ICCT Policy Brief
October 2018
DOI: 10.19165/2018.2.08
ISSN: 2468-0468
To Help Defeat Boko Haram, the EU
Should Push for Good Governance and
Accountability
Author: EJ Hogendoorn
Boko Haram remains a major security challenge for Nigeria and its Lake Chad basin
neighbours, and the conflict in the north east has triggered a tragic humanitarian crisis
affecting more than seven million people in the region. The EU has commendably
increased its humanitarian support to the affected population, but wisely refrained from
becoming too involved in the direct counter-terrorism response. Although Boko Haram
has links to the Islamic State and other extremist groups in Africa, the main drivers of its
insurgency are internal and should be addressed by the country’s federal and state-level
governments. These drivers include: governance failures in the North East in particular,
and Nigeria in general; a poorly coordinated, mainly military, response; multiple security
challenges that stretch the army to the breaking point; and elite unwillingness to address
the unsustainable status quo. This policy brief argues that the EU could do more to
address these drivers, but notes that it only has limited influence. In this context, the
paper provides some recommendations to the EU on how it can help Nigeria more
effectively address the Boko Haram insurgency.
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
Introduction
The Boko Haram insurgency remains a huge security challenge for Nigeria and its Lake
Chad basin neighbours, and a major African foreign policy priority for the European
Union (EU) and its members. The conflict, which broke out in 2009, has triggered a tragic
humanitarian crisis affecting more than seventeen million people in the region. In
September 2018, donors pledged another $2.17 billion in humanitarian and
development assistance, including approximately $275 million directly from the EU. But
the European Union has wisely refrained from becoming too involved in the direct
counter-terrorism response.
The EU has commendably provided consistent short-term humanitarian support, but this
paper argues it could do more to push Nigeria to addressing the drivers of the insurgency.
These drivers include: governance failures in the North East in particular, and Nigeria in
general; a poorly coordinated, mainly military, response; multiple security challenges
that stretch the army to the breaking point; and elite unwillingness to address the
unsustainable status quo. It then provides some recommendations to the EU on how it
can help Nigeria more effectively address the Boko Haram insurgency.
Although Boko Haram has links to the Islamic State and other extremist groups in Africa,
the main drivers of its insurgency are internal and should be addressed by the country’s
federal and state-level governments. Nigeria is a middle-income country, with a large if
sometimes dysfunctional government. Therefore, the EU has only limited influence and
should carefully calibrate its assistance to support organizations and institutions
promoting accountability and good governance. It should also pursue a discrete if
sophisticated advocacy strategy with the Nigerian elite to create the political will for
better governance and to tackle systemic corruption, which are the root causes of the
insurgency and the country’s wider instability.
Governance Failures in the North East
Politics, governance, corruption, poverty and violence are linked in Nigeria. 1 With
massive oil reserves, Nigeria is a potentially wealthy country, but 63 per cent of its
estimated 193 million people are classified as absolutely poor. 2 Patronage and
corruption drives the country’s political economy, and leaves many destitute and
marginalised. 3 The resulting frustration and alienation felt by many have bred the
emergence of numerous militant groups based mainly on ethnic and religious identities.
Boko Haram is one of these groups. It grew out of a group of radicalised Islamist youth
in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state in the north east, in the 1990s. 4 Its charismatic
and popular leader, Abu Yusuf Mohammed Yusuf, advocated a literal interpretation of
the Quran. He criticised the ruling elite, denounced corruption, impunity, and the
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
For background, see International Crisis Group Reports, Nigeria: Want in the Midst of Plenty, 19 July 2006, p. 26;
Northern Nigeria: Background to Conflict, 20 December 2010.
2
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, “National Poverty Rates for Nigeria: 2003-04 (Revised) and 2009-10 (Abridged Report)”,
20 April 2017. http://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries[search]=poverty.
3 President Muhammadu Buhari launched an aggressive anti-corruption campaign, but it is still a major problem.
Nigeria ranks 148 out of 180 in Transparency International’s “Corruption Perceptions Index, 2017”, 21 February 2018.
https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2017.
4 Andrew Walker, “What is Boko Haram?” United States Institute of Peace, Special Report, June 2012, 3.
https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR308.pdf.
