Domestic Institutions and the Spread of Boko Haram in Nigeria

Terrorism has found its way into the nooks and crannies of the Nigerian society. Hence, this has headlined global news across the world in the last decade. Terrorist organizations such as the Niger Delta militants and Boko Haram are the major security problems the country faces. Boko Haram seems to stand out and have been perceived to be one of the most lethal terrorist organizations in the world. Though there are uncertainties about the year Boko Haram was founded, the year 2010 marks a period of violent extremism and radicalization by the group. The reason for the spread of the terrorist group from what it was to what it became is attributed to two different factors: The dissatisfaction from local governance and the weaknesses of power agencies to curb the violent group. Thus, the research aims to find a synergy between these factors and the spread of Boko Haram. The research is structured in six chapters: Chapter one which is the introduction, introduces the research and states the research question, hypotheses, methodology, significance of the study and the theoretical framework of the thesis. The next chapter reviews important literature in terrorism in Africa and Nigeria. Chapter three give an overview about what Boko Haram is all about. Chapters four and five provides evidence for the first and second hypotheses respectively and the final chapter concludes and gives recommendations. Keywords: Terrorism, Nigeria, Frustration-Aggression, State weakness, Domestic institutions.