Mohammed Sambo Dasuki,Nigeria’s National Security Adviser on Monday at the ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York, unveiled Nigeria’s new approach to countering and dismantling violent extremism in Nigeria.
The Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program, according to Dasuki, is aimed at identifying the underlying causes of radicalization (Social, Cultural, Religious, and Economic) and to develop strategies to solve the problem.
In his words, “advancements that have come with modernity such as technology and science have opened up the world in ways that our ancestors could not imagine. But with these advances have also come existential threats, which require us to come up with innovative solutions. As our world becomes smaller, problems are no longer isolated by region, state or even neighbourhood, the same technology that allows us to communicate with relatives thousands of miles away, and to witness events unfolding in distant shores as they happen, is also used to transport extreme ideas that entice youths to pick up arms against their country and fellow citizens, and in some cases abandon their homes to help others fight a war in a distant land.”
“Nation’s that have been directly affected by terrorism whether it is the IRA in Britain, or the FARC rebels in Columbia, or ETA in Spain and more recently IS in Iraq have shown us how difficult it is to eradicate. The terrorist lacks neither imagination nor capacity for evil, they operate outside of the bounds of conventional morality, while states must be guided in their responses by rules, the law, their own values and respect for civilian lives and property.”
“It is my belief that any response to terrorism must be long term, holistic and robust enough to address its root causes. A military approach can only be part of a solution, more importantly states must begin by understanding the causes of youth anomie, disillusionment, need for adventure and search for meaning that is at the heart of a lot of radicalization narratives, while also addressing more structural societal defects that make it difficult for some youth to access jobs, education or social security. While there is no defined pathway to terrorism, poverty, lack of opportunities for self actualization for youth, political and social marginalization, poor understanding of religion, the pull of a charismatic leader all play a role.”
“Before I outline Nigeria’s attempt to address these issues, I will just like to take a minute to explain the threat we face.”
“The current threat we face is mainly from a radicalized and fundamentalist Islamic group, the Jama’atul ahlul Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, popularly known as the Boko Haram sect which emerged in Borno State North Eastern Nigeria in 2000. The group was founded by the late Mohammed Ali who moved to Kanamma, a small settlement in Yobe State, close to the border with Niger Republic in 2003 at a base dubbed ‘Afghanistan’. The movement then known as the ‘The Nigerian Taliban’ targeted the Police and other security agencies sourcing for weapons, creating fear and a sense of insecurity in the locals. This group was initially contained by the security forces but later metamorphosed into the Boko Haram Sect under the leadership of a very charismatic young man known as Mohammed Yusuf.”
“Today, Boko Haram, is seeking to impose an extreme violent Salafist Sharia legal system in the North while holding strong abhorrence for Western ideas. Under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau, the profile of the sect continued to assume martyrdom status. In the past few years the group has targeted both Muslims and Christians, killing more than 10,000 civilians including women and children. The group has kidnapped hundreds of people, including the more than 200 young girls taken from their school in Chibok as they sat for their final year exams.”
“In the last two years, Nigeria has had to innovate to meet the challenges posed by this deadly group. We have worked very hard to develop a National CVE Program which was unveiled on March 18th, 2014. The National CVE Program is the soft approach identified by the prevent strand of Nigeria’s Counter Terrorism Strategy. This aspect of our counter terrorism approach seeks to raise awareness of the threat of violent extremism, as well as shape policy and programming. While we have studied different CVE models around the globe we understood that we had to answer tough questions that are specific to our particular situation in countering violent extremism and it is with this in mind that we developed what we believe is a four pronged approach that encompasses peace, security and development. It is a totally non military approach that involves actors, within and out of government, civil society as well as religious institutions.”
“Our CVE Programme is both vertical; involving three tiers of government, federal, state and local, and horizontal; involving civil society, academics, traditional, religious and community leaders. It consists of four streams with different layers of partners: ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s), including the civil society. Rather than creating new structures that will not be sustainable in the long run, the program utilizes existing structures within and outside government to deliver targeted programs and activities that further the overall goal of stemming the tide of radicalization. This, in our view, will ensure the institutionalization of the programme and guarantee sustainability.”
