Nigeria 2013-2017

[KingJaja]

Review of interesting book dealing with the history of religious tensions in Northern Nigeria:

It points out that while the British colonized Muslim northern Nigeria indirectly through the region’s pre-existing centralized feudal traditional and administrative institutions, it colonized non-Muslim northern Nigeria even more indirectly through “native aliens,” that is, Hausa-Fulani Muslims whom British colonialists placed atop their self-created African civilizational hierarchy. “This resulted in a subcolonial bureaucracy driven at the grass roots by thousands of Hausa chiefs, scribes, tax agents, and their own Hausa-Fulani agents, who initiated much of the colonial agenda in these Middle Belt districts” (p. 2).

Thus, the Hausa-Fulani became “subcolonials,” or proxy colonialists, who in turn appointed “lesser chiefs, aides, tax collectors, scribes, and enforcers” mostly from among their kind but sometimes from among the “natives” in order to prepare the Middle Belt for the kind of indirect colonial rule that was successful in the Muslim north. The motive force for this arrangement stemmed from the colonial construction of the people of the Middle Belt as benighted cultural inferiors who needed the civilizational tutelage of their Hausa-Fulani cultural superiors preparatory to British indirect colonial rule. This invidious social differentiation wasn’t a simple case of the divide-and-rule tactic for which (British) colonialists were infamous. On the contrary, the book argues, the policy of “proxy colonialism” was driven by the “pursuit of sameness in the crucible of preparatory proxy rule” (p. 8).

http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2014/09...-northern.html

[KingJaja]

Interesting comparison of the similarity in behaviour of the Nigerian Army in Sierra Leone/Liberia & in its present operations against Boko Haram.

The most striking and worrying similarity between the current conflict and the operations in Liberia and Sierra-Leone is the fluid stalemate that has now developed between the military and Boko Haram. By this I mean that on the one hand the insurgency is now in strategic stalemate – Boko Haram’s aspiration of an Islamic State in Nigeria remains a pipe dream; similarly, a comprehensive military victory against the sect seems unlikely for now. On the other hand however, battlefield conditions on the ground is characterised by tactical fluidity. The frequent loss and recapture of towns and villages by the military, and Boko Haram’s ability to move heavily armed operatives in large convoys with impunity in significant sections of the northeast illustrate this fluid and rapidly changing situation on the ground.

The outcome of Nigeria’s armed interventions in Liberia and Sierra-Leone can also be described as fluid stalemates. In neither country was the military able to achieve its strategic objective of breaking the rebels’ war-fighting resolve. In both countries while the Nigerian army controlled the capitals; in Liberia the rebels controlled the rest of the country, whilst in Sierra-Leone it was the northern half by December 1998. And in both missions, despite the strategic stalemate – i.e. neither the rebels nor the Nigerian military completely vanquished the other – the tactical situation on the ground was highly fluid as battlefield fortunes ebbed and flowed.

http://janguzaarewa.blogspot.co.uk/2...rrent-war.html

[AdamG]

Nigerian Army Kills Boko Haram Leader, Rounds Up Hundreds of Fighters
Startling comeback for Abuja’s armed forces
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/nig...s-dfb58579fae7

http://www.france24.com/en/20140925-...eria-military/

[davidbfpo]

This graphic is enough for some, but SWC needs more. So a couple of passages:

The data makes clear that Boko Haram-related violence is the most lethal conflict that Nigeria has confronted in decades. Since 1998, at least 29,600 Nigerians have been killed in more than 2,300 incidents reflecting a wide range of ethnic, religious, political and economic tensions across large portions of the country. Since July 2009, when the Boko Haram conflict escalated, at least 11,100 people have died on all sides of the insurgency.

Then there's always WAWA:

Political rulers, when confronted by an approaching existential threat, might normally be expected to mobilize national resources to aggressively confront the insurgency. Yet Nigeria’s elites seem to be detached, mired in political infighting, or distracted by opportunities to profit from poorly monitored security budgets.

Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...y-the-numbers/



The linked article explains the origin of the data

[davidbfpo]

For months the Nigerian government has denied being in talks with Boko Haram, over the kidnapped schoolgirls in particular. Now it appears they have been talking, with the Red Cross visiting jails to identify those to be "swooped". Now whether this is a real success is arguable.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ire-deal.html?

[KingJaja]

I knew it would come to this, they'll probably seek the services/advice or Sri Lanka, Russia, North Korea or China - people who use the same brutal methods they are comfortable with.

The U.S. is cutting short a training program for Nigerian soldiers following a request by the West African nation’s government less than a month after Washington said it refused to sell the country Cobra attack helicopters.
“At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion,” the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Abuja, said in an e-mailed statement. The program was designed to help Nigeria battle the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The U.S. turned down the helicopter request “due to concerns about Nigeria’s ability to use and maintain this type of helicopter in its effort against Boko Haram and ongoing concerns about the Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington on Nov. 12.
Nigeria’s military, under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, is struggling to deal with intensifying attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.The insurgents have killed more than 13,000 people since 2009, according to Jonathan. Suspected Boko Haram members carried out two attacks on cities in Nigeria’s northeast today, killing at least five people.
“We regret premature termination of this training, as it was to be the first in a larger planned project that would have trained additional units with the goal of helping the Nigerian Army build capacity to counter Boko Haram,” the embassy said.

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/201...tml#disqus-tab

[Bill Moore]

Nigeria Troops Sentenced To Death For Cowardice

Fifty-four members of Nigeria's special forces have been sentenced to death for mutiny and cowardice after refusing to take part in a raid against Islamist group Boko Haram.

Nigerian troops have long complained they lack the firepower to fight Boko Haram and say they are often abandoned with little food and ammunition.

In recent weeks special forces have recaptured at least four towns with help from air raids and vigilantes.