“Nigeria has always been a divided country plagued by weak governance, ethnic cleavages, and corruption”("The Historical Background of Boko Haram", 2014). Also, “Boko Haram was born in this context, with religious fervor growing in the Muslim north and finally manifesting itself in violent Islamist terrorism"( "The Historical Background of Boko Haram", 2014). When the British pull out the region, it left the Northern parts of Nigeria unstable and not ensuring that northern Nigeria opened the door to corruption by terror groups. “The system led by Bifurcated country with a productive south flush with oil wealth and impoverishes north struggling to reconcile modernization with dictates of the orthodox and rapacious power broker”(Wall, 2015). The country was not modernized like the southern part of Nigeria and majority of the people were uneducated and poor. …show more content…
This theory was first discovered by Robert K. Merton who was a sociologist. "Merton would suggest that what results, then, is structural strain between the cultural goal of economic success and unequal access to available means and that this leads to the use of deviant behavior like theft, selling things on the black market, or embezzling in pursuit of economic success" (Crossman, 2016). Boko haram was formed because of the inequality and the struggle to gain economic success. People in northern Nigeria were fighting to gain education and equal rights which led the people to rebel. The people of Northern Nigeria began to form gangs and began to act upon their feelings, which led to killing, stealing and robbing other people. This is how Boko Haram was created and this is how they have recruit most of their followers today by gathering people with the common
Unfortunately, that can overshadow the grim reminder of their culture essentially being snatched from them. New schools and products have modernized Nigeria into a world power, but the price of this success was conformity to European (and especially British) customs. The Britons’ goal was simply bringing both positive and negative change to this nation. Through Chinua Achebe’s novel and countless Internet sources, the complexity of the relationship between Great Britain and Nigeria is fully revealed. Influence is powerful, but at what
...nturies of both its resources and its people; a continent dived by borders that suited foreign powers, leaving nothing but volatile power vacuums. Those who did somehow manage to receive an education were taught that their heritage and they themselves were inferior. Despite everything Africa has endured, there remains hope. Some form of stability is establishing itself in an increasing number of regions, including Nigeria, with Lagos becoming an economic powerhouse in West Africa. Across the continent more and more economic development projects are being funded by African banks.
Analysts state that Boko Haram “attacks are aimed at striking fear at the heart of the local population to prevent cooperation with the government” (Karimi and Carter). In another BBC.com article, Andrew Walker explains that Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram because their military lacks modern equipment, training, and motivation. Also, the citizens in Nigeria do not trust their military since they cannot restrain the attacks (Walker). “Rights groups have accused local authorities of human rights violations in the fight against the group, adding to the anti-government sentiment” (Karimi and Carter). It was when Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 girls from Chibok, Borno in 2014 that drew the attention internationally. Boko Haram referred women “to the ancient Islamic belief that women captured in conflict are part of the “war booty,” meaning that Boko Haram “would treat them as slaves and marry them off” (Chothia). China, France, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States are now involved in helping Nigeria (Walker). However, the help from other countries seems to be limited to searching for the kidnapped girls and not focused on improving Nigeria’s military (Walker). As quoted in “Why Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram,” James Hall thinks that “Even if they could, the job would be too big” and “It would take years of total engagement, training group after group to have any
Like most eastern countries that rely on one source of income Nigeria has had major
In the fateful year of 1884, the Berlin Conference convened (Berlin Conference). The Nigerian natives did not know this, but, because of that meeting and many other factors, they would soon be conquered by Britain, pressured to convert to an alien religion, and would hurt culturally and economically not just during their time as a colony, but even after they achieve independence, with the their future political system inefficient and hard to reform as an added bonus. To begin, this paper’s goal is to reveal the symptoms of Britain's reign over Nigeria and how they continue to be a huge nuisance even today in the form of huge economic, ethnic, and political difficulties.
Yang, C.. (2010). Less Blood for Oil: Nigeria's Fragile Amnesty. Harvard International Review, 31(4), 6-7. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1988429401).
...els. Merton theorized that the social imbalance served as the key cause of crime and deviance. Individuals will always want what they cannot obtain. Therefore, their forceful drive will cause them to deviate from the acceptable means and begin committing unacceptable acts. Murder erupts when poorer individuals begin envying or becoming jealous of what wealthier individuals have. They see an opportunity to arise when they weaken the victim’s power and are able to take control. The retreatists and the rebels typically occupy the position of law-breakers. Retreatists reject both cultural goals and the goal behavior, and rebels reject both but substitute their own goals and means of achieving those goals.
In conclusion, Things Fall Apart brings up very important themes and issues that take place not only in Nigeria, but all throughout Africa. The idea of how to control the people and gain the most benefit from them is seen throughout history. As well as the the gender roles that are in place and the importance of maintaining prestige in the community. Overall showing the spiraling effect that one change
While the outside world considered Nigeria to be a united and monolithic entity, even the British colonial administration was wary of the reality of Nigerian politics; the nation was not so much a “country” as it was more than three hundred different groups coalesced into one.4 5 These tribes were divided between three main spheres of influence: the Yoruba, the Igbo, and the Hausa. Historically, their interests were often opposed, and their cultures did not come into regular contact with one another until the British occupation. In spite of the differences British administration a...
...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.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the persecution of Christians has taken place in northern Nigeria. In the poverty-stricken nation, tension between Muslims and Christians runs high. The discrimination against Christians in the North along with violent attacks at the hands of the infamous Boko Haram violates several international laws and has led to the interference of the International Criminal Court and United States. Although the violence began in recent years, the conflict has been rising for centuries.
Oghre, Ben. “Nigeria’s Population Is A Silent Killer .” Nigerians of America. N.p., 30 Sept. 2007. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
Nigeria is a constitutional republic in West Africa. The majority of its citizens are Muslim (50.5%) and Christians (48.2%), the rest belongs to other smaller local religions. Because of this major diversity in the religious viewpoints many of the citizens in the Nigeria does not identify themselves as people
...esult, 1000 civilians died, but majority of the fundamentalist group was taken out. In 2009, Goodluck Jonathan assumed presidency when Umaru Yar’Adu died (BBC News Africa, 2013). In 2011 elections, Goodluck Jonathan took majority of the vote against military opponent, Muhammadu Buhari. Observers have stated this election is the most fair it has ever been in history, but Buhari’s supporters opposed the results. Quickly after, the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, made resurgence and there were daily attacks in the country. As a result, the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency and dispatched troops. In January 2012, Goodluck Jonathan removed the country’s fuel subsidy to repair the tattered economy, but only caused fuel and food prices to rise. In response to the rise of prices, Nigerians began to protest, which eventually led to reinstating the subsidy.
The catalytic factors which brought this phenomenon to life in Africa are imprinted in the history of African states. Following the attainment of political independence by many African countries in the 1960s, there were expectations that Africa would develop and achieve political and economic stability. The exhilaration that independence brought had barely settled when the hope for these expectations started to fade. Since their existence as independent states most African countries have grappled with visionless leadership from authoritarian regimes, characterised by flagrant abuse of democratic values, fundamental human rights, the rule of law, equality and political legitimacy. As a result, citizens have been exposed to pitiable conditions brought into being by rising poverty which eventually leads to a cycle of armed ethnic conflicts and civil wars among other crises .