Education and Conflict in Northeast Nigeria

This book examines how conflict in north-east Nigeria has shaped education provision in that area and, based on the these findings, suggests new ways for improving education provision in other conflict areas. There are more than 20 million children out-of-school children in Nigeria and the rate is particularly high in the north-east region where Boko Haram has violently targeted education stakeholders. The book presents new research carried in this region based on interviews with a range of people who had first-hand experience of the conflict between the state and Boko Haram. The interviewees include teachers, parents, students, community organizers, religious leaders, donors, NGO representatives and government officials in Abuja and the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Vanita Datta introduces a new and expanded counterinsurgency framework (Clear-Hold-Build-Clarify-Cohere) as a model for better understanding of how conflict shapes education in the region. She argues that attention has to be focused on local priorities in education in order to increase educational provision and ultimately to sustain peace.