The politics of amnesty in Nigeria: a comparative analysis of the Boko Haram and Niger Delta insurgencies

Special Edition issue - Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Sub-Saharan AfricaThis paper presents a comparative analysis of the Niger Delta amnesty programme and the proposed amnesty for Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria. The motivation for comparing the two groups derives from the growing demand from some notable groups and individuals, mainly from the northern part of Nigeria, that the Boko Haram insurgents be granted amnesty just as the Niger Delta armed militants. One of such strong voices in favour of amnesty for Boko Haram insurgents is the Sultan of Sokoto, AlhajiSa’adAbubakar, who, on the 7th of March 2013, called for “total and unconditional” amnesty for Boko Haram. Sultan Abubakar’s demand has attracted mixed reaction as it is largely supported by the northern group-Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and rejected by others such as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The most serious reaction comes from the presidency in its commission, on April 24th 2013, of a presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North. After an extension by 2 months of its initial 90 days task, the Turaki-led Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North has finally submitted its recommendations to the president. Two key recommendations are: the need to set up an advisory committee for continuous dialogue with Boko Haram (as the leadership of Boko Haram refused to dialogue) and a victims’ support fund to help victims of Boko Haram.Publisher PD

Die Boko-Haram-Unruhen und die Wiederbelebung des Islam in Nigeria

From the 1980 Maitatsine uprising to the 2009 Boko Haram uprising, Nigeria was bedevilled by ethno-religious conflicts with devastating human and material losses. But the Boko Haram uprising of July 2009 was significant in that it not only set a precedent, but also reinforced the attempts by Islamic conservative elements at imposing a variant of Islamic religious ideology on a secular state. Whereas the religious sensitivity of Nigerians provided fertile ground for the breeding of the Boko Haram sect, the sect’s blossoming was also aided by the prevailing economic dislocation in Nigerian society, the advent of party politics (and the associated desperation of politicians for political power), and the ambivalence of some vocal Islamic leaders, who, though they did not actively embark on insurrection, either did nothing to stop it from fomenting, or only feebly condemned it. These internal factors coupled with growing Islamic fundamentalism around the world make a highly volatile Nigerian society prone to violence, as evidenced by the Boko Haram uprising. Given the approach of the Nigerian state to religious conflict, this violence may remain a recurring problem. This paper documents and analyses the Boko Haram uprising, as well as its links with the promotion of Islamic revivalism and the challenges it poses to the secularity of the Nigerian state.Vom Maitatsine-Aufstand 1980 bis zu den Boko-Haram-Unruhen 2009 hat die nigerianische Bevölkerung unter den verheerenden menschlichen und materiellen Kosten ethnisch-religiöser Konflikte gelitten. Die Boko-Haram-Unruhen (Juli 2009) markierten allerdings eine qualitative Veränderung, denn sie stellten einen Präzedenzfall dar und verstärkten Versuche konservativer Anhänger des Islam, im säkularen nigerianischen Staat Elemente islamischer Ideologie einzuführen. Angesichts der Empfänglichkeit der Nigerianer für religiöses Denken konnte sich die Boko-Haram-Sekte schnell ausbreiten, erleichtert durch die nach wie vor bestehende ökonomische Polarisierung der nigerianischen Gesellschaft, die erneut heftig aufgebrochene Konkurrenz der Parteien um die politische Macht und die Ambivalenz einiger lautstarker islamischer Führer, die zwar nicht explizit zum Aufstand aufriefen, aber auch nichts zur Beendigung der Hetze beitrugen und diese nur vorsichtig verurteilten. Diese internen Faktoren und der gleichzeitige weltweite Aufschwung des islamischen Fundamentalismus führten in der hoch volatilen nigerianischen Gesellschaft zu den gewaltsam ausgetragenen Boko-Haram-Unruhen. Die im nigerianischen Staat strukturell angelegte Gefahr religiöser Auseinandersetzungen legt nahe, dass solche Gewaltausbrüche ein immer wiederkehrendes Problem bleiben könnten. Der vorliegende Beitrag dokumentiert und analysiert die Boko-Haram-Unruhen und skizziert ihre Bedeutung für die Wiederbelebung des politischen Islam und die damit verbundenen Herausforderungen für den säkularen nigerianischen Staat

