Millions Marching In France Why Nigerian Civil Society Isn’t Protesting Against Boko Haram’s Latest Atrocities

As the world’s eyes turned to Paris and the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last week, Boko Haram militants captured the small fishing town of Baga, in Borno state, north-eastern Nigeria, killing as many as 2,000 people. In the days that have followed, three child suicide bombers carried out further attacks elsewhere in Borno and in neighbouring Yobe state – all this after president Goodluck Jonathan and other regional leaders agreed, at a summit in France last May, to “wage war” on the militants.

So why, unlike France, have people not taken to the streets – either in solidarity or protest?

“What Charlie Hebdo has done is show Nigerians that terrorism can be handled differently. President Holland was decisive and people are now asking: why are we not seeing that from Goodluck Jonathan? Even people from his traditional supporter bases have opened their eyes and no longer see Boko Haram through a religious or political lens.”

Civil rights and pro-democracy activist, Hafsat Abiola, says: referring to a concept in behavioural economics that suggests poverty impairs judgment: people become so focused on their immediate needs, they lose sight of and curiosity in wider issues, which leads poor decision-making. “Civil society needs to campaign for policies that increase the bandwidth of the poorest people which, in turn, will create the space for them to engage in civic issues and demand their rights.”

As much as society needs to “rebuild a movement”, Abiola suggests there are larger concerns than the insurgency.

At the heart of Nigeria’s problems is a sense of being disenfranchised. This is what drives people to vote for leaders based not on competency but on ethnicity. “People don’t care about performance. It’s about the first and second citizen [the president and prime minister] being from their region . We need to teach them that it’s not about abandoning your tribe but also about belonging to the state.”