Governance and Boko Haram Insurgents in Nigeria: An Analysis

Abstract

This paper will examine Governance and its effects that led to the emergence of Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria. Governance which is about providing services to the populace but in Nigeria the reverse is the case, leaders are not answerable to the yearning of the generality of the people due to corruption, illiteracy and poverty leading to the emergence of the group in 2002, as a result the attention of government functionaries have been diverted to how the activities of the insurgents should be curtailed instead of service delivery. The government has been involved in buying guns and other war equipments. An exploratory method of data collection was carried out using secondary data such as news papers, journals and texts. The findings revealed that effective governance no longer takes place in the affected areas such as the northeast part of Nigeria because government offices are closed; children no longer go to school for fear of been abducted; markets were closed; banking services not rendered or hours of services reduced. The paper then recommends that the sources of income; and supply of weapons to Boko Haram be blocked by the Nigerian government, there should be improvement on educational provision; poverty and corruption must be reduced so as to combat the Boko Haram activities and thereby creating enabling environment for good governance to take place.