1
2
ICCT Policy Brief
EJ Hogendoorn
government failures. Boko Haram’s followers believe a strict Islamic state would address
the ills of Nigerian society, including corruption and bad governance. 5
Mohammed Yusuf was always political, in that he wanted an Islamic government, but
initially not violent. In the early 2000s, he formed a political alliance with Ali Modu
Sheriff, a politician and wealthy businessman from Maiduguri. Yusuf agreed to help
Sheriff if he would implement Sharia and give the sect some senior government
appointments. However, after he was elected Sheriff reneged on his promise to fully
implement Sharia in the state and Yusuf turned his sermons against the governor and his
government. 6
Over the years, tensions rose between the group and the government and a series of
clashes in the summer of 2009 escalated into an armed insurrection. The ensuing brutal
military crackdown killed over 800, mostly Boko Haram members. Mohammed Yusuf was
extra-judiciously executed while in police custody. 7
A Slow and Poorly Coordinated Response
In the wake of the 2009 crackdown, Boko Haram went underground. It re-surfaced,
under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau (one of Yusuf’s lieutenants), in 2010 in a series
of violent attacks on police officers, police stations and military barracks to avenge the
killings of Mohammed Yusuf and other comrades. The group publicly demanded the
prosecution of Yusuf’s murderers, the release of their colleagues in detention, the
restoration of their mosque destroyed in the crackdown and payment of compensation
for sect members killed by troops. 8
The government of President Goodluck Jonathan did not take the insurgency seriously
and the group slowly grew in strength. By 2013, it controlled a number of areas in
northern Borno state, imposing their strict version of the Islamic law. Faced with this
embarrassing loss of territory, on 14 May President Jonathan declared a state of
emergency, sent more troops to the region and ordered them to “take all necessary
action [to] put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists”. 9
The Nigerian security forces were ineffective and used excessive force, including extrajudicial killings, unlawful detention, beatings, extortion and burning of homes. 10 The
abuses only increased support for Boko Haram and the group continued to seize territory
in northern Nigeria and parts of neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger. In August
2014, it declared a caliphate, centred on the town of Gwoza, Borno state, and in March
2015 it pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s leader.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
International Crisis Group, “Curbing Violence in Nigeria (II): The Boko Haram Insurgency,” 3 April 2014,
https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/curbing-violence-nigeria-ii-boko-haram-insurgency; Alex
Thurston, “‘The disease is unbelief’: Boko Haram’s religious and political worldview,” The Brookings Project on U.S.
Relations with the Islamic World, Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2016; Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos
(ed.), Boko Haram: Islamism, politics, security and the state in Nigeria (Leiden: Leiden University African Studies Center,
2014).
6 Ibid. see also Alex Thurston, Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2017).
7
Ibid.
8 International Crisis Group, “Curbing Violence in Nigeria (II): The Boko Haram Insurgency,” 3 April 2014, p. 14.
9 “President declares state of emergency...Fighter jets, troops move to Borno, Yobe. Adamawa,” Daily Trust, 15 May,
2013; Joe Brock and Felix Onuah, “Nigeria declares emergency in areas hit by Islamists,” Reuters, 14 May, 2013.
10 One of the worst cases was in Baga town on the shores of Lake Chad, when they went on indiscriminate shooting and
burning of homes following a four-hour shootout with BH gunmen. 2,128 homes were reportedly burnt. “Nigeria:
Massive Destruction, Deaths From Military Raid”, Human Rights Watch, 1 May 2013.
5
3
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
The Region and a New Nigerian President
Responds
In order to respond to the insurgents' ability to conduct quick and mobile cross-border
incursions, the affected countries were compelled to step up their military cooperation
through the formation of a Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). Chad's own crossborder interventions began to push back the group in early 2015, and Niger's and
Cameroon's armies' readiness to cooperate in the fight boosted efforts to create a formal
framework. The election of President Muhammadu Buhari (a former head of state, in the
early 1980s, during a period of military rule) in Nigeria in April 2015 also gave fresh
impetus to increased military cooperation. 11
The regional campaign dramatically changed the balance of power and was able to push
Boko Haram out of most of its bases in Niger and Cameroon (with the exception of some
difficult to access islands in Lake Chad). The Nigerian army also was able, with some
MNJTF support, to force the group out of its known strongholds, but then suffered from
strategic overstretch: the army is not large enough to control all of the vast north east. 12
Furthermore, the MNJTF is more a coordinating body than an integrated mission. Each
country's troops are deployed and operate mainly in their own territory. The force
operates under the direct political command of regional heads of states and
government. The African Union has been managing the administrative aspects,
especially donor assistance, while the UN also provides some administrative support.
