Violent Extremism in Nigeria: A look at the Future

Nigeria is plagued with a herculean security problem with violent extremism plaguing most parts of the country in one form or the other. For the most part, it is religiously motivated dominating the Northern parts of the Country.

Ethnic conflicts and other forms of violent extremism arising from criminality are also rife.
This year alone, there has been as many as 3000 deaths largely due to religious and ethnic affiliated violence. Because of the importance and sensitivity it carries, my focus will be on these two conflicts.

The rise of Jihadist factions was treated as a major shock to the Nigerian values when Book Haram came into prominence. However for those who had paid attention to how religious brainwashing leading to extremism works, the handwriting was already on the wall.

Politicians already played the religious card to win the support of their majority base. A good example is the introduction of Sharia law in 1999 by some Northern Governors into an area already sensitive to religious undertaking s. That law was prioritized above the provision of basic amenities, education, and equal rights in the region. The region wallows in extreme poverty while religious dogma is allowed to fester.

Naturally the end result was disillusionment on the part of the largely uneducated youths who had been born into religious fanaticism and poverty from the start. An opening simply opened to capitalize on (the alleged hatred for a Christian ruler in the case of Book Haram) and they quickly established themselves

The Future
Now we seem to be making the same mistakes, haven’t not learnt our lesions as we should. Poverty still lurks in those crisis areas and rather than thread a new path, the elite are still playing the religious divisive card. The last election was so bad in terms of the fanatical effects of religion on the uneducated that people were allegedly beaten up for voting an alleged ‘Christian party' in a state.

If the same indices remain, coupled with our indiscriminate population expansion, ethnic conflict and religiously motivated violent extremism will continue to fester till it reaches a tipping point