Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, June 22, 2012

Civic unrest in Nigeria

Back in 1993, Steven Metz, then Chairman of the Regional Strategy and Planning Department and Research Professor of National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute, authored a book titled The Future of Insurgency. The synopsis begins with, "Security professionals and strategists are discovering the post-cold war world is as rife with persistent, low-level violence as its predecessors."

That describes the insurgency in Nigeria very well. Google Boko Haram or search for it in this blog. The leaders of Boko Haram have recently added the idea of secession from Nigeria to their wish list.

The questions that observers have to ask center around the ability of the Nigerian state to combat the insurgency. That, of course, involves issues of capacity, governance, legitimacy, political socialization, and political integration.

In other words, the insurgency of Boko Haram has to be a conscious part of any study of Nigerian government and politics.

25 Dead in Nigeria After Multiple Attacks by Sect

A radical Islamist sect unleashed multiple attacks in northeastern Nigeria, killing at least 25 people, authorities said Tuesday as fears swelled about the government's inability to corral rising sectarian violence…

"The terrorists are trying to show that they can't be stopped," said Yobe State police chief Patrick Egbuniwe, who said the dead included three policemen and two soldiers.

The Islamist Boko Haram sect, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language, is waging an increasingly bloody fight with Nigeria's security agencies and public. More than 580 people have been killed in violence blamed on the sect this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

The violence came a day after Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a trio of deadly church bombings Sunday in the northern state of Kaduna, which, along with ensuing reprisal killings, left at least 70 people dead and over 100 wounded…

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1 Comments:

At 8:53 AM, Blogger Ken Wedding said...

More Changes Underway - Sambo Dasuki in, Azazi Out

"In a series of moves obviously aimed at revamping his presidency and shaking up his security team for the next three years, President Goodluck Jonathan Friday sacked the National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoye Azazi and the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Bello Haliru Mohammed.

"Azazi has been replaced with Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel who once served as aide de camp to former military president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) while the replacement for Mohammed was not announced… "

 

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