Nigeria’s homegrown monster
What began as a quasi-religious response to northern Nigeria’s poverty and lack of government influence has become a geopolitical player: a semi-terrorist movement that attacks those who most need its support by Alain Vicky
Nigeria, described as a “democrazy” because of its chaotic society. has produced a monster Boko Haram. This began in the northeast about a decade ago as an anti-government religious movement filling the gap left by the opposition parties, but the government has transformed it into a geopolitical player, and the main actor in a cycle of attacks and reprisals.
The political establishment, from the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the main opposition party from the north, the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), along with President Goodluck Jonathan’s military advisers, has helped radicalise the sect by repressing it. Its official name is Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (people comm