"BOKO HARAM"
This time when i landed in Lagos after my one month vacation in india I was greeted with some sad news that there was some infighting going on in Northern part of Nigeria and I should be cautious. I later came to know that a little known group called "Boko Haram" who were against Western Education had gone berserk and were targetting Police Station and civilians. The Northern part of Nigeria is dominated by Muslims who are normally very friendly and peace loving. Eventually the leader of Boko Haram was killed and situation returned to normalcy. What triggers an otherwise peaceful community to suddenly become violent is beyond comprehension. Some say its fallout of dirty politics. Nigeria is a rare country of 140mn where half the population follows Islam and half Christianity. Surprisingly an incident of this proportion in which hundreds got killed found scant mention in international media.
Everywhere I go in Nigeria people talk of corruption killing the system and creating a big chasm between the haves and the have nots. Routinely one hears about corrupt politicians amassing Billions of naira of Oil money. Inflation is on the rise due to depreciation of the currency leading to higher import costs. Prices of basic food commodities like rice have shot over the roof. I often wonder how an ordinary nigerian family survives with such low income levels and high prices. The common man is hugely disgruntled with the existing governance and it takes only the smallest of sparks to poison minds and take a path of violence. This more than anything else is at the center of "Boko Haram" crisis. This is also the biggest challenge for the fledglling democracy of Nigeria to face.