Abstract
Over the years, Nigeria was experienced series of
attacks, agitations, restiveness and blests ranging from
diverse regions and localities. References are; hostage
thing in the south-south region, the Niger Delta militancy
crisis, the Boko Haram crisis in Northern Nigeria (which is
the case study of this research work) etc. most
restiveness of youths has often been done under the puise
of a ring or body, this makes their operational activities
fast and broader. All these group exist in the diverse
regions of the country, and this includes. The „OPC?
popularly known as the „Oduduwa peoples congress”
called the Afenifere group. We can also find the „MASSOB?
known as the „movement for the actualization of sovereign
state of biafra”, in the south-east region. In the southsouth, we can find „MEND? known as” the movement for
emancipation of Niger Delta”, while the “Boko Haram lays
siege of the Northern part of the country to mention a
few.
Despite the fact that June
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Over the years, Nigeria has experienced series of
attacks and blests in most parts of the country. The
violent agitations by militants in the Niger Delta” (MEND).
So many splinter groups hide under this body to carry out
their nefarious acts of rebellion against the Nigerian state
to express their grievances over the degradations of their
environment through the operation of the multinational oil
companies.
Similar groups exist in other parts of the country and
they include; the “oduduwa people congress (OPC) which
is located in the south-west. They are often called the
Afeinifere group. There exists also the “movement for the
actualization of sovereign state of Biafra” in the southEast while the „Boko Haram” uses the Northern part of the
country as their operational base.
This research study will critically scrutinize and
evaluate the activities of the latter amongst the afore
mentioned political and religious sects, because that is the
thrust of this research. It can be deduced that poverty
and youth restiveness are instrumental to the incessant
crisis that has bedeviled our beloved country „Nigeria?.
People are said to be poor when they experience lack of
sufficient income to purchase material needs which often
excludes individuals from partaking in generally accepted
activities of daily life in the society at large. According to
ALI MASRUI in his „paradox of retardation”, Africa is not
the poorest of the regions of the world but it is the most
retarded. He argued that Africans are richly endowed and
as such, they have no reason to be poor.
Despite the fact that June 10,2006 marked 50 years
of oil exploration and production, and over $400billion
accrued to the Nigerian state in terms of revenue, Nigeria
is still referred to as one of the poorest countries in the
world. This often makes one to wonder how much of this
revenue actually found its way into the region where this
oil is produced in the way of investment in infrastructure
or the development of human capital. Such economic
growth is yet to be translated to economic development
and an appreciable increase in the standard of living of
the Nigerian masses. The economic, social and cultural
rights of the people in the Niger Delta which is the main
oil producing region in the country, continous to be
unrealized thereby increasing and escalating the level of
frustration and tension both within and between
communities. This increasing marginalization,
environmental degradation and the attendant with the
multinational oil companies, preserve poverty, perceived
insensitivity on the part of the state and failure of the
state to ameliorate the sufferings of the people, have
pushed or rather forced the inhabitants of the region
specifically the youths to the edge.
These amongst other perceived injustice have made
the youths to become very hostile and restless therefore
creating an atmosphere of fear, chaos and tension. This
drift to violence has unleashed a monster that is now a
nuisance to everyone irrespective of personality. The
attack are so indiscriminate that even babies, the aged, oil
companies and asset to pipelines are frequently targeted
for attacks and sabotage.
Having established a relationship between poverty
and youth restiveness, we shall now take a look at the
Boko Haram crisis for a comprehensive understanding of
the research study. Boko Haram as the name denotes,
does not have one particular meaning. The name more or
less connotes different meanings to different people. The
group is a Nigerian Islamic group that seeks the
imposition of Shariah group belief (Shariah law)
throughout the whole of Nigeria. Figuratively, members of
this group believe that “western education is a sin”.
Presently, the group has an undefined structure and chain
of command. It is of a paramount importance to note that
the official name of the group is „Jama? Atu Ablis Sunna
Lidda?awati Wal-Jihad?, which means or rather is
tantamount to “people committed to the propagation of
the prophet?s teaching and Jihad.
