Papers by Benjamin Maiangwa
Exiting Whiteness and Patriarchy: Embracing Oneness, Breaking Free of Incarcerating Ideologies, and Enabling Pathways to Belonging
Politics of Citizenship and Migration
The banality of infrastructural racism through the lens of peace and conflict studies
Peacebuilding, 2022
Killing in the Name of God? Explaining the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Nigeria
intense cases of sectarian skirmishes resulting in massive casualties. At least 18,000 lives have... more intense cases of sectarian skirmishes resulting in massive casualties. At least 18,000 lives have been lost in hundreds of violent incidents sparked by various ethnic, religious, and political groups since the 1980s. In more recent times, the situation has been exacerbated by Boko Haram – an emerging terrorist sect – which has mounted waves of deadly bomb attacks strategically directed at a cross section of public spaces. Given this predicament, scores of articles, commentaries, and newspaper reports on the issue have erroneously misinterpreted the uprising as merely another form of religious violence, or at least as a vendetta against Christians in Nigeria. But, as this paper will argue, Boko Haram terrorism is primarily a political reaction to bad governance, organized under the cloak of religion..
African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 2014
This article critically examines the current developments regarding the religious terrorism of Bo... more This article critically examines the current developments regarding the religious terrorism of Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist group, which operates largely in the north-east states of Nigeria. Boko Haram’s avowed aim is to wrest control from the Nigerian government and to impose a strict form of Sharia law across a country of about 170 million people. Since 2009, when Boko Haram first launched its Islamic insurgency, over 5 000 Nigerians have lost their lives in bombings and shootings carried out by the group. In addition to a brief discussion of the emergence, demands, ideology and external links of Boko Haram, the article focuses analytic attention on how the Nigerian state has responded to the menacing threat of the group. This is followed by a critical engagement with the current debate in Nigeria regarding what can be said for and against negotiating with Boko Haram members, and for or against fighting them. In conclusion, the article offers some fresh and multifaceted recom...
Against memory-as-remedy to the traumatic aftermaths of Nigeria-Biafra war past: whither justice?
Social Dynamics, 2020
ABSTRACT This article examines recent scholarship proposing the use of memory practice to remedy ... more ABSTRACT This article examines recent scholarship proposing the use of memory practice to remedy the traumatic aftermaths of Nigeria-Biafra War past. The assumption sustained in this scholarship is that through certain cultural memory practices such as truth commissions and commemorative rituals some form of appeasement might be reached regarding the extent of subsistence of that traumatic past. We fault these scholarly claims proposing memory as panacea to mass injustices and tragedies. In addition to the problematic proposals for using memory to remedy past atrocities in Nigeria, we observe that the question of justice is either absent or construed sometimes vaguely as one and the same with memorialisation. Accordingly, this paper further explores the place of justice in (and its implications for) this recent scholarship on Nigeria-Biafra War past. By inserting and centralising questions of justice in the discourse of that war, we seek to rethink the assumptions of memory practice as a remedy to past atrocities in Nigeria. The underlying argument of our discussion is that not only does the emphasis on memory diminish the political nature of the conflict but also that resort to memory indicates a continued reluctance to address the fundamental questions of political in/justice in Nigeria.
Africa Spectrum, 2013
For many oil-bearing communities in petro-states around the world, the net effects of oil explora... more For many oil-bearing communities in petro-states around the world, the net effects of oil exploration have not only been devastating, but have also highlighted the double standards that are often applied by oil multinational corporations (MNCs). These organisations are far more likely to demand environmental and social mitigation efforts in the developed world than they are in a developing country. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the continued irresponsible activities of oil MNCs – specifically Shell – have fuelled restive conditions of ethnic militancy, brazen human rights abuses, environmental degradation and unsustainable peace in the Niger Delta. The paper particularly assesses the impact of the 2009 amnesty programme that was initiated to halt the downward spiral into violence in the Niger Delta and resolve the region's socio-economic challenges. The conclusion of this paper canvasses for greater social-ecological justice as a way forwards in addressing the Niger Delta ...