The military command is in Chad's capital, N'Djamena. The financial needs of the MNJTF
were initially estimated at 655 million euro, to cover costs related to logistics, human
resources and equipment, excluding weapons. However, the money pledged
subsequently fell significantly short of this sum. 13 In June 2016, the EU gave the MNJTF
50 million euro through the AU. 14
Boko Haram is proving resilient and capable of striking back. Although it has lost much
territory and split into two factions, one still loyal to Abubakar Shekau and another lead
by Abu Musab al-Barnawi (also known as Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP). It
continues its asymmetric war, regularly perpetrating suicide bombings, attacks on
villages and occasionally on cities, camps for refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
(IDP) and even army bases. Large areas of Borno state are still insecure and many IDPs
are still unwilling to return to their villages.
A Major Humanitarian Crisis
The fighting and displacement has triggered a huge and costly humanitarian crisis.
Security constraints, lack of sufficient funding and corruption hamper aid
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
One of the first things he did was to travel to the neighboring states to increase coordination with the MNJTF
countries. William Assanvo, Jeannine Ella A Abatan and Wendyam Aristide Sawadogo, “Assessing the Multinational
Joint Task Force against Boko Haram”, Institute for Security Studies, September 2016. Realising that his inaction on the
Boko Haram insurgency would cost him politically in the 2015 general elections, then-President Goodluck Jonathan
increased military resources for the campaign against the group in late 2014, but he lost the election nonetheless.
12 The army has been increasingly involved in internal security operations across the country, and according to the army
chief of staff is now deployed “virtually in all the 36 states of the federation”. “Poor funding, security operations
crippling Army – Buratai,” The Punch, 2 February 2018.
13 Ionel Zamfir, “Regional efforts to fight Boko Haram,” European Parliamentary Research Service, February 2017.
14 “Joint Communiqué by Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative/Vice-President of the Commission; Neven
Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development; and Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for
Peace and Security,” European Commission – Statement, 1 August 2016. Most of the cost of the operation is born by
the participating countries.
11
4
ICCT Policy Brief
EJ Hogendoorn
organizations. 15 More than 2.4 million people are displaced across the region. According
to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
Nine years into the conflict, the humanitarian emergency in the Lake Chad region is
among the most severe in the world. The crisis is unfolding in a region already affected
by severe underdevelopment, poverty and climate change. The impact on the lives of
around 17 million people is devastating, with women, youth and children bearing the
brunt. In 2018, more than 10 million people require humanitarian assistance and
protection. (…) Five million people are acutely food insecure and require sustained and
heightened food and livelihood assistance. In 2017, only massively scaled-up aid delivery
helped avert a famine. 16
In June 2017, the EU pledged an additional 143 million euro in assistance for the
humanitarian crisis in North East Nigeria, 17 and in September 2018 another 138 million
in combined humanitarian and development assistance for the Lake Chad region. 18
Nigeria’s Multiple Security Challenges
Boko Haram is but one of several major security challenges in Nigeria. In addition to the
Islamist insurgency in the north east, there is widespread violence between herders and
farmers in the country’s Middle Belt, the re-emergence of armed militant groups in the
Niger Delta, and growing pro-Biafra unrest in Igbo-majority southeast. 19 The federal
police force is dysfunctional, and unable to keep the peace. 20 Thus, the military is often
deployed to address internal security challenges. At present it is deployed in virtually all
of Nigeria’s 36 states. 21
Reforming the security services or the government as a whole has proven to be an almost
impossible task politically. Over the years the government has established at least three
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Nigerian president sacks senior official amid claims of corruption”, The Guardian, 8 November 2017; International
Crisis Group, “Instruments of Pain (IV): The Food Crisis in North East Nigeria”, 18 May 2017; “What Change? An $8
million refugee fund scandal shows Buhari’s anti-corruption drive in Nigeria is not going to plan”, Quartz, last modified
9 December 2016, www.qz.com.
16 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Lake Chad Basin Emergency: Revised requirement and
response priorities (September 2018)”, 29 August 2018. https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/lake-chad-basinemergency-revised-requirement-and-response-priorities-september-2018.
17 “EU announces €143 million support package for the crisis in North East Nigeria”, European Commission – Press
Release, 15 June 2017.
18 The humanitarian assistance will go to Nigeria (€47 million), Niger (€15 million), Chad (€11.8 million), and Cameroon
(€15.1 million). The development assistance will go to Nigeria (€74.5 million), Niger (€32.2 million), Chad (€33.2 million),
and Cameroon (€2.7 million). “EU releases €138 million in humanitarian and development funding for Africa's Lake
Chad region”, European Commission - Press Release, 3 September 2018.
