Borno State to Train Youths to Stop Radicalization Using every resource from psychologists to agriculture experts and security forces, the Nigerian state at the heart of an Islamic uprising hopes to reach a reservoir of angry and rootless young men easily recruited by Islamic extremists and transform them into productive members of society. "We are trying to look inward at what is the immediate cause and who are these people" in the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, that has morphed into a terrorist network, Zanna Mustapha, deputy governor of Borno state, told The Associated Press. Mustapha heads a high-ranking committee that is seeking to stem the root causes of extremism in Borno, one of three northeastern states under a 3-month-old state of emergency. One way to prevent further radicalization of the population is by "transforming" the lives of thousands of unemployed, restive young people disenchanted with life, the committee concluded. "A hungry man is an angry man," Mustapha said. "The angriness of youth in society has made it easy for whoever wants to recruit them" especially Boko Haram - the extremist group whose name means "Western education is forbidden" and which is blamed for the deaths of more than 1,700 people since 2010, according to a count by AP. Mustapha said Boko Haram members "are living inside society." Ordinary residents of a typically poor neighborhood - a warren of mud brick buildings without running water or electricity - told a reporter that more than half the people living there before the military crackdown that began May 14 were members of Boko Haram. In some areas of Maiduguri, the birthplace of the extremist movement, up to 60 percent of residents belonged to Boko Haram, said an unemployed 40-year-old carpenter in the Moduganari neighborhood, where the stench of open drains filled with excrement and other filth is pervasive. He refused to give his name because he said he could be killed. He said the Islamic extremists have split families: In his neighborhood, he said every second family has a son or sons who have joined the extremists. Conversely, he added, the extremists have killed at least one member of virtually every family in the neighborhood. A major problem Mustapha identified is the practice among poor Muslim families of sending children as young as six to go to Islamic schools where they live with a Muslim cleric where they learn nothing but how to recite the Quran. They grow up with no skills and once they reach their teens are abandoned to fend for themselves on the streets, he said. "Some have been here for 20 years and don't remember where they are from or who their family is," Mustapha said. Using psychologists, agriculturists, technicians, civil society leaders, security and other forces he hopes "to transform these youths ... to talk to them to change (their) minds." Mustapha said they plan to train some 15,000 young people by the end of the year - an ambitious program in Nigeria where much state money is diverted to the pockets of politicians and contractors and many grandiose schemes have come to nothing. Opposition politician Babagana Musa cast doubt on Mustapha's plan. He accused Mustapha's All Nigeria Peoples Party, or ANPP, of failing to bring projects to fruition which has contributed to Boko Haram's growth.