Factor of Radicalism Boko Haram

Running head: FACTOR OF RADICALISM: BOKO HARAM
FACTOR OF RADICALISM: BOKO HARAM
Name of the student
Name of the university
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FACTOR OF RADICALISM: BOKO HARAM
Introduction
Nigeria earned its democracy in 1999 but the internal security of the country was
always in stake after the armed groups entered the country to undermine its security
environment. There were a number of such nonstate armed radical group in Nigeria, but the
Boko Haram has gradually became the serious national, regional and international concern
(Varin 2018). This groups mainly targets the youth of the country to enrol in their radicalism.
The group activities in the country has become the reason of death casualties of about twelve
thousand. This group of internal terrorist along with some other groups are becoming an
increasing threat to the country security. The number of local youth, joining the Boko Haram
is a big concern for the government. There are factors that influences the youths to join such
radicalism. This report aims to identify the factors that are influencing the radicalisation and
why the youths of Nigeria are attaining the path of radicalism.
Concept of Radicalization
The idea of radicalisation has come in to the scene specifically after the terror attack
of 9/11. The definition of radicalization is not same for all experts, but it can be summarized
in one loose terms. Radicalization involves rejecting of democratic ideas and the status quo
and adopting a violent medium to practice extreme political, religious and social ideology.
Radicalization can persists on individual or groups levels. According to Adibe (2016),
radicalization is the result of complex overlap of the mutually reinforcing and concurring
factors. In the process of radicalization changes in self-identification due to grievance is a
must. The individual or group are driven by the international or local events. The radical
ideology gives a different outlook to the person and explains the reason of their grievance in a
newer perspective (Cannon and Iyekekpolo 2018). The continuous repetition of these
conditions can push a person to adopt an extreme ideology along with the same-minded

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people in a group. The radicalization becomes the way out for these individual and gives
them the medium to express their ideas through violence and extremism. It is crucial to
understand why the Boko Haram in Nigeria has been able to continue its radicalization in the
country.
Understanding Boko Haram
Boko Haram is an Islamic jihadist terrorist organisation in the West Africa. The group
was formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād and was established by
2002. The group was first started under the leadership of Mohammad Yousuf (Boakye-
Boaten 2016). The original origin of the group is traced back in 1995, when Abubakar Lawan
founded “Ahlulsunna wal’jama’ah hijra” (Botha and Abdile 2019). This was a non-violent
movement which converted in to violent Boko Haram under the leadership of Mohammad
Yusuf. The basic ideology of the Boko Haram is to reject everything that is inspired by the
western beliefs. The name Boko Haram Itself means “Western education is forbidden”
(Bassiouni 2016). The group is active in the Nigerian provinces to replace the secularism of
the country and make it a strict Islamic nation. The members of Boko Haram are mainly
drawn from the unemployed youths, destitute children and disaffected youths of the Northern
Nigeria.
The first attack of this radical group was started in the 2003 when it attacked the police
station in Kanamma and Geiam. In the villages of the northern Yobe state, the group had
already established a base by then. The influence of the group became more prominent when
the student of the Yobe areas left their schools and colleges and joined Boko Haram (de
Bruijn 2019). The members of the group attacked the police station of Borno state, killed
many policeman and stole arms on 21st September 2004. Initially the security posts of the
country were their regular attack spots. The impact of the July 2009 revolt was huge on this
group. The leader Muhammad Yusuf was caught and killed by the police. Many of the sect

