Chatham House hosted a discussion in January, Nigeria in 2012: Crises and Reforms. In it Garba Sani gave a brief history of Boko Harum that is one of the best I have seen.
View of Zuma rock from Madalla market, taken October 2008, photo from Christian Blanchard on Flickr. Madalla was a site of the 2011 Christmas day bombings by Boko Haram.
Garba Sani:
Garba took a narrower and more focussed perspective analysing the issues facing Northern Nigeria and the role of Boko Haram. From the perspective of Northern Nigerians, ever since the days of colonialism Western style education and Christianity have been imposed upon them as a package from the south. The response to this has been a resistance to Western education and the Western way of life. However, this is not simply a cultural sentiment. The civil servants and politicians produced by this system are seen conspicuously wasting money. Poor Nigerians see their politicians flying abroad, shopping in Dubai, and sending their children to expensive Western schools. Consequently people feel that the leadership is devoid of justice, and when they call for the establishment of Sharia law it is not about religious piety but reflects a desire for a more just system.
The resentment fostered among the youth of Northern Nigeria is where Boko Haram has its beginnings. Whilst Boko Haram started as a non-violent breakaway group, persecution and aggressive crack-downs from the security services brought a violent response. Boko Haram was at first a small and controllable problem, but the issue escalated in 2009 after heavy crackdowns were ordered by President Yar’Adua. The crackdown was brutal and disproportionate; around 700 innocent people were killed, some of them publicly executed on suspicions that they were member of Boko Haram.
Following the killing of their leader the movement went underground but emerged a year later with renewed attacks. Even at this point the situation was controllable, yet the government response was again heavy-handed. Local people felt more intimidated by the soldiers deployed to fight Boko Haram than they did by Boko Haram itself. This sentiment was compounded by the violent and indiscriminate responses of the security forces, which frequently caused the destruction of property and the loss of innocent lives. It is quite possible that the Boko Haram situation may have been encouraged by the Federal Government to undermine the North. The fact that the government refuses to negotiate with the group fuels these suspicions.
With regard to international actors and what helpful role they may play, the main problem is that internationally the current situation in Nigeria is seen very simplistically. It would be helpful for international actors to instead look at the problem from a local perspective. For example, calls for Sharia law and Jihad are exaggerated in the Western discourse. There is also no affiliation between Boko Haram and Al Qaeda. Rather, the statements made by Boko Haram’s leaders reflect local grievances and in this sense there is some sympathy for the group in the North. That said, Boko Haram is not representative of Islam and has been condemned by Muslims in northern Nigeria. Both the international community and the federal government should
proceed with caution – they need to understand the local nature of the problem. A good start would be to consult diasporas from the northern communities.
Following a policy of wherever there is oil we must engage terrorists, the US Dept. of Homeland Security has just issued a report that examines the threat of Boko Haram predictably simplistically.
Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the US Homeland PDF.
The shorter version of this report is: We don’t know anything about Boko Haram but even without any evidence we think they are collaborating with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and al Shabaab in Somalia. This creates a huge threat to the United States. Therefore we need to crank up a massive military and diplomatic response.
Keep in mind that the US is constantly looking for terrorists to feed the anti-terrorism industry. US corporations need terrorists to justify selling their anti-terrorist products. More terrorists equals more sales. And the US Africa Command needs terrorists to justify its ongoing security activities all around the continent.
The US report does recommend consulting with the Nigerian diaspora. However judging by experience to date with expat Muslim communities in the US, and particularly the Somali community in Minnesota, consulting with the diaspora consists of spying and intimidation rather than actually listening to what the diaspora has to say.
The African Partnership station is mentioned in the report, and right on cue, the African Partnership station is back visiting Nigeria. You can view pictures of APS activities at AFRICOM Along the Coasts and In the Creeks.
The suspect in the Madalla bombing was captured by the Nigerian authorities, and then “mysteriously” escaped. As Teju Cole put it in one of his eloquently understated tweets:
@tejucole
The Madalla bombing mastermind, arrested in a state governor’s lodge, coincidentally, has escaped from jail, quite by chance.