African Identities, 2017
The contemporary Nigerian state continues to be entrapped by a ferocious web of identity politics... more The contemporary Nigerian state continues to be entrapped by a ferocious web of identity politics. Since ethno-religious fault lines were created and empowered by the colonial project, and despite the utilization of various socio-historical and political arrangements in post-independence Nigeria, the country is still cast under the shadows of the intransigencies associated with combative identity crisis. This article brings a fresh perspective on this subject, by drawing concurrently from three theoretical frameworks -'Invention of Tradition' by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, 'Imagined Communities' by Benedict Anderson, and crucially, "native-settler" as political identities by scholars like Mahmood Mamdani. Consequently, the article posits that identity formation in Nigeria has traveled the trajectories of the 'invented, ' and the 'imagined, ' culminating into the 'made. ' The article employs a decolonial framework to argue for a renewed and progressive approach to national identity formation in Nigeria.
“Conflicting Indigeneity” and Farmer–Herder Conflicts in Postcolonial Africa
Peace Review, 2017
Post-colonial wars and conflicts in Africa havemostly converged around identity issues. They mani... more Post-colonial wars and conflicts in Africa havemostly converged around identity issues. They manifest in cases of ethnic mobilization, cultural othering, and internal oppression of people simply seen as being “different.” Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni contends that after the European colonization of African societies, many Africans diverted their energy and agency from fighting anticolonial wars to creating new forms of internal exploitation and oppression of groups that are considered to be foreign and alien. Patterns of identity-based conflicts contrived from perceived or real cultural differences have emerged with deleterious consequences for nation-building projects in several African countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. Farmer–herder conflicts in Nigeria and in several parts of West Africa represent an interesting case study for examining how identity-related issues instigate intercommunal conflicts in post-colonial African states.
Perspectives on “New” Conflicts in Africa
Peace Review, 2017
When it comes to conflicts, in this instance, protracted sociopolitical conflicts, Africa is a co... more When it comes to conflicts, in this instance, protracted sociopolitical conflicts, Africa is a constant case study. Some scholars such as Scott Straus, however, contend that African wars are ending, or at least changing in character, and declining in intensity. Indeed, the longstanding civil wars that ravaged several African countries in the Cold War and post–Cold War era seemed to have been resolved. The problems with this optimistic outlook on conflicts, however, include the fact that, as Mary Kaldor notes in her “new war” thesis, it is based on a limiting understanding of conflicts. For Kaldor, there are “new” wars: these are wars that need not necessarily involve states as primary parties, need not involve physical combat, and which can be both global as well as local, internal as well as external. Kaldor’s views, however, also pose a problem. Sinisa Malešević argues that Kaldor’s “new” wars thesis identifies globalization as the major source of “new” wars, while downplaying the important role of identity, which has been a recurring decimal in both “old” and “new” wars. Thus, while there may be some agreement regarding the emergence of “new” variables and factors in wars and conflicts, the actual characteristics and factors driving “new” wars are still subjects of debate. The following is our attempt to bring clarity to this debate in the African context.We argue that African conflicts—despite arguments that they are now less intense, peripheral, and less frequent—have also transformed, taking up new characteristics. We contend that “new” conflicts are emerging in Africa through a cross-pollination of local and global forces. FromMali in the West, to South Africa in the South, and from Libya in the North to South Sudan in the East, African conflicts are transforming in character in the twenty-first century. Additionally, African conflicts have simmered in intensity and focus withinAfrica’s changing sociopolitical andmultilayered social space. African conflicts now prominently bubble from the low everyday spheres of African societies.
