Rising insurgencies in West Africa

Minority Issues Research Institute (MIRI) is organizing a conversation with our Senior Research Associates Dr Nnaoma Hyacinth Iwu on the rising insurgencies in West Africa, their reasons and the consequences of the insurgents' threat to peace and security. 

Nigeria is situated in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, sharing borders with the Republic of Benin to the west, Cameroon to the northeast and southeast, the Niger Republic to the northwest, and Chad to the northeast. These countries share borders with Libya, Sudan, Mali, and Algeria, which have profound cultural and religious affiliations with Middle Eastern countries that serve as a base for the extremist groups that take advantage of the ungoverned space to recruit and train members that are later deployed to launch a heinous attack inside Nigeria’s territory seeking to establish a caliphate state. Dr Iwu will provide a nuanced narrative of the vulnerability of Nigeria’s border communities in the counter-insurgency war in Nigeria. Primordial and state fragility theories provided a theoretical analysis of why attachments to kith and kins across international boundaries are often asserted, undermining the threats to the community and national security. 

Speaker:

Dr Nnaoma Hyacinth Iwu (Senior Research Associate, Minority Issues Research Institute-MIRI; Lecturer, Adekunle Ajasin University, NRA)

Moderator:

Dr Angela Gapa (California State University, US)

Opening words:

Dr Svetluša Surová (Minority Issues Research Institute- MIRI, SK)

This seminar is organized by the Minority Issues Research Institute (MIRI).