most of the stories were about BOKO haram crisis. The only thing that I found related to the chapter was how the Biafra war that has opposed the three major’s ethnics groups: Yoruba, Igbo and Hausas is still reflecting on the actual Nigerian crisis. In the north were these crisis are occurring, only certain ethnic groups or religious groups are attacked.
Extremism manifests itself dangerously in the Islam religion (Palmer, Monte, and Princess Palmer, 37). The Muslim religion has some laws and believes that no one should question their design, origin or application. Good people should punish immoral people in Islam religion without showing mercy to them. In Islam, human beings have no right to offer forgiveness to others that can easily lead to and create peace to oneself in the society. The unforgiving nature makes human rights groups in many ways try to change and support governments that try to overthrow Muslim extremist governments. Such an approach creates a war never ending between the Muslim governments and other governments that fight the extremist ideals. In East Africa, Somalia presents a case example by observing how the Government is not able to control the ever fighting and dreadful Al-Shabaab. The “Al-Shabaab” is an Arab name for Muslim youth who over the years try to use enforce extremist rulers in governing the country and hence controlling the resources. Muslim fighters and rebels arm themselves with arsenals they use to fight groups that oppose them by killing and torturing them. The al-Shabaab launches attacks that kill people and openly claim responsibility for the losses and the deaths they cause. They also punish members who commit sin using the retrogressive laws of the Quran on the people they label sinners. Other extremist
To adapt one of Isichei's claims, Nigeria's “confrontation with an alien culture, its conquest, and the experience of an alien rule, created … [crises]” (180). There were many riots and conflicts between the Nigerians and the British, although most of the uprisings were eventually subdued by the military power of the British. Riots were common—from the culturally rooted Yoruba riots in the West and the religious skirmishes with the Muslims and Hausa in the North, to the confrontations with the naturally ‘rich,' yet stubborn Igbo and Delta states. Apart from encompassing all the major ethnic groupings and regions in Nigeria, amazingly these conflicts also covered the three most explicit British inculcations: cultural, religious, and economic.
In Arabic, al Shabaab translates to "the youth." Reportedly, the members are characteristic as being young men in their early twenties. In addition, they are lacking adequate education and may have a criminal background. Recruitment in poor rural areas creates ample opportunties for them to enlist more support. It has been documented that al shabaab terrorist group are equipped with several thousand members along with a few hundred foreigners. (Zalman, Amy) Al Shabaab objective has been to spread Islamic rule in Somalia and to exterminate foreign influence. For the most part, they have conquered methods that are similar to Islamic militants in Afghanistan and Iraq which includes suicide bombings, small-arms attacks, road-side bombings an...
McLaughlin, Greg, and Stephen Baker. The Propaganda of Peace. Bristol, UK: Intellect Ltd., 2010. Print.
"Untouchability in Nigeria | International Humanist and Ethical Union." International Humanist and Ethical Union | The World Union of Humanist Organizations. Web. 08 Apr. 2010. .
Nearly 50 percent of the country's population are women. Within Nigeria there are about 250 different ethnic groups that speak nearly 4000 dialects. Its religions are: Islam (50%), Christianity (40%) and traditional beliefs (10%). Ethnic problems have been common among the various tribal groups. Also, religious unrest has been seen between northern and southern regions of
According to Samuels in Case Studies in Comparative Politics, Nigeria began as a group of states and empires, which were conquered by the British Empire who ruled Nigeria through indirect rule with varying degrees of rule in North and South Nigeria (Samuels, 323-326). Since they were granted independence in 1960, three republics have been created and each has ended by military rule, which led to the creation of the fourth, and current republic in Nigeria. In the current regime Nigeria’s GDP is ranked 108 of 156 and has been decreasing, lower than some of the non oil-producing nations in Africa (“Nigeria”).
...’s depictions of both traditional and modern beliefs in varying degrees illustrate the importance of both in contemporary Nigerian culture, as well as the greater Africa as a whole, and how both are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. In effect, she skillfully subverts stereotypes or single perceptions of Africa as backward and traditional, proving instead, the multifaceted culture of Africa. She further illustrates that neither traditional African nor western culture is necessarily detrimental. It is the stark contrast of the fundamental cultures that inevitably leads to clashes and disagreements. In the end, what holds African countries such as Nigeria together is their shared pride. Modern, western influences can bring positive changes to society, but new cultures cannot completely eradicate the foundational cultures to which a society is founded on.
Quantitative research involves the collection and converting of data into numerical form to enable statistical calculations be made and conclusions drawn. It provides a measure of how people think, feel or behave and uses the statistical analysis to determine the results. However, this measurement results in numbers, or data, being collected, which is then analyzed by using quantitative research methods (Byrne, 2007).
The culture of Nigeria is multi-ethnic and consists of three large ethnic groups. These groups are the Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, and the Igbo. The people of Nigeria still hold their traditional languages, music, and dance closely and may differ from ethnic group to ethnic group. Although English is considered to be Nigeria’s official language, only fifty percent of the population can speak it. This is contributed to the fact of the different amount of tribes, and generally, every tribe has its own language (Boomie).