The decolonial dimension of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria

A vast majority of the literature on the Boko Haram insurgency documents the group, Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’wati wal Jihad, as a sect that is radically committed to the establishment of pure Islam through violence in Nigeria. This, many analysts submit, threatens (inter)national security. While the group has committed many heinous atrocities that fit into acts of terrorism by extremist groups, a decolonial dimension of the group’s message has not received scholarly consideration. However, a careful (re)reading of the texts from the group and extant analyses show that Boko Haram has a decolonial dimension that resonates with anti- and de-colonial struggles that require scholarly investigation. This study deploys evidence in the rhetoric and speeches of the group’s leaders, especially its charismatic founder, Muhammed Yusuf, and his successor and analyses and media reports to analyse this noticeable yet exiguous dimension of the group. This study matters for deepening our understanding of the complexity of violence, the securitisation of the group and its activities by (inter)national actors, including government officials, academics and policy analysts, and sheds light on how decolonial struggles, treated as acts of violent resistance from radical groups, can contradict their very own aspiration.