Another Caliphate
AS the focus of the West is riveted on the Caliphate declared by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a not dissimilar development has happened almost unnoticed in Nigeria. The Islamist outfit, Boko Haram, has reinforced its fanatical fury with Monday's declaration of a Caliphate or religious fiefdom in the territories under its control. More towns have been seized along Nigeria's border with Cameroon, and the group, given to kidnappings and killings, appears to have graduated from a guerrilla movement confined to the mountain caves to a force capable of holding on to its gains. Just as Iraq today is a truncated state with the northern swathe under ISIS control, so too has Nigeria frittered away its territory to the Boko Haram, which loosely translated means “Western education is sin”.
The militants have proceeded as systematically as the Sunni fighters in Iraq. Territorial acquisitions and the hoisting of jihadist flags have been reinforced with the introduction of the sharia in volatile parts of the country. Surprisingly enough, this week's establishment of yet another Caliphate has sparked no response outside Nigeria, let alone a counter-strategy by Barack Obama's USA. Nor for that matter, to be sure, did the West react when the group kidnapped 300 school children. Boko Haram has wrought havoc in Africa's most prosperous nation ~ Nigeria. Yet the obsessive concern of the West remains confined to the Arab world. Of course, Nigeria's oil reserves are of crucial economic interest to Europe and the USA, similar to Russia's gas via the Ukraine. Yet overall, Africa remains a neglected continent in terms of geostrategy... despite the almost relentless mayhem in Nigeria and now the establishment of a Caliphate. Boko Haram is on the verge of ending government control across almost the entire state of Borno and establishing its cherished aim of a sharia state within a state.
On the face of it, the equation between ISIS and Boko Haram might have seemed symbolic. Over time, the relationship has developed into a practical equation with the Islamic State offering advice on strategy and tactics. Small wonder that the two Caliphates have emerged in a span of a couple of months. Effectively, the authority of the State ~ as an entity of governance ~ is under siege in Iraq, Syria, and Nigeria. While the ISIS operates as a predominantly sectarian outfit, engaged in targeted strikes, Boko Haram functions as a conventional army in areas under its control. As the government seems pretty much helpless, it will be hard to resist the conclusion that the “centre doesn't hold”. The Nigeria Security Network has advanced a timely advice to the continent and the world ~ “Unless swift action is taken, Nigeria could be facing a rapid takeover of a large area of its territory reminiscent of ISIS's lightning advances in Iraq.”
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