THE IMPACT OF BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA (STUDY BORNO STATE)

THE IMPACT OF BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA (STUDY BORNO STATE)

ABSTRACT

The study compacts with the impact of boko haram insurgency in Nigeria, study of Borno State. The study proceeded with the objectives i.e. to investigate the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency on socioeconomic activities in the state. For this study, the use of primary data was applied to get first-hand information from residents of the state and the method of data collection as the questionnaire. Statistical tools were used to analyze the data collected part of which include frequency and percentages. Socioeconomic activities are the dependent variable while Boko Haram insurgency is the independent variable in this study. The result of the findings answers the first hypothesis to show that the government has responded positively in tackling the negative effects of Boko Haram insurgency on socioeconomic activities beyond 60% and also shows from tables 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8 that the government’s response has positively impacted the socioeconomic activities in the state by 85% with significant collaboration on the hand of civil society /NGO at 57%. The socioeconomic activities respond positively to combined efforts from stakeholders which then responds favorably development of Borno state. The negative impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on socioeconomic activities has more implications on education as depicted by 27.5% of the responses. This was reported to have critically brought a downturn in general performance of the educational institutions. Government must collaborate with stakeholders such that include traditional leaders, civil society organizations and NGOs to act proactively in mitigating the effects of the Boko Haram insurgency on socioeconomic activities in the state.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

 

The safety of lives and property has been a major source of concern for Human right from time immemorial, the search for security forms part of the reasons why ―people aggregated into bands, tribes, kingdoms, and nation-states to join international organizations (PadelFord, 1976). Even in ancient times, the need for security was expressed in the form of fruit gathering and periodic expeditions for the aim of meeting the most important socio-economic requirements of the people. Perhaps, the physical security need of the people constituted part of the reasons why they preferred rocky and mountainous topographies for shelter, (Peterside, 2014). Thus, one of the most important roles of any state is to protect its citizens and inhabitants against any threat, be it physical, social, or economic. In the words of Aristotle ―The state exists for the sake of life and continues for the sake of the best life.

The impacts of terrorism on the socio-economic activities of any society cannot be over-emphasized. Terror attacks or mere threats of terrorism can have so many socio-economic consequences, for instance, terror attacks can lead to the diversion of foreign direct investment (FDI), reduction in the level of trade, redirecting of public investment funds to security, destruction of public infrastructure, internal displacement, refugee outflow, homelessness, personal insecurity, the proliferation of widows and orphans, loss of means of livelihood, low productivity in the society among others. Terrorist attacks may also have spillover cost on neighboring communities,

Societies or countries. Terrorism in Nigeria predates its creation. The British colonist used state terrorism to conquer hitherto independent nations within the territory called Nigeria today. Some years after independence, Nigeria was flood in many internal crises. Some of these crises included: The Tiv riots in 1962, post-election violence 1964-65, and the 1966 first military coup d’état, Isaac Adaka Boro uprising in 1966, the counter coup d’état of 1966, the Nigerian Civil war.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Since 2009 when Boko Haram initially started its insurgency and the aftermath of the killing of Mohammed Yusuf the leader of the sect, the activities of the sect have continued unabated despite the effort of the government to curtail the heinous crime of the sect, over 10,000 people have been killed by Boko Haram. Most of the operations of the sect are concentrated in the North-East of Nigeria. The sect has use kidnapping and raping of women as a weapon of war. The poor are the most victims of the sect cruelty and the implications of the sect insurgency fall on the ordinary Nigerians. The purpose of this study to examine the socio-economic implications of the sect where the sect operations are predominant.

The high rate of poverty, unemployment and political corruption in the region have been blamed on prolonging the conflict. Unfortunately, most of the foot soldiers of Boko Haram are youths which are frustrated because the lack employment, income and they have been disdained by politicians after being used by these politicians for their elections victory (Onuoha, 2014). He also asserts that the youths enlisted into Boko Haram because of the prevalence of poverty in the North. The poverty profile of Nigeria that was released in 2011 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that the northern region has more poor people than people in the south. Apart from the killings, kidnapping and bombing of the sect, their activities constitute an obstruction to the socioeconomic development of the northeast where their operation is focused and Nigeria as a whole.

Boko Haram’s origins lie in a group of radical Islamist youth who worshipped at the Alhaji Muhammadu Ndimi Mosque in Maiduguri a decade ago. In 2002, an offshoot of this youth group (not yet known as Boko Haram) declared the city and the Islamic establishment to be intolerably corrupt and hopeless. The group declared it was embarking on hijra (a withdrawal along the lines of the Prophet Muhammad’s withdrawal from Mecca to Medina). It moved from Maiduguri to a village called Kanama, Yobe state, near the border with Niger, to set up a separatist community run on hardline Islamic principles. Its leader, Mohammed Ali, embraced anti-state ideology and called on other Muslims to join the group and return to a life under “true” Islamic law, with the aim of making a more perfect society away from the corrupt establishment. In December 2003, following a community dispute regarding fishing rights in a local pond, the group got into a conflict with the police. Group members overpowered a squad of officers and took their weapons. This confrontation led to a blockade of its mosque by the army that lasted into the New Year. The siege ended in a shootout in which most of the group’s seventy members were killed, including Mohammed Ali (World Report, 2015).

