Boko Haram

=== Causes/contributors ===

==== Economic ====
Some analysts have emphasized [[economy of Nigeria|economic]] causes as a factor in Boko Haram's success.<ref name="arguments-2011" /> Wealth in Nigeria has been concentrated among members of a small political elite.<ref name="arguments-2011">{{cite web |url= http://africanarguments.org/2011/11/09/african-arguments-editorial-boko-haram-is-another-consequence-of-unequal-development-in-nigeria/ |title=African Arguments Editorial&nbsp;– Boko Haram in Nigeria : another consequence of unequal development |publisher=African Arguments |date=9 November 2011 |access-date=31 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="WJD">{{Cite journal|url=http://blogs.shu.edu/diplomacy/2011/09/terrorism-in-nigeria-the-rise-of-boko-haram/ |title=Terrorism in Nigeria: the Rise of Boko Haram|last=Bartolotta |first=Christopher |date=23 September 2011|journal=The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations |access-date=12 January 2012}}</ref> Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy, but 60% of its population of 173 million {{as of|2013|alt=(as of 2013)}} live on less than $1&nbsp;a&nbsp;day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nigeria's economic transition reveals deep structural distortions – By Zainab Usman |url=https://africanarguments.org/2014/05/nigerias-economic-transition-reveals-deep-structural-distortions-by-zainab-usman/ |website=African Arguments |date=1 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL |title=Data |publisher=The World Bank |access-date=3 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nigerians living in poverty rise to nearly 61% |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17015873 |website=[[BBC News]] |date=13 February 2012}}</ref>

==== Religious ====
The [[sharia law]] imposed by local authorities, beginning with [[Zamfara]] in January 2000 and covering 12 northern states by late 2002, may have promoted links between Boko Haram and [[politics of Nigeria|political]] leaders, but was considered by the group to have been corrupted.<ref name="journals">{{cite web |title=The Boko Haram Uprising and Islamic Revivalism in Nigeria |url=http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/article/viewFile/330/330 |website=www.sub.uni-hamburg.de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301012207/http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/article/viewFile/330/330 |archive-date=2015-03-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/612144.stm |title=Islamic law raises tension in Nigeria |publisher=[[BBC News]] |author=Barnaby Phillips |date=20 January 2000 |access-date=7 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art07.shtml |title=Article 7: Right to equal protection by the law |publisher=[[BBC]] World Service |access-date=7 August 2014}}</ref>

==== Extant resentment of colonialism ====
Academic Atta Barkindo explains the group's "baffling" ability to "maintain momentum" in part by the "accumulated and unaddressed grievances" against [[colonialism]] in the region, including the colonial boundaries (of Nigeria, [[Ghana]], etc.) established by Europeans that bear no resemblance to "pre-colonial [[empire]]s, ethnic or cultural territories", and by the group's use of the "historical narrative" of the Islamic [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Mohammad Yusuf preached that, "our land was an Islamic state before it was turned into a land of kafir (infidel); the current system is contrary to true Muslim beliefs".{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

==== Political advantage ====
The political interests and bias of the Nigerian elite is believed to play a major role in the thriving of the activities of the organization: the political leadership requires that the press refer to the group as bandits rather than terrorists, which downplays the threat they pose.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Onapajo |first1=Hakeem |title=Restructuring, Political Gimmicks and Elite Manipulation in Nigeria |date=2021 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73375-9_5 |work=A Sleeping Giant? : Nigeria's Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century |pages=61–71 |editor-last=Tella |editor-first=Oluwaseun |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-73375-9_5 |isbn=978-3-030-73375-9 |access-date=2023-01-03 |last2=Babalola |first2=Dele|series=Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development |s2cid=240595207 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dickson |first=Charles |date=2015-03-14 |title=Nigeria: Elites And Politics |url=https://nigerianobservernews.com/2015/03/nigeria-elites-and-politics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103222621/https://nigerianobservernews.com/2015/03/nigeria-elites-and-politics/ |archive-date=2023-01-03 |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=[[Nigerian Observer]] |language=en}}</ref>

==== Illiteracy/lack of education ====
In a discussion organized by the [[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars|Woodrow Wilson Center]], Chief [[Olusegun Obasanjo]], a former president of Nigeria, highlighted the low level of literacy and education in the Northern parts of the country as contributing to the perpetuation of Boko Haram. According to Obasanjo, illiterate and uneducated children are more likely to be drawn into the ranks of the terrorist organization.<ref>{{cite web |last=Woodrow Wilson Center |date=15 October 2019 |title=A Conversation with H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNP3ajS9RS8&t=5537s |access-date=5 April 2022 |website=[[Youtube]]}}</ref>