Boko Haram in Nigeria
A REPORT ON THE IDEA BEHIND BOKO HARAM SUBMITTED TO: PROF. SOLA OLOWU BY: FALAIYE ABIMBOLA MORENIKE MATRIC. NO: BCH/2006/045 COURSE CODE: PSY 404 COURSE TITLE: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGY DATE: 19TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2011 Muslims started to resist Western education since the fall of the Sokoto Caliphate to the British in 1903. Boko Haram which means “Western or non-Islamic education is a sin” was founded in 2002 by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, a religious teacher, in Maiduguri. The group resists not only Western education but also the western culture and modern science.
They do not believe that the earth is round or in Darwinism. They also do not participate in voting during elections as they believe that the country is run by non-believers. The group, officially known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad which means “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad” was dubbed Boko Haram by the residents of Maiduguri because of its strong opposition to Western education, which it sees as corrupting Muslims. Mohammed Yusuf established a religious complex that included a mosque and a school in 2002.
Many poor families from across Nigeria and from neighboring countries enrolled their children in the school, which also served as a recruiting center for jihadis to fight the Nigerian State. In 2004 it moved to Kanamma, Yobe State, where it set up a base called “Afghanistan”, used to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers. Yusuf is hostile to democracy and the secular education system, vowing that “this war that is yet to start would continue for long” if the political and educational system was not changed.
The group became popular following the sectarian violence in Nigeria in 2009. It seeks the imposition of Shariah law in the northern states of Nigeria. Analysts have said that at the heart of the violence is dire poverty and political maneuvering, not religion. They believe attacks were committed mainly by frustrated, unemployed youths and orchestrated by religious leaders and politicians who manipulate them to retain power. It is believed that because the violence is on a religious basis, a round table ith the leadership of the sect might go a long way in resolving the conflict. Some analysts have stated that only superior arguments can cause the sect to disengage. With all of these in mind, the federal government will need to invest enough political will and diverse resources to make the Boko Haram leadership appreciate the truth about the mechanism of globalization. They need to be told that our failing value system- not western education is responsible for the sordid state we have found ourselves.
