NATIONALISM

Introduction

Terrorism, arguably, is the biggest threat to global peace and stability in the contemporary times.

Since the dawn of this millennium, the incidence of the terrorism has been on a steady rise
worldwide. Hitherto, terrorism was more or less a national or regional affair. This trend,
however, has since changed as brilliantly observed by Awake:

Just few years ago, terrorism seemed to be restricted to a few isolated places, such as Northern
Ireland, the Basque Country in Northern Spain, and some areas of the Middle East. Now -
especially since September 11, 2001, with the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York -
worldwide phenomenon (June, 2006:4).

Indeed, the worldwide manifestation of terrorism has been evident in Africa, but also in Nigeria.
With particular reference to Nigeria, the phenomenon has found expression in the emergence of
Boko Haram insurgency (2001-date). Since its advent, the sectarian insurgency has wrecked
immense havoc in the country, especially by “using explosives and firearms with gruesome,
fatal” consequences (Awake June, 2006).

Conceptual Meanings

Humanitarian Crisis

A crisis is an acute situation, difficult to manage, with severe and long-term consequences,
which are generally harmful. A crisis should not be understood in relation to a stable condition, a
stable state, a system or by universal references, but must be seen as a process. In fact, it
constitutes a change in state, from one moment or type of organisation to another, for example
from a stable or critical situation to a catastrophic situation. A crisis is therefore a disastrous
upheaval from a previous situation. (Josse and Dubois, 2009).

According to Josse and Dubois (2009), the criteria used to define a humanitarian crisis are the
following:

 A rapid and serious deterioration in a situation,

 Numerous victims or numerous people whose lives are in danger,

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 The unique nature and the extent of the crisis plunges the population into a situation of
great distress,
 Substantial material destruction,
 Institutional management undergoing great difficulty or incapable of managing the
situation.

Humanitarian Coalition, (2013, para 2) define humanitarian crisis:

an event or series of events that represents a critical threat to the health, safety,
security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over
a wide area

Terrorism

The difficulty in defining “terrorism” is in agreeing on a basis for determining when the use of
violence (directed at whom, by whom, for what ends) is legitimate; therefore, the modern
definition of terrorism is inherently controversial. The use of violence for the achievement of
political ends is common to state and non-state groups. The majority of definitions in use has
been written by agencies directly associated with government, and is systematically biased to
exclude governments from the definition. The contemporary label of "terrorist" is highly
pejorative-- it denotes a lack of legitimacy and morality. As a practical matter, so-called acts of
“terrorism” or terrorism are often a tactic committed by the actors as part of a larger military or
geo-political agenda.

The UN General Assembly Resolution 49/60 (adopted on December 9, 1994), titled "Measures
to Eliminate International Terrorism," contains a provision describing terrorism:

Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the

general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political
purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations
of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any
other nature that may be invoked to justify them.

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UN Security Council Resolution 1566 (2004) gives a definition:

criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause
death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke
a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular
persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international
organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.

The discourse in this work aims at exploring and determining how terrorism fuel humanitarian
crisis in Nigeria from the standpoint of the Boko Haram insurgency.

With reference to the subject matter of the present discourse, it is to be observed that terrorism
typifies a complex emergency. In effect, it necessarily involves and/or leads to dire humanitarian
crisis with far-reaching implications for national sustainability of Nigeria. It is in the light of this
that this piece of work posits that terrorism, as exemplified in the Boko Haram insurgency,
constitutes a threat to Nigeria’s national security.

Terrorism is essentially sectarian in nature (Nchi, 2013). It is usually associated with the
activities of a fringe and ideologically misguided sub-group of a larger religious or political
movement in the guise of achieving their selfish agender. In this regard, Shabayany (2012)
observes that it “is a fanatical war waged by a puritan few against the massive army of innocent
people of different religions, class and gender”.

To underscore the crux of our conception of terrorism in this work, it suffices to note that
terrorism consists in “the unlawful use of threatened use of force or violence by a person (at an
instance of a group agenda) or organized group against people or property with the intention of
intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons”
(cited in Awake, June 2006:4). This definition of terrorism is germane, plausible, and best suits
the purpose of the foregoing discourse.

Terrorism is a veritable instance of collective violence. In effect, it is perpetrated by groups who

believe in the use of such tactic as a means of advancing a group cause.

Terrorism could be said to be an unconventional method of political militancy. It is an

antithetical phenomenon whose means, more often than not contradicts and therefore negates its

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end. When directed to the state, it often takes the posture of anarchro-nihilism. It is employed by
disgruntled sub-national movements or clandestine, criminal groups as a means of furthering
nefarious agenda. In this light, the Boko Haram (inappropriately interpreted by transliteration as
Western Education is sinful), insurgency has been referred “as the violent assertion of a fringe
sectarian identity based on the dogma of a subgroup of a larger national confessional group”
(Nchi, 2013:200). In this regard, the “larger national group” refers to the wider Islamic
community of Nigeria. The sub-group in question is the Yusufiya sect (more formally known as
Jama’atu Ahlus-sunnah Lidda’ Awati Wal Jihad). The sect’s mode of terrorism thrives on
antistate offensive wherein ‘soft-targets’, namely the civilians and non-combatant populations,
have been massively targeted. Their activities have been decried as insurgency because they are
tantamount to a rebellion against Nigeria’s avowed secularity and sovereignty.

CONCLUSION

The main thrust of this work is to reveal that the Boko Haram insurgency has trigger
humanitarian crisis in a guised of political, religious and sectional ambition. It is therefore
evident that as Boko Haram insurgency in a guise of humanitarian crisis has claimed lots of
lives, aggravated the food and nutrition insecurity, further damaged to health and education
sector, and has caused general fear and anxiety; an urgent solution is needed. Boko Haram
insurgency is therefore a threat to human security in Nigeria. A critical corollary of this violence
is dire humanitarian crisis that threatens human security in Nigeria.

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Reference

Awake (2008). “When terrorism will end”. June edition, pp1-6. Barga, T. (2012) “Towards a
theology of peace: A panacea to terrorism and violence”. Jos Studies, Vol. 20, pp. 1-24.
Human Right Watch (2013). A Report of the Human Rights Watch, October 2013.
Humanitarian Coalition (2013). “What is Humanitarian Crisis?” http://
[Link]/sites/default/files/factsheet t/what –is – a humanitarian- crisis
–[Link] (accessed November 06, 2013).
Josse, E., Dubois, V. (2009). Interventions Humanitaires En Santé Mentale Dans Les Violences
De Masse (1st Edition) Bruxelles : Groupe De Boeck.
Nchi, S.I (2013). Religion and Politics in Nigeria: The Constitutional Issues. Jos: Green-World
Publishing Co. Ltd.
Shabayany, B. S. (2012) “New Waves of Terrorism in Nigeria not true Expression of Islam”. Jos
Studies,Vol. 20, Pp. 33 – 47.

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