Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - boko haram again

Gloria¹s analysis is succinct and strikes me as right on the mark. All one
needs to know is that the missing girls were on display by BH as having
all converted to Islam. So, that tells us BH in that instance attacked a
predominantly christian school ---and it appears to be the case here as
well in Baga. If we recall, Sani Abacha¹s complex and his behavior in
power derived in part from being Kanuri and all that comes with that
historically--the subordination of the El-Kanemi is a symbol of this. The
North was never monolithic, as Awolowo always insisted, it is as diverse
as any other part of the country in terms of ethnicity and religion‹ in
fact, there is traditional religion at play in places as well. If you were
to remove the Tivs, the Kanuris, the Hausas, the Nupes, etc a sizable
portion of whom are also Christians, the Fulani¹s could become a minority.


"is this difference one of the northeast versus the northwest?²‹Ken.

This is the most insightful question I have seen on this issue. I can bet
if BH were to emerge in Kano, which along with Kaduna used to be the
hotbed of fundamentalism in the country, it would have been squashed long
since, just as all other radical movements before it.


On 1/10/15, 11:01 PM, "Anunoby, Ogugua" <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:

>Baga is a soft target. It was attacked a few times before. Boko Haram
>(BK) fighters also seem to be more highly motivated to fight and die than
>the men and women of Nigeria' security forces (NSF).
>BK without question has some foreign sponsors especially from the Middle
>East. For these countries, Nigeria would be the jewel in the crown of
>Arab/Muslim conquest of Africa south of the Sahara. They never let off.
>BK also has some Domestic sponsors and sympathizers as would be expected
>of an effective insurgency. Jonathan himself said BK has supporters and
>sympathizers in and outside his government. The surprise for many is
>that he does not seem to have done all he could do to make things
>different and better. There most likely is some interfacing of domestic
>and foreign support of BK. It would be good business/money maker for
>domestic supporters and terrorism entrepreneurs.
>Until BK finally ran amok attacking all kinds and manners of targets
>including mosques and members of Northern Nigeria's establishment, BK had
>many supporters and apologist from among that establishment. The
>suspicion has persisted that some highly placed members of the NSF are
>BK's closet supporters of consequence. Some enlisted members of the NSF
>have claimed that some of their commanders work for and with BK. Are the
>allegations a case of " smoke caused by a fire"?
>BK has scaled up its level of violence close to the presidential
>elections. The suspicion in some quarters is that BK is the military wing
>of the Jonathan opposition. The hope must be that it is not. That cannot
>be be good for Nigeria's democracy. History tends to repeat itself. Few
>Nigerians would want that history repeated.
>
>oa
>________________________________________
>From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>[usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow
>[harrow@msu.edu]
>Sent: Friday, January 09, 2015 10:47 PM
>To: usaafricadialogue
>Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - boko haram again
>
>why did BH attack baga? i assume its residents were resistant to BH? the
>terrible slaughter reminds me of the charles taylor tactics in sierra
>leone and liberia, intended to terrify people in the region, without
>having to use bullets to do it. but the nytimes report tells me nothing
>at all why baga, and why BH seems to have more and better weapons than
>the nigerian army, after all this talk about needing to bolster the
>army. does anyone have anything more substantial to help us understand it?
>ken
>
>--
>kenneth w. harrow
>faculty excellence advocate
>professor of english
>michigan state university
>department of english
>619 red cedar road
>room C-614 wells hall
>east lansing, mi 48824
>ph. 517 803 8839
>harrow@msu.edu
>
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