When I worked on a report on the origins of violence in the north last year was when I lost all sympathy. They actively incubated a monster that is beyond being tamed now.

I'm going to reveal something in this thread that I guarantee most of you have never heard of before.

Are you aware that those in charge of northern Nigeria's political Islam establishment spent decades pacifying their horrendously poor constituents by promising them the land belonging to northern Christians once Sharia was implemented?

Let me give you a background.
Due to monogamous marriage which limits their population expansion, northern Christian land inheritance is largely linear, i.e the number of descendants fighting to inherit land from the father is limited, which gives them economic leverage in an area where land is the only asset
Northern muslims on the other hand, have extremely diluted inheritance because the patriarch can have 4 wives and 17 children, 8 of whom might be male. Simply put, there is not enough land to go round which leads to extreme wealth disparity within Muslim areas.
This is why Sharia was championed by northern political actors and enthusiastically welcomed by northern proles - it was a bone for politicians like Yerima to throw to the masses, and the masses genuinely believed that land belonging to the 'arne' would be distributed to them.
Sharia came, and the promised expropriation and redistribution didn't materialise.

Bear in mind that young northern men, contrary to popular belief, actually want more from life than poverty and ruin. The promise of taking over arne property was a REAL source of hope for them.
Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic preacher in Maiduguri saw this groundswell of resentment and took advantage of it, cultivating his Salafist group into a political force in Borno state.

Boko Haram as at 2007 actually nominated a commissioner to the Borno state cabinet.
The disagreement came when Governor Ali Modu Sheriff refused to follow through on his (politically expedient) promises to Boko Haram, including seizing land belonging to arne and distributing it to economically disenfranchised young Muslim men.
Yusuf went rogue and in July 2009, the Nigeria Police Force got involved the only way it knows how to, extrajudicially executing him in full view of everybody outside the Maiduguri police HQ.

Yusuf's deputy, Abubakar Shekau then took over.

And the rest is history.
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More from Life

1/ Here’s a list of conversational frameworks I’ve picked up that have been helpful.

Please add your own.

2/ The Magic Question: "What would need to be true for you


3/ On evaluating where someone’s head is at regarding a topic they are being wishy-washy about or delaying.

“Gun to the head—what would you decide now?”

“Fast forward 6 months after your sabbatical--how would you decide: what criteria is most important to you?”

4/ Other Q’s re: decisions:

“Putting aside a list of pros/cons, what’s the *one* reason you’re doing this?” “Why is that the most important reason?”

“What’s end-game here?”

“What does success look like in a world where you pick that path?”

5/ When listening, after empathizing, and wanting to help them make their own decisions without imposing your world view:

“What would the best version of yourself do”?

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