African Studies, 2017
This article undertakes a retrospective appraisal of Nigeria's widely acclaimed, yet contentious,... more This article undertakes a retrospective appraisal of Nigeria's widely acclaimed, yet contentious, success in its interventionist role in Liberia and its seeming inability to contain the threats posed by members of the dreaded Islamist militant: Jamaa'tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal Jihad/al-Wilāyat al-Islāmiyya Gharb Afrīqiyyah, also known as Boko Haram. Drawing references from scholarly articles, electronic channels, and other commissioned reports, the article explains why Nigeria appears to be losing the war against Boko Haram, in contrast to its modest strides in Liberia between 1990 and 1997. We argue that Nigeria's inability to contain the Boko Haram insurgency can be located within the context of its homegrown systemic challenges; particularly, its ineffectual political leadership and the politicisation of its national security under the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency.
Peacebuilding and Reconciliation through Storytelling in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of the Republic of Ireland
Storytelling, Self, Society, 2015
We all live for stories [...] because without stories the stuff that happens would float around i... more We all live for stories [...] because without stories the stuff that happens would float around in some glob and none of it would mean anything.(Banaszynski 14)IntroductionIn the summer of 2010, one of us (Byrne) interviewed thirteen development officers and 107 community group leaders about peacebuilding and reconciliation. These individuals were working for or receiving aid from the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) and the European Union Peace and Reconciliation III Fund (or EU PEACE III Fund) in Londonderry (Derry) and the Border Counties of the Republic of Ireland. A number of projects in their communities and organizations drew on storytelling and peacemaking, and some initial ideas emerged about the power of stories and the role of storytelling as a central component of a broader repertoire of peacebuilding activities in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Consequently, this article explores the significance of the storytelling, reconciliation, and peacebuilding model within the context of post-peace accord Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of the Irish Republic through the perceptions and experiences of ten local community group leaders who were recipients of external economic assistance from the IFI and/or the EU PEACE III Fund related to storytelling and, specifically, forums of the Towards Understanding and Healing (TUH) project. The people of this region are trying to navigate the transition from war to peace. Consequently, understanding "constructive and transcultural storytelling" (Senehi, "The Role of Constructive, Transcultural Storytelling" 229) and peacebuilding within the liminal context of Northern Ireland is illuminating.The conflict on the island of Ireland was ostensibly resolved in 1921, when the Republic of Ireland became independent, with six counties-mainly from the historic province of Ulster-remaining within the United Kingdom (White 89). In the seventeenth century, Ulster was predominantly occupied by Irish Catholics but saw the influx of thousands of English and Scottish Protestants settlers. The six counties of Northern Ireland had their own parliament, administration, and an exclusively Protestant police force, which led to a fifty-year pattern of anti-Catholic discrimination and violence (White 89).In the late 1960s, the conflict took a catastrophic turn when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) emerged as a counterforce to British dominance and began waging a violent war to rid Northern Ireland of British control (White 89). The PIRA's objective was to end British rule and unify the island without Northern Unionist consent (Simpson, Truth Recovery 14). As a result, Loyalist paramilitaries mobilized to oppose Republican violence and to protect the union (Simpson, Truth Recovery 14). The Loyalists' response to PIRA political violence led to an intense cycle of virulent violence known as the "Thoubles"-beginning from the late 1960s to the late 1990s (Aiken 173). The constant threat of urban and rural violence over the course of thirty years took its toll on societal cohesion in Northern Ireland, as segregated housing and education prevented social integration between both communities (Aiken 173). There were allegations of state terrorism, racism, and oppression from Protestant Unionist Loyalists and Catholic Nationalist Republicans (Knobel 89). An estimated 3,700 people died, and about 50,000 were maimed during this period (Shea 289). The Troubles officially ended with the signing of the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement in 1998.There are still contentions over sociopolitical and economic issues, however, as well as a deepening mistrust among various communities in post-peace accord Northern Ireland (Senehi, "The Role of Constructive, Transcultural Storytelling" 227; Cormier et al.). The Good Friday Agreement failed to address past hurts, "focusing instead on governing structures, which in turn lead to a tribal approach to democracy" (McLaughlin par. …
African Security, 2016
This article uses Roger Mac Ginty's four-part model of Hybridity as a conceptual paradigm to reco... more This article uses Roger Mac Ginty's four-part model of Hybridity as a conceptual paradigm to reconsider the relative failure of the Liberal Peace Intervention (LPI) as a model of building peace in the Central African Republic (CAR). The article argues that the limited success of the LPI in the CAR is due to its strict adherence to internationalist, top-down, and exclusionary approaches. This, the article argues, eventually obscures local agency, reduces local stakeholder actors to irrelevance, and derails any prospect of ensuring cross-community reconciliation programs. Thus, we conclude that a more A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 inclusive approach, involving, participatory, locally-engineered and hybridized LPI-which enforces and brings in the utility of local actors, resources and practices-would be a more effective way of sidestepping the defective trappings of fundamentally "foreign" interventionist paradigms in the CAR.
