Abstract
Book Haram figuratively implies that western for nonIslamic education is a sin, is a very controversial Nigeria
militant group that seeks for the imposition of sharia law
in the entire northern states of Nigeria. The hierarchical
structure of the group is not presently well defined. The
official name of the group id jamaiatu Ahlis sunna lidda
?awai waljihad, which in Arabic translate to ?people
committed to the propagation of the prophet‘s teaching
and jhad? literally therefore the group means ?Association
of sunn‘s for the propagation of Islamic and for Holy war
(jihad) and Islamized northern stats of Nigeria and
probably conquer the entire country through jihad. So
far, the group has been waging the war successfully in it
area of stronghold. Book Haram made its presence
known in 2004, in Yobe states, and by 2011, it made its
presence known to the global community by bombing the
United Nations Headquarters in Abuja, especially in the
last two years, it has wi
1.1 Background of the Study
Nigeria as a nation-state is under a sever internal
socio-economic and security threat. As a more general
level, the threat has social, economic, political and
environmental dimensions. Each of these dimensions has
greatly affected the nation‘s stability, and can be traced
to the ethnic militia armies, ethnic and religious conflicts,
poverty, terrorism, armed robbery, corruption, economic
sabotage, and environmental degradation (Ilufoye, 2009).
Boko Haram insurgence becomes the major problem
facing Nigerians in the recent time. These groups have
perpetrated several bombing that have killed millions of
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innocent citizens of this country Nigeria and also caused
the destruction of both private and public properties
worth of billion of naira. This derives from their bid to
make people in the north east geo-political zone of
Nigeria to embrace their view on Islamic Nigeria code and
western education.
The predominant threat and security challenges in
the area are emendating from un-abating attacks on
Nigerian citizens, individuals, public and governmental
installations, kidnapping and destruction of properties.
All these effect of Boko Haram activities are serious crime
against the Nigeria state, which has threatened its
national security and socio-economic activities. This has
posed a great challenges to the ground strategy for
national security of which the primary aim is ?to
strengthen the federal republic of Nigeria to advance her
interest and objectives, to contain instability, control
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crime, quality of life of every citizens, improve the well
fare and the eliminate corruption? (Damba-zau 2007:51)
Boko Haram activities, has destabilized socioeconomic activities. Increased crime and destruction of
both life and property of Nigerian citizens. This can be
attested to by the mass movement of people living in
northern part of the country most especially maiduguri,
which is the capital of Borno State. This situation has
made it impossible for the citizens in that part ?Northren?
of Nigeria to carry on their legitimate businesses. It is
also scaring foreign investors out of the country.
Students have been forced to flee their schools. The
gravity of the crisis has made some government to vow
never to allow Nigerians students from their state to go to
the Northern part of Nigeria for anything. Boko Haram
activities also effected the posting of students of southern
and eastern extradition on national youth service corps
(NYSC) to the north, to the extent that parents are
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strongly resisting the posting of their children as copper
to the north.
Boko Haram itself, is a fatal blow to the noble
objective of the scheme as a unifying strategy, the unity
of Nigerian is seriously threatened by Boko Haram
fundamentalist sect and therefore, considered to be a
major potential terrorist threat affecting Nigerian mostly
on the part of socio-economic activities of the country.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Boko Haram activities was described by us
intelligence agents in November 2011 ?as a local salafist
group attacking Christians and local police stations with
matchet and poison tipped arrows in Nigeria‘s
northeastern Borno state. According to him:
Boko Haram is a way of thinking, it
is politically driven, they are loosely
organized grassroots insurrection
against not only the Abuja
government but the traditional
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Muslim establishment as well.
(Campbell, 2011).
After nearly a decade of violence, Nigeria
government still does not have an effective strategy for
dismantling the group. The terrorist organization preys
on the disillusioned Muslims of the north, who are fed up
with corruption. And have few economic opportunities,
Nigeria is a heterogeneous country divided by two
religious beliefs aside traditional religion. The northern
half of the country is almost completely Muslim (50 per
cent of the total Nigerians population) and the southern
half is mostly dominated by Christians (40 per cent of the
total Nigerians population). Originating in the Muslim
dominated northern region of the country, the movement
other rejected everything deemed western. The activities
of these groups ?Boko Haram? grew its ranks by taking
advantages of the widespread anger in the north over the
country‘s gap. In the north, 72 percent of the population
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live below the poverty line, compared to only 22 percent
in the southern part Christopher (Bartolta, 2011)
The political goal of Boko Haram sect is to create an
Islamic nation in the twelve northern states of Nigerians,
eventually, spreading to the rest of the country. From its
inception Boko Haram viewed Nigeria as a state or a
country running by non-believers and made the
government its main target, ever when the country had a
Muslim president.
Therefore, this research work seeks to find the
following:
1. Is poverty inducing the Boko Haram insurgency in
Nigeria?
2. Does the ?Boko Haram? insurgence have any socioeconomic implication on Nigerians development?
3. Is dialogue a desideration to the Boko Haram
menace in Nigeria?
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1.3 Objectives of the Study
The broad objectives of the study are to examine the
activities of the Boko Haram and its socio- economic
implication on Nigeria‘s development. Using Boko
Haram terrorism in Nigeria as a case study. To achieve
this, specifically, this research work is designed to
examine the following:
1. To determine if poverty is inducing the Boko Haram
insurgency in Nigeria
2. To assess the socio-economic implication of Boko
Haram insurgence on the nation.(Nigeria)
3. To determine if dialogue is a desideration to the
Boko Haram menace in Nigeria