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/nigeria/50036/eu-releases-%E2%82%AC138-million-humanitarian-anddevelopment-funding-africas-lake-chad-region_en.
19
“Nigeria: Growing Insecurity on Multiple Fronts”, Crisis Group Commentary, 20 July 2017. In 1967 the Igbo people,
who dominate south-east Nigeria, tried to secede and create the Republic of Biafra. It was defeated by the Nigerian
army in 1970.
20 John Campbell, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, updated edition (Maryland, 2014), 141. According to Oluwakemi
Okenyodo, “Governance, Accountability and Security in Nigeria”, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 21 June 2016:
•
Low levels of trust in the Nigerian police limit public cooperation critical to combatting internal security threats from
irregular forces such as insurgents, criminal gangs, and extremists.
•
Allegations of corruption, heavy-handedness, and politicization have dogged the Nigeria Police Force for years.
However, a lack of political will has perpetuated a culture of impunity, weak oversight, and an unwillingness to absorb
lessons learned from previous efforts at police reform.
•
Improving the effectiveness of the Nigerian police depends on governance reforms. Depoliticizing the appointment
and promotion processes for senior police officers and genuinely empowering oversight bodies are critical steps to
opening a sustainable path to reform and rebuilding trust with local communities.
21 “Poor funding, security operations crippling Army – Buratai”, The Punch, 2 February 2018; “Analysis: Scrutinising the
Boko Haram resurgence”, SBM Intelligence, 22 august 2017. See also “Former Army Chief Dambazzau laments use of
military for police duties”, Leadership, 1 July 2014.
15
5
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
eminent panels to recommend police reform, with few if any of the recommendations
implemented. 22 Similarly, the efforts to reform the military have also faltered for lack of
political will. 23
Nigeria’s Collective Action Problem
Most Nigerians, including officials and politicians, admit that rampant corruption and
bad governance are denying most citizens even basic services, including security. In
addition, the related lack of development and opportunities provide a ready pool of
young and frustrated recruits for militant groups. Moreover, most Nigerians have lost
faith in the police and the army’s ability to pacify the 153,000sq km north east, let alone
the rest of the country. Officials call for a more holistic approach, including a “Marshall
Plan” for the north, but the challenge remains finding the resources and political will to
implement and carry out the necessary programs and reforms – which is where Nigeria’s
collective action problem arises.
The collective action problem refers to a common challenge, whenever a group is faced
with a problem that cannot be solved without some bearing the brunt of the burden
while only retaining a portion of the benefit. In Nigeria, the problem basically boils down
to pervasive corruption. 24 Many people “benefit” from it, including those who rely on
assistance and hand-outs from corrupt leaders in exchange for their continued political
support (in large part because the state no longer prioritizes public services). Corrupt
individuals realize it is a major problem for the country, with many negative
consequences, but their incentive is to continue their own corrupt practices while getting
others to end theirs. Absent some kind of arrangement to ensure most people don’t
“cheat”, the status quo – massive corruption that is undermining the country – appears
to remain an individual’s best choice.
The security services also are being hollowed-out by the same individual-corruption-logic
as the state. What’s more, those officials and politicians who benefit the most from
public malfeasance have the means, and property, to live comfortably abroad if things
get too bad.
Despite President Buhari’s reformist platform, the government has not done enough to
combat corruption. Public theft continues unabated, and unknown billions are lost that
could be used to provide basic services, reform the security services and develop the
north, as well as other desperately poor parts of the country. A major drain is the
unaccounted “security vote” allocated to senior officials, ostensibly for funding security
services operations. A recent May 2018 Transparency International report estimates
these officials are spending N241.8 billion ($670 million) annually, without audit or
oversight. 25
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
22 “’Motions Without Movement’ Report of Presidential Committees On Police Reforms in Nigeria”, CLEEN Foundation,
2008.
23 “Nigeria: The Challenge of Military Reform”, International Crisis Group, 6 June 2016.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-challenge-military-reform
24 Nigerian Bureau of Statistics and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Corruption in Nigeria; Bribery: Public
Experience and Response”, 2017. “Nine out of 10 Nigerians say at least ‘some’ public officials are corrupt. The police are
seen as most corrupt; 69% of citizens say “most” or “all” police officials are corrupt, followed by members of the
National Assembly (60%) and local government councillors (55%). High perceptions of corruption are matched by high
public mistrust”. Oluwole Ojewale and Josephine Appiah-Nyamekye, “In Nigeria, perceived corruption remains high
despite praise for president’s anti-graft fight”, Afrobarometer Dispatch no. 187, 8 February 2018.
