Political Elites and the Rise of the Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria

What is the cause of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria? Studies on Boko Haram insurgency onset has largely emphasized economic poverty, religious ideology, and the historical north-south identity fractionalization. Some others which focus on Nigerian politics as the cause of the insurgency have largely analyzed how corrupt politicians have caused economic poverty and inequality which have resulted in grievances in northern Nigeria. While these studies have made invaluable contributions to the literature, this study begs to deviate from their emphasis by showing how political elites have mobilized and given political relevance to the Boko Haram group. This study specifically investigates the cause of the insurgency by adopting the state-centered approach which argues that insurgencies are caused by structural vulnerabilities in certain kind of states. In doing this, this study advances the following four propositions. Firstly, when factions of political elites compete for political power at the national level on identity basis, identity groups emerge at the subnational level in defense of these identities. Secondly, identity groups gain political relevance when factions of the political elites ascribe such relevance to them in the process of competing for political power. Thirdly, when a fundamentalist identity group becomes political relevant, it makes fundamental demands which spark antagonism between it and the political elites. Finally, insurgencies based on fundamentalist identity claims go unchecked in a partial democracy with political elites factionalized along identity lines.