Boko Haram is an Islamic sect that believes politics in northern Nigeria has been seized by a group of corrupt, false Muslims. It wants to wage a war against them, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria generally, to create a “pure” Islamic state ruled by sharia law. Since August 2011 Boko Haram has planted bombs almost weekly in public or in churches in Nigeria’s northeast. The group has also broadened its targets to include setting fire to schools. In March 2012, some twelve public schools in Maiduguri were burned down during the night, and as many as 10,000 pupils were forced out of education.

The
trigger to the current conflict was the death of Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of an anti-government movement in Borno state, in 2009, which resulted
in armed confrontations between his group and
the government and soon escalated into a broad campaign of violence against the state and the civilian population. The tactics of the Boko Haram movement have been particularly violent and destructive, given the direct targeting of community leaders, churches, mosques, markets and other public facilities, including the use of terrorist attacks (suicide bombings), massacres and the abduction of hundreds of women and children. From 2014 onwards, the group escalated its attacks and considerably gained territory under its control (both in Nigeria and in neighboring countries) in an attempt to establish a ‘caliphate’. The Nigerian government’s response was in the form of a tough military operation which, in 2015, resulted in the progressive ‘roll-back’ of Boko Haram forces from most occupied territories in the bayq21 states. These counter-insurgency operations generated significant collateral damage to the civilian population, triggering further waves of displacement. This research intends to investigate the impact of socio-economic consequences of Boko haram insurgency in Borno state and suggest a possible solution to the problem. (World report and UN development programme 2017).

1.3 RESEARCH AIM

The primary aim of the study is to assess the impact of Boko Haram insurgency on socio –economic activities in Nigeria study of Borno State.

1.4 RESEARCH AND OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of the research are as follows:

• To assess the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on socio-economic activities in Borno State Nigeria.
• To assess the responses of the state government to the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State.
• To assess the impact of the responses of the government on socio-economic activities in Borno State.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 

1. How has the Boko Haram insurgency impacted on the socio-economic activities in Borno State?
2. What are the responses of the state government to the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State?

• To what extent do government responses to the insurgency impact socio-economic activities in Borno State?

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is expected to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on the insurgency of Boko haram terrorist group. The findings of this study are expected to stimulate further research in the field. It is also expected to contribute government’s effort in ensuring the positive development of the region through its socio-economic activities and also at fighting the surge of terrorist activities in the country so as to bring about peace and enhance national development and security therefore, this study will help to prefer solutions. Furthermore, it is hoped that the study will create awareness for all stakeholders of Nigeria’s security sector to the consequences posed by terrorism and the need to overcome them in order to enjoy peace not only in Borno but the entire country.

1.7 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

1. The Boko Haram insurgency has no impact on the socio-economic activities in Borno State.
2. There is no response by the government to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State.

• The responses of the government does not have impact on socio-economic activities in Borno State.

1.8       THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

1.8.1    THEORY OF HUMAN SECURITY

The term ―Human Security was invented into use in the international system by the UN Development Programme in its 1994‘s Human Development Report. It defined Human Security as: ―the security of people through development not arms; through cooperation, not confrontation; through peace not war. Human security it said to have two main aspects. Firstly, safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression.  Secondly, it means protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the pattern of daily life- whether in homes, in jobs or in communities (UNDP, 1994).

The report argues that the concept is not really a new one at all, that the founders of the UN have always given equal importance to people‘s security and to territorial security. The idea of freedom from ―want and freedom from fear‟ is found in Roosevelt‘s Four Freedoms during World War II and in many reports and analysis years ago.

The UN Commission on Human Security (CHS), in its final report ―Human Security, defines human security as: ― to protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfillment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms – which are the essence of life. It means protecting people from severe threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people‘s strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that gives people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity (CHS: 2003). Therefore, the definition given by the CHS changed the meaning of security in a fundamental way by:

(i) Moving away from traditional, state-centric conceptions of security that focused primarily on the safety of states from military aggression, to one that concentrates on the security of the individuals, for instance their protection and empowerment. This is applicable to the study areas realities for, there are efforts to level up empowerment schemes by government, civil society as well as international development partners.

(ii) Drawing attention to multiple threats that cut across different aspects of human life and thus highlighting the linkage between security, development and human rights. The application of this model to this study highlights the assessment models that clarifies how insurgency in Borno state acts as a point of congestion to socioeconomic development and stability.

(iii) Promoting a new integrated, coordinated and people-centered approach to advancing peace, security and development within and across nations. The theory of human security is closely applicable to the context of the study for the impact of socioeconomic consequences of insurgency in Borno State, Nigeria whereby the object is set to assess the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on socio-economic activities in Borno State, the responses and their impact of the state towards the insurgency. All the objectives align with the basis for human security.

