The Significance Role of Community Engagement and Soft Power in Countering Boko Haram in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Boko Haram group in the Nigerian and Lake Chad Basin has gained immense sympathy in the region, appearing to mount political challenges against corruption and social and economic inequalities. Security experts did not anticipate that the group would become violent based on its past actions. However, researchers recently have revealed that the group has had transnational connections to other terrorist groups, such as Al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa, and Al Qaeda, which have influenced its propensity for violence. This research attempts to understand Boko Haram by examining data supplied by research, documents, and reports from numerous groups. The method implemented here entails a historical approach, including observation, a way by which the historian aims to determine the soundness of observational reports conducted by previous investigators. This research utilizes a historical methodology that requires exploring, documenting, evaluating, and interpreting past occurrences to discover indications that aid in understanding historical and present activities and to a significant but limited extent for projecting the future. This study examines the origin of Boko Haram and speculates as to its future by concentrating on why the group primarily thrives in some parts of Nigeria and the Lake Chad region. It also looks at responses to security challenges from American, Nigerian, and neighboring governments. Additionally, it looks at the use of community engagement and soft power as a possible means to mitigate violence in the region. Finally, the document identifies implications for the group's continued existence and stability in the area based on data analysis. This research also offers policy recommendations for the United States, Nigeria, and the surrounding countries that could minimize the threats of Boko Haram.

Intra-jihadist rivalry fuels violence in Lake Chad

Significance Competition between the jihadist groups remains tense and insecurity is being stoked further by intercommunal conflict over land and water resources that overstretched security forces are struggling to contain. Impacts Economic hardship will increase in the Lake Chad region amid the effects of climate change and economic slowdown due to the pandemic. Jihadist dominance in the region is almost certain to swing back and forth between ISWAP and Boko Haram. The use of the Boko Haram moniker to describe all jihadist operations poses challenges to accurate attribution of attacks.

Challenges of implementing transitional justice in the Lake Chad Basin and the integration/reintegration of displaced persons

This work contributes to the few case studies that have examined the challenges of implementing transitional justice in displacement contexts by using the specific case of the displacement trend in the Conventional Basin of Lake Chad to further underscore the dynamics of the problems involved in the issue. The work finds that lack of commitment to the implementation of regional policy frameworks and also the numerous weaknesses of the demobilization, deradicalization and reintegration (DDR) programmes implemented in the region have all had specific hindrances, especially in the social and political (re)integration of displaced persons in the region. The work therefore calls for more regional efforts that take into account clearer screening methods, accountability measures, as well as the (re)integration of displaced persons in the study area into the wider systems of their various home countries.

The Nexus between Bad Governance, Ungoverned Spaces and Terrorism: Analysing the Boko Haram Insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin through the lenses of the Social Contract Theory

<p>The Lake Chad Basin is one of the most fragile and politically unstable regions in Africa. This is largely due to the insurgency of Boko Haram which broke out in Nigeria’s north-eastern region and later spilled over to northern Cameroon, western Chad and south-eastern Niger. By 2020, approximately 37000 people had died and 2.6 million displaced as a consequence of the crisis. The conflict has undermined security in vast human habitats, destroyed billions of dollars’ worth of critical public goods, damaged livelihoods and left millions of affected populations without access to basic services. The challenge in academic and peacebuilding spaces has been to dissect and tackle the principal causes of the conflict. Whereas there is substantial literature on the religious, political, social, economic and environmental drivers of the insurgency in Nigeria, much is not known about the governance environment that facilitated its outbreak and spread. To understand this, this article adopts the social contract theory to critically examine the correlation between bad governance, ungoverned spaces and the insurgency in the affected countries. The paper uses secondary sources to supplement primary data from key informant interviews and focus group discussions in Nigeria's Borno State, Chad's Lake Province, Cameroon's Far North Region, and Niger's Diffa Region.</p>

The Nexus between Bad Governance, Ungoverned Spaces and Terrorism: Analysing the Boko Haram Insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin through the lenses of the Social Contract Theory

<p>The Lake Chad Basin is one of the most fragile and politically unstable regions in Africa. This is largely due to the insurgency of Boko Haram which broke out in Nigeria’s north-eastern region and later spilled over to northern Cameroon, western Chad and south-eastern Niger. By 2020, approximately 37000 people had died and 2.6 million displaced as a consequence of the crisis. The conflict has undermined security in vast human habitats, destroyed billions of dollars’ worth of critical public goods, damaged livelihoods and left millions of affected populations without access to basic services. The challenge in academic and peacebuilding spaces has been to dissect and tackle the principal causes of the conflict. Whereas there is substantial literature on the religious, political, social, economic and environmental drivers of the insurgency in Nigeria, much is not known about the governance environment that facilitated its outbreak and spread. To understand this, this article adopts the social contract theory to critically examine the correlation between bad governance, ungoverned spaces and the insurgency in the affected countries. The paper uses secondary sources to supplement primary data from key informant interviews and focus group discussions in Nigeria's Borno State, Chad's Lake Province, Cameroon's Far North Region, and Niger's Diffa Region.</p>

Cooperation Between the Countries Around Lake Chad Basin: An Assessment

The Lake Chad Basin is an important natural resource that cut across several countries among which are Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Algeria, Central African Republic and Libya. In a bid to ensure the effective utilization of the water of the basin, the countries have engaged in cooperation through the creation of Lake Chad Basin Commission. The Commission has embarked on certain programmes to achieve its aim, hence the need for the assessment of the cooperation between countries around the basin. This work is an assessment albeit critical, of the cooperation within that commission. Part of the findings of the paper is that the Lake Chad Basin Commission has been unable to achieve objectives it sets for itself. Certain challenges which include but not limited to, lack of political will among members of the Commission, reoccurrence of violence, lack of adequate finance, poor organizational structure, cultural and language difference have worked either individually or in tandem to frustrate the realization of what appeared ab initio to be the noble and lofty goals of the commission. The contention of the paper therefore, is that the Lake Chad Basin Commission member states should reflect and modernize its initial objectives and operationalize the ingredients of its cooperation to derive the positivity laden in the agreements or else risk the extinction of an important water resource. Data for the paper were sourced using both primary and secondary. Other variables and methodological approaches like analysis, discourse, and accountability and of course, chronological delineations were generously employed in reconstruction. Study of this nature is multidisciplinary and knitted in the International studies, Security studies, and Diplomatic and Military history.