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15 Diritto & Questioni Pubbliche 175 (2015)
The Volatility of Salafi Political Theology, the War on Terror and the Genesis of Boko Haram

handle is hein.journals/dirquesp15 and id is 469 raw text is: ANDREA BRIGAGLIA* The Volatility ofSalafi Political Theology, the War on Terror and the Genesis ofBoko Haram 1. Political Blame Game and Collective Frustration: Boko Haram and its Perceptions in Nigeria 2. Islamist Utopia and Salafi Purism - 3. Muhammad Yusuf and Jihadi Salafism - 4. Salafi Political Theology and the Quietist vs Jihadi Fallacy - 5. The Kanamma Experience and the War on Terror in Nigeria 6. Conclusion: The Volatility ofSalafi Political Theology and the War on Terror in Nigeria 1. Political Blame Game and Collective Frustration: Boko Haram and its Perceptions in Nigeria In March 2015, the octogenarian presidential candidate of the opposition party (APC, All Peoples' Congress), retired-General Muhammadu Buhari, won the Nigerian presidential elections. For the first time since the 1999 democratic transition, a candidate of the opposition was breaking the monopoly previously exercised by the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) on the federal government of the most populous African state, the top oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and the biggest economy of the continent. The crowds that queued in front of the polling stations of the mainly Muslim states of northern Nigeria bear witness to the (temporary) failure of Boko Haram's campaigns to take roots among the masses'. In line with its distinctive position that democracy is a form of shirk (worship of an object other than God) and participating or voting in elections constitutes kufr (unbelief), the terrorist network had actively attempted to prevent Muslims from voting. Vast areas of Bomo and Adamawa states were still under its control during the presidential elections, leading to the practical impossibility of setting polling stations there. At the same time, the enigmatic leader of the movement, Abubakar Shekau, had explicitly threatened to bomb the polling stations located in the areas of the north outside his direct control2. From the onset of Buhari's presidential mandate, the Nigerian army has continued in its efforts to push the militiamen of Boko Haram away from the area that, since the beginning of the first ground offensive by the group in June 2014, had gradually fallen under its control. This area, roughly the size of Belgium, stretched between the two north-eastern states of Borno and Adamawa, including several maj or towns like Gwoza (fallen to the insurgents in August 2014, then liberated in March 2015), Bama (fallen in September 2014, freed in March 2015) and Mubi (fallen in October 2014, freed in March 2015). The Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town. E-mail: andrea.brigagliai~uct.ac.za. 1 Nigeria is a federal republic composed of thirty-six states plus the territory of the Federal Capital Abuja. The thirty-six states are grouped in six geo-political zones: Core North; Northeast; Middle Belt; Southwest; South-south and Southeast. Of its roughly 400 ethno-linguistic groups, the dominant ones are Hausa (mainly in the Core North), Yoruba (Southwest) and Igbo (Southeast). Islam is the dominant religion in the Core North and the Northeast, while Christianity is dominant in the Southeast and South-South areas. The Southwest and the Middle Belt have a mixed population of Muslims and Christians. 2 www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2015/02/boko-haram-threatens-disrupt-nigeria-poll-150218042214031 .html.

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