2
Adamson
MEMORANDUM
To: United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle[1]
From: MacKenzie Adamson
Subject: An Overview of Nigeria and a Plan to Eliminate Boko Haram in Northern Africa
Date: April 20, 2016
SUMMARY
Nigeria has been in a constant state of unrest due to the effects of Britain’s colonization, religion, ethnic groups, and poverty. All of these factors have contributed to the development of Boko Haram, a terrorist group and armed insurgency that forbids western education and instead preaches the importance of an Islamic State. Some argue that its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government and instill Sharia law.[2] Boko Haram is simply an effect of the strife and tension within the country, and it cannot be eradicated until the causes have been resolved. This will entail severe reform by the Nigerian government to rid itself of corruption, collect the funds gained illegally by corrupted officials and citizens and apply it towards social programs, bolster the Nigerian military with the help of the international community to better protect its people from Boko Haram, and finally encourage international companies to leverage Nigeria’s natural resources in order to create more jobs and better the economy. The protection of the Nigerian people is of the upmost importance.
THE PROBLEM
Nigerian Historical Overview
Nigeria celebrated its independence from Britain in 1960; however, the country remained weak and fractioned. Nigeria is divided between the Muslim North and the Christian South, with over 300 different ethnic and cultural groups. There are four main ethnic groups in Nigeria: the Hausa and Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest, and the Igbo in the southeast. Britain’s colonization of Nigeria brought together people of different backgrounds that were forced to work together in one state after Britain’s departure. The country was unstable with little to no understanding of how to govern itself, which made it vulnerable to the military coup that took place in 1966 by General Aguiyl Ironsi, an Igbo from southern Nigeria. General Ironsi was not in power for long before he was assassinated. This led to increasing hatred and violence between the north and the south of Nigeria.[3] Eventually, the Christian South decided to secede from Nigeria and form the Republic of Biafra, under Colonel Odumegwu Ojukqu. In retaliation, the Supreme Commander Yakubu Gowon of northern Nigeria declared war against the seceding southeast. The Biafran War, otherwise known as the Nigerian Civil War, lasted from 1967 to 1970. During this time, the Muslim North prevented supplies and food from entering the Christian South, causing starvation and creating a major humanitarian crisis.[4]
The United Kingdom supported their former colony and backed the Nigerian Federal Military Government along with the Soviet Union. Biafra gained the sympathy of much of the West and several non-governmental organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Joint Church Aid (JCA), when the humanitarian crisis became apparent to the rest of the world. Over one million civilians died either from fighting or starvation during the Biafran War, and many of those were in southern Nigeria. They died from starvation and lack of medical care. The ICRC and the JCA delivered food, medicine, and supplies to the South in hopes of preventing more unnecessary deaths.[5] The Nigerian government eventually won the war in 1970; however, there are still strong tensions between the ethnic groups, and the war is deeply rooted in the memories of Nigeria’s citizens.
The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigeria is currently classified as a federal republic that has a mixture of English common law, Islamic law, and traditional law. Islamic law is found in twelve of the 36 states in Nigeria, and all are located in the Muslim North. The most recent Constitution was adopted 5 May 1999 and last amended in 2012. Citizenship can only be obtained through direct descent on either the side of the mother or the father.[6] The government is supposedly divided equally between the 36 individual states and the national government located in the capital city of Abuja; however, in practice it appears that the government does not operate on a federal level, but rather a unitary level.[7] Part of this is due to the clear ethnic divides within Nigeria due to over 300 ethnic groups speaking more than 250 languages. Nonetheless, corruption runs rampant in Nigeria. A 2009 Amnesty International report said that the Nigerian police were guilty of hundreds of illegal killings and disappearances that are “uninvestigated and unpunished.” In 2011, the Human Rights Watch said that “corruption is so pervasive in Nigeria it has turned public service for many into a kind of criminal enterprise.” Ethnic fighting and illegal killings have led to the deaths of over 34,000 people since 2011.[8]
Nigeria is the largest and most populous country in Africa with roughly 174 million people and an abundance of natural resources at its disposal, and yet 61 percent of the population lives on less than one dollar a day.[9] These natural resources include: petroleum, natural gas, tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, and land.[10] There is a substantial difference between the Muslim North and the Christian South in terms of poverty. Most of Nigeria’s natural resources are in the South, which contributes to a division in wealth between the North and South. 72 percent of the North is in poverty in contrast to the 27 percent poverty level in the South.[11] This is because most industry is located in the South, along with most of the natural resources.
