With a population
of 175 million Nigeria is the largest East African country both in terms of
population and GDP but its per capita is half of South Africa. Nigeria is
experiencing a crescendo of international opprobrium following abduction of
over 270 girls from its northern states in April and May by the Nigerian Islamist
group Boko Haram. Boko Haram founded by Mohammed Yousuf in 2002 with Arabic
name of Jama'atu Ahlis
Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, meaning People Committed to
Propagation of Prophet’s teaching and Jihad with initial motto of opposing western education. Their long term political goal is to establish
a pure Islamic state ruled by Sharia. The group was popularly referred to as
Boko Haram in the native tongue Hausa. Haram is something forbidden, Boko is
fake or simply translated, western education is forbidden. The organisation has
it foot hold in North Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger threatening the security of
this region. With ruthless bomb attacks, assassinations and
now abductions they have spread a reign of terror. United
Nations Security Council has now added Boko Haram under the growing list of
Al-Qaeda entities. It was designated as the most dangerous radical Muslim
outfit after Taliban by the US.
In 2009 Boko
Haram started attacking mosques, churches and police stations. Nigerian forces retaliated with
brutal crackdown and hanged their founder Yousuf. The
group went underground and re-emerged in 2010 under the new leader Abubakar Shekau with sporadic attacks. It expanded
operations between 2011 and 2012, the frequency and intensity of attacks
increased in northern states affecting lives of 3 million people. In
2013, amidst escalating violence emergency has been imposed in the three
northern states, the breeding grounds of Boko Haram by the President Goodluck
Jonathan to contain the attacks. But for the past one year situation
deteriorated and civilian killings have nearly doubled.
In
March, 2014 Boko Haram intensified their campaign against western education, which
they believed was corrupting young girls. They abducted girls from a school in
Yobe and in Chibok in April while the students were writing their metric
examinations. Over 270 girls were
kidnapped and held hostage. Further, they carried out a destructive urban
bombing campaign in capital Abhuja where 70 civilians were charred to death. Till
now 1500 people were reported killed by Boko Haram attacks this year. Under growing International ire, the
president has now sought help from non- African countries. The United States,
France, Britain, Israel and China have subsequently dispatched advisers to
Nigeria.
Nigeria, the leading member of African Union (A.U) in spite of its unwillingness for outside help, is forced to seek military cooperation to tackle domestic insurgency. AU till recently has been very reluctant to deployment of European and American troops on African soil.
In the
meanwhile Boko Haram reiterated their demand of release of detainees or payment
of ransom in exchange for the freedom of kidnapped girls. US military
strategists believe that the task of rescuing girls is extremely difficult
owing to the remoteness of the place and ruggedness of the terrain. Further,
the girls would have been separated into small groups, making the rescue
efforts more difficult. President of Nigeria out of desperation requested
France to convene African Summit of Francophone nations of West Africa, also
the neighbours of Nigeria - Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger. At the
meeting in Paris, the five nations have mutually agreed on intelligence
coordination, sharing of information, centralisation of means, border
surveillance. All the nations believed in a regional approach. It was decided
to share intelligence and border surveillance to locate 270 abducted girls.
While the Western countries obliged to provide the expertise and training to
combat the extremists. Nations agreed for a greater need for such cooperation as
the porous borders of these nations are used by militants for quicker penetration into new
lands. The region is being stabilised by the militants by forging
cooperative networks with radical Muslim organisations like Al-Qaeda.
France in
the meanwhile is wary of American influence in this region as it intends to
safeguard its pre-colonial influence over the sub-Saharan region. Further it is
concerned about its Uranium reserves in Niger. America is hankering to gain
foot hold in Africa. It wants to utilise this opportunity of extending help in
combating terrorism to get strategic control over the rich, untapped oil and
mineral reserves and flow of natural resources to countries like China. Nearly
one-thirds of Oil imports to China are from Africa. It is also emerging as
major trading partner and investor in Africa. Ever since Africa has become
investment hub for emerging like China, India, Brazil, America has been
anxiously waiting for an opportunity to set foot on African soil. As a part of
this ambitious exercise, the US African Command (AFRICOM) was started by George
Bush in 2007 to have a permanent military base in Africa. Initially it had a
small base in Djibouti, a tiny country in Africa. Now AFRICOM has 18 operating
stations and its operations have been steadily increasing. Now with the
countries like Nigeria willing to offer a foot hold space, America has received
a major fillip for its long standing ambitions. Nigerian people believe that inclinations of west are sinister. They are wary of American military intentions with cautionary tales in countries like Iraq and Pakistan.
Nigeria was
a former British colony. In 1914 Britain, merged both the Northern and Southern regions
though they had separate administrations. In South Christian missionaries and
colonial government opened schools to train skilled workers and local bureaucrats.
In North, indirect rule via pre-colonial ruling class existed. Missionaries
were banned in this region. Islamic clergy were funded to provide education
through religious schools. Currently the relatively rich South west Nigeria is
reaping the benefits of its oil reserves while northern part of the country is poverty
stricken. Wealth inequality is extreme. North Nigeria has been spawning Islamist
terrorists who largely oppose the western education, democracy and governance. Now Nigeria is under deep domestic crisis with hapless parents of the abducted girls and citizens hitting the streets but sadly, forces
barely made any progress in rescuing the girls. Hope the concerted efforts of all the nations can see light at the end of the tunnel........
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