Scholar seeks research on Boko Haram

TO prevent the Boko Haram threat from spreading to the academia, there is need for more research into the sect’s ideological, sociological and religious thinkings, a scholar has said.

Prof. Francis Egbokhare, a linguistics scholar at the University of Ibadan (UI) said by so doing, the academia  will be helping to solve the Boko Haram problem.

At a colloquium, "Emeka Ojukwu: The end of an era," organised to commemorate the 51st birthday of the Dean, College of Humanities and Culture, Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Prof Siyan Oyeweso, Egbokhare said there was an urgent need for such research because of the sect’s directive to Southerners to leave the North.

The event held at the Ikire campus of UNIOSUN saw participants analysing the life Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Oxford graduate who led the defunct Eastern region to a civil war in 1967. The discourse, which centred on as his death is a challenge to the causes of the war vis-a-vis Ojukwu as a hero or a villain  also examined the growing threats of insurgent groups and ethnic militias like Boko Haram, and what challenge they create for the academia.

Egbokhare said: "In terms of movement of academia into the north, people are now afraid to go to the north because you are not quite sure exactly how much of Book Haram is even within the academia itself.  This is because there appears to be some ideological basis for them in terms of support. For us in the academia, there will be very little flow of ideas now to northern Nigeria in terms of international relationships, university exchanges, and visits by international scholars, among others.

"There are some programmes and collaborations that are already collapsing because of declaration of Nigeria as one of the unsafe environments by some countries. Even the whole idea of webometric ranking which is sometimes hinged on internalisation, is already being affected adversely."

"We need to look at issues from research perspective; we should do sociological analysis. We need to analyse Boko Haram culturally, institutionally and situate it within the context of the Nigerian nation."

Prof Charles Olutayo Adesina of the Department of History, UI, said Ojukwu’s death is a challenge to the academia on how to address ethnic grievances. Ojukwu’s death last November 26, he said,  signaled no end to the era of ethnic and religious lopsidedness in the country.

Adeshina also harped on five virtues of Ojukwu: his principled vision, a fighter of his people, his ingenuity, oratorical skills and the 'never say-die-spirit, noting that tertiary institutions can be better off if they can only re-invent those qualities.

 "The Biafra Research and production (RAP) group is a pointer to how creative Okukwu was. He recognised and tapped into the creative ingenuity of Igbo people. Nigerian leaders have not been able to replicate this feat. We have therefore become consumers of all manners of goods from different parts of the world," he said.

The convener Prof Oyeweso submitted that the civil war transcended the alleged political ambition of Ojukwu, and therefore should be a reference point especially in the academia on how the current challenges facing the nation could be addressed.

The Nation