Masters Degrees (Security and Africa Studies)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/4418

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Security and Africa Studies) by Subject "Boko Haram"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Insurgency and National Security Management in Nigeria : a Case study (2009 - 2019)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Teubes, Kenne Nicolaas; Bester, Petrus Corneluis; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science. School for Security and Africa Studies. Dept. of Political Science (Mil)
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The face of conflict on the African continent is changing and subsequently challenges how governments respond to ensure security. One such form of conflict is the impact and expansion of extremism across the continent, which is the focus of this study. Central to this study are certain concepts related to extremism, including national security, terrorism, insurgency, and security management. The Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, being complex in nature, provided the required setting to assess the impact of an insurgency on a government’s security response. With Nigeria as a research setting, the purpose of this study was twofold: firstly, to analyse insurgency in detail; and, secondly, to assess the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria’s security response to the insurgency over the period 2009 to 2019. Utilising securitisation theory as the theoretical framework, this study was executed utilising a combination of the positivist social science and the interpretivist paradigms and followed a descriptive research design within a qualitative approach. Following the case study as a research strategy, the researcher collected data using Charmaz’s (2006) interpretative grounded theory method. Open coding revealed 70 codes, which were further refined through axial coding to 16 categories. Selective coding is the final step of grounded theory and the five categories were further refined into the Emergent Theory of Distorted Security Response as the core category. A literature review was conducted during the data collection as proposed by Charmaz (2016). The literature review focused on the period 2009 to 2019 and presented an in-depth assessment of the motivating factors from an insurgency perspective and a state’s reaction in mitigating the conflict. The establishment of a Muslim caliphate became the desired end state for Boko Haram in the late 1990s. The organisation developed into a formidable adversary that was prepared to apply all means necessary to achieve that goal. The tempo at which the extremist threat expanded and manifested in Nigeria exposed the limitations and shortcomings of the security management effort by the Nigerian government and, by implication, the Nigerian security forces. The response by the Nigerian FG, as the focus of the study, indicates how the state initially underestimated the potential threat, which presented Boko Haram with the opportunity to expand its influence. Later on, the Nigerian FG responded by applying a robust military force against an adversary that applies asymmetric tactics. This distorted response highlighted the different forms of power available to a state against a non-state actor. With several states in Africa, including South Africa, confronted by the same phenomenon, there are certain lessons to be drawn from the Nigerian case study. After integrating the empirical and theoretical findings, the results are displayed and described by the Conceptual Model of the Emergent Theory of Distorted Security Response. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and their implications, as well as the strengths and limitations of the study, with an overall assessment of the study in terms of its value add to theory, methodology, and practice. Recommendations for future research are made, whereafter the researcher reflects on his personal research journey. Thereafter, recommendations are made regarding rethinking national security and security management.