A 'nation' in wilderness: Youth and insurgency in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Prior to and immediately after independence, young Nigerians, under different political and intellectual platforms, had individually and collectively instituted and succeeded in fostering progressive change in the Nigerian polity, most times without being violent and destructive. Through these platforms, they were able to checkmate and monitor the excessiveness of the ruling elites. However, it appears that such spirit of nation-building and patriotism is fast disappearing in contemporary Nigeria. Young Nigerians are increasingly becoming violent and destructive, probably because they are angry and frustrated. The brutal killings of innocent Nigerians in schools and other places by the Boko Haram have thrown the country into a state of pandemonium and mourning. This article examines the emergence of insurgency across the geopolitical zones in Nigeria within the context of social movement theories. It argues that the inherent social structural maladies and/or prevailing sociopolitical environment have provided impetus for the emergence and maintenance of insurgency among the youth in Nigeria. It calls for the need to subject and interrogate the current waves of insurgency across ethnic cleavages in Nigeria to a more nuanced and pragmatic analysis in order to dissect and unravel their sociostructural and political undertones.

Keywords:

• youth
• social movement
• insurgency
• militancy
• resource mobilisation
• political opportunity
• Nigeria

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ali Arazeem Abdullahi

Ali Arazeem Abdullahi lectures in the Department of Sociology, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He is also a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interests include health sociology, sociology of development and social problems.

Deborah Shade Adekeye

Deborah Shade Adekeye is from the Department of Sociology, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Her research interests include gender issues, industrial sociology and political sociology.

Obasanjo Solomon Balogun

Obasanjo Solomon Balogun lectures sociology at Bingham University, Karu, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. His research interests include social problems, youth violence, criminology and penology as well as sociology of development.