freemind : WEST AFRICA: THE NEW FRONTIER OF TERROR

by Eze Eluchie

In the course of the past 5+ years, the West Africa sub-region has witnessed a steady and sure rise in its profile as a hotbed of international terrorism fueled by extremist Islamist ideology From the exploits of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates in the southern flanks of the Sahara desert, to the attacks of Boko Haram in Nigeria, and exploits in Cameroon and Central African Republic, terror has taken root in West Africa and the sub-region now serves as a pedestal to spread terror across the African continent and beyond.

Causes:

The descent into the abyss West Africa now finds itself in was not accidental. There are both short- and long-term causes, knowledge of which would go a long way towards evolving solutions to stem the rot. Four key causes are easily discernible.

These are:

· Traditional Quaranic pupilage system in the sub-region.

· Dislodgement of terrorists from their bases in the Middle East

· Overthrow of totalitarian regimes in North Africa, and

· Disconnect in governance / Large-scale Corruption

1. Traditional Quaranic pupilage system in the sub-region – the ‘Almajiri system

A quest into the rise of terrorism in the sub-region must rightly commence with an understanding of the socio-cultural foundations which ensure easy and ready availability of millions of highly impressionable youths willing to serve as foot-soldiers and tools in the hands of extremist Islamic kingpins.

Dotting the streets of cities and towns across the northern fringes of West Africa, areas dominated by Muslims, are hordes of malnourished, beggarly and unkempt children and youths, ranging in age from as young as 3 years to late teens, who have been handed over, by their parents/guardians, to Islamic ‘scholars’ (Mallams), for the purposes of impartation of Islamic knowledge and principles. These youths are forced to beg on the streets and live off the proceeds of the alms they receive, and in addition make returns to their respective Mallams.

The Almajiri system is unregulated by State authorities in the sub-region. Virtually anyone can present himself as a Mallam, and proceed to impart whatever warped doctrines he desires as ‘Islamic teachings’. Often times, sexual, physical and other abuse of the children and youths under the Mallams’ care is quite rampant, and goes on unreported. Under an environment of abuse, denial and excruciating poverty, these youths mature into adults with an ingrained distrust, disenchantment and anger towards a society which looked the other way when their childhood and youth was being stolen from them. These youths form a limitless recruit-base for terror.

2. Dislodgement of terrorists from their bases in the Middle East

A natural consequence of the intense efforts by the international community to root out terrorism from their bases in the Middle East is the dispersal of such groups to territories where they can flourish, continue with their lethal pastimes and go on undetected in relative obscurity. West African States, with their notoriously weak institutional structures has proven too irresistible and welcoming to Islamist terrorists dislodged from the Middle East.

3. Overthrow of totalitarian regimes in North Africa

Totalitarian regimes in North Africa, which had their own peculiar reasons for tackling extremist Islamist terror groups, served to protect the northern flanks of West Africa from infiltration by terrorist elements departing the Middle East, and created a divide between such foreign groups and whatever local extremist groups that might have existed in the sub-region.

With the advent of the Arab Spring, which led to the sack of totalitarian regimes in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, and the replacement of such regimes by a virtual state of lawlessness, particularly in Egypt and Libya, West Africa was left exposed and easy prey to terror elements from its northern borders.

Of particular importance to the spread of terror in West Africa, was the collapse of the Qhadaffi regime in Libya. In the twilight days of the regime, Qhadaffi ordered Libya’s enormous armory and arsenal bases to be opened up to its citizens – encouraging all and sundry to help themselves to sophisticated weapons, under the illusion that the ‘people of Libya’ will fight ‘to the very last to defend the Jamahiriya’. Libya’s diverse and extensive armory flooded the streets of not only Libya, but also surfaced in such diverse locations as the streets of Timbuktu and Gao in Mali, and Damaturu and Maidugri in Nigeria’s north eastern areas, in the hands of various terrorists. AK-47’s, Anti-Tank missiles, Surface-to-air missiles and all manners of military hardware quite superior to what was available to State armies in the West African sub-region, were easily accessible and affordable to terror elements – the West African sub-region was awash with illicit weapons.

4. Disconnect in governance/Large-scale Corruption

Governments in the West African sub-region are notoriously weak, characterized by endemic corruption, weak societal and institutional structures for governance, and near non-existent capacity to maintain basic security for the lives and property of the citizens and residents of the sub-region. The absence of central registry for biometric and population/statistical data, lack of a crime database and national borders so porous that they exist, in reality, only on the pages of international geographical texts, renders the sub-region a haven for outlaws and ideally suited to serve as a refuge to international terrorists and fugitives – Osama bin Laden actually took refuge in the sub-region for awhile prior to the 9-11 attacks.