19 Jan (2012)
This escape proved such an embarrassment that Nigeria has recaptured the suspect Kabiru Abubakar Umar Dikko, who is also known as Kabiru Sokoto. Getting caught came as a shock to Kabiru Sokoto who is quoted:
The source quoted Sokoto saying in an emotional tone: “For instance, I never for once believed I could be arrested.
“I thought I was invincible. But now I’ve realised that if I could be arrested; if Abdullahi Damasak, the spiritual adviser, could disappear (arrested), then it’s a matter of time before everyone is caught.”
Sokoto is now said to be cooperating and providing a great deal of information which is being compared to the information provided by Abdul Qaqa, captured separately, who is being interrogated about the money trail:
It would be recalled that Monday, one other chieftains of the sect, Abdul Qaqa said the group engaged in criminal activities, breaking banks and seeking for money from every available illicit sources.
…
He spoke on the exploits of the dreaded body and stated that though they agreed to split such monies into five, “nobody dared ask how the money was spent and nobody dared ask questions for fear of death”.
Sokoto said the members feared the leadership of the group more than the security agencies.
Sokoto is said to have provided details of the sponsors of the sect who comprise mainly politicians, traditional rulers and some influential business men.
“The man is co-operating well with us. He has said a lot, though some of the revelations he made are chilling and nerve racking. He has named some top personalities in the society as their sponsors.
“He has also named some of the bank managers who have been facilitating them to make some transactions and how they bring in their deadly weapons, including the explosives they use in their bombings.
“We have put some construction companies on surveillance and we shall screen the permits they obtained for dynamites and explosives and we shall cross-match these with the activities they had to carry out for which they applied for such explosives,”
At the moment Nigeria appears on the right track regarding Boko Haram. It is important for genuine security that Nigeria handle this internally. The more the CIA and US military Special Operations go beetling around playing at counterinsurgency, the more damage they will do to Nigeria and Nigerians.
Nigeria needs to find some way of addressing corruption, and needs to avoid heavy crackdowns on the innocent. The Occupy Nigeria protests in response to the sudden removal of the fuel subsidy may have given Nigeria a nudge in the direction of trying to do something about corruption. The Nigerian police have been trying to upgrade their image. So far that does not seem to include modifying police behavior. I haven’t read anything that indicates people believe they can trust the police more than before. Teju Cole addresses this with another relevant tweet.
@tejucole
To ensure that Nigerians see the police force in a new way, Inspector General Abubakar announced a redesign in police uniforms.
15 Feb (2012)
Kano from Dala Hill, November 2005. Recently Kano has suffered several bomb attacks by Boko Haram
Crossed Crocodiles 
February 21, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Good info as always… wondering if our friends in Stuttgart have a clue? ;)
February 28, 2012 at 2:01 pm
For sure there are channels of covert western military and intelligence support for Boko Haram of the same sort that were served to the Libyan Islamist rebels NTC through Gulf Arab states. The objectives of the West are three-folds:
1- To divert and suppress the public growing hostilities and legitimate demands against western oil companies and their influences (which surprisingly Boko Haram is mute about them!! and no attacks reported against western interests and individual casualties. Those killed in August 2011 bomb attack on the UN House in Abuja were not; 11 were UN personnel almost all of them Africans, and 12 non-UN persons ).
2- To hold the Nigerian Government and corrupt wealthy clique hostages to internal insecurities and conflicts and hence weakening their bargaining position; and advance the need for the rejected U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
3- To create a parallel invisible violent local hands to act as their armed agents for subversion and coercion and change as an alternative to western military base.
Most probably Nigeria is actually confronted by an “Unconventional” warfare with the West; which is in the form of insurgency of particular ethnic group in the north together with perverts from other regions seeking oil money and power.
The U.S. Special Forces Unconventional Warfare Training Circulars explain this policy quite clearly. They are being applied in north and west Africa and in Syria, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen.
