Introduction
The word terrorism was first used in France to describe a new system of government adopted during the French Revolution (1789-1799). From that time on, terrorism has had a decidedly negative connotation. The word, however, did not gain wider popularity until September 11, 2001, when Osama Bin Laden masterminded a terrorist attack on United State
Terrorism is the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear for bringing about political change. All terrorist acts involve violence or—equally important—the threat of violence. These violent acts are committed by non-states armed actors Terrorists attempt not only to sow panic but also to undermine confidence in the government and political leadership of their target country. Terrorism is therefore designed to have psychological effects that reach far beyond its impact on the immediate victims or object of an attack.
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Terrorism As A Political Act
Terrorism is by nature political because it involves the acquisition
and use of power for the purpose of forcing others to submit, or agree, to terrorist demands. A terrorist attack, by generating
publicity and focusing attention on the organization behind the attack, is designed to create this power. It also fosters an environment of fear and intimidation that the terrorists can manipulate.
Causes of Terrorism
Terrorism has occurred throughout history for a variety of reasons. Its causes can be historical, cultural, political, social,
psychological, economic, or religious—or any combination of these. Some
countries have proven to be particularly susceptible to terrorism at
certain times, as Italy and West Germany were during the 1970s.
Characteristics of Terrorism Planning and organization: All terrorists share one characteristic: They never commit actions randomly or senselessly. Every terrorist wants an attack to generate maximum publicity because media attention helps achieve the intimidation needed for terrorism’s success.
Target of Terrorism: Terrorism often targets innocent
civilians in order to create an atmosphere of fear, intimidation, and
insecurity. Some terrorists deliberately direct attacks against large
numbers of ordinary citizens who simply happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Weapons of terrorism: Bombing historically has been the most common terrorist tactic. Terrorists have often relied on bombs because they provide a dramatic, yet fairly easy and often risk-free, means of drawing attention to themselves and their cause. Some of these weapons include
(a) Bombs.
(b) Firearms:
(c) Chemical and Biological weapons
The Act of terrorism in Nigeria For us in Nigeria what appears to be an act of terrorism can be traced to the October 1st bomb blast at the eagle square in Abuja .Today it has taken a new dimension. Nigeria as a nation is now at the mercy of a terrorist
religious group kown as Boko Haram. Just as if planned in rapid succession between October 2010 till now, we have had more than 25 explosions at different times to tell us that the issue of terrorism is very well alive with us.
The use of terrorism for political reason is a serious threat to international peace and security. While addressing the UN General Secretary on Wednesday 21st September 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan said that there has been an upsurge of terrorist attacks in some parts of Nigeria over the past few months. According to the president Goodluck,”the increasing use of terrorism in various religions of the world as a form of political action poses serious threat to international peace and
security. We must win the war against terrorism because it infringes on the fundamental rights of the people’s life and to live in safety”. The Activities of Boko Haram as an act of terrorism
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the following bomb explosion in the following locations across the country. These include bombings in December 2011 in Jos, Platue State. Other noticeable bomb blast includes the 1st October 2010 at the Federal Capital territory, Abuja Eagle square. The severals of bomb explosions in Maiduguri, Borno State.The audacious bombing of the force Headquarters of the Nigerian Police force
represents a change in usual modus operandi of the groups who resort to this terror tactics in achieving their aims in Nigeria. This is because this was the first known incident in Nigeria that a suicide bomber has reportedly been used. Since then, the Country has recorded over three suicide bombing. The latest attack by the group known as Boko Haram (Western education
is forbidden) represents a sea change in the tactics and strategy by this group for main reasons. With the latest attack, Boko Haram has entered a new phase in its metamorphosis. It is now a full-blown terrorist organisation. For me, that is the most worrisome part. If you say you are fighting because of the extrajudicial killing of your leader, that can be debated and resolved one way or the other. If you say you want to Islamise
Nigeria, of course that is a pipedream. Nobody can Islamize Nigeria. We have passed that stage many years ago. We’re not going to go to bed one day and wake to discover that we are now called the Islamic Republic of Nigeria. For me, that pipedream is not worth wasting time and energy on. But I worry that Boko Haram has now fully transformed to a terrorist organisation—which means anyone anywhere can be the target. There is no boundary any more. If it happens in Maiduguri, happens in Abuja, it can happen in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu etc. who knows, if your house is the next target.
Firstly, the bombing had maximum impact and struck right at the heart of Nigeria’s security apparatus through the use of suicide bomber and secondly, they choose to strike at strategic locations of the nation’s security apparatus which is far away from their known North East, Maiduguri, Borno State base a distance of over 846 kilometer to Abuja. The group is notorious in the way it has varied its modus operandi of attacking vulnerable and defenseless targets including strategic government locations, commercial interest such as banks, customs post, drinking bars,
churches, higher institutions leading to unfortunate and untimely deaths and injuries of police officers, customs
officers.
The Impact of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria
The impact of the activities of the group called Boko Haram in Nigeria cannot be overemphasised. Their activites has paralised almost all sectors of the country’s activities.terrorism have impeded peace and progressive development Nigeria. It hinders political development, it affects rapid economic growth and it distorts socio-cultural equilibrum and lead to environmental deterioration. Many scholars have discussed its consequences according to their observation and background but for us to achieve comprehensive evaluation, we shall take briefly on the aspects mentioned as tus; political, economic, social and environmental consequences.
Political
what makes a nation state is the ability of a collection of people and nation to belong togrther within a geo- political environment as a nation. But with conflict, good and acceptable governament is not guaranteed as even elections into the government reflect the divisions. As it affects the voting pattern so it affects appointment,government policies conflic within countries (as we have now) misdirect these political bodies, divides them and hiners their performance.
