Understanding the causes of the underdevelopment in the Nigerian part of the Lake Chad Basin

The people of the Lake Chad Basin area have been suffering under long periods of violence and bad governance. On top of these problems the region has historically had a lower GDP per person than the rest of Nigeria, which is linked to a vulnerability to civil war. These issues have received much attention over the years, but little progress has been made in developing the region. State presence is low, with local governments abandoning the basin because of the threat of Boko Haram. This thesis argues that how three institutions, the government, Boko Haram, and the traditional authorities interact with each other is at the core of the lack of progress in breaking the vicious cycle of underdevelopment in the Nigerian part of the Lake Chad Basin. For a while the Nigerian state made little effort to assert its hegemony over the Lake Chad Basin. However, neglect of this area gave space to other groups to assert themselves. Nigeria did not feel the need to assert its control over the...Show moreThe people of the Lake Chad Basin area have been suffering under long periods of violence and bad governance. On top of these problems the region has historically had a lower GDP per person than the rest of Nigeria, which is linked to a vulnerability to civil war. These issues have received much attention over the years, but little progress has been made in developing the region. State presence is low, with local governments abandoning the basin because of the threat of Boko Haram. This thesis argues that how three institutions, the government, Boko Haram, and the traditional authorities interact with each other is at the core of the lack of progress in breaking the vicious cycle of underdevelopment in the Nigerian part of the Lake Chad Basin. For a while the Nigerian state made little effort to assert its hegemony over the Lake Chad Basin. However, neglect of this area gave space to other groups to assert themselves. Nigeria did not feel the need to assert its control over the region because they were not dependent on that area. The discovery of oil which coincided with Nigerian independence made the federal government less reliant on tax income from the northern state which meant there was little to gain for the federal government in the Lake Chad Basin.Show less

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Understanding the causes of the underdevelopment in the Nigerian part of the Lake Chad Basin