Africa has always been a troubled continent for as long as we can remember. You remember thye ancient empires of Mali, Songhai and Kotoko? You remember the wars they used to indulge in? You remember the tribal wars in Cameroon in the 1800's and how deadly they were? Those were 200 years ago. In recent times, we've had civil wars in Liberia, Congo, Mali, Central African Republic, Sudan and Somalia; talkless of the Arab Spring that rocked Northern Africa. Africa it seems, is a battle field. Several wars have forced numerous men, women and children to flee their homes, and even their countries and become refugees in other countries, often with poor living conditions.
Thing is, with the exception of the violence in the Central African Republic, these were mostly wars influenced by disputes over each faction's share of the national wealth, or who was the rightful leader of the country, or a leader who had been voted out of office but refused to leave power, or some other reason. This is fast changing. Nowadays, it's about religion.
Conflicts have now become strongly linked to religious beliefs, and make no mistake, it's not an entirely islamic thing. The Anti-Balaka militia in the Central African Republic are a Christian extremist militia group that was formed after the rise of former president Michel Djotodia to power; and they bof course, have carried out serious hate crimes against muslims in that region. That of course, is just a domestic, and of course a soft example. Look further East and West, and you get an idea of what the real deal is.
Perhaps, the most deadly of them all, are Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabaab in Somalia and Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (Algeria). These two groups, both with strong ties to Al-Qaeda, have been responsible for some of the most brutal attacks on african soil. What's most disturbing is that unlike the Anti-Balaka, they seem to have strong internatonal backers and sponsors; and still, their attacks are not due to a particular injustice by a particular government. They seem to be out to att(ack any state that is vulnerable. In fact, their foreign links are so strong that they can afford to recruit fighters from foreign natioàns as far as the United States and the United Kingdom. I remember watching this interview on CNN where a mother in Oregon, USA, who's son suddenly disappeared for months only to call her one day to say he was in fine and in Somalia. This guy had come into contact with one of the radical muslim clerics and had been radicalised and brainwashed into becoming a fighter. Unfortunately for this mother, she only recognised her son's body when she was watching the news one day. He'd been killed in battle, and his body lay in the streets. As for Boko Haram, they are now recruiting youn fighters from Niger.
So why is this religious extrepmism skyrocketing in Africa? That's actually a very difficult question to answer. Take for example Al-Shabaab, one of the branches of Al-Qaeda, it's name in arabic means 'youth' or 'youngsters', and it formally joined Al-Qaeda in 2012 as a cell, and since then, it has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in East Africa. For example
-May 2014: Suicide attack on Somali hotel
-February 2014: Attack on Somali presidential palace
-September 2013: Attack on Westgate Mall in Kenya
Boko Haram on its part means 'Western Education Is A sin'. Take a look at some of the activities of Boko Haram in the not-so-distant past:
-06 May 2014: Attack on northern village killing hundreds
-May 2014: Attack on Borno killing 200 people
-April 2014: Attack in Abuja killing 71 people
-April 2014: Attack on boarding school, and kidnapping 270 girls
-August 2011: Attack on UN building in Abuja, killing 26
-June 2011: Attack on Nigeria Police Headquarters in Abuja.
As shown by the timeline, both groups are out ton kill, and both groups have as mission, the implementation of sharia law in their countries of origin, and in the whole of Africa. It comes as no surprise that Boko Haram kidnapped over 270 girls from a boarding school in northern Nigeria, and the leader of the group, Abubakr Shekau promised to sell them because 'Allah told him to do so'. This is a clear sign of muslim extremism and radicalism.
So why has extremism been on the rise in Africa? It's really difficult to answer this question. It may seem safe to assume that it is as a result of the growing prevalence of islam in Africa, but that may be misleading. Islam in itself is an amazing religion, but it is often misinterpreted by many people for several reasons. Ufortunately, these are usually people who have the power and authority to influence the thoughts and views of young people who are always the target of terrorist organizations. Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS once said on his show that if you just look across the world, you'll find Islamic Centres, sponsored and maintained with Saudi oil money, and their mission, to promote radicalism. It seems the Saudis believe the easiest way to gain influence in the world is by jeopardizing as many governments as possible. Just for a fact, Saudi Arabia took over from Qatar as the number one sponsor of the Syrian rebels. This sponsorhip of terrorism is what has led many analysts to believe that Saudi Arabia is the main sponsor of Al-Qaeda, and hence, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab.
It could also be said that poor economic conditions, and high unemployment breed radicalism and extremism. A case in point is the North of Nigeria, where a majority of the over 60 percent of Nigerians who reportedly live in extreme poverty are based. It is often seen as one of the regions that have benefitted the least from Nigeria's fast growing economic wealth. Somalia is no exception. It is one of the most arid and barren lands in Africa, with some of the most arid conditions and some of the most barren lands in Africa. Couple this with the extremely high levels of illiteracy and unemployment in such areas, and you realise that it is really easy for young men in such areas to be brainwashed. The World Bank estimated in 2011, that Northern Nigeria had the world's highest illiteracy level and that poverty remains high in Nigeria the growing wealth
It is also worth noting that these groups usually originate from areas that have been neglected by governments, or oare strongly opposed to the ruling government. This could be the case with Boko Haram. It becomes confusing, when you cobsider the fact that during their April attack in Abuja, Boko Haram killed many muslims too. As for Al-Shabaab, they have said the Westgate Mall attack was revenge for a number of reasons, one of which is the presence of kenyan troops in Somalia, which they see as their territory. The presence of weak governments, with weak armies in many of these territories is also of particular concern. Take for example, the high rates of religious violence in Lybia after the fall of Ghadafi. The same can be said of the present administration in Abuja. It ponders me that Cameroon, which shares boundary with Cameroon, and is not nearly as rich as Nigeria has been able to contain Boko Haram, prevented them from entering its territoy and even gone as far as intercepting the flow of a shipment of arms to Boko Haram militants.
Whatever the case, we can all accept that unless an all in clusive solution is found, these attacks would only continue, and would become deadlier.
EGEOGHO CARLSON KIMBI
IT IS OPEN FOR DEBATE
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