De-radicalization- we have developed a three pronged program involving the following:
- Convicted terrorist offenders
- Terror suspects waiting trial
- An aftercare program for suspects released from custody and those who voluntarily renounce terrorism.
The de radicalization program involves the training of a new generation of practitioners in the areas of forensic psychology, religious instruction with particular emphasis on extremist narratives, art therapists, social workers and vocational and educational counselors. The government of Nigeria is refurbishing a number of prisons that are being configured specifically for this program.
- The aftercare program is community based designed to aid in the rehabilitation and reintegration of former extremists and will involve a host of civil society organizations.
We have identified and are training a multi-disciplinary prison based treatment team to manage terror suspects. This team is responsible for developing curriculum and training in religious education, cognitive behavior therapy, anger management, relapse prevention, empathy, risk management and risk assessment. Additionally Imams are being trained on dealing with ideologically driven conflict. By implementing this stream, we expect to achieve the following objectives;
a. Foster greater respect for human rights and rule of law.
b. Train relevant prison staff on CVE, to professionally handle terror suspects and issues of rehabilitation.
- c. Develop a range of expert psychologists and counsellors to pioneer rehabilitation efforts
- d. Introduce a more holistic approach to the rehabilitation of prisoners in the country, using in-depth psychological analysis and research to understand the root causes of extremism and other criminal ideologies.
- e. Utilize religious scholars to counter extremist narratives by training them on aspects of dialogue and counseling.
- f. Offer vocational training for inmates ensuring they have a basic level of education and skills to assist their reintegration into society.
- g. Institutionalize rehabilitation of suspected terrorists within the prison system.
Strategic Communication seeks to produce counter-narratives, by presenting moderate views as a stark contrast to violent extremism and promoting core national values. Through Strategic Communications we are working to counter extremist ideology and narratives. Extremists’ views are often based on ignorance, misconceptions, willful misinterpretation and twisted ideology. In the case of Boko Haram, narratives are founded on a set of core beliefs that are opposed to the state and aspects of western education. Our response targets those that hold radical views, without necessarily being violent, and the population at large; aiming to further diminish tolerance for extremist rhetoric. Media content for TV, radio and the internet is being developed in order to raise public awareness of the illegitimate claims of the terrorists.
Our Strategic Communications approach engages the press to ensure that reporting of terrorists’ activities are done responsibly. A voluntary code of conduct on reporting national security issues is being developed that will regulate crisis reporting especially with regard to terrorism. Furthermore we are creating a rapid response media team that will promptly address extremist messages in print or electronic media .
We are currently in the process of strengthening our public diplomacy efforts through the institutionalization of strategic communication capabilities across the civil service. We have begun this effort by training small groups of civil servants, with the aim of reaching over 500 over a two year period across 22 government agencies. This training is being carried out through the Public Service Institute of Nigeria. A parallel program is being developed and institutionalized through the Nigerian Defence Academy. It is envisioned that this will provide long term strategic communication capabilities for our armed forces.
Additionally we are developing messaging desks for the production of counter- narratives (This includes the production of a Website, CDs, Books, TV and Radio programs) including messages targeting youth at risk of radicalization.
In order to further our understanding of Boko Haram we have commissioned a documentary on Boko Haram and research on the Pathways to Radicalization
Accordingly, it is expected that by implementing this stream working closely with various organisations such as media-based NGOs, religious groups and government organisations at all levels the following would be achieved;
a. Government will be equipped with the capacity to manage its strategic communications network.
b. A comprehensive public relations strategy across all government agencies will be mainstreamed and harmonized with the ultimate objective of creating a one-voice information platform.
c. Credible voices on various platforms addressing national identity, tolerance and community resilience will be amplified while providing support and protection for those that speak out against violent extremism.