Twittering the Boko Haram Uprising in Nigeria: Investigating Pragmatic Acts in the Social Media

This paper investigates pragmatic acts in the discourse of tweeters and online feedback comments on the activities of Boko Haram, a terrorist group in Nigeria. The tweets and comments illustrate acts used to express revolutionary feelings and reflect what people say and imply in times of crisis. Tweets about Boko Haram are speech and pragmatic acts that denounce the Nigerian government, reject Western education, and call for support. Tweets and reactions from non-Muslims and nonradical Muslims condemn terrorism and denounce the terrorist group. While some tweets simply offer suggestions on how to curtail the Boko Haram insurgency, others seek the breakup of Nigeria, granting political and religious independence to the north and the southeast of the country

Criminal Liabilities of Boko Haram in Nigeria

One major problem that has posed a great threat to the Nigerian Nation is Boko Haram or rather the Boko Haram militant group. What this paper intends to do is to analyze the criminal liabilities of the Boko Haram militant group in Nigeria in both domestic and international law. I see this paper primarily as timely because a lot has been said about Boko Haram, in Nigeria, but yet there is much we still do not know about Boko Haram, its criminal liabilities, origin structure, size and method of operation still remains a mirage and a mystery. This dissertation will start with an introduction of the term Boko Haram and the various definitions of terrorism. The subsequent chapter will in detail attempt the Impact of the Boko Haram insurgency as a threat to national security--This chapter would be more of revelations surrounding the Boko Haramites conflict, and its inclinations towards terrorism. Chapter three intends to look at the fascination towards Boko Haram, while chapter five would discuss the Applicable International and Domestic laws against Boko Haram. At the conclusion in chapter six, suggestions and recommendations will be made on how to eradicate the Boko Haram terrorist group as well as enforcing actions against the Boko Haramites to determine their criminal liability or rather their culpability. This dissertation would remain relevant going by the fact that the stability of the Nigerian Nation has been affected drastically by the Boko Haram conflict and I am confident that this work of mine could be a source of inspiration for those in authority as well as policy makers to adequately tackle this horrific crime

Water Quality of Boko-boko Peat Swamp Based on Physical-chemical Parameters Langgam Village, Pelalawan Regency, Riau Province

The area around the Boko-Boko peat swamp has been used for palm plantation. Remains of fertilizer and pestiside used in the plantation may enter the water and decrease the water quality of the swamp. To understand the water quality of the Boko-Boko peat swamp\u27s waters, a research was conducted in March 2016. There were three sampling stations namely Station 1, Station 2, and Station 3 and in each station there were three sampling points, in the surface, 1.5 secchi and in the bottom. Samplings were conducted 3 times, once/week. Water quality parameters measured were depths, temperature, transparency, pH, DO, CO2, nitrate and phosphate. Results shown that depths was 70-250 cm, temperature: 30-31 oC, pH : 4-5, DO :0.35-3.28 mg/L, CO2: 4-21,97 mg/L, nitrate : 0.14-1.24 mg/L, and phosphate 0.01-0.17 mg/L. Nitrate concentration indicate that the Boko-Boko peat swamp was categorized as eutrophic, and phosphate concentration indicate that the Boko-Boko peat swamp is eutrophic

National Security, Religious Anarchism and the Politics of Amnesty in Nigeria

The Nigerian state is caught in the crossfire of national insecurity arising from the insurgency of various rogue groups. The most prominent of these groups, and one whose activities have had far -reaching destabilising effect on the polity, is the Boko Haram sect. The Boko Haram sect, which uses the Taliban - and al-Qaeda-style terrorist tactics of suicide bombing and targeted assassination, is responsible for between 3000 and 4000 deaths since it declared war and engaged in armed insurgency in 2009. The sect has targeted and bombed state institutions, the United Nations building as well as many Christian worship centres in furtherance of its avowed objective of deploying terror to achieve the islamisation of the Nigerian state. Relying on secondary sources of data, the paper interrogates the force theory that underpins Nigeria’s security engineering and contends that the continued insecurity in the polity is a demonstration of its ineffectiveness. The paper also contends that the proposition by the Federal Government to grant amnesty to the Boko Haram sect is not as simplistic as it appears as it transcends the narrow definitional criteria of bartering forgiveness for peace. While the paper is critical of the proposed amnesty programme, it advocates a holistic approach that incorporates other issues that are promotive of justice, morality and ethicalness in the polity

