3.3 Insurgencies and its effect on Nigeria’s economy- A case of Boko Haram

Nigeria has one of the largest populations in Africa with over 200 million citizens. Its economy was booming from the oil industry in the Niger Delta, and was said to become the leading economy in Africa by 2020. Although their economy was doing well, 35 percent live in absolute poverty. Approximately 90 million Nigerians are believed to live on less than one US dollar a day. With economic insecurity, high unemployment rates, and poverty the Boko Haram was able to emerge within Nigeria as political protests. Boko Haram is a violent social group that arose, partly in response to the social and economic deprivation of Nigeria’s northeastern population. Starting out around 2008, Boko Haram has carried out attacks in order to spread their Islamic influence and defeat the westernization that began during colonialism. They were able to recruit among the youth population of Nigeria because of youth unemployment; approximately 64 million youths are unemployed with 1.6 million being underemployed. Boko Haram targets individuals or organizations who encourage lifestyles believed to follow western culture, like the US or Europe.

The Boko Haram are responsible for roughly 10,000 deaths since 2011 and roughly 2.6 million displaced Nigerians. Nigeria’s economy suffered when attacks held by the Boko Haram began on local businesses, government buildings, and local facilities such as schools and churches.

Apart of loss of money from local economy, foreign investors began to withdraw their money from Nigeria because of the state of conflict Nigeria is in and the degrading economy because of the Boko Haram; causing Nigeria to lose 1.33 trillion dollars in foreign investments. Nigerian refugees who were displaced or just seeking refuge from the Boko Haram migrated to neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, Niger, and Chad. Majority citizens migrated to the southern half of Nigeria where there are more opportunities for work, better economy, and more security. This further plays into the socioeconomic divide between the north and the south of Nigeria.