The four factors enumerated above, occurring contemporaneously, have served to position the sub-region where it now finds itself…as a bastion for Islamist terrorists.

Solutions:

Efforts to address the terror crisis in the region will naturally take a bearing from the causes enumerated above. The following three pronged solution, one short term and the other two, long term, could thus readily serve to stem the emerging trend of the sub-region as the new frontier of terror:

a. Robust international military response

b. Regulating Islamic “scholars” in the sub-region

c. Promoting good governance and tackling large-scale corruption

a. Robust international military response

The various Islamist terror groups operating in the sub-region, such as AQIM, BH, Ansaru et al, have been identified as receiving technical, logistical and other supports from international terrorists groups across the world, such as Al Qeada, Al-Shabaab, and other likeminded groups. The more experienced Islamist terror groups from outside the region have infused practices and weaponry far in excess of what the sub-region had hitherto witnessed, in the process overwhelming the capacity of the law enforcement and security apparatus in the sub-region. It is only thus expected that for any efforts at confronting the Islamist terror groups in the sub-region to be successful, it must likewise be multi-national and broad-based in scope. It is counter-productive, and perhaps unfair, to expect any single State in the sub-region, to solely on its own tackle what is clearly an international terrorist network.

It is perhaps apt to recollect that it required a coalition of multi-national forces, under the leadership of the United States and its NATO allies, to attain the success thus far achieved in addressing terrorism in the post 9-11 era. A similar multi-national military response is what is needed to address terrorism in West Africa. The series of degenerating and insulting comments targeted at some West African States and their leadership sequel to the insurgent attacks by terrorists in Mali and Nigeria, by some political figures in the US and some EU-member states and the media in those countries, is counter-productive and unfortunate.

A robust multi-national military response backed by sophisticated surveillance and military hardware is imperative in tackling the terror scourge afflicting the West African sub-region in the short run.

Long term strategies to stemming the rot will include:

b. Regulating Islamic scholars in the sub-region

The practice of all manners of characters presenting themselves as ‘Islamic Scholars’ and thereafter having authority to impart whatever ideologies they conceive under the guise of Islamic indoctrination on youths in the sub-region, simply has to be stopped. States in the sub-region must evolve uniform criteria and curricular to ensure that extremist ideologues are routed out of the ‘traditional’ system of pupilage to Islamic theology. The Almajiri system, under whatsoever guise it exists in the sub-region, ought to be strictly monitored by specially trained State authorities to prevent the abuse of the students by their Mallams or other persons and check any deviant behaviors or attempts to exploit the instrumentality of religion to whip up anti-social or terrorist sentiments.

A replication of the system of Islamic education and the close State supervision as practiced by Saudi Arabia will serve as a worthwhile example States in West Africa can adapt to suit the economic and social peculiarities of the sub-region.

c. Promoting good governance and tackling large-scale corruption

At the root of the willingness of youths to make themselves available for terror related activities is the inability of their State and society to proffer requisite opportunities, guidance, motivation and education. Evil, clothed as extremist Islamist terror outfit, serves to cash in on the vacuum created by bad governance, an absence of hope and a palpable lack of prospects and vision. Most States in the West African sub-region are ruled by psychopathic kleptocrats who loot their countries blind, pauperizing not only their immediate population but mortgaging the futures of generations unborn.

Large-scale corruption is endemic in the region and has served to ensure that Public health care, education, transportation and other expectations citizens reasonably expect of their governments are ineffective and obsolete, where they exist at all. States in the sub-region come far short of their roles under the ‘Social Contract theory’ – the youths are thus left as easy prey to whosoever can offer whatsoever, no matter how transient. The cumulative results of Large-scale corruption as evidenced in the West African sub-region should ordinarily qualify this scourge as a crime against humanity punishable under international laws.

Conclusion

Whilst a robust multi-national military intervention will curtail the activities of terrorists groups in the West African sub-region in the short term, deepening democratic precepts, promoting good governance and addressing large-scale corruption in the sub-region will, in the long term, ensure that the root causes of extremism and terrorism in the sub-region are extinguished and the tag of the ‘new frontier for terror’ which the sub-region is now being associated with, ceases.

*first published in the CMG Magazine of Critical Mobilization Group llc.

Picture: Some of the over 50 (pre-teen and teenage) students of the Federal Government College, Bunu Yadi, killed in an attack by Boko Haram - one of several attacks carried out by BH in Nigeria so far in year 2014.