Since its formation in 2002 in Maiduguri by the
leader of the group Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram
has been a thorn the flesh of Nigeria?s security agencies,
precisely the police force, over its opposition to western
education that it believes is a sin. In the year 2004, the
Islamic fundamentalists group relocated its base to
Ranamma, Yobe state. The new location was named?
Afghanistan”, and from there the group set about
attacking and leaving members of the Nigerian police
lifeless.
In and interview with BBC in the year 2004, Yusuf
the leader of the group was quoted as saying that “this
war that is yet to start would continue poor a very long
time. Five years later i.e. in the year 2009, Yusuf was
killed under the police custody in a violent clash between
the Boko Haram and the security forces. Nevertheless, his
demise did not quell the activities of the group he
founded, it rather made them grow more in aggression.
Amongst the various crisis due to bombings carried
out by Boko Haram are;
The Nigeria sectarian violence in the year 2009.
The Bauchi prison break 1st Abuja – 2
nd Abuja the
northern Nigeria bombings in the year 2011.
The attack on the police headquarters on June 16,
2011.
The attack on the ………………….Madala Catholic Church
(St Theresa) on the 25th of December 2011 just to
mention but a few.
In conclusion, at this juncture, this research work will
critically analyze the three concepts i.e. poverty, youth
restiveness and Boko Haram in order to create a better
understanding in the minds of the readers and more so to
contribute to existing knowledge of literature.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is no longer news that the activities of the Boko
Haram and other similar politically religious sects have
often led to loss of property, lives and even the
breakdown of law and order, peace and security in the
Nigerian society at large. From the foregoing, it has been
observed that a lot of attacks have been made on so
many states which includes even the state capital (F.C.I)
What puzzles most observers is that most of these
attacks appears not be executed by suicide bombers, yet
the culprits often get away unharmed. This leaves a big
question mark in our security agencies as regards their
duty in the protection of lives and properties, and the
procurement of weapons of mass destruction to combat
this menace which is eating deep into the Nigerian society
today.
Opinions are however divided over the propelling
force of this group, for instance while some argue fact. It
is in a bid to eradicate these incessant chaos and
destruction which has often led to loss of assets, that we
pose a few research questions in a view of obtaining
reasonable and positive answers. Thus:
i. What is the relationship between poverty and
youth restiveness in Nigeria.
ii. Does the Boko Haram crisis pose a threat
development and Nigeria?s corporate existence?
iii. Is military option capable of lacking the Boko
Haram crisis in Nigeria?
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main thrust of this study, is to establish the
following significance:
i. To ascertain the relationship between
poverty and youth restiveness in Nigeria
ii. To find out if Boko Haram crisis poses it
threat to development and Nigeria?s
corporate existence.
iii. To explore whether military option is
capable of lacking the Boko Haram crisis
in Nigeria.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will definitely put the 1cmp on the cake to
already exuding literatures of poverty and youth
restiveness in Nigeria. Its importance lies in the fact that
it is currently a prevailing cancaworm and it is very
spontaneous and topical.
Moreso, it will act as a guide to the government in
their guest the problems associated with poverty in
Nigeria.
1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW
This review is precisely concerned with pre existing
views and perceptions of various scholars and
academicians as regards their contributions to the subject
matter, which is the research study. It is as a result of
this, that we will take two major variable into review/
these related variables are poverty and youth restiveness.
When talking about poverty, organizations often use
different definitions. According to the World Bank
organization; it
Poverty is defined relative to the standards of
living in a society at a specific time. People live
in poverty when they are denied an income
sufficient for their material needs and when
these circumstances exclude them from taking
part in activities which are an accepted part of
daily life in the society (UKCAP, 1997; Galloway,
2002).
What the world bank organization is saying in
essence is that poverty cannot be defined separately
without talking the economic situation into keen
consideration. When individuals or a given greater number
of citizens in a country cannot purchase their insatiable
needs (both material and non-material), then they can be
referred to as wallowing an abject poverty. This, according
to the world bank organization, is as a result of the denial
of their income as a result of the fact that the principles of
„PAYE? i.e. pay as you earn, is not always applicable to
every society; therefore, individuals tend to pay higher
taxes than they earn, and this leaves the bourgeoisies
richer while the peasants and proletariat keep on getting
poorer.
