Causal analysis of radical Islamism in Northern Nigeria's fourth republic
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Date
2013
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, South Africa and Routledge, Francis & Taylor, London, United Kingdom
Abstract
This article attempts an agential explanation of the raison d’eˆ tre for Jama’atu Ahlis
Sunna Lidda’awati wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram (meaning Western
education is forbidden), an Islamist sect that came to public consciousness in
2009 after the extra-judicial killing of its leader. Conceptualising Nigeria as a weak
state, the article identifies the failed prebendal relationship between politicians in
northern Nigeria and members of Boko Haram, and the extra-judicial killing on
30 July 2009 of Mohammed Yusuf, as agential causations of the current wave of
radical Islamism. The article argues for the need to transcend the orthodox
interpretation of the current wave of Islamist terrorism being demonstrated by the
Nigerian state to a more nuanced approach that pays attention to the essentialist,
psychological, political and economic perspectives of Islamist terrorism at the
structural and individual levels.
Description
Keywords
Sharia, Boko Haram, Fourth Republic, Islamism
Citation
Africa Security Review