North-East: Restoring Social Cohesion

The brutal campaign of violence executed by Boko Haram insurgents has elicited various explanations from scholars, analysts, and commentators. While some pundits have underscored the role of Islamic jihadism in the insurgency (Adesoji, 2010), others have castigated violent political mobilisation (Iyekekpolo, 2019). A third strand of the burgeoning literature has blamed economic marginalisation as evidenced by increasing levels of unemployment and mass poverty (Akinola, 2015). Absent from the explanations is the role the breakdown of social contract has played in transforming the conflict.

This edition of Nextier SPD Weekly interrogates how the breakdown of social bond or cohesion has triggered widespread violent insurgency in the North-East region of Nigeria.

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