According to the House of Commons Scottish affairs
committee: “These are basically three current definitions
of poverty in common usage”, these in clued: absolute
poverty, relative poverty and social exclusion. They not
only mentioned the afore listed, but also went ahead to
elucidate on them.
Absolute poverty is defined as the lack of sufficient
resources with which to keep the body and soul together.
Relative poverty on the other hand, defines income or
resources in relation to the average. It is concerned with
the absence of the material needs to participate fully in
accepted daily life. Social exclusion as the third division of
poverty, is a new term often used by the government.
According to the prime minister, social exclusion can
be defined as …… a shorthand label for what can happen
when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of
linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low
incomes, poor housing, hich crime environments, bad
health and family breakdown. From the afore mentioned,
we can see that the farmer i.e. WBO, concluded or rather
condensed the absolute and relative poverty definitions of
the latter into a single meaning. Nevertheless, the
definition given by the House of Commons Scottish affairs
committee is more comprehensive because it
encompasses all facets of human existence. We must note
that definitions differ according to their narrowness or
breath that is in terms of whether they are confined to the
material core.
The nature of that material core and whether they
embrace also rational/symbolic factors associated with
poverty.
Nolan and Whelan (1996:193) are among those who
aroue for a definition towards the narrower end of the
scale on the grounds that too broad a definition runs the
danger of losing sight of the distinctive „core notion of
poverty?.
Following Townsend (1996:188), they define poverty
in terms of the inability to participate in society (which is
broader than more absolute? definitions confirmed to
subsistence needs), but emphasize that what is distinctive
is the inability to participate owning to lack of resources.
This confines their definition to those areas of life where
consumption or participation are determined primarily by
command over financial resources (1996:93) veit-Wilson,
1998,2004). By implication they exclude non-material
elements found in broad UN definitions, for example, ?lack
of participation in decision making”, “a violation of human
dignity?, powerlessness? and susceptibility to violence?
(cited in Langmore, 2000:37) similarly, they exclude some
of the non-material aspects emphasized by people in
poverty themselves, such as lack of voice, respect and
self-esteem, isolation and humiliation (UKCAP,1997,
Galloway, 2002).
At this juncture, we must note that it makes sense to
pitch the definition of poverty towards the narrower end of
the spectrum of non poverty. Another source of variation
is definitions of poverty reflected in the literature on
measurement, lies in whether they are rooted an
conceptualizations that are concerned with; on the one
hand, a person?s material resources especially income,
and on the other, with actual outcomes in terms of living
standards and activities (Nolan and Whealan,1996).
Stein Ringer (1996) defined poverty from two
dimensions namely; the first case and the second case. In
the first case poverty is defined indirectly through the
determinants of ways of life, while in the second case, he
defined poverty directly by way of life (1987:146).
Practically, these two approaches are often treated as
complementary (as in Nolan and Whelan?s definition
above.
Ringers own definition is not unusual in combing the
two: “a low standard of living, meaning deprivation in way
of life because of insufficient resources to avoid such
deprivation? (1987:146). Put simply, someone is “poor”
when they have both a low standard of living and a low
income? (Gordon etal, 2000:91). A.B. Atkinson in his
definition of poverty, make a related, but more
fundamental distinction between a concern with standard
of living and a concern with a citizen?s right to minimum
level of resources (1989:12). He also added in 1990, that
poverty is increasingly being conceptualized as a denial of
human and citizenship rights. This conceptualization of
poverty is also helpful from the perspective of
understanding and combating written poverty.
Millar and Glendimning (1991:464), propounded the
feminist definition of poverty, saying that the feminist
concept of poverty can be described in terms of an
individual right to a minimum decree of potential
economic independence. This view, focuses on the
individuals capacity to be self-supporting on the grounds
that people who are financially dependent upon others
must be considered vulnerable to poverty (1992:9). We
must note that the notion of vulnerability is helpful to
understanding the situation of women without an
independent income who nevertheless enjoy a
comfortable standard of living. From these, we can now
gather information that poverty is the inability to
participate in society involving both a low income and a
low standard of living.
