Challenging Radicalization:

Youth, Violence, Religion and the State

Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya

September 28, 2015 Heron Portico Milimani Rd, Nairobi, Kenya

Challenging Radicalization: Youth, Violence, Religion and the State

An Academic and Civic Forum

Incidences of violence framed in religious language have been on the rise in Africa. While this is not new

for countries like Nigeria, for countries like Cameroon and to some extent Kenya, it is a relatively novel

phenomenon. In particular, extremist violence in these countries purporting to speak on behalf of Islam

has attracted international attention and prompted “global responses”. These globalist narratives,

perceptions and responses are sometimes been instrumentalised by national governments to justify

punitive measures against entire communities.

The aim of this academic and civic forum will be to critically interrogate the local contexts of this kind

of violence and to examine local and national responses.

By comparing the emergence of violent mobilizations in North East Nigeria, north Cameroon and the

coastal and north east regions of Kenya, we hope to shed light on various intertwined that explain it. We

will explore a number of questions: What is the role of economic and social deprivation of youth -

male and female? What is the role of new forms of religious commitment? What is the role of histories

and imaginations of violence in these regions? What role does the state play in provoking or

exacerbating the problem of violence?

This forum is a space to discuss local conditions of violence and to interrogate the concept of

“radicalization”. By facilitating discussions between academics, policy practitioners and NGOs from

these three countries, the forum will contribute to the theoretical understanding of the complexity and

complexities of this violence through a critical examination of local contexts and narratives on violence

and also contribute to the urgent and important search for local, nation and global solutions to the

problem.

The Forum will take place on September 28, 2015 as the first of three events. It will be followed by a

closed- door meeting for academics at IFRA and a public forum at the Nairobi Safari Club, Lilian Towers

from 4-6 pm also on September 29.

The French Institute for Research in

Africa, based in Nairobi since 1977,

develops research in social sciences on

Eastern Africa, in partnership with

colleagues in the region. The institute

also encourages the training of junior

researchers and supports academic

publishing. It’s main topics of research

are political dynamics; social and

economic transformations; heritage and

environment.

www.ifra-nairobi.net

The regional office of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung for East and Horn of Africa is a people-centric green think-tank, based in Nairobi since 2001. We facilitate inclusive dialogues, offer expertise and in partnership with like-minded people and organizations develop innovative perspectives on Gender Democracy & Women’s rights; Climate Change & Resource Politics; Democratic Governance & Participation. Being part of the global Green movement, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung is a political foundation, affiliated with the German Green Party.

www.ke.boell.org @HBSNairobi

The Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies (CHRIPS) is an independent think tank, research and policy development centre. CHRIPS invests in the generation and dissemination of knowledge that helps to generate innovative, pragmatic and effective policy solutions to the pertinent security challenges in Africa. Through its work, CHRIPS advances rights and social justice. The Centre positions itself to contribute to and promote the generation of knowledge by African institutions and enable the continent to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. www.chrips.or.ke

Contact: Heinrich Böll Stiftung - Nairobi Regional Office Dion Koigi E-mail: Dion.Koigi@ke.boell.org Phone: 0717 535 166

Program overview 8.00 am Registration

8.15 am Welcome remarks Dr. Mutuma Ruteere (CHRIPS) Dr. Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle (IFRA)

8.30 am Introduction to the three countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya

Prof. Kyari Mohammed Prof. Nadine Machikou Ngaméni Prof. Hassan Mwakimako

10.00 am Movements and religion Dr. Mustafa Ali, Dr. Bana Barka, Ini Dele-Adedeji, Hans de Marie Heungoup Moderated by Dr. Mutuma Ruteere

11.15 am Coffee/Tea

11.30 am Social, political and economic narratives of commitment to violence

Prof. Nadine Machikou Ngaméni, Hawa Noor, Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Patrick Mugo

Moderated by Dr. Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle

1.00 pm Lunch

2.00 pm Speakers Corners Dr. Elodie Apard, Ini Dele-Adedeji

3.00 pm Media reporting on violence and security policies

Dr. Elodie Apard, Nadine Machikou Ngaméni,

Murithi Mutiga, James Schneider

Moderated by Nanjala Nyabola

4.15 pm Coffee/Tea

4.30 pm Violence, state responses and modes of governance

World Café with all Participants

5.30 pm Closing words Katrin Seidel (HBS)

Program details 8.00 am Registration

8.15 am Welcome remarks Dr. Mutuma Ruteere is the director of the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies and an expert on issues of human rights and security. He is the current the UN Special Rapporteur, Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Intolerance. Dr. Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle is the director of the French Institute for Research in Africa. She is a political scientist and an assistant professor at the University Paris 1 –Sorbonne.