Counter Radicalization focuses on community engagement and education-based projects. It is designed to stem the flow of recruits and reduce the potential for radicalization. The Society Against Violent Extremism (SAVE) Project created in my office is responsible for this stream. Its entire focus is preventive and involves a whole of society approach. In this regard, the SAVE Project has the following objectives;
- a. Countering the drivers of radicalization
- b. Encouraging CVE action in communities, civil society and government institutions
- c. Building community engagement and resilience
- d. Using education as a tool for countering violent extremism
- e. Promoting religious tolerance.
In order to achieve the above objectives, key projects have been designed to do the following:
a. Ensure that education is used as a tool to stem extremism by emphasizing the teaching of critical thinking and logical reasoning as well as sports, music, arts, and drama. We believe that these will serve as buffers to imbibing a single compelling narrative,
b. Create psychological support structures for victims of terrorism through the main stream provision of PTSD.
We have conducted extensive assessments of schools across Northern Nigeria in order to gain a better understanding of the state of education. We have now begun preliminary consultations with the Ministry of Education with regard to potential changes to the national curriculum and will be hosting an Education Summit, bringing together key stakeholders and policy-makers. Additionally we are working on providing continuing education to Internally displaced people as well as those in states where schools have been closed through community radio schools. We already have a fully-operational Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre in Kano and are working to open centres in at least six more states. Additionally we have worked with our National Primary Health Care Development Agency to add the provision of psychological services in particular post traumatic stress disorder therapy (PTSD) to the national mental health policy. Over the next year we will partner with them to train thousands of clinicians that will be deployed nationwide in PTSD.
The SAVE Project has met with various Civil Society Organizations working in diverse fields from all over the country. An initial introductory meeting has already been held and another meeting will be held later this year as a first step towards building a collaborative CVE network of civil society and government. Other projects are beginning to move beyond the conceptual stage and into implementation as partners are being identified and reached out to. We are beginning to make real progress but are aware that these are but the early stages of what must be an extensive and all-encompassing set of interventions.
In the pursuance of these goals and in order to drive these projects at the local level, we are engaging State Technical Assistants and Local Technical Assistants recruited from the areas most affected by terrorism to ensure continuous engagement with the states and Local Governments. They will all be in place by early next year.
Economic Regeneration- Based on our understanding of the economic root causes of terrorism and global best practices in addressing them, we worked with the Governors of six north eastern states of Nigeria in designing an economic revitalization program targeting the states most impacted by terrorism. An inter-ministerial committee consisting of the Ministries of Agriculture, Power, Finance, Works, Water Resources, Health, Education, Transport, Communication, Culture and Tourism, Industry-Trade and Investments, Solid Minerals Development, Science and Technology, Youth Development, and Lands and Housing, along with the National Planning Commission, development partners and my office are currently working with the region under the aegis of the Presidential Initiative for the Northeast (PINE). The activities of PINE include providing support and succor to a large quantum of internally displaced persons in the conflict areas in the form of emergency relief through the provision of food and medicines in designated camps. In this we are closely working with the State Governments.
These four streams have been structured to implement projects and activities that will ensure the achievement of the aims of the CVE programme.
An independent monitoring and evaluation framework has been developed to help guide our work and provide us with feedback on the impact of our efforts.
Closing Remarks
Ladies and Gentlemen, over the past few minutes, I have highlighted the efforts we have made in addressing the issue of terrorism which has led us to design a robust CVE Programme.
No nation has the monopoly of knowledge especially when it comes to dealing with terrorism, so for us today, is a day that we have come to share, but also to learn.
The ultimate success of our program will depend on how closely we work with our partners, communities, local organizations and institutions to ensure that CVE becomes rooted in their daily work practices. We are also clear that regional and international partners will be key to long term solutions to violent extremism and we are grateful to the numerous countries and international organizations that have supported the Nigerian CVE program.
I wish to convey appreciation for the immense support of the international community in our fight with this challenge of terrorism that is global in dimension and heavily local in its destructive impact.”
I thank you for listening.
