Civil War Within Nigerian Islam

Posted: August 25th, 2016

By John Campbell

John Campbell is the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007, and served as a Foreign Service Officer for over 30 years with postings in Lyon, Paris, Geneva, Pretoria, and more. Campbell also served as dean of the Foreign Service Institute's School of Language Studies and director of the Office of UN Political Affairs. His published books include Morning in South Africa and Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink. Campbell received a BA and MA from the University of Virginia and a PhD in seventeenth century English history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

There is a leadership struggle underway within Boko Haram, the violent, extremist movement that has claimed more than 20,000 lives since 2011 and destabilized the secular Nigerian state and its neighbors. The personal struggle between Abubakar Shekau and Abu Musab al-Barnawi reflects in part the rivalry between Boko Haram and a splinter group, “Ansaru,” and are part of a complex, intra-Muslim conflict across the Sahel, including competition between rival al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State.

Reflecting their extreme poverty and marginalization, many Northern Nigerian Muslims are deeply hostile toward the secular state. They see the current secular state as a continuation of British colonialism, with indigenous masters merely replacing the British and with values and behavior antithetical to Islam. This fundamental disaffection is a constant even when, as now, the official security services are having success against radical insurgents.

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