State Failure: Dissecting the Inglorious Decades of Unresolved Insurgency and Terrorist Attacks of Boko Haram in Nigeria (2002 - 2022)

Abstract

Since the year 2002, most states in the northern part of Nigeria have been confronted with wanton destruction of lives and property arising from the activities of the dreaded terrorist group, popularly known as Boko Haram. The Islamic sect known as the Yusuffiyya Movement has led the campaign against Western education in the country and has recruited the young, the old, and even mercenaries to engage the Nigerian state security forces, causing unmatched displacements within the population. The study adopts both frustration-aggression and state failure theories to explain the emergence of several groups with the same ideology that have carried out dastardly acts of killings, kidnappings, and attacks on national installations, among others. Meanwhile, the dimension of the insurgency in the southern part is in the form of economic sabotage, where kidnapping of expatriates, the vandalization of petroleum pipelines, and farmers-herdsmen clashes in other places were mostly perpetuated. Lately, subnational governments have introduced state-sponsored security outfits such as Amotekun in the southwest and Ebube Agu in the southeast to restore peace and security in most theatres of violence. The study identified national and subnational governments' efforts towards peace and security on the one hand and the impact the violent situations have had on statehood on the other. The study adopted a historical method to gather and present data that was descriptively analyzed. Furthermore, it suggested a reinvigoration of security efforts, more attention to the provision of social and welfare services by the government, and an all-inclusive approach that would involve sub-national government and the local citizens in eradicating the menace of the Boko Haram sect.