Boko Haram and Insecurity in Nigeria: The Quest for a Permanent Solution

Abstract

Of late, Nigeria has been gripped with threats of terrorism and general insecurity, which many believed are direct consequences of bad leadership, poverty, unemployment, widespread illiteracy and extreme deprivation. These ills provided the impetus for the anger that breeds religious extremism and terrorism. The emergence of Boko Haram and its attendant security challenges are therefore, the direct product of state failure in its responsibility to be sensitive to the plight and predicaments of the citizenry. The paper examined Boko Haram insurgency and its debilitating consequences for socio-economic and political development of the Nigerian state. The paper recommended that to achieve a lasting solution to the security challenges thrown up by the nefarious activities of the Boko Haram sect, government must revitalize and consolidate the socio-economic and political structures of the Nigerian state and the north in particular. More fundamentally, government should make conscious efforts towards building a genuine integration of the various ethnic nationalities within the Nigerian nation through instituting the cultures of true democracy and good governance anchored on fairness, equity, accountability, and transparency in the polity.

Key words: Boko Haram, poverty, terrorism, extremism, democracy, governance, insurgency, integration, fairness, equity, accountability, transparency.