A Dialectical Inquest into the Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria: Exploring the Neoliberal State Thesis

Scholarly opinions have clearly identified governance deficits, Islamization agenda, power contestations among the elite class, heterogeneous character of African states, dysfunctional socio-economic system and external conspiracy as factors fueling and sustaining the recent wave of terrorism in Northeast Nigeria. Although these varied perspectives have been relied on by most scholars to explain the phenomenon of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, they have increasingly appeared insufficient in understanding the evolution, dynamics and seemingly intractable character of the conflict. The present study therefore explores the neoliberal economic link which provides the grand perspective and heuristically excellent foundation for explaining the intensification and seeming intractability of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Using the theory of dialectics, the study argues that the neoliberal economy foisted a failed system which could not provide social safety nets, qualitative education and affordable healthcare delivery to the people. Indeed, the ensuing condition of hopelessness generated by the withdrawal of the state in providing essential services to the citizens undoubtedly provided a fertile ground for the birth of Boko Haram insurgency. The study among other things, recommends an economic reform that prioritizes the development of the productive forces in consonance with the autochthonous development conditions of the polity.