Understanding Boko Haram Crisis in Nigeria

On close examination of complexity of Boko Haram in Nigeria, the only undeniable fact remain that there is a crisis going on under the auspices of Boko Haram.  To have better understanding of the crisis one needs to understand what Boko Haram really means.  The acclaimed group simply called themselves “Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad’ meaning (People Committed to the Propagation of Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad), not Boko Haram. Some school of thought claimed that the movement is a derivative, it is not a new phenomenon in the country and that it came into existence in the 1960’s but survived through the decades under various names [1]. Some especially at the Federal Government circle said. “it is a faceless organization” [2]. Upon all these intellectual display, the impact of Boko Haram can be felt by  every living soul in the country, even the International Community can attest to the existence of the organization. These therefore raised the questions who are the so called Boko Haram

"All The Things We Could [Se]e by Now [Concerning Violence & Boko Haram], If Sigmund Freud's Wife was Your Mother": Psychoanalysis, Race, & International Political Theory

In response to the sonic media and ludicrosity of her time, Hortense J. Spillers' paradigmatic essay ""All the Things You Could Be by Now, If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother": Psychoanalysis and Race," transfigures Charles Mingus' melodic, cryptic, and most puzzling record title into a workable theoretical cacophony. Closely written within the contexts and outside the confines of "some vaguely defined territory between well established republics," Spillers is able to open up the sarcophagus of meaning(s) within the Black occupation of the psychoanalytic discourse. Mingus' original assertion, "all the things you could be by now, if Sigmund Freud's wife was your mother," means absolutely nothing insofar as it means everything in the face of constructed openings and invitations into "extending the realm of possibility for what might be known." As such, this article asks a similar question relating to what might be known about the sensual convergence of media, violence, and representation ('all the things we could see by now') of international, political, and theoretical significance. If anything, Spillers and Mingus compel us toward locating some semblance of forgotten relationality between what appears to be abstract, distant, and unfamiliar. Given our contemporary era of violent post-colonial terror and desires for alternatives to the afterlife of slavery, this article endorses the free-floating investigation into the live survey of unprotected human flesh in the specific case of Boko Haram's explosion in modern media. Is it possible that such a study is able to uncover the motive behind the assembly of spectatorship? Through a Freudian reading of human nature into international political theory, this article indicates that narrative formation and transmission is an essential component to the development of both ethno-universalisms and global constructions of race and captivity

Trophic Status of the Boko-Boko Peat Swamp in the Langgam Village, Langgam District, Pelalawan Regency, Riau

The area around the Boko-Boko peat swamp has been used for palm plantation. Remains of fertilizer and pestiside used in the plantation may enter the water and decrease the water quality of the swamp. To understand the trophic status of the Boko-Boko peat swamp\u27s waters, a research was conducted in March 2016. There were three sampling stations namely Station 1, Station 2, and Station 3 and in each station there were three sampling points, in the surface, 1.5 secchi and in the bottom. Samplings were conducted 3 times, once/week. Trophic status was calculated based on Carlson\u27s Trophic State Index (TSI). Results shown that the transparency was 49 – 60 m, total phosphorus 0.13 – 0.17 mg/L, chlorophyll-a 3.12 – 6.19 μg/L, depth 45 – 250 cm, temperature 30 - 31ºC, pH 4 – 5, dissolved oxygen 0.41 – 3.26 mg/L, free carbondioxide 7.33 – 21.31 mg/L and nitrate 0.44 – 0.72 mg/L. Based on Carlson\u27s TSI, the water of the Boko-Boko peat swamp is categorized as moderate-eutrophic