Religious Education: A Tool for Countering Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria
by Hadjara Shibkau
Nigeria returned to democracy in May 1999. Since then, armed non-state groups, largely using young men as foot soldiers, have significantly undermined the country’s internal security. Many young people become radicalized and have joined these armed groups, the most well-known being Boko Haram. Boko Haram’s ideology is premised on an extreme Islamic teaching that rejects most Western ideas and institutions as un-Islamic. This rejection earned the group its popular name: Boko Haram literally means “Western education is forbidden.” (more…)