Drivers of Political Radicalization and De-radicalization of Terrorism in Northern Nigeria

Year 2020, Volume: 2 Issue: 3, 1 - 33, 13.05.2020

Neba Ridley Ngwa

Abstract

This
article sheds more light on the role of states and the bearing which political
and elite interests may have exerted on public support for Boko Haram. It
examines the political, socio-economic, and ideological context of the crisis
and moves on to map the two dominant de-radicalization approaches; top-down and
bottom-up approaches. The article exposes the fault lines of realism’s top-down
approaches toward national security in Northern Nigeria and proposes a bottom-up
approach as a complement to the earlier top-down model. An evaluation of both
approaches reveals that top-down approaches are state-centric and are
predisposed to realist techniques of wars centred on threat, use and control of
military force. The work specifically argues for a hybrid security model that
incorporates both elements on top down and bottom up security approaches.  The key theoretical considerations employed
in the article relates to micro and macro theories of collective political
violence. The theories provide a better understanding of the underlying drivers
of violent extremism and radicalization that leads to terrorism and also
justification for the approaches used in countering them. The article answered
key research questions related to Top-down and Bottom-up security approaches.

Keywords

Terrorism, Radicalization, De-radicalization

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