1.8.2    Poverty Breeds Conflict Hypothesis

The study will use the poverty breeds conflict hypothesis for the theoretical framework. Academic debates continue on the correlation between poverty and insecurity. Some scholars have argued that most of the conflicts in developing countries are caused by poverty. Ted Gurr deprivation theory subscribed to this assumption. The theory explains why the youths are always taking to violence. According to the deprivation theory, “aggression is always a consequence of frustration” and “frustration always lead to aggression” (Odomosu, 1999). “The poor are led to violence owing to their relative deprivation and needs” (Odumosu 1999 cited in Awojobi 2014). Frustration, lack of income, unemployment has prompted the youths in the northern Nigeria to become foot soldiers of Boko Haram. Insecurity, terrorism, conflicts and violence are caused by the high poverty rate in most societies (Gurr 1970 and Burton 1997). Sarmiento and Becerra (1998) and Sarmiento (1999) are the leading scholars on the poverty breeds conflict hypothesis. However, the likes of Gaitan (1995); Rubio (2000); Sanchez and Nunez (2001) and Sanchez, Solimano and Formisano (2005) objected to this hypothesis. Empirical evidence from the works of Collier and Hoeffler (2002); Bellows and Miguel (2006); Ford (2007) indicated that poverty was the major cause of conflict in Africa.

For instance, Collier and Hoeffler (2002) examine conflicts in Africa, from their findings, they notice the connection between income and conflict. Rice et al. (2006); Collier and Hoeffler (2002); Fearon (2004); Walter (2004) subscribed to the notion that poverty helps to extend conflicts once it started. Evidence has shown that when income drops there is a tendency for conflict to reactivate. A study by Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler from the Oxford University, James Fearson and David Laitin both from the Stanford University, and Professor Nicholas Sambanis from the Yale University gave credence to this hypothesis (Collier and Hoeffler 2004). The table 1 below illustrates their findings.

Source: Rice et. al (2016).

For the focus of this research work, the theory applies in the sense that some of the literature reviewed and even some that are not in this study relating to the effects of insurgency on socioeconomic stability and growth highlight the effects of poverty in instigation, recruitment and proliferation of these acts of insurgencies. It shows a deepening relationship among the variables and illustrates the link between poverty and insurgency before and after the activities have been activated. This hypothesis therefore shows that insurgency militates against socioeconomic growth factors such as living standards, education and others that are considered basic necessities. The current study would therefore be conducted bearing this in mind and would inform the conclusions and recommendations from the analysis conducted post data collection. Onuoha (2013) in his empirical study on why the youth join Boko Haram, the findings of the study indicated that poverty played a major role in luring the youth in joining Boko Haram.

 

1.9 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study will be examining the consequences of Boko Haram insurgency and its impact on socio economic activities in Borno state. The study also looks at violence due to the insurgence created by the Boko Haram conflict and how it changes people’s lives forever, most especially the states’ economy as well as businesses. The temporal scope of the study is from 2015 through 2020 to ensure that data captures current realities and ensure that research findings would be suitable for current use.

However, the main limitation for this research is the inability to collect firsthand interview with the Boko Haram current and or former members. For, Boko Haram is an ongoing threat, especially with the current attacks, and there is an ongoing pandemic in which movement within states is highly restricted. Other limitations were the lack of an adequate time to conduct the study, insufficient documentation, lack of funds, family responsibility, and ongoing semester coursework.

1.10 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Terrorism: Although the term is not subject to a universally agreed definition, terrorism can be broadly understood as a method of coercion that utilizes or threatens to utilize violence in order to spread fear and thereby attain political or ideological goals.

Terrorist groups: As scholar of terrorism, Brian Phillips has noted, how exactly to define a terrorist group or entity remains an open question.  To the extent that there is a consensus about how to define a terrorist actor, it is the fact that they engage in violence or threat of violence, and the violence exists in oppositeness to criminal violence, state-led violence and conventional warfare. Technology companies should adopt any definition of terrorist groups that touches on each of these distinctions.

Social economics: Social economics is a branch of economics that focuses on the relationship between social behavior and economics. It examines how social norms, ethics, emerging popular sentiments, and other social philosophies influence consumer behavior and shape public buying trends. It uses history, current events, politics, and other social sciences to predict potential results from changes to society or the economy.

Insurgency: According to J.W.J Lammers, insurgency in general can be define as taking place everywhere a group of actors uses violence to contest the sovereignty of the established regime, with the aim of political change.

1.11 RESEARCH OUTLINE

The research explores the socioeconomic effects of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeastern region of Borno State, Nigeria, where the activities are said to be prevalent. It therefore seeks to provide information on what is obtainable in terms of effects on socioeconomic activities and also, the roes being played by several actors in reversing some of the effects and preventing future occurrence if and when they are already faced by such challenges. The first chapter of this study gives a background of the study, the problem statement, the research gap and research questions then states the scope, terminology definitions and limitations.

THE IMPACT OF BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA (STUDY BORNO STATE)

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