1.1 Introduction
Terrorism on educational development is the use of violence, sometimes indiscriminately against persons and property for nominal purpose of making a political statement to the educational sector. Terrorists’ activities weaken state's ability to provide peace to its citizens. Women; children and men have all suffered the consequences of terrorism. The attack of the Nigeria on 9/11 has indicated that it is not only the small actors in the international system who can succumb to the ills of terrorism but also the most powerful states and dominant players in the system. Terrorism as a concept has continued to generate mixed and conflicting interpretations. Efforts to discern its root causes have proved inconclusive. Terrorism can be founded on the interplay of a number of factors such as lack of economic outlook, relative deprivation, political repression and a failed state system. The most striking conclusion is that these factors alone may not necessarily lead to terrorism,but may require a unifying idea and anappropriate mechanism to channel these into an enviable force that will unleash terror against a perceived enemy. (Mair, 2003)
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The world's efforts to maintain peace and security have been undermined by the sporadic acts of terrorists who use violence to pursue their political objectives. From the year 2015 to 2021, the world experienced fresh attacks which were aided by advanced technology. The advancing twenty-first century technology provides sophisticated methods of unleashing terror, murder, kidnapping and victimization of the civilians. This has made people to live in constant fear and that one day humanity will be wiped out by such threats. This is because terrorists are not bound by the rules of international law, neither do they have a government as understood in the conventional sense of statehood but they clandestinely perform covert and overt operations.
The twenty-first century terrorists seek to weaken governments, attack the strong bonds between the government and its subjects. Their activities cause political, economic, social and environmental damage. Terrorists activities are transnational and have inevitably crossed porous borders. This has made it difficult for governments to control security systems since technology observes no borders. This has left governments exposed and its power and responsibility to protect its citizens diminished.
Humphries (2002:732), defines terrorism as, the “use of violence, sometimes indiscriminately against persons and property for nominal purpose of making a political statement.” The use of violence may be perpetrated by the state, guerrillas, death squads, international terrorist and dissidents, nationalists, religious fundamentalists and fanatics. The definition of terrorism is a subject of immense debate within the United Nations (UN) and other world bodies. There is no consensus definition of terrorism at the UN level thus terrorists take advantage of that weakness to pursue their clandestine political objectives. There is need to build a more effective and pragmatic system of international peace such that terrorists will find very difficult to operate at the micro and macro-level.
Therefore, in Ekiti State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effects of Terrorism on Educational Development in Nigeria.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Terrorists’ activities weaken state's ability to provide peace to its citizens. Women; children and men have all suffered the consequences of terrorism. The attack of the Nigeria on 9/11 has indicated that it is not only the small actors in the international system who can succumb to the ills of terrorism but also the most powerful states and dominant players in the system. The damage of infrastructure is impulsive to an extent that billions of dollars are wasted in rebuilding structures. Environmentally, the ecosystem is affected by bombings and toxic gases. But the humans always pay a heavy price in the form of killings, kidnapping, hostage-taking and unleashing of violence such that their memories always bear traumatic and tormenting events. All the above have affected education systems in Africa and beyond. Colleges, Universities, High Schools and Primary Schools are affected in so many ways thus distorting the whole educational system of states.
The ambiguity surrounding the concept of terrorism has been an impediment towards conducting empirical research. There is less substantive knowledge of what the concept entails and this makes it necessary for a continuous engagement with the concept. However, this will contribute to the body of research in the field. The research problem is aimed at finding the relationship between poor economic conditions and terrorism in Nigeria with the Boko Haram and MEND as cases in point. There are many shared views and public opinion on the causes of terrorism in Nigeria. This research is part of many that aims to understand if the rise of terrorism and its sustenance can be explained by economic motives and considerations. This research is not suggesting that terrorism in Nigeria can be solely explained by economic considerations, but research aims to find out if a link exists between economic conditions and terrorism.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Effects of Terrorism on Educational Development in Nigeria using Ekiti State as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To identify the factors influencing terrorist activities on Educational Development,
- To establish why terrorism is inevitable despite the collective state efforts,
- To examine how terrorism has affected education systems,
- To examine the effects of terrorist activities on peace and security from 2015 to 2021.
- To provide recommendations on how to effectively combat the effects of terrorism in the Nigeria system.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Is there any factor influencing terrorist activity on Educational Development?
- What are the types of terrorism and the methods they are using to effect terror?
- What are the factors that influence terrorist activities?
- What are the threats brought by terrorists in the international system?
- What is the future of terrorism and what needs to be done to reduce or eradicate terrorism?
