Difficult Times in Nigeria: Winter 2012

Difficult Times in Nigeria
Since our trip to Gusau in the summer of 2011, Nigeria has suffered through a year of intermittent violence. The epicenter has been in the Kaduna area, in north central Nigeria, near the 10th parallel, about a five-hour drive south of Gusau. The cause of this violence is Boko Haram, which is a Hausa acronym for  “Western education forbidden”, a group that seeks to establish sharia law throughout all of Nigeria They target government offices, police and military installations and soft targets such mosques and churches, ensuring that their bombing activities grab the news spotlight. While Boko Haram has made its presence known, the Gusau area has remained relatively quiet. This may be due to the fact that Zamfara State is further away from the seat of government and far more rural with agriculture as its main economic base, unlike central Nigeria.

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