Economic Impact
Literature on conflict has more patronage of discussion on economic consequenses (see Oluyole 1958; Lauer 1978, Ikpeze, 1997,) Conflict and war also leads to dislocation of people from
their base. This leads to disruption of economic activities. In Nigeria now the fear of Boko Haram is everywhere.Financial activities has been paralised as everyone live in fear. People are now scared of gathering together. Business activities has also not been left in this game of fear as everyone is standing with one leg, calculating where is the next target.
Social Impact
Social development has been described as the process by which the well- being of any society and it people is ensured through collective action Visa-a-vis the changes taking place in policies, economic and social life of the people (Akukwe 1978, Uzoegbunam 199, Okafor 1997). The typical social development programmes jeopadised by the activities of Boko Haram in the country includes the following; family welfare services, Health, Housing, community development,Youths service and women
development, Education. just like it is of the political and economic situation, internal conflict and infact conflict as a thing negatively hinders social development. Enumerating the
consequences of activities of Boko Haram on the earlier itemized social structures, we have;
i. Education: The education here western education which is more of formal training programmes acquired at both pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels in Nigeria. The major tarteg of the Boko Haram is to frustrate the western education which to them is a sin, Higher institutions has become a dreadful area a the group’s main target is western education. A practical impact of it is that notice were sent to some major higher institutions in the country. Hear in the University of Ibadan, so many people has has been traumatically been molested all in the name of searching. People, cars, have to que up at the gate for searching. Theacademic activites has been jeopardised. lecturers lives in fear.
ii. Agriculture and food supply: This is affected in many ways. Firstly, the land which is very esential for agricultural production has became battlefield or occupied by this group. Almost all parts of Borno state and other parts of the Northern Nigerial which formed the major food supply to the country has been fleed by
the peopla. Hunger and squalor therefore is imitent in Nigeria.
iii. Security: One of the “basic needs” of man according to igbo (1997) is security-freedom from poverty, want, diseases, hunger and danger…. and terrorism brings all these, most serious of them being security from danger. The attacks and bomb explosion causes not only death of the soldiers but also of innocent civilians. Life is full of insecurity and uncertainly under terror. Fear has become part of the people as everyone thinks of the next targeted area of the Boko Haram
Social amenities like schools,Houses, Hospital, Markets, Electricity etc has been greatly affected by these activities..
Family Welfare Services: Thse includes pre- marital counseling, single parent services, services for neglected and abused children and elderly human psycho-physical stability and development of individual and family unit.
Environmental Effects
The environment has always formed a central part of the development focus. The conflict has led to environmental degradation, poverty and hinderd rapid economic growth and development.(Nwanegbo 2004). The following are the consequences of the conflict on environment.
i. Pollution by war equipment (Bomb) on the environment by gases, chemical and toxics, Radio-actives
ll. Scaring away of forign and conervation experts.
iii. Refugee problems to neighbouring countries and cities and it’s consequences effect on their own environment like over population, destruction of their forests, over-cultivation and grazing of their lands, social and cultural breakdown, economic cost on the hos towns and countries etc. Chad, Benin Republic and the cities closer to Maiduguri will testify better. Whichever strategy the government decides to employ, all that matters is for this group to stop its violent campaign and just go away. Nobody is thrilled with its activities and their impact on the psyche of Nigerians and their foreign friends Wayforward President Goodluck Jonathan has assured that his government will bring the Boko Haram’s activities under control. Perhaps, for security reasons, he won’t say how, but do it, he must.
However, the question I want us to answer is how do we cure this menace, in Nigeria? How do we do approach it. It is not whether it is good or bad. Obviously, it is bad but we have to get ourselves out of this mess. The approach that can work better is that it is high time Nigeria government look for a way of negotiating with
this group. This looks like a solution that cannot work when we look at the activities of the Boko Hara. However, there has been relative peace when we look at the disarmament of Niger Delta than when President Obasanjo went into Udi and destroyed a whole of Udi. A critical look at terrorism will reveal to you that it has many phases and when you approach it from the violent angle, you may find yourself fighting a loosing battle. During the fight by America to Afghanistan, one of the terrorist, the Taliban made a comment. “Either way, we win because while America is fighting to stay alive, we are fighting to die”. America spent billions of dollars, until they came to realize that they are not fighting a physical battle. You cannot win an ideological war by military action. The Taliban said “they are fighting to live, we are fighting to win. When they kill us, we win, when we kill them, we
win, either way, we win”. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the Federal Government should look for modalities to negotiate with
the group removing whatever perceptions they have on the Boko Hara. This is because; the fight is all about changing their mindset. Let us try to do our homework thoroughly before some
fools control our mind set. Let us discuss our issues rather than apply violence. We are products of our varying experiences which others outside our context envy and feel should be a plus rather than a minus. We need to increase and encourage our jaw-jawing as distinct from war-warring at the highest level in the
deepening of our polity. What is convincing is that, with the democratically dispensation, a generation is coming that will demand and receive their rights in a civil environment. Our state of affairs is quite painful because we do not deserve or pray for the situation we are in now. We need peace in this county and until the acts of terrorism are eliminated, peace cannot be restored.
Written By Giwa Oladunjoye Victor
Department of History and International Studies
Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko Ondo State,
Nigeria
P.M.B 001
Email:zicosystem2010@yahoo.com
Gmail:zicosystem022@gmail.com
Phone no: 08138120674
