Carleton’s Institute of African Studies hosted a roundtable discussion on the militant Nigerian group Boko Haram on Jan. 23 as part of the Umeme: African Flashpoints lecture series.
Temitope Oriola, assistant professor of criminology and socio-legal studies at the University of Alberta, led the discussion on Boko Haram’s background, methods, and what is known and unknown about the extremist group.
Boko Haram made international headlines earlier this month after its leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the Jan. 3 massacre of 2,000 civilians and the destruction of 3,700 homes in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga.
Earlier in 2014, the group kidnapped 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok, which prompted the social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls.
Oriola said he approached the roundtable as part of his research and also as a concerned Nigerian of the diaspora and as a global citizen, “so all of us may know what’s going on and so that we have a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of what’s going on.”
Part of Oriola’s discussion touched on “knowledge gaps” around Boko Haram, such as why the Nigerian military has failed to subdue the group, why their attacks seem to be targeted at women and girls, and whether the group has public support in Nigeria.
“The knowledge gap is precisely that: things we don’t know and we ought to know,” he said. “This thing is not an emerging issue.”
He added that, although nobody in the mainstream media knew about Boko Haram until recently, the organization has been in existence since at least 2002.
Carleton African studies professors Pius Adesanmi and Nduka Otiono also contributed to the roundtable.
The fact that so much is unknown about Boko Haram is likely why there is a lack of nuance in news coverage, which Adesanmi criticized during his discussion.
First-year human rights and disability studies student Romnick Villanueva said he attended the roundtable to find out more about Boko Haram.
“I think we need to be aware of what’s happening there . . . the militarization, the atrociousness,” he said. “I think a lot of people need to know about that.”
Villenueva said he wants to work with children after he graduates, and added he wants to be aware of what is happening globally, especially in Africa.
“This was an incredibly engaged audience,” Oriole said. “I think that it’s essential that the public is aware of what is going on. You get the feeling that the world has almost given up on Nigeria, and we hope that will not happen.”
