The UNDP report on terror in Nigeria

THE  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in a recently published report averred that the seemingly intractable problem of terrorism in the north-eastern part of the country and some other parts of the African continent stemmed more from poverty, marginalisation and bad governance than the much touted adherence to the tenets of a religion. The UNDP came to this conclusion following a study of 495 former members of organisations such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram, al-Shabab of Somalia and the Islamic State in Sudan.  According to the agency, 33,300 people were killed in attacks by violent extremists in Africa between 2011 and the start of 2016, out of which Boko Haram alone was responsible for the deaths of 17,000 people and the displacement of more than 2.8 million people, triggering a humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region.

The two-year study also found out that the most likely recruit for the jihadist is “a frustrated individual marginalised and neglected over the course of his life, starting in childhood.” With few economic or job prospects and little trust in the government to provide opportunities, particularly in remote border areas, such an individual is likely to be ripe for conversion and radicalisation by terror groups. According to the study, less  than half of the interviewed recruits cited religion as the motivating factor and more than half (57 per cent) admitted to understanding “little or next to nothing of the religious texts or interpretations, or not reading religious texts at all.” In other words, the kernel of the insurgency and terrorism in the affected areas of the continent is the reaction of the people to poverty, marginalisation and bad governance, rather than adherence to religious tenets by reason of extreme persuasion.

Nearly three quarters of the respondents (71 per cent) said that government action such as the arrest or killing of a family member often served as the tipping point in their decision to join a terror group. In Nigeria, for instance, Boko Haram was initiated as an anti-corruption movement where the government was blamed for the widespread poverty in the north-eastern part of the country. For countries like Nigeria which are confronting insurgency and terrorism as national problems on the African continent, this study is particularly instructive. Nigeria, for instance, reportedly spends about N1 trillion annually to fight Boko Haram, using force to drive the movement into the ground. But from the study conducted by the UNDP, it would seem that the strategy of bombing the terror group out of existence is wrong-headed. Perhaps a quarter of the amount, if spent on improving the living conditions of the masses of people in the region, may prove to be a more meaningful solution to the  problems which Boko Haram constitutes not only to that region but to the country as a whole.

Ordinarily, the social problems confronting any human society ought to have been subjected to a critical study and analysis such as the one undertaken by the UNDP before taking any action in the direction of proffering lasting solutions. The fight against terror in the troubled North-East actually proceeded without much reflection. It is without doubt a great loss of precious energy to have prosecuted the war against terror without paying attention to the real reasons behind the actions of the villains. The informed conclusion from the UNDP research is that improving the lives of Nigerians in the North-East should have been a major course of action. The solely military war against Boko Haram was ill-advised. It has wasted a lot of lives without any solutions in sight. We believe that the agitations in different parts of the country must be confronted with informed strategies henceforth. Members of the various terror groups on the African continent are really simpletons and it is quite unbelievable that a huge amount of money is being spent on fighting those who should have been scientifically pacified.

The UNDP Africa’s director, Abdoulaye Mar Dieleye, while launching the report in New York, United States, said that the findings should be a wake-up call for governments across the continent to improve governance for their citizens. He harped on the developmental issues of delivering services, strengthening institutions and creating pathways to economic empowerment, affirming that there is an urgent need to bring a stronger development focus to security challenges. We cannot but agree with him.