Boko Haram: A Theoretical and Historical Vision – Some Personal Notes

It seems to me that Boko Haram is an Urban or Semi-Urban Religious Movement which has built its political and ideological colouring from similar social forces of the past, especially from late 70s to 80s.

Yes! They use religion, but unlike the religious movements of the 19^th and early 20^th century, their vision is not to establish Islamic state.

Some observers like Mustapha Ismail of Department of Arabic, Bayero University, Kano noted that they are "masses" of the people and the middle class who are marginalized by SAP. This is too simplistic as membership of a group or a movement is not enough to reveal a political and or ideological character of a movement. May be as a starting point is to begin by asking what did their leaders say or have ever written about the objective of the movement? Other wise we could see them more or less as undefined and unspecified social group.

Although the mission of such a movement may be characterized even if there is no written programme, like the Taliban, but it would end being a politically confused movement. May be that is why this kind of movement in northern Nigeria – from those of the early 1980s in Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Yola, and the similar ones of the current era of globalization including the Boko Haram are not clear about what they wanted to achieve. To say, without serious investigation, that they were fighting state is not acceptable. If yes, they must have alternative state. But do they really have a programme to implement in order to form an alternative state?

From Theoretical point of view some perspectives could be posed:

1. One is that neo-liberal globalization has made it that the enemy of the people becomes difficult to identify to fight it, so such movements end up raising issue of fight between and or among the people or merely promoting chaos and confusion.
   
2. Second, these movements become instruments pushed by the state to fight other fractions of the ruling – class.
   

These are for thoughts and must be acknowledged when used.

 

M. M. Yusif

Department of Political Science

Bayero University, Kano – Nigeria

18/11/010