Sen. takes a step backwards from both income and
living standards to ask why they mother. His answer is
that they don?t matter in their right, for they are simply
instrumental to what really matters, namely the kind of
life that a person is able to lead and the choices and
opportunities open to her in leading that life. At the heart
of this approach as an understanding of living as involving
being and doing?. Sen uses two key words to express this
idea. „functioning?s and capabilities?. The former refers to
what a person actually manages to do or be; they range
from elementary nourishment to more sophisticated levels
such as participation in the life of the community and the
achievement of self-respect. The latter on the other hand,
denote what a person can do or be, that is, the freedom
people enjoy to choose between different ways of living
that they can have reason to value (1990). He argues that
money is just a means to an end and that they goods and
services or „commodities? it buys are simply particular
ways of achieving functioning?s.
According to Karl Max, money may be instrumental
but it is also insparable from the power that it confers: I
can carry (money) around with me in my pocket as the
universal thing into the hands of the private person, who
as such uses this power (1987). Therefore he of the view
that one danger of downplaying income when defining
poverty is that it can be used to justify a policy stance
opposed to raising the incomes of those in poverty.
The European commissions definition of poverty
which was adopted in 1984 goes thus: the poor shall be
taken to mean persons, families and groups of persons
whose resources (material and cultural, social) are so
limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable
ways of life in the member state in which they live.
Poverty is a crisis that is habitual and it conveys message
of hardship which is difficult to deny. It speaks publicly
through visible misery, persisting destitution, endemic
hunger and visible malnutrition (Akanmidu, 2004).
Due to its nature, the endemic poverty afflicting the
people of the Niger-Delta amidst plenty, has led to a state
of hopelessness and the recourse to violence against the
state and multinational oil companies operating in the
region. Although poverty is central to the concept of social
quality, its reduction represent an indicator of social
quality, it is only one of a number of conditions that serve
to diminish social quality and cannot serve as the sole
measuring rod (Beck etal; 1997:11:2001).
Relative poverty places poverty in the context of
inequality within societies. The act of comparison between
those on lower and inphering ethnic groups, inevitably
highlights any inequalities of material resources that may
exist between the groups being compared.
At this juncture, we must note that relative poverty
and inequality are not necessarily synonymous as they are
sometimes juxtaposed. Inequality is concerned solely with
the comparison between groups, while relative poverty
adds to that comparison, the notion of the incapacity to
meet certain needs, broadly defined to include
participation in society. Thrust of these findings is that it
directly leads to restiveness of youths all over the country
(Nigeria).
Moreso, failure to give quality attention to the review
of the meaning of youth restiveness as propounded by
scholars, will render this review incomprehensive. This is
because by so doing by reviewing the concept of “youth
restiveness”, we will be able to establish a relationship
between the two variables (poverty and youth
restiveness).
On the 14th of January 2010, the former inspector of
police Mr. Mike Okiro identified; marginalization,
unemployment, youth exuberance and above all poverty
as a major attribute of youth restiveness in the country.
Okiro said this in a lecture which was titled “youth
restiveness and electoral process in Nigeria”.
In the past, youths were perceived as heroes of
nationalist movement. As students, they were the militant
wing of the anti-colonial struggle. The Sikist movement,
popularized the anti-imperialist consciousness theorized
by the earlier elder nationalist (onoge) in the year 2004.
the famous political bureau report of 1986 also affirmed
linkages of youth and national destines without recourse
to philistine, pejorative slander. In the context of Nigeria?s
historical experience, youths and students have rendered
very valuable and vital contributions to the struggle for
liberation and national development. They can constitute a
reservoir of energy and dynamism. For any national
struggle or campaign if they are correctly guided,
mobilized and fully integrated into the social fabrics of the
nation. They may also, constitute a threat to national
survival and stability if they are allowed to drift, are
unemployed, if they are undisciplined and morally
bankrupt. We must note that there is no nation upiring to
major national greatness and success that can afford to
ignore the youths and allow them to often constitute a
major social problem in the society. This is because of the
fact that they i.e. the youths happen to be or rather
constitute a very vital source of manpower and they have
in their possessions the existence of availability of
leadership potential.