25 Mathew Page, “Camouflaged Cash: How ‘Security Votes’ Fuel Corruption in Nigeria”, Transparency International and
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), May 2018.
6
ICCT Policy Brief
EJ Hogendoorn
Some Nigerians are even asking for more international development assistance.
However, not surprisingly, most donors (already stretched by their own budget woes
and other commitments) are leery if it is likely much of their assistance will be pocketed
by officials.
Development cannot occur over-night, but most radical groups prey on a loss of hope,
not poverty. 26 They would have much less support if the government were to implement
reforms and programs to give people confidence in a better future. This, more than a
security crackdown, can help bring Nigeria back from the precipice. It can be done. One
example is Lagos, which two decades ago naysayers painted as “dystopian” but since
then has made significant, if qualified progress. 27
The EU Conundrum and Recommendations for
Change
The challenge for the EU is that Nigeria, with a population close to 200 million, is much
too large to change with development assistance alone. In addition, the main drivers of
the Boko Haram insurgency, as well as other security challenges, are internal and should
be addressed by the country’s federal and state governments. Therefore, the EU and
other donors, particularly European member states, must help in such a way as to
promote policy reforms and create the political will to end the status quo. The EU should
carefully calibrate its assistance and use its limited political influence to support
organizations pushing for good governance and accountability, and pursue a
sophisticated advocacy strategy with the Nigerian elite to create the political will for
better governance and a genuine attempt to tackle systemic corruption, which are the
main causes of the country’s instability. This should include pushing the Nigerian
government to be more forthcoming about its challenges and more transparent about
implementing lessons learned.
The government is frequently unwilling to admit mistakes or failures. For example, more
than two years ago, President Buhari had declared the insurgents “technically defeated”;
more recently he claimed they had been degraded to no more than “desperate criminal
gangs” and their operations reduced to “the last kicks of a dying horse”. 28 This is far from
the truth. Yes, the Nigerian army has made large gains since 2015, but the insurgency
remains resilient and can still launch almost daily attacks. 29 If ignored, it can adapt and
rebuild.
While downplaying the threat makes sense politically, it undermines the already weak
consensus that the country needs to make sacrifices to defeat the Boko Haram. This is
particularly the case for elites in Abuja and Lagos, who live far-removed from the
troubles in the North East.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
26
“Research makes clear that a sense of grievance towards, and limited confidence in, government is widespread in the
regions of Africa associated with the highest incidence of violent extremism. This may be an inevitable corollary of the
life experience of growing up in the context of acute and relative multidimensional poverty, neglect and political
marginalization affecting these areas”. United Nations Development Program, Journey to Extremism in Africa, 2017, p.
5.
27 Diane de Gramont, “Governing Lagos: Unlocking the Politics of Reform”, Carnegie Paper, 12 January 2015; Muyiwa
Elijah Agunbiade and Oluwafemi Ayodeji Olajide, “Urban Governance and Turning African Cities Around: Lagos Case
Study”, Partnership for African Social and Governance Research Working Paper no. 19, Nairobi, Kenya, August 2016.
28 “Boko Haram technically defeated – Buhari”, The Nation, 24 December 2015; “B/Haram bombings last kicks of dying
horse – Buhari”, Daily Trust, 27 November 2017.
29 “Nigerian soldiers protest as Boko Haram attacks surge”, Vanguard, 15 August 2018.
7
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
Related to these issues, is a reluctance to release and implement lessons from nonpartisan investigations into security failures and lapses that have benefitted the
insurgents. The latest such investigation was a twelve-man committee created on 1
March 2018 to investigate the abductions of 113 schoolchildren from Dapchi in north
east Nigeria in February. It followed in the footsteps of a long line of similar committees,
all established to report on various aspects of the Boko Haram insurgency. The findings
of the previous inquiries have been classified, however, and their recommendations
rarely appear to have been followed. 30 The present committee, set up by the national
security adviser, is comprised largely of representatives of the military, intelligence
services and other agencies with a culture of secrecy. Its report risks being classified as
well, inaccessible to other actors who could help actually make sure the committee’s
recommendations are implemented. The government should pledge to implement this
committee’s recommendations. The government should also publish the findings of the
2014 Ibrahim Sabo committee, which investigated the Chibok girls’ abduction.
The EU delegation to Nigeria has been on the right track. The outgoing head said last
year, “[w]e are not offering more financial support, we are proposing more political and
policy dialogue, technical assistance, capacity building, training, transfer of technology”.
