1.1 Introduction
The Nigerian government is still struggling to acquire adequate knowledge of its own enemies. Amazingly, few years after the emergence of the Bandits phenomenon, the Nigerian government perceived the group as faceless and unidentifiable. Former President Goodluck Jonathan during his official visit to Borno State (the stronghold of Bandits) in March 2013 still classified the group as a ghost. Obviously, this explains the reason why the government was clueless on which particular group represents the authentic Bandits. In January 2013, a man believed in governmental circles to be the commander of the group, Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, claimed to have had a series of peace talks with the government and as a result declared a ceasefire on behalf of Bandits (Al Jazeera, 2013).
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 North East Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to scrutinize the Impact of Domestic Terrorism on Nigeria National Development.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
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.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Impact of Domestic Terrorism on Nigeria National Development using Banditry in North East 2015-2021 as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives of study were considered;
- To identify the factors influencing Domestic Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism in North East in Nigeria National Development between the period of 2015 to 2021,
- To establish why Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism is inevitable despite the collective state efforts,
- To examine how Banditry Fulani Herdsmen 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 Domestic Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism in North East in Nigeria National Development between the period of 2015 to 2021?
- Why is Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism is inevitable despite the collective state efforts?
- What are the types of Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism and the methods they are using to effect terror?
- What are the factors that influence Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism on Nigeria National Development?
- What are the threats brought by bandits in the Nigeria National Development system?
- What is the future of terrorism and what needs to be done to reduce or eradicate banditry in Nigeria?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism negatively affect collective effort towards the maintenance of peace and security.
- H1: Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism positively affects collective effort towards the maintenance of peace and security.
Hypothesis Two
- H0: There is no significant factor influencing Domestic Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism in North East in Nigeria National Development between the period of 2015 to 2021
- H1: There is significant factor influencing Domestic Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism in North East in Nigeria National Development between the period of 2015 to 2021
1.7 Significance of Study
This justifies the importance of providing an analysis on the Impact of Domestic Terrorism on Nigeria National Development from 2015 to 2021. The research findings will be of great significance to the world and regional organizations concerned with world peace, educationists, security and state institutions, concerned with tackling terrorism. It is against this background that Open Distance Learning (ODL) plays a pivotal role in providing education under these circumstances. Banditry Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism disrupts livelihoods, increases violence and fear, affects production in all sectors of economy, destroys infrastructure and has resulted in bloodshed. In all cases of terrorist attacks, it has disrupted normal education life, stalled production in the economy and international effort to provide peace and security.
1.8 Scope of Study
The focuses on the assessment of the Impact of Domestic Terrorism on Nigeria National Development, the study is limited to Banditry in North East 2015-2021 in Nigeria.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Terrorism: This is the use of violence, sometimes indiscriminately against persons and property for nominal purpose of making a political statement
