Boko Haram is not a feminist problem: A Nigerian woman’s perspective

I want to correct some misconceptions about Boko Haram and the kidnapped girls that are still missing in Chibok, Borno State, Northern Nigeria.

I am a Nigerian. I grew up in a village in Middle Belt Nigeria. I am no stranger to African conflicts. I have personally experienced the bombings and terrorist acts of Boko Haram.

In 2011, I traveled to Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. The main city bridge was bombed on Christmas Eve. A neighboring village was burned down while families slept. Many women, men and children died or were injured. I was a student in Sierra Leone when civil war broke out there in 1993. Africa is a vast, complex, and beautiful continent. And there are many positive things happening in Africa. But for some of us, uncertainty has become a way of life. In the Hausa language they say, ya sama jiki (‘it is a way of life’).
Sadly, I have grown accustomed to chaos.

The April 2014 kidnapping of over two hundred girls in Chibok, Nigeria has received worldwide attention popularized on Twitter with the hash tag #BringBackOurGirls. American feminists, with some African allies, cite the Chibok kidnapping as a typical example of gender violence. But many victims of Boko Haram attacks have been men and boys. Reducing Boko Haram to gender violence is a distortion of actual events and disrespectful to male victims and their families.

As a Nigerian, I am disappointed that our President, Goodluck Jonathan, broke his silence not to offer homegrown solutions, but to solicit and accept offers from mostly western governments to hunt for the abducted girls. In 2015 he insists on calling upon the US government to help Nigeria battle Boko Haram. ‘Help’ from imperial powers has been disastrous for Africans. This was proven most recently in Libya, Ivory Coast, Somalia, and Mali, to name a few. If Nigerians (and other Africans) constantly look to Europe and America for crisis management then how will Africans ever build their capacity to solve their own problems? This is even more problematic when we consider that western interference is, in fact, a significant part of the problem. We are grateful, nonetheless, that people are interested in the story, hence pressurizing the Nigerian government to act.

Boko Haram means ‘education is forbidden’, not Western education is forbidden as it has been widely reported. This is an important distinction because Boko Haram has not just targeted Christians and western institutions. They have attacked anyone, including Muslims, who do not agree with their understanding of Islam.

Like Shehu Usman Dan Fodio (1754-1817), the infamous Fulani Sokoto caliphate centuries earlier, the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, aims to ‘reform’ Islam in Nigeria and to make all of Nigeria subject to Muslim ethics. I have listened to YouTube videos in the Hausa language and without subtitles. The videos have been posted online since the abduction of the Chibok girls. Below I highlight key points raised by Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau:

• Shekau is willing to die for his religion because prophets before him died for Allah.
• Anti-religious pluralism: Nigerian traditional religions, and Christianity have nothing in common with Islam, so they must be opposed.
• If you are not Muslim, you must convert or be killed.
• On the rumor that the Chibok girls were sold for marriage, Shekau states that if he were to do that, it is permissible in Islam to sell and or marry girls as young as nine years old.
• Boko Haram is not interested in money. They want a Nigeria that teaches Islam in all of its institutions.
• Their jihad (holy war) is against non-Muslims and Muslims who do not follow the Holy Quran properly (Shekau listed ‘infidels’ countries and leaders such as George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Saudi Arabia, Russia, etc.)
• Authentic Muslim countries include Yemen, Mali, Pakistan, and Afghanistan

Shekau uses a literal, revisionist interpretation of the Holy Quran and the Hadiths (sayings and teachings of Prophet Muhammad) to justify Boko Haram’s agenda. Many Nigerian Muslims argue that Boko Haram are not real Muslims. But since Islam, or any religion for that matter, is based on context and interpretation, Boko Haram members are indeed Muslim. The problem, however, is their extreme form of Islam that terrorizes the lives of citizens who do not live by Boko Haram’s religious values.

As American president Barack Obama has recently noted, ideological extremism is not unique to Islam. For centuries, Christians and Muslims have used religion to conquer or annihilate people all over the planet. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) are Christians who used the Bible to terrorize African-Americans in the US. Currently, in Uganda, Joseph Kony wants to impose Old Testament law on all of Uganda. Many Ugandans have been slaughtered in this effort. I would add that the US government has a history of imposing its idea of ‘democracy’ around the world.

No ideology is inherently good or bad. Enslaved Africans in the New World, like Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Malcolm X, and many more have used Christianity and Islam as weapons of resistance against white terrorism. Nigerians can learn from that history. We must embrace national unity over religious intolerance. We must teach our children that if a religion does not empower and enrich the lives of its citizens, then it is useless. My people, the Yotti/Bali (also known as Chamba) of Middle-Belt Nigeria say, kiti da mang mpape (look before you jump). I encourage all well-meaning supporters and activists not to lose sight of the big picture by narrowly framing Chibok as a patriarchal war against the girl child. As we agitate for solutions that will #BringBackOurGirls (and boys) we must bring back humanity and dignity for all Nigerians and for all victims of violence all over the world.

* Yoknyam Dabale is a lecturer of Philosophy and African Religions at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, USA.

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