He also called for improving tax collection to finance development. 31 It tried to focus its
development efforts on a few key states and pilot programs with the hope they would
be scaled up by the government. 32 Critics, however, contend that politically and
diplomatically the EU and member states were too focused on Abuja and not the states
in crises. 33
To be effective at addressing the root causes of Islamist militancy and the humanitarian
crisis it created in the north east, the EU delegation will need to prioritize the need for
governance reforms, including key state governments. Maintaining this focus can be
tricky for the EU, which must represent the interests and priorities of its different
agencies 34 as well as its 28 member states (and with the most influential individual
member on Nigeria, the UK, leaving the union), but it should be its policy priority in
Nigeria. 35 If it does not, groups like Boko Haram will remain very difficult to defeat and
could spread, and much of the EU’s assistance for Nigeria and the region will continue to
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
These include the 2011 Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North East, the 2013 Presidential
Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, the 2013 Presidential Taskforce
on Negotiations with Boko Haram, the 2014 Presidential Fact-finding Committee on Abduction of Chibok Girls and the
2017 Presidential Investigative Panel to Review Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human Rights Obligations and
Rules of Engagement. A member of one of these committees publicly complained that if their recommendations had
been implemented, the insurgency could have been defused long ago. Crisis Group Report, “Preventing Boko Haram
Abductions of Schoolchildren in Nigeria,” 12 April 2018.
31 “EU says no more financial support for Nigeria- Envoy “, Vanguard (Lagos), 29 June 2017.
32 Telephone interview, senior UN official who worked in Nigeria, 14 September 2017.
33 Telephone interview, counter-terrorism expert, 8 September 2017.
34 The European Council, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Directorate-General for International
Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid
Operations (ECHO) and the EU delegation to Nigeria, as well as a number of coordinators, e.g. for counterterrorism,
and special representatives, e.g. for the Sahel, are the main EU institutions involved in developing and implementing
the organizations policy for Nigeria. The main instrument for EU assistance is the European Development Fund. The
three priority sectors for the 11th EDF (2014-2020) 512 million euro allocation are: 1, social sector, improving access to
quality primary health care, the fight against malnutrition and measures to strengthen resilience and promote social
protection; 2, economic sector, increasing access to sustainable electricity, supporting efforts to improve conditions for
economic growth with a focus on improving competitiveness and diversification, development of renewable energy
and energy efficiency measures and strengthening public finance systems at state and federal levels, to create a stable
environment for trade and investment activities; 3, governance sector, continued support to strengthen democracy,
fight corruption, trafficking of human beings, drugs and small arms, justice system reform, measures to manage
migration more efficiently and effectively, and capacity building for civil society organizations. Other EU funding
include: the EU Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP); the European Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), and
the 1-billion-euro allocation for the Sahel/Lake Chad region. Humanitarian assistance is provided by ECHO. Member
states also have their own bilateral assistance programs.
35 Governance reform was a major priority of EU policy in Eastern Europe in the 1990s.
30
8
ICCT Policy Brief
EJ Hogendoorn
have to be allocated to the humanitarian response to violent insurgencies and important
trading partners will not develop.
9
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
Bibliography
Agunbiade, Muyiwa; and Olajide, Oluwafemi. “Urban Governance and Turning African
Cities Around: Lagos Case Study.” Partnership for African Social and Governance
Research Working Paper no. 19, Nairobi, Kenya, August 2016.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321601017_Urban_Governance_and_Turni
ng_African_Cites_Around_Lagos_Case_Study_Advancing_research_excellence_for_gov
ernance_and_public_policy_in_Africa.
Akinwotu, Emmanuel. “Nigerian president sacks senior official amid claims of
corruption.” The Guardian, November 8, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2017/nov/08/nigerian-president-sacks-top-official-amid-corruptionclaims-babachir-lawal.
Assanvo, William; Abatan, Jeannine Ella A; and Sawadogo, Wendyam Aristide,
“Assessing the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram”, Institute for
Security Studies, September 2016.
https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war19.pdf
Baiyewu, Leke. “Poor funding, security operations crippling Army – Buratai.” The Punch,
2 February 2018. https://punchng.com/poor-funding-security-operations-cripplingarmy-buratai/.
“Boko Haram technically defeated – Buhari.” The Nation, December 24, 2015.
http://thenationonlineng.net/boko-haram-technically-defeated-buhari/.
