Instability in Nigeria hurts neighboring economies

Boko Haram violence in Nigeria is negatively impacting the economy of drought-stricken neighbor, Niger, writes guest blogger Alex Thurston.

• A version of this post ran on the author's blog, www.sahelblog.wordpress.com. The views expressed are the author's own.

Attacks by the Islamist rebel sect Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, along with border closures and expulsions of foreigners by Nigerian security forces, are beginning to hurt the economy of neighboring Niger.

IRIN reports:

For generations, Diffa, the arid southeastern corner of Niger, has benefited from being closer to Nigeria than to commercial centers in Niger: Staple grains, fuel, clothing and other items at attractive prices have made their way across the border.

Diffa’s main outputs – livestock, dairy produce and red peppers – have also found a ready market in Nigeria. Common languages and family ties have strengthened links to such an extent that the Nigerian naira is Diffa’s main currency.

But Nigeria’s latest export, Boko Haram militants, is less welcome: It has forced the authorities to close the border, with tragic consequences for Diffa, just as it is trying to deal with the worst drought in recent years.

(See a map of Diffa here.)

IRIN adds that these problems come at a bad time for Niger, given that drought is already pushing up food and livestock prices. Local markets, deprived of customers from Nigeria, are suffering.

The loss of cross-border trade and workers’ remittances from Nigeria could really hurt Niger – closing, in a sense, the economic “safety valve” that has formerly allowed people from Niger to seek money and work in Nigeria when times are tough at home.

Boko Haram’s violence in Nigeria is also having an effect on the security situation in Diffa:

About three weeks ago, the authorities arrested 15 people suspected of affiliation to Boko Haram, seized home-made explosives and grenades, and uncovered a plan to bomb several public places in Diffa, said Tinni Djibo, assistant secretary-general of Diffa.

So far there have been no Boko Haram attacks in Niger that I know of, but this incident certainly raises concerns. Nigerian authorities’ efforts to drive foreigners out of the country could mean that some Boko Haram members end up in the surrounding countries, where they may attempt acts of violence.

In other Boko Haram news, Wednesday saw another clash between militants and authorities in Kano, site of a major attack in January. The clash reportedly began when security forces “invaded” a neighborhood seeking suspected sect members, so arguably it falls into a different category than attacks that the group carries out on its own initiative. Still, several incidents involving Boko Haram have occurred in Kano since January, which points to a continued effort by Boko Haram to establish an enduring presence in the cities located in the center of Northern Nigeria, such as Kano and Kaduna. The movement continues, in other words, its attempt to expand beyond its base in the northeast.

Alex Thurston is a PhD student studying Islam in Africa at Northwestern University and blogs at Sahel Blog.

Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Instability in Nigeria hurts neighboring economies
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2012/0224/Instability-in-Nigeria-hurts-neighboring-economies
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe