The Challenge of Militancy and Terrorism to Leadership and Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Terrorism in Nigeria manifested itself strongly in the garb of Boko haram insurgents which started as an insignificant agitation of an Islamic sect with a strange commitment to non-conformist standards of social organization in Muslim-dominated Bauchi and Borno states. Unlike the militants in the Niger Delta that were driven by purely economic goals, Boko Haram is driven by proclivity in religious conviction, political aspirations and social practice. Its ultimate goal is to make Nigeria an Islamic State and uphold only the laws of Islam as set out in the Koran. Qualitative method of data collection was used for this study which includes journals, articles, and internet sources. Findings indicate that Nigerian leadership has not lived up to its socio-economic responsibilities. Therefore, the implications of militancy and terrorists’ operations include the slowdown of the country’s economic growth and development, worsened unemployment, food scarcity due to the inability of traders to transport food from the North to the South due to insecurity. Politically and economically, the blame hinges on leadership failure. We consider that the government should embark on social welfare programmes and education, like the Almajiri education policy in the North in order to de-radicalize the youths and counter their violent extremist ideology. Other solution includes; tackling unemployment, persistent poverty and social inequality, creating a viable welfare policy, end to political exploitation and adequate socialization in proper ideology by religious leaders to avert constant blood-letting in the name of religion. The relative deprivation theory as argued by Robert Merton was used to explain militancy and terrorist activities in Nigeria.