In a recent Aljazeera news coverage, Boko Haram leader Abubaker Shekau has been reported stating that his group killed hundreds in Nigerian town and threatens to attack Niger, Chad and Cameroon; furthermore, the threat was followed up with this statement: “The kings of Africa, you are late. I challenge you to attack me even now. I’m ready”.
As the violence continues to wrack the northeastern Nigeria town, and as news coverage sums up the number of deaths and injured, the image painted has been nothing short of bleak. However, much of the coverage lacks extensive analysis of the crisis, and very little is known about Boko Haram and its motivation.
What are the real fractures and core issues of the crisis –political, economic and territorial struggles? What are the key steps to resolving the crisis? And how has the Nigerian government handled the security challenges and crisis? In an article published in Pambazuka in 2009, highly relevant even now, Okachikwu Dibia provides an in-depth perspective of how “Nigerian authorities have handled the Boko Haram crisis badly, resulting in more bloodshed”. Further more, she details how “the key to resolving sectarian agitations is dialogue and not the use of force”.
Read more of her perspective, here.