8.30 am Introduction to the three countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya

Prof. Kyari Mohammed is currently Vice Chancellor of Modibbo Adama University of Technology Yola in Nigeria. One of Nigeria’s leading scholars on the Boko Haram insurgency, he has published extensively on the Lake Chad basin as well on religion and intergroup relations in Nigeria. Prof. Nadine Machikou Ngaméni is Professor of political science at Yaoundé 2 University. She recently conducted a survey in North Cameroon on perceptions of insecurity. Prof. Hassan Mwakimako is Associate Professor in Islamic Studies at Pwani University. He also consults on issues of Islamic politics, democracy and radicalization.

10.00 am Movements and religion

Violence in North East Nigeria, Far North Cameroon and Kenya are undertaken in the name of religious convictions. Propaganda and mobilisation of new recruits play on religious messages. Yet, these claims intervene in different contexts. An overview of the religious landscapes and of the forms of religious radicalisation will help explain diversity of jihadism in these cases. Questions of the link between religious identities and other forms of identities will also be discussed.

Ini Dele-Adedeji is a final year doctoral candidate in Politics at the School of Oriental & African Studies (London). His thesis looks at the re-construction of Islamic identities by the Boko Haram sect, for use in mobilising members. He conducted his fieldwork in Kano & Borno.

Dr. Mustafa Ali is the Secretary General of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) and Director of the Arigatou International, Nairobi.

Dr. Bana Barka is lecturer in African literature at Maroua University. His research focuses on koranic schools in the north of Cameroon.

Hans de Marie Heungoup is researcher and analyst on Cameroon at International Crisis Group Moderated by Dr. Mutuma Ruteere

11.15 am Coffee/Tea

11.30 am Social, political and economic narratives of commitment to violence

Using religious registers to express grievances and to justify violence, the movements under study are anchored in peculiar social, economic and political contexts. As peripheries to the national state, the regions affected have specific and ambiguous relations to the state, have often been neglected in terms of social and economic investments or experience rapid changes. These social roots of violence will be examined in this panel, as well as the consequences of the conflicts on their populations. Patrick Mugo is a conflict researcher and journalist working in the Horn and Eastern Africa. Hawa Noor – is a Research Consultant at the Institute of Security Studies in Nairobi whose research focuses on Peace and Security policy in the region. Fatima Kyari Mohammed is the Special Advisor to the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission and a Senior Expert at West Africa Conflict and Security Consulting (WACAS). She is also Co-founder/Coordinator of the LikeMinds Project, a Community Based Organisation working with IDPs in North Eastern Nigeria. Prof. Nadine Machikou Ngaméni Moderated by Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle

1.00 pm Lunch

2.00 pm Speakers Corners Participants will present their experiences in two concurrent sessions followed by facilitated discussion. Confirmed so far are: Dr. Elodie Apard will present her research on the use of videos by Boko Haram

Ini Dele-Adedeji will interrogate the process of engagement into Boko Haram by presenting his interviews with former members of the sect.

3.00 pm Media reporting on

violence and security policies

The interaction between media and public policy on counter-

terrorism becomes ever more important as terrorist attacks occur

in increasingly remote regions of the world. Media therefore has

the immense power to shape perceptions and responses to both

terrorist groups and communities affected by terrorism. In this

practitioner session, panelists will discuss their own experience of

sourcing and framing stories about terrorism, in particular for an

African audience, their relationship with government and other

potential middlemen, and the impact they have seen their stories

have on public policy on radicalization and counterterrorism.

Dr. Elodie Apard, Prof. Nadine Machikou Ngaméni, Murithi

Mutiga (journalist), James Schneider (journalist)

Moderated by Nanjala Nyabola

4.15 pm Coffee/Tea

4.30 pm Violence, state responses and modes of governance

The method of a World Café allows all participants to discuss

various aspects of the topic in small self-organised groups.

Topics for debate:

1. “Terrorism has nothing to do with religion”. Is the secular

state capable of comprehending the difference between

interpretation and misinterpretation of religious texts?

2. What meaningful alternatives to perceived collective

punishment of entire communities exist for governments

seeking effective counterterrorism measures?

3. Between a rock and a hard place: what are the best

measures available to communities suffering violence

from both the state and terrorist groups?

4. Can accused or convicted terrorists be rehabilitated and

reintegrated into society?

5.30 pm Closing words Katrin Seidel (hbs)