Brock, Joe; Onuah, Felix. “Nigeria declares emergency in areas hit by Islamists.”
Reuters, May 14, 2013. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-emergencyidUSBRE94D0ZH20130514.
Campbell, John. Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, updated edition. Maryland, 2014.
CLEEN Foundation. “‘Motions Without Movement.’ Report of Presidential Committees
On Police Reforms in Nigeria.” (2008): 1 - 161.
http://new.cleen.org/Report%20of%20Presidential%20Committee%20on%20Police%2
0Reform.pdf.
EU Commission. “EU announces €143 million support package for the crisis in North
East Nigeria.” Press Release, published June 15, 2017. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressrelease_IP-17-1645_en.htm.
EU Commission. “Joint Communiqué by Federica Mogherini, EU High
Representative/Vice-President of the Commission; Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner
for International Cooperation and Development; and Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner
for Peace and Security” Statement, August 1, 2016.
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/iraq/8608/joint-communiqu-by-federicamogherini-eu-high-representativevice-president-of-the-commission-neven-mimica-eucommissioner-for-international-cooperation-and-development-and-smail-chergui-aucommissioner-for-peace-and-security_en.
de Gramont, Diane. “Governing Lagos: Unlocking the Politics of Reform.” Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, January 12, 2015.
10
ICCT Policy Brief
EJ Hogendoorn
http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/01/12/governing-lagos-unlocking-politics-ofreform.
Human Rights Watch. “Nigeria: Massive Destruction, Deaths from Military Raid.” May
1, 2013. https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/01/nigeria-massive-destruction-deathsmilitary-raid.
International Crisis Group. “Curbing Violence in Nigeria (II): The Boko Haram
Insurgency.” April 3, 2014. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/westafrica/nigeria/curbing-violence-nigeria-ii-boko-haram-insurgency.
International Crisis Group. “Instruments of Pain (IV): The Food Crisis in North East
Nigeria.” Briefing, May 18, 2017. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/westafrica/nigeria/b126-instruments-pain-iv-food-crisis-north-east-nigeria.
International Crisis Group. “Nigeria: Growing Insecurity on Multiple Fronts.”
Commentary, July 20, 2017. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/westafrica/nigeria/nigeria-growing-insecurity-multiple-fronts.
International Crisis Group. “Northern Nigeria: Background to Conflict.” Report,
December 20, 2010. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/northernnigeria-background-conflict.
International Crisis Group. “Nigeria: The Challenge of Military Reform.” Report, June
6,2016. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-challengemilitary-reform.
International Crisis Group. “Nigeria: Want in the Midst of Plenty.” Report, July 19, 2006.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-want-midst-plenty.
International Crisis Group. “Preventing Boko Haram Abductions of Schoolchildren in
Nigeria.” Report, April 12, 2018. https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/westafrica/nigeria/b137-preventing-boko-haram-abductions-schoolchildren-nigeria.
Kazeem, Yomi. “What Change? An $8 million refugee fund scandal shows Buhari’s anticorruption drive in Nigeria is not going to plan.” Quartz, December 9, 2016.
https://qz.com/africa/858019/a-new-8m-scam-of-relief-funds-shows-nigerias-buharianti-corruption-drive-is-not-going-to-plan/.
de Montclos, Marc-Antoine Pérouse (ed.). Boko Haram: Islamism, politics, security and
the state in Nigeria. Leiden, 2014.
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/23853.
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics. “National Poverty Rates for Nigeria: 2003-04 (Revised) and
2009-10 (Abridged Report).” April 20, 2017.
http://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries[search]=poverty%20rates.
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “Corruption
in Nigeria; Bribery: Public Experience and Response.” Report, July 2017.
http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/599.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “North-East Nigeria:
Humanitarian Situation Update, January 2018.” Relief Web, January 31, 2018.
11
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/north-east-nigeria-humanitarian-situation-updatejanuary-2018.
Ojewale, Oluwole; and Appiah-Nyamekye, Josephine. “In Nigeria, perceived corruption
remains high despite praise for president’s anti-graft fight.” Afrobarometer Dispatch
no. 187, February 8, 2018.
http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatches/ab_r7_dispatchn
o187_corruption_in_nigeria_1.pdf.