The current leader of Nigeria is President Muhammadu Buhari from the Katsina State in northern Nigeria.[12] Buhari is the first candidate to beat the incumbent in a presidential election. He was the former military leader of Nigeria from January 1984 until August 1985 after a military coup. The people remember him for his strict campaign against corruption. There is a concern over past human rights abuses due to his strict policy of adherence to social order, including having soldiers stationed at bus stops with whips to ensure that civilians stood in lines as they waited for the bus to arrive.[13] Buhari has made several changes already to the Nigerian government to diminish corruption. One of these changes is his decision to run the oil ministry himself. While this sounds like the beginning strategy of a dictator, he has fired those in charge of skimming off money from the oil industry. The oil industry is also divided into two different parts to create a system of checks and balances on the corporation so it does not become too powerful, and in the process he fired the majority of its board. Buhari has also adjusted the bank system to ensure that all government financial transactions go through one bank so he is able to monitor it and make sure no money is missing. Lastly, Buhari has promised to hold previous government and cabinet officials accountable for their corruption and is looking into restoring the 150 billion dollars that was illegally taken throughout a ten-year period.[14]
Boko Haram
Boko Haram was founded in 2002 as an Islamist group against Western education; however, in 2009 it morphed into an armed insurgency.[15] Mohammad Yusuf believed in a strict interpretation of the Quran and thought Nigeria was corrupt due to its colonization by the British.[16] Boko Haram is a nickname given to the group due to their anti-western attitudes. Boko is derived from book and haram meaning forbidden.[17] The insurgency’s true name is“جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد” or “Association of the People of the Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad.”[18] Mohammad Yusuf was a Salafist influenced by the 14th century teachings of Ibn Taymiyyah. Yusuf preached to young men in Maiduguri, and eventually the group began acting out against the Nigerian people. Under Mohammad Yusuf, the group relied mostly on guns and trucks to wreak havoc, but attacks in 2009 caused a shift in the organization. The attacks began when Nigerian security officials reprimanded Boko Haram insurgents for not obeying the law of wearing helmets on motorbikes. The insurgents attacked the security officers, which sparked an armed uprising.[19] The uprising ended with the Nigerian government as victors and hundreds of Boko Haram members killed. Mohammad Yusuf was captured and publicly executed in Maiduguri.[20]
Upon Yusuf’s death, Boko Haram shifted from a radical Islamist movement to an armed insurgency that escalated from guns to suicide bombers. Abubakar Shekau is the current leader of Boko Haram and was Yusuf’s second in command. Nigerian officials claimed to have killed him on several occasions, but he is still alive. Under his leadership, Boko Haram has increasingly used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on civilian and government targets. [21] Boko Haram has also splintered from one organization into several different factions. Abubakar Shekau leads the main organization; however, other factions have spread into Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.[22] Boko Haram acts like a ladder with the true organization led by Shekau at the top and fractioned cells going downward. Shekau’s goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government to create an Islamic State. It is strictly forbidden for Muslims to take part in any western activity or politics including elections, receiving a secular education, and wearing shirts or pants.[23] Boko Haram has even gone so far as to pledge its allegiance to ISIS, although it appears it is more symbolic in nature.[24]
Boko Haram Attacks
Since the formation of Boko Haram, more than 10,000 people have been killed and at least 1.5 million have been displaced due to the violence.[25] 77 percent of these deaths are Nigerian civilians. To put Boko Haram’s violence into perspective, they killed 6,644 people in 2014, whereas in the same time frame, ISIS killed 6,073.[26] Boko Haram is just as violent as ISIS, but they have less of a social media presence, which has allowed them to commit atrocious acts under the radar of many Western citizens. In 2011, Boko Haram conducted a suicide bombing on the UN headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria killing 23 people.[27] In 2013, insurgents attacked a local college in Yobe killing 65 students. In 2014 they bombed a bus station that killed almost 100.[28] 2014 is also the year that marks the kidnappings of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok. Some girls managed to escape, but 219 are still missing. Just recently in April 2016, newly released footage reveals a proof of life video of fifteen of the Chibok girls.[29] The video was apparently given to the government officials soon after it was filmed on 25 December 2015, and yet neither the parents of the girls nor the public were informed about this until now. While the girls appear to be reading from a script, one stressed the word “all” when she stated that all of the girls were doing well. Boko Haram is suspected to have forced the girls to convert from Christianity to Islam. Their kidnappings in 2014 sparked protests by the Nigerian people, and people across the world, urging the government to act.[30] The Nigerian families and communities are hoping that this proof of life video will cause the government and military to re-focus on finding the girls; however, it has also brought suspicion since the Nigerian government withheld the video from the public for several months.
Boko Haram has abducted approximately 2,000 women and children since 2012. The women and girls are taken as brides and raped by the insurgents, some are purposefully impregnated in the hopes of raising a new generation of radicals. Increasingly, women are being used in suicide bombings. They are deprived of food and water until they choose to convert from Christianity to Islam. They are then forced to take classes on how to detonate bombs. While the majority of women and girls act out of sheer fear, some are enthusiastic for the cause. A woman who escaped enslavement by Boko Haram with her two children and grandchild depicted her life in the camp. She claimed she was only allotted one meal a day, and all of them were told that they would be sent to paradise if they blew themselves up in the name of Islam. Unfortunately, as many as 105 girls were used in terrorist attacks since June of 2014, which means that aid workers and non governmental organizations are fearful of providing food, water, and medicine to escaped girls due to the possibility that they might be hiding a bomb under their clothes.[31] Depriving the girls of food and water and the constant abuse of rape makes them more vulnerable to radicalization because they will reach a breaking point where they will do anything to escape their pain and suffering, including killing themselves in a suicide bombing.
IMPLEMENTATION AND JUSTIFICATION
The Proposal
Boko Haram evolved from the corruption and divisions within the Nigerian government and country as a whole. In order to diminish the influence of Boko Haram and reduce the number of recruits, the Nigerian government must make impactful changes in its structure in order to create stability and instill trust within its people. The following steps are essential to eliminate the terrorist threat of Boko Haram and to strength Nigeria: create a transparent government with zero corruption, use funds illegally obtained by corrupt officials to create and enhance social programs that benefit the people, hold the military responsible for its actions by having civilian officials oversee their conduct, invite the international community to help the Nigerian government and military to create a secure state for the Nigerian people, and lastly to encourage international businesses and incorporations to leverage Nigeria’s abundance of natural resources in order to create more job opportunities for the Nigerian people.