The political process of Boko Haram insurgency onset: a political relevance model

ABSTRACT

As more data emerges on the Boko Haram phenomenon, the controversy over the roots of the insurgency persists. While some emphasise transnational motivational factors based on the Salafist ideology, others focus on diverse local structural factors, including the economy, religion, and politics. Although this article acknowledges the importance of these factors, it argues that these are ubiquitous contextual factors which insufficiently explain the location and timing of the insurgency. By introducing the Political Relevance Model, this article theorises the insurgency onset by focusing on the agency of the local political elites and their relationship with the sect. It finds that the insurgency is rooted in an initial mutually beneficial relationship between the local political elites and a politically relevant group that turned sour, resulting in the attempt by the elites to withdraw the group’s earlier privileges using state coercion which the group frames as state repression requiring violent resistance. These agents have, in their interest, framed this struggle to resonate with the people.

KEYWORDS:

• Boko Haram
• political relevance model
• insurgency
• Nigeria
• local political elites

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge the journal editors and the anonymous reviewers of this article. Also appreciated are Chris Wilson, Thomas Gregory, Alex Bellamy, and Wesley Widmaier for their contribution to the author’s research effort.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wisdom Oghosa Iyekekpolo

Wisdom Oghosa Iyekekpolo is a PhD candidate at the department of Politics and International Relations, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand