Boko Haram – A Scourge on West African Secuity
Before colonisation and subsequent annexation into the British Empire, the territory where Boko Haram is currently active, was a sovereign constitutional republic or sultanate with a majority Kanuri Muslim population. It was a Sultanate which was run according to the principles of the Constitution of Medina. The Bornu Empire which is also known as the Bornu Sultanate is quite distinct from the Sokoto Caliphate of the Hausa/Fulani. The Bornu Sultanate of the Kanuri emanated after the overthrow of an older one, the Kanem-Bornu Empire ruled by the Saifawa dynasty for over 2000 years. The Saifawa are the longest ruling dynasty in recorded history.
After their conquest of the Bornu Sultanate in 1903, the British, who were predominately Christians, introduced a new education system which found little appeal among the local population,[15] increased dissatifaction and gave rise to many fundamentalists among the Kanuri and other peoples of the north east of Nigeria.
One of the most famous such fundamentalists was Mohammed Marwa alias Maitatsine who was at the height of his notoriety during the 1970s and 1980s. He was sent into exile by the British authorities, he refused to believe Mohammed was the Prophet and schemed riots in the country which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. Some analysts view Boko Haram as an extension of the Maitatsine riots.[22] As a rule the Hausa/Fulani do not believe in the teachings of Mohammed Marwa that was why they dubbed him ‘Maitatsine’ meaning the accursed one.[citation needed]
[edit] Origin
The group was founded by a self-proclaimed Nigerian spiritual leader Mohammed Yusuf (1970–2009) in 2002 in the city of Maiduguri with the aim of establishing a Shari’a government in Borno State under former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.[22][5] He established a religious complex that included a mosque and a school where many poor families from across Nigeria and from neighboring countries enrolled their children.[15]
The centre had ulterior political goals and soon it was also working as a recruiting ground for future jihadis to fight the state.[15] The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and Niger and speak only Arabic.[23]
In 2004 the complex was relocated to Yusuf’s home state of Yobe in the village Kanamma near the Niger border.[19]
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on Jan 17 2012. Filed under African News, Editorial.
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