The youths can also acquire knowledge and are so
full of future promises and positive expectations. It is
often believed that once these innate potentials in them
are fully exploited and properly channeled, only then can
their contributions to national development be immense.
The youths can also be referred to as the most committed
group in the organization of voluntary social work or
community development (CD) projects in their various
localities. They often engage in these acts of nation
building during their service years in the (NYSC) that is
“national youth service corps that is “National youth
service corps”.
As student, they are always in the fore front as
regards the struggle against injustice oppression,
subjection, subjugation and exploitation. They therefore
constitute a militant force in any political system. Many of
these activities have been recognized and acknowledged
in Nigeria. Unfortunately, however, their positive
contributions have tended to be drowned by rather
frequent and sometimes violent protest actions. These
incessant protest actions are promptly suppressed by
authorities and sometimes by ruthless means.
So far, it has deduced that the youths still remain
one of the greatest asserts that any community can
posses. Potentially, they are the greatest investments for
a society?s sustainable development and future. This
among others is the reason why it is universally
acknowledged that positive fundamental and meaningful
changes ineered, ofostered and or shaped by the
generation of youths in the society.
Therefore we can now say that any culture or
community, whether macro community or a micro
community i.e. big or small community, that allows a
good percentage of her youth to be misdirected or misled,
risk her future viability and survival into jeopardy. The
activities of the youth is now perceived as a social
problem or menace. This is because they have been
alleged defilement of traditional “core values” and have
rather stooped or resorted to carrying out public or
societal vices.
In Nigeria today, economic problems have provided a
platform for expression of violence and conflict be it
political, ethics or religious. Most significant of such
conflict is the crisis in the Niger Delta, which at the onset
was economic but has become a hydra-headed monster
that threatens the political and economic security of the
nation-youth restiveness is a despicable act being
perpetrated by a significant proportion of the youth an
various communities that can no longer be ignored. As the
name denotes, it is a combination of any action or conduct
that constitutes unwholesome socially unacceptable and
unworthwhile activities engaged in by the youths in any
community. It is a phenomenon which in practice, has led
to a near breakdown of law and order, low productivity
due to disruption of production activities, increasing crime
rate, intra-ethnic hostilities, and other criminal
tendencies. In the oil producing areas in Nigeria, the
communities still lack basic social infrastructures or
infrastructural facilities culminating largely into high levels
of poverty, mass unemployment, environmental
degradation and other social vices.
The resultant future of this today, is that we have a
near dicey situation in our hands as far as youths
population now abounds and there is now a national crisis
on the youth front. When considering youths questions,
they are often grouped into categories. These include the
following:
The national dimension is reflected in formal bodies
such as the OPC, Arewa youth, Massob, Egbesu boys of
Africa etc. These are publicly acknowledged bearers of
structured political and economic agendas of geo-ethnic
divisions.
There is also a rise in organized youth delinquencies
in Nigeria cities today popularly known as “area boys”
resident mostly in Lagos. They often operate under the
umbrella of a specific city turf.
There are a number of smaller youth association in
the states, local governments and towns across the
country today.
There is emergence of cult gangs on computers
which has facilitated the assimilation and sub assumption
of students in the inclusive category of the youth.
There is an increase in the number of youth and flee
the country through illegitimate means in order to make a
living in other countries, facilitated by global network.
It is often perceived that these restiveness in youth
is usually caused by certain factors which can be
individual or societal. These include: marginalization –
youths often stoop to restiveness or rather tend to be
restive when they perceive marginalization by selfish
government personnel.
Unemployment: they contribute a large army of the
unemployed, therefore they tend to look at their plought
as the making of a cruel society that does not seem to
care for them.
Exuberance: They often channel their raw energy
into wholesome and socially unacceptable vices. Having
said this, we can see that it is only a thin that separates
poverty from youth restiveness.
1.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The relative deprivation frustration aggression theory
will stand as the theoretical framework of this study.
Dollard (1939) submits that the primary source of the
human capacity for violence appears to be frustration
aggression mechanism. According to him, anger induced
by frustration as a motivating force that disposes main to
aggression. Frustration as an interference with goal
directed behaviours.