Politikon, 2016
This paper is a critical application of Ted Gurr's theory of political rebellion to understanding... more This paper is a critical application of Ted Gurr's theory of political rebellion to understanding the dynamics of the long history of socioeconomic and political crises in the Central African Republic (CAR). Gurr locates his explanation for political rebellion in people's 'shared grievances', 'discontentment', and 'group mobilisation' within the context of repressive state actions. Gurr, however, gives no real explanation as to what kind of people engage in collective rebellion, and whether or not popular grievances touch on all the people. In light of this, this paper explores what group identity issues, and what kinds of beliefs or appeals within CAR led to collective violence in the country, particularly the Séléka rebellion (2012-2013) and the anti-Balaka counter-response. The paper further discusses why and how groups like the Séléka remain a small but cohesive organisation, willing to kill and or die for their motives. Additionally, it engages with the 'spill-over' effects of CAR's crises by discussing how the official borders in the Central African Region, as with the rest of Africa, remain insignificant in the everyday life of Central Africans.
Boko Haram's attacks and the people's response: A ‘fourth pillar’ of the responsibility to protect?
African Security Review, 2016
ABSTRACT This article examines the failure of the Nigerian government to exercise its responsibil... more ABSTRACT This article examines the failure of the Nigerian government to exercise its responsibility to protect (R2P) populations from mass atrocities in the wake of Boko Haram's violent and persistent attacks against civilians in north-east Nigeria. After the abduction of 276 schoolgirls on 14 April 2014, the affected communities engaged directly in protecting their villages and families. Another murderous and devastating attack on Baga in January 2015 and the abduction of over 400 women in Damasak in March 2015 continued to expose the governmental failure to protect people at risk of losing their lives. This article examines the dynamics of the people's response to the crisis and investigates whether this response could be conceptually defined as a ‘fourth pillar’ of R2P, when a state – even in collaboration with the international community – is unable to live up to its R2P. Certainly, such a phantom ‘fourth pillar’ is symbolic and should not be used in any way by governments to re-delegate their first pillar primary R2P.
Journal of Terrorism Research, 2014
Several works on Boko Haram have underscored the issues of state weakness and bad governance in N... more Several works on Boko Haram have underscored the issues of state weakness and bad governance in Nigeria as the major problematic fuelling the group's violent activities. While the state fragility argument is indispensable, this paper argues that the religious dimension is also critical to any attempt to understand the Boko Haram crisis. To this end, the paper will examine how the historical and contemporary processes of religious politicization in Nigeria have contributed to the rise and radicalization of Boko Haram.
Jihadism in West Africa: Adopting a Three-Dimensional Approach to Counterterrorism
Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 2014
This paper assesses the jihadist threat in Nigeria, Mali, and to a smaller extent in Cameroon, Ni... more This paper assesses the jihadist threat in Nigeria, Mali, and to a smaller extent in Cameroon, Niger, and Algeria. The paper argues that due to the risk of West Africa being infiltrated by jihadist groups, it is necessary to strengthen the counterterrorism capacity of the major regional players: the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS), and enhance their collaboration with their foreign partners and civil society actors to defeat the jihadists' ambition for an Islamic Caliphate and build stability in the region. To the extent possible, the paper will review the counterterrorism policies and strategies employed by the United States, the AU, and ECOWAS, and then advance certain policy prescriptions that entail long-term investments by the international community, and regional and civil society actors in West Africa in the areas of defence, development, and peacebuilding.
