Boko Haram Effects on the Economy of North-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

The study evaluates the effects of Boko Haram terrorism on the economy of North-eastern Nigeria. It examines the general meaning of terrorism, the origin of Boko Haram, their activities and tenets. It went further to narrate the key players in the activities of the insurgents and their alliance with international terrorist group. The study also investigated the economic situation of North-eastern region of Nigeria before the insurgency and present state of the economy during the insurgency era. The problem statement of this article suggests that Boko Haram terrorism has had serious economic consequences on the economy of the North-eastern Nigeria and indirectly Nigeria as a whole, so that if not properly checked will have a serious negative consequence to the whole nation in terms of human and economic resources. The research design adopted for this study was descriptive and comparative survey design, while data collection method was from oral interview and secondary materials. The results suggest that Boko Haram insurgency has badly affected the economic performance of the region since the advent of Boko Haram as well as during the study period. The study concludes that terrorism had impacted negatively on the psychology and economy of the north-eastern Nigeria thereby leading to low output which has important implications on long term economic and human development. The study then suggested that if government makes policies that will target poverty reduction, unemployment, religious extremism and changing of security architecture of the country that Boko Haram terrorism will be eradicated, and economic life of the region will improve.