Without western companies of oil, minerals, import of goods and export of cash crops (cocoa, groundnuts, rubber, palm oil and other lucrative commodities) there shall be no Boko Haram, no civil wars, and no coups in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Guinea, D.R. Congo, Senegal, Ghana or any other country.
http://tariganter.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/nigerias-boko-haram-could-be-a-western-backed-insurgency/
http://tariganter.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/americas-guide-for-unconventional-warfare-insurgencies-i/
March 3, 2012 at 1:03 am
@Roger Pociask, Nice to hear from you. I too wonder what the folks in Stuttgart are thinking, or think they understand. There is a book review linked below that may interest you. I’m also taking seriously your advice to get on the Twitter machine, and I think you’ll be seeing me there in the next couple of weeks. Time has been the main reason I’ve delayed. But Twitter is too powerful a tool to ignore.
@Tarig Anter, I thank you for your visits and your comments and do apologize that I have been so slow in responding. I think there is much in what you say here that is correct. The US Ambassador to Nigeria under Bush has written a book, Nigeria: Dancing On the Brink. Campbell was the one who predicted that Nigeria would break apart by 2015. He was also one of the US ambassadors who particularly enthusiastically embraced the move to make US diplomacy and US militarism part of the same mechanism.
I am particularly worried about the US playing/paying both sides in the Boko Haram issue. President Obama seems to prefer using the Special Operations Command as there is practically no accountability. I am concerned about the US blundering around heavily armed with very little understanding of what is going on, uniformed bullies spreading terror and disinformation. Nigeria is a particularly complex and fascinating country. Every time I think I’m beginning to understand something about it, I discover there are many more layers to the issue that I had not even imagined.
Returning to the book, you might be interested in this review by Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Canada. Campbell appears to think he would be better able to pick a government for Nigeria than Nigerians, and is an excellent example of the arrogance of US foreign policy. The review covers a lot of ground and includes:
March 3, 2012 at 4:18 am
@ xcroc
Thank you very much for all the excellent efforts and work you are doing. I understand how busy and involved you are.
As usual your topics and links are very informative, thanks for them.
The article is also bringing high interested readers to my two blogs. It proves to conform with strong but unspoken public awareness and feelings.
What happened and going on in many countries in Africa and the world are actually state-sponsored terrorism by the USA and NATO members and puppets, and international organizations.
Stopping them must be through public media; intelligence; businesses; and some of their own crafts. I am sure that few Nigerian businessmen and state governors, particularly in the North are involved. Western and Arab diplomatic missions must also be monitored.
Please notice this article: “U.S. Commandos to Storm Nigeria in June”.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Defence_Arms_13/BOKO-HARAM-U-S-COMMANDOS-STORM-NIGERIA-IN-JUNE.shtml
March 4, 2012 at 2:09 am
Tarig – I think you are correct about the state sponsored terrorism. It is one of the things I feared from the first announcements of Africom. The US provided political support for the origins of contemporary state sponsored terrorism in Africa with its political support for Renamo in Mozambique.
The article you linked is quite interesting. I’ll be watching this. At present
I am skeptical that any kind of overt military action is planned using US forces. I think there would be US resistance at home to that. The reward to risk ratio would need to be heavily weighted to reward. In an election year there would need to be something that could be pointed to as a quick and photogenic victory, and I don’t see what would work or qualify as a quick victory in Nigeria. Most Americans know too little about Nigeria to care much about any specific events there. But I could be wrong. I’ll see what else I can find out, if anything.
March 15, 2012 at 9:58 am
In many Muslim countries there are secret groups who are very much like the Illuminati and the Freemasons, but with militant recruits. These groups work with western intelligences to create terrorism, cooperate in sting operations and to export terrorism to any countries.
Their objectives are:
1- Strength at home;
2- Hit opponents abroad and at home;
and 3- Give western governments the reasons to fund counter-terrorism which is actually the same terrorism they created together.
Take Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Gaza and Qatar for examples
May 23, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Though i was unable to finish the page, i can stil say the only way the Boko Haram issue can be resulted it through dialogue if USA the most imperiable nation in history found out in Afganistan there can neva b victory in war wit an adversy discovered the wisdom of dialogue, why can’t us do d same.