Poverty and the Challenges of Security in the North-Eastern Region of Nigeria: A Case Study of Boko Haram Insurgency (2009-2017)
- July 22, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: Economics, Political Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
Boris Happy Odalonu, Eberechukwu Faith Obani
Department of Political Science, Federal College of Education Eha-Amufu, Enugu State, Nigeria
Abstract:- Poverty has become an endemic in our society based on certain factors that are human creation. Nigeria has been caught-up in this web due to the nature and character of the state. This paper ex-rayed the relationship between poverty and the emergence of Boko Haram insurgents in the North–East region of Nigeria. Secondary data were used for this paper and the theoretical overview is anchored on relative deprivation and frustration-aggression theories. The paper argues that there are varied factors that gave room to Boko-Haram insurgency. However, poverty is the most prevailing causes of Boko Haram insurgency. The paper reveals that Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East of Nigeria has crippled the economic activities of the region thereby increasing the rate of poverty in Nigeria. It also shows that Boko Haram insurgency is the greatest cause of displacement in the north east. It further shows that Boko Haram activities have not only challenged the security of the Nigerian state but also threatened its unity and economic development. The paper concludes that if these economic and political conditions that led to violent extremism remained unresolved, there will be continued insecurity in Nigeria especially in the North-East region. The paper therefore recommends that Federal Government should sincerely and practically embark on job creation for the unemployed youths, particularly in the troubled region.
Key Words: Boko Haram, Insurgency, Insecurity, Displacement, Poverty, Nigerian economy
I. INTRODUCTION
Nigeria has been bedeviled with the activities of Boko Haram insurgency for almost a decade. Over the past nine years, Boko Haram has gained a reputation as a particularly brutal terrorist group, forcefully pressing its objectives via a wave of killings, bombings, and abductions across Nigeria (Hart, 2016). The continued bombings, killings, kidnappings and the destruction of property by Boko Haram have become of great concern to the Nigerian government and the international community (Awojobi, 2014). Boko Haram at the beginning of its violent attacks targeted mainly security forces and politicians; however, the group later on expanded its attacks to include civilian spaces such as schools, churches and markets. The group also engages in high-profile kidnappings and carried out one of their largest kidnapping – they kidnap around 270 school girls in a secondary school in Chibok on 14thApril, 2014 (Yahaya, 2015).