Okenyodo, Oluwakemi. “Governance, Accountability and Security in Nigeria.” Africa
Center for Strategic Studies, June 21, 2016.
https://africacenter.org/publication/governance-accountability-security-nigeria-html/.
Oladipo, Olaolu. “Former Army Chief Dambazzau laments use of military for police
duties.” Leadership, July 1, 2014. https://allafrica.com/stories/201407020318.html.
Opoola, Latifat, “B/Haram bombings last kicks of dying horse – Buhari”, Daily Trust,
November 27, 2017. https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/b-haram-bombings-last-kicks-ofdying-horse-buhari.html.
Page, Mathew. “Camouflaged Cash: How ‘Security Votes’ Fuel Corruption in Nigeria.”
Transparency International and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), May
2018.http://tidefence.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/05/DSP_Nigeria_Camouflage_Cas
h_Web2.pdf.
SBM Intelligence. “Analysis: Scrutinising the Boko Haram resurgence.” SBM
Intelligence, August 22, 2017. http://sbmintel.com/2017/08/22/analysis-scrutinisingthe-boko-haram-resurgence/.
Thurston, Alex. Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2017.
Thurston, Alex. “‘The disease is unbelief’: Boko Haram’s religious and political
worldview.” The Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, January 22,
2016. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Brookings-AnalysisPaper_Alex-Thurston_Final_Web.pdf.
Transparency International. “Corruption Perceptions Index, 2017.” February 21, 2018.
https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2017.
United Nations Development Program. Journey to Extremism in Africa. New York, 2017.
http://journey-to-extremism.undp.org/content/downloads/UNDPJourneyToExtremism-report-2017-english.pdf.
Vanguard. “EU says no more financial support for Nigeria- Envoy.” Vanguardngr.com,
June 29, 2017. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/06/eu-says-no-financial-supportnigeria-envoy/.
Vanguard. “Nigerian soldiers protest as Boko Haram attacks surge.” Vanguardngr.com,
August 15, 2018. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/nigerian-soldiers-protest-asboko-haram-attacks-surge/.
12
ICCT Policy Brief
EJ Hogendoorn
Walker, Andrew. “What is Boko Haram?” United States Institute of Peace, June 2012.
https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR308.pdf.
Wakili, Isiaka; Hassan, Turaki A.; and Idris, Hamza. “President declares state of
emergency...Fighter jets, troops move to Borno, Yobe, Adamawa.” Daily Trust, May 15,
2013. https://allafrica.com/stories/201305151123.html.
Zamfir, Ionel. “Regional efforts to fight Boko Haram.” European Parliamentary Research
Service, February 2017.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2017/599274/EPRS_ATA(2017
)599274_EN.pdf.
13
To Help Defeat Boko, the EU should push for Good Governance and Accountability
About the Author
EJ Hogendoorn
EJ Hogendoorn is Crisis Group’s Africa Deputy Program Director. He is based in
Washington, DC, and travels often to the region. He previously worked as Crisis Group’s
Horn of Africa Project Director. EJ was a former Arms Expert with the United Nations
Panel of Experts on Somalia (2002-2003) and Sudan (2005-2006). Prior to that, he
worked as a researcher for the Human Rights Watch Arms Division and with Amnesty
International USA. He has a PhD in Public Affairs (Security Studies), Woodrow Wilson
School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.
14
To Help Defeat Boko Haram, the EU should Push for Good
Governance and Accountability
EJ Hogendoorn
October 2018
How to cite: Hogendoorn, EJ. “To Help Defeat Boko Haram, the EU Should Push for
Good Governance and Accountability.” The International Centre for CounterTerrorism – The Hague 9 (2018).
About ICCT
ICCT The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT) is an independent think and
do tank providing multidisciplinary policy advice and practical, solution-oriented implementation
support on prevention and the rule of law, two vital pillars of effective counterterrorism.
ICCT’s work focuses on themes at the intersection of countering violent extremism and criminal
justice sector responses, as well as human rights-related aspects of counterterrorism. The major
project areas concern countering violent extremism, rule of law, foreign fighters, country and
regional analysis, rehabilitation, civil society engagement and victims’ voices.
Functioning as a nucleus within the international counter-terrorism network, ICCT connects experts,
policymakers, civil society actors and practitioners from different fields by providing a platform for
productive collaboration, practical analysis, and exchange of experiences and expertise, with the
ultimate aim of identifying innovative and comprehensive approaches to preventing and countering
terrorism.
Contact ICCT
T: +31 (0)70 763 0050
E: info@icct.nl
Purchase answer to see full
attachment