According to Gurr, he defined relative deprivation as
“a perceived discrepancy between relative deprivation and
their value capabilities”. Value expectations are the goods
and conditions of life to which people believe they are
rightfully entitled. Value think they are capable of
attaining and maintaining given the social means available
to them. He also suggests some variables that affect the
intensity of emotional respond to the perception of
deprivation.
The first proposition is that the greater the extent of
discrepancy the man sees between what they seek and
what seems to be attainable, the greater their anger and
consequence disposition to aggression.
A second proposition relates to “opportunities”. Men
who feel they make many ways to attain their pals are
less likely to become angry when one?s blocked than those
who have few alternatives.
A third general proposition is that the greater the
intensity of men?s expectations, the creator their anger
when they meet unexpected or increased resistance. Gurr
further states four interviewing variables thus: the
legitimacy of the political regime in which violence occurs,
coercive potential, institutionalization and social structures
which they condition the perception of deprivation.
In a related manner, James Davies attributed violent
outbreak to the frustration that result from short term
decline in achievement following a long term increase that
generate expectation about continuing increase.
Basically, a person thwarted in the attempt to reach
a goal is made angry and likely to protest against the
imputed source of frustration. This, Dowse and Hughes
observe in social life, men come to value many things,
status, power, security, equality, freedom, wealth etc.
when they cannot achieve those value means loosing
another, angry, dissatisfactions and in the cases
aggression occur, Mayer (1976), argue in support that the
normal tendency towards violence aggression or dispute is
increasingly frustration desires. To him, when a goal
presumably attractive two or more individuals is made
available in such a way that it can be obtained looser.
Those frustrate actors in political system can become
sponsors of things, kidnappers.
Davies (1973) observes that aggressive action
required four (4) main steps namely activation of demand,
frustration of demand, mental processes of deciding how
to overcome the frustration and action. It is important to
note that various individuals or groups involved in political
and or religious sects such as the Boko Haram, engage in
such violent activities because they perceive a sense of
disloyalty and injustice on the part of the government.
This is often due to the fact that their needs are not
properly met, and as a result of this, they stoop to violent
means inform of rebellion against the government that
has lost their popular support and legitimacy hence this
leads to restiveness among youths and invariably there is
lose of lives and property.
According to Kerlinger (1977) a theory is a set of
interrelated constructs (concepts) and propositions that
presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying
relations among variables with the purpose of explaining
and predicting the phenomena. Having said these, among
all the paradigms drafted by various schools over the
years, the focus therefore, so on the Boko Haram crisis
and its effect on „property and youth restiveness in
Nigeria.
1.7 HYPOTHESIS
In accordance with the research questions and
founded on empirical verifications deduced from the
research study, 1 hypothesize this:
i. There is a relationship between poverty and youth
restiveness in Nigeria.
ii. The Boko Haram crisis seems to pose a threat to
development and Nigeria?s corporate existence.
iii. Military option appears to be capable of tackling
the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria.
1.8 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
The method of data collection used in this research
study is the secondary source which is also known as
documentation. Due to the spontaneous nature of the
issue under investigation, we gathered information from
magazines, journals, newspapers, textbooks, internet
materials which are relevant to the study.
Method of data analysis
The framework of content analysis is what will
adopted due to the fact that it will aid us in giving better
appreciable acknowledgement to the study and make us
knowledgeably acquainted to the subject under analysis.
1.9 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The scope of this research work is quite broad that it
encompasses the investigation of “poverty and youth
restiveness in Nigeria?, a case study of the Boko Haram
crisis” from the year 2002 till date. This is because of its
spontaneous nature.
In view of the limitations of this study various factors
contributed in affect no the researchers
comprehensiveness and totality in carrying out the study.
Among these factors are scarcity of relevant materials on
the issue due to its continuous evolving nature and
virginity, financial constraints and other taxing campus
engagements and the fact that the crisis experienced its
apex in the course of the research interval.
Despite, the afore mentioned shortcomings and
hindrances, the research study no doubt turned out to be
successful