Alexander Peeples
Abstract: Boko Haram is the most notorious African terrorist organization of the 21st century. However, the roots of its violence are widely misunderstood and require a deeper, more cross- disciplinary analysis. What emerges from a more historicized interrogation of the group’s evolution is that a complicated politics of education has undergirded the organization since its creation. Whereas military confrontation has been viewed as the central antidote to Boko Haram, a more appropriate response would instead focus on greater educational opportunity and income equality in Northern Nigeria. Only by dismantling the historical inequities of colonialism and post-colonial injustice can a nonviolent path be paved for Borno state.
Keywords: Boko Haram, education, terrorism, Nigeria, gendered terrorism
