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Boko Haram: A Profound Challenge Nigeria Has Faced In Recent Times – Development Expert

An African Development Expert, Professor Ehiedu Iweriebor, says the Boko Haram sect is one of the most profound challenges that Nigeria has faced in recent … Continue reading Boko Haram: A Profound Challenge Nigeria Has Faced In Recent Times – Development Expert


prof. EhieduAn African Development Expert, Professor Ehiedu Iweriebor, says the Boko Haram sect is one of the most profound challenges that Nigeria has faced in recent times.

He said insurgents are concerned about spectacular and dramatic actions and “not like they will take over Nigeria”.

“In the context of terrorism, the state has to organise its self and respond in a very robust and effective way, mobilise and recruit societal support for this process, but I’m not entirely sure we have done that very well,” he added.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday, Mr Iweriebor stated that the terrorist upsurge in Nigeria’s northeast was a new phenomenon in the history of the country, which had made Nigerians shocked at their activities.

“If you look at ancient Nigerian cultures, we have no tradition of self-emulation or killing people because they disagree with us.

“We had religious conflict in the past but this particular conflict has a very unique nature, so I believe Boko Haram’s strategy is another example of cultural import substitution because it has no place in our cultural or historic make-up.”

He further pointed out that in every religious traditions there are always extreme groups but Nigeria has not been conscious which had made the sect members have the upper hand.

Giving a brief history of Borno State, he said that the state was one of the earliest Islamic Centres present in Nigeria and that it was the center of profound Islamic scholarship in accent Nigeria.

Giving his opinion on what should have been done to tackle the Boko Haram sect, he said: “What we would have done religiously was to identify and separate Boko Haram right away as an extremist expression that does not capture the essence of Nigerian Islam.”

He advised the state government and Nigerians not to invoke their traditions that are hostile, killing people for no reason, emphasising that efforts have to be made on educating people that the issue of terrorism is a new phenomenon which has to be combated and dealt with.