The Politicization of Terror in Nigeria: A Reflection on the Niger Delta Militancy and the Boko Haram Terrorism

Abstract

Historical events since the colonial days have built up severe suspicion, sentiment, hatred and anger among the dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria. This has culminated into violence in different forms such as separatist agitations, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, militancy, insurgency, and even kidnapping. This study examines how terror has been politicized in Nigeria, with special reference to the Niger Delta militancy and the Boko Haram terrorism. It uses the Conspiracy Theory and the Stakeholder Theory to portray how violence has been orchestrated and manipulated by political elites to achieve their egoistic political goals. It reveals that for the Delta Niger conflict, the host communities are not seen as stakeholders, their real interests and needs are politicized while there are no coherent strategies to curb the conflict. For the Boko Haram terrorism, it found that, the terrorism is an eternal sectarian, fanatical and fundamentalist conspired movement which has existed before with different names and methods of operation, like the “Maitatsine” and can take another nomenclature in the future, having overt religious and covert political colourization. It suggests pragmatic strategies to help put an end to politicization of terror in Nigeria. Keywords: Boko Haram, Conspiracy, Militancy, Politics, Terrorism