1. NIGERIA AND ETHNIC ISSUES
HINA ZAIDI

2. BACKGROUND
 Nigeria experiences a mass of relatively minor conflicts.
 Strategic Conflict Assessment report, aimed to develop a understanding of the conflict in Nigeria and policy
responses.
 Transition from dictatorship to democracy.
 Conflict in Nigeria may be conceptualized such as rivalry between different ethnic groups.

3. OBJECTIVES OF DIFF. ETHNIC GROUPS
There are some common objectives of different groups. They include:
1. The demand for ethnic and cultural autonomy,
2. Competing demands for land, and money and
3. Political space and dominancy.

4. STUDY CASE OF BOKO-HARAM

5. Background
Boko Haram is an Islamic
sect that believes politics in
northern Nigeria has been
seized by a group of
corrupt, false Muslims.
The group has adopted its
official name to be "the
Congregation of the People
of Tradition for Proselytism
and Jihad“.
History
In the town of Maiduguri,
where the group was formed,
the residents dubbed it Boko
Haram.
Boko Haram was founded as
an indigenous group, turning
itself into a Jihadist group in
2009.
Objective
It wants to wage a war against
corrupt Muslims, and the Federal
Republic of Nigeria generally, to
create a “pure” Islamic state ruled
by sharia law.
A range of conflicting narratives
has grown up around Boko Haram,
and the group's origins,
motivations, and future plans
remain a matter of debate.
BOKO HARAM

6. Warfare Tactics and Activities
 Its violent attacks on government offices, the United Nations, and churches threaten to
destabilize the country.
Since August 2011 Boko Haram has planted bombs almost weekly in public or in churches in
Nigeria's northeast.
The group has also broadened its targets to include setting fire to schools.
Boko Haram is not in the same global jihadist bracket as Algeria's al-Qaeda.
Despite its successful attack on the UN compound in Abuja in August 2011, Boko Haram is not
bent on attacking Western interests.

9. Tactics Employed by Government to Counter this Issue
It is difficult to see how there can be meaningful dialogue between the government and the
group.
 Tactics employed by government security agencies against Boko Haram have been
consistently brutal and counterproductive.
 Their reliance on extrajudicial execution as a tactic in “dealing” with any problem in Nigeria
not only created Boko Haram as it is known today, but also sustains it and gives it fuel to expand.
 Nigerian National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki announced a new strategy known as “soft
approach”.

10. Conclusions
 Government policy.
Nigeria is yet to address meaningful multi-ethnic education.
Some of the useful tips for teaching multi-ethnic education effectively.
(1) Teach the identified peculiar feature of the individual ethnic groups.
(2) Teach their common experiences or commonalities.
(3) Highlight differences.
 It is hoped that if multi-ethnic education is properly address, country’s ethnic issues can be
resolved.