RETRACTED ARTICLE: Boko Haram “Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad” in North-eastern Nigeria: implications for Sub-Saharan African peace and security
The threat to the peace and security of Nigeria is the Boko Haram Islamist terrorism raging in the North-eastern region of Nigeria. This is a deadly campaign of terror attacks that have killed a large number of civilians and non-civilians alike, devastated infrastructure, and hindered military success in this region and beyond. In this region, high-ranking members of alQaeda may have been harbored. The terrorists are affiliated with various militant Islamic groups, who pose a threat to the wider Sub-Saharan African states, especially Nigeria, with a wider implication of discouraging girl-child education and social development. Tackling these regional terrorist networks is necessary to reverse the present destabilization of states and ensure Sub-Saharan African regional stability. Presently, the regional governments’ attempt to pacify this threat in its stronghold looks at the present situation of terrorist operations in Nigeria and their links with terrorist networks in the Sub-Saharan African region and its implications on regional peace and security.
Abducting Modernity: Boko Haram, Gender Violence and the Marketplace of Bigotry
The abduction in April 2014 of hundreds of Nigerian of schoolgirls by the extremist movement Boko Haram has raised many deep questions about the nature of this decade old insurgency and international reactions to it. This paper asks to what extent the resort by this movement to gender violence represents an escalation in its tactics? And to what extent is this type of violence context-specific? It argues that we have to recognize that this movement is a response to specific Nigerian conditions, and while its violence against women conforms to similar patterns in other African conflicts, the ‘language’ of violence in this case is specifically Nigerian, and was in part a response to similar gender violence by the Nigerian authorities. The fact that the movement keeps emerging anew several times after its leadership and the bulk of its membership had been wiped out tells us that there is a reservoir of anger that keeps feeding it. However, the gender violence is a symptom of a deeper pathology within the movement ideology (signified by its blatant advocacy of slavery and its hostility to modernity and education), which exacerbates the marginalization of Northern Nigerians and perpetuates the spiral of insecurity.
Creativity profile of university and conservatory dance students.
What are dance students' creative potential, Special personality characteristics and preferences for high energy activities? Using standardized and original paper and pencil instruments, comparisons were made among dance students in university and conservatory settings, college students and art students. The results demonstrated that dance students are creative, show strong preference for dynamic figures, and have distinct personality characteristics. The university dance students differed from the conservatory students in several important ways.