State Fragility and Terrorism in Nigeria: A Study of Boko Haram in North East Nigeria

Abstract In this study, the unending fragility of the Nigerian state and rising terrorism, especially from the Boko Haram sect, were explored. In fact, over the years, the Nigerian state has been alleged to be fragile, hence the escalation of insecurity, crime, conflicts and even acts of terrorism by Boko Haram against and within the Nigerian state. Despite these efforts, the level of insecurity in the country is still high, and confirmation of this is the continual loss of life of thousands of Nigerians by the extremist Boko Haram group. Despite the plethora of security measures taken to address the daunting challenges of insecurity in Nigeria, government efforts have not produced the desired positive result. It is pertinent, therefore, to look into the challenges that are affecting the fight against insecurity. The study adopted the structural functionalism theory with which it sought to explain State failure, underdevelopment and insecurity in Nigeria. From the foregoing, the study discovered that the presence of insecurity in any environment constitutes a threat to lives and property, hinders business activities, and discourages local and foreign investors, all of which stifle and retards socio-economic development of a country. It is based on this discovery that the study recommends that the Government must be proactive in dealing with security issues and threats through modern methods of intelligence gathering and intelligence sharing, training, logistics, motivation, and deploying advanced technology in managing security challenges.