The Changing Dynamics of Boko Haram Terrorism
The mention of Nigeria anywhere in the world increasingly stirs up images of poverty, crime, ethn... more The mention of Nigeria anywhere in the world increasingly stirs up images of poverty, crime, ethno-religious violence, and terrorism. Indeed, these ascriptions, especially perennial Boko Haram terrorism, serve as a seam that interminably threatens to tear at the core of Nigeria’s stability, unity and prosperity as a nation. Since the more violent phase of its campaign erupted in 2009, Boko Haram has instilled widespread insecurity across Nigeria and has increased tensions among ethno-religious groups in the country. The sect has been responsible for a series of deadly attacks on strategic governmental agencies, religious centres, and innocent individuals. It has also attacked key Muslim clerics, politicians, and Christians. But in more recent times, Boko Haram’s attacks have been directed selectively at churches -- perhaps an indication not only of its strategic redirection and focus but also of its desire to implement its own variant of shari'ah law by inflaming religious animo...
Why Boko Haram Kidnaps Women and Young Girls in North-Eastern Nigeria
Drawing insights from Africa and beyond, this article critically examines the disturbing trend of... more Drawing insights from Africa and beyond, this article critically examines the disturbing trend of Boko Haram’s relentless attacks against women and young girls in north-eastern Nigeria. The ramifications of these attacks on the right to education of women and young girls in northern Nigeria, as well as the far-reaching impact on their physical and psychosocial well-being, is assessed.
Boko Haram, Religious Violence, and the Crisis of National Identity in Nigeria: Towards a Non-killing Approach
Journal of Developing Societies, 2013
Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, more than 10,000 people have died in the wake ... more Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, more than 10,000 people have died in the wake of identity-based violence mostly fought along ethno-religious lines. In 2009, a radical Islamist sect from north-eastern Nigeria, Boko Haram, started a campaign of terror that has so far intensified the apprehensive religious atmosphere in the country. While the Boko Haram crisis cannot be said to be strictly religious, this article will locate the group within the context of the mobilization and politicization of religion in Nigeria, which along with the heavy-handedness of Nigeria’s conflict management processes, informs religious militancy and sectarian violence in the country. We argue that a process of transition from a killing society to a non-killing society is needed to provide an alternative perspective to the existing pedagogy of violence for which northern Nigeria is notorious.
“Baptism by Fire”: Boko Haram and the Reign of Terror in Nigeria
Africa Today, 2012
ABSTRACT The rise of Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect, has heightened the state of insecurity ... more ABSTRACT The rise of Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect, has heightened the state of insecurity in Nigeria and beyond, triggering deadly bomb attacks on police forces, government officials, places of worship, public institutions, and innocent civilians. With the violence showing no signs of abating, this paper advances two theoretical approaches—a state-failure thesis and a frustration-aggression thesis—to explain the Boko Haram phenomenon in terms of its evolution, intent, enemies, and radicalization. The overarching focus of the paper, however, is on the factors that fan the flames of the terrorist insurgency, including security deficiency, endemic elite corruption and military brutality, continued economic challenges, decrepit and underdeveloped infrastructures, and inaccurate reporting. Accordingly, one way of resolving the Boko Haram impasse would be to address the causal efficacy of each of the foregoing trigger factors. It is hoped that when these issues are addressed, the likelihood that the discontented, aggrieved, and frustrated youth of northern Nigeria will gravitate toward terrorism as an option will be significantly reduced, or even eliminated.
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Papers by Benjamin Maiangwa