State Failure, Terrorism and Global Security: An Appraisal of the Boko Haram Insurgency in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

The magnitude of the disaster of September 11, 2001 brought to bear a general recognition that terrorism is a global problem that required urgent attention. The response was a war on terror against groups defined as murderous oppressive, violent and hateful and whose. Islamic radicalism is fingered as responsible for the attack and seen as threat to peace, security and prosperity of the global community. However, it has become a common refrain that failed states are the fertile grounds for terrorism which threatens national security and invariably the global security as well. Nigeria, is one such state where elements of failure has given rise to groups like Boko Haram that use terror and violence to make demands on the state. This paper examines how the characterization of Nigeria as a failed state, has impacted in making the country breeding ground of terrorism. Specifically the paper highlights the conditions necessitating the emergence and persistence of Boko Haram terrorist sect. The paper relies on secondary data sourced from books, journal articles and reports of periodicals and employed descriptive analysis to establish the trends, Findings show that features of a failed state as articulated in the literature are present in Nigeria. The paper concludes that these factors create the condition for terrorism to thrive in Nigeria and consequently threaten the socio-economic stability of the country and to an extent the globe. The paper recommends that to deal with these challenges, the Nigerian state need to re-examine its character so as to address the issues that give rise to acts of terrorism as well as restrategise on how to provide the needs of the vast majority of its citizens.