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members were also killed and the government agents tried to repress the movement this way.
After that the group claimed responsibility for many attacks in northern parts of Nigeria.
Factors influencing Radicalism: Boko Haram
Ignorance
A major part of the Niogerian youth are threats of the radicalization in the nation. The
main factor, according to Bassiouni (2016), influencing radicalization is the ignorance of the
religious aspects and teaching. The leaders of the radical group Boko Haram targets the
youths with limited knowledge of the Islam or Christianity. These groups of people are more
vulnerable to the religious preachers. Ignorance in religious teaching is influencing the people
to adopt an extreme religious views. Lack of knowledge and dependence on the preachers
more than the religious books are compelling the youths to join the radical Boko Harm group.
According to a study, about 90% of the Boko haram group members are ignorant of the full
teaching of the religion (Pettinger 2017). The preachers of Islam themselves do not have the
knowledge of the religion and use their words to impact the minds of the youths. They claim
themselves to be the scholars of Islam and distort the interpretation of the Islamic Holy Book.
The youth of the nation are further provoked in their training sessions to be radicalized.
Lack of Jobs and Increased Corruption
The socio-economic challenges of the Nigeria are at the heart of radicalization. The
youths of the country suffer from lack of employment. In spite of completing their education
they are not been able to join any organisation as the scope is quite limited. According to
Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the unemployment rate of Nigeria was 14.60%
in the year 2006. The arte continuously increased and reached up to 23.9% by the year 2011
(Rufai 2017). The country grew in its economy by 2013 but the poverty rate was
continuously increasing. The poverty rate of the country was 54.7% in 2004 and 60.9 % in

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FACTOR OF RADICALISM: BOKO HARAM
2010 (Rufai 2017). All these statistics are the indication of continuously degrading socio-
economic status of the Nigerian people.
The corruption rate of the country is more than any other part of the world. This is the
reason that, in spite of certain economic growth, the poverty rate of the country are still up
climbing. These important factors also contribute in the dominance of Boko Haram as youths
are choosing the path of extreme religious believes to “earn their rights”.
Difficult upbringing
The social condition of the country also contributes in radicalization. The number of
children without parental guidance is high in number in the country. The children who do not
have the social security are more vulnerable to radicalization. They are easy to manipulate
and exploit. The growing poverty in the northern part of Nigeria is contribution to the number
of destitute children. The children of Borno and Yobe are more vulnerable to the exploitation
as they do not have the positive growing environment and financial support to go to schools
(Vos 2018). The radical Boko Haram is using this state of the local people to fulfil their
violent objectives. The Boko Haram has used the Children at the age group of nine to fifteen
for trafficking their arms and stolen items. The extremist group pays to the young children for
spying on the military soldiers and trafficking arms with them.
High level of Illiteracy
Poverty is the reason of high level illiteracy in northern part of Nigeria. The illiterate
people of the villages of Borno and other areas are manipulated by the Boko Haram to
become the suicide bombers. The low economic conditions and lack of literacy make the
mind of these youths vulnerable to preaches of the extremist groups. The radicalization
becomes easier and the youths become ready to sacrifice their lives for “jihad” (Onapajo and
Kemal 2020). The chain of poverty and illiteracy are interrelated. The poor are unable to send

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FACTOR OF RADICALISM: BOKO HARAM
their children to school and therefore, these children remains illiterate. The illiteracy also
caters the unemployment and the youths are radicalized and paid for their actions of violence.
Role of the Security Forces
The extreme measures of the African security authorities against the Boko Haram is
considered to be one of the important reason for the radicalization of the youth. The military
and security forces are alleged of intimidation, unlawful killing, dragnet arrests and extortion.
Most of the people in Nigeria especially in the northern part of the Nigeria stated that the
military and security forces has handled the cases of Boko Haram irresponsibly (Weeraratne
2017). This has enraged the youths of the areas more than ever and they selected the radical
religious mediums to channelize their rages.
Conclusion
The factors contribution in the radicalization of northern Nigeria are the literacy,
poverty, corruption and negligence of security agencies. The country heads need to take care
of the employment rates in these parts of the country so that the youths do not adopt the
radical oath. Along with that religious awareness is also necessary for one and all. This
problems can be solved if the educational factors are taken care of. The social structure of the
country need to be changed and the government should launch programs for the destitute
children. All the essential steps for the socio-economic development of the country can
contribute to the end of radicalization and the groups like Boko Haram.

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