Essay Example on Angola's Position on Terrorism in Nigeria

Founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002, Boko Haram is the known leading terrorist organization in Nigeria. In the Hausa language, this name means forbidden Western education. Notably, the terrorist group is organized as grass root insurrection against both the traditional establishment of Muslims and the Nigerian government. Over a decade of a fight, the Nigerian government still does not have a contingency strategy to disassemble the group. The organization takes advantage of the disillusioned Muslims, who live in the Northern parts of Nigeria. Notably, these Muslims have very narrow economic opportunities and are tired of the countrys corruption level. The goal of Boko Haram is to politically create a strong Islamic nation in the entire northern region of Nigeria and take control of the country (Ojukwu & Chris 8).

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The terrorist activities orchestrated by Boko Haram have divided Nigeria into two completely different parts, the northern part comprised of Muslims and the Southern part comprised of Christians. The capital city, Abuja, is currently the major target for the terrorist attack that aims at abolishing any kind of western practices such as education. Particularly, the Nigerian government has over the years increased security forces to handle the problem but the situation has only been militarized after all. The other interventions to combat the terrorist activities in Nigeria include tasking Ambassador Galtimari to lead the committee to make peace with Boko Haram and installation of numerous closed television circuits around the Abuja region (Ojukwu & Chris 8). The terrorist groups have currently become the subject of international security scrutiny with foreign and influential military forces engaging in the war to save Nigeria. Even though the war against terrorism is costly, Angola has vowed to fight against terrorism for the enhancement of peaceful coexistence in the region.

Angola strongly opposes the terrorist activities in Nigeria in a number of ways and reasons. As confirmed by the countrys defense minister, Lourenco, the international terrorism spread that reached African countries, especially Nigeria is one of the greatest concern to the Angolan authorities. This expression was publicly made during the opening talks between Italy and Angola delegations. The occasion prompted the proposition of Angola on the need of holding international conference basically to discuss the security levels in the West African region.

The first reason for Angolas fight against terrorism in Nigeria is the fact that it had suffered a long and tedious civil war itself. After its achievement of independence in 1975, the different movements that were vying to lead Angola descended into a dirty civil war. The Movement for Liberation of Angola (MPLA), leading party, was steeply opposed by the Nation Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). MPLA based its resources from oil revenues, Cuban troops, and Soviet quality military equipment. FNLA and UNITA, on the other hand, were supported by Chinese weaponry, diamond revenues from the black market, and financial assistance by the CIA. Over 4.5 million Angolans died, over four million, became refugees, and more than half million fled the country (Marcum & John 417). Given the level of cost that Angola paid due to the war, they would do anything within their power to ensure that they never experience the same. The fight against terrorism, therefore, is an obvious way of establishing a peaceful environment within their surroundings.

Secondly, the support of Angola in the fight against terrorism is due to its liberalism approach. This is the theory based on good governance between people and states worldwide. The focus of liberalization is the values of liberty, order, toleration, and justice when linked to international relations. For successful businesses, Angola has formed diplomatic ties with China to enhance its development. For this kind of international arrangements to work, Angola has to confirm to the world that it does not support terrorist acts. Currently, Angola forms the largest Chinese trading partner in Africa. China has given the Angolan government multi-billion dollar loans expected to develop sensitive areas of the economy such as education, energy, health, and infrastructure. In return, Angola exports most of its oil to China with the aim of repaying the loan and for foreign exchange (Marcum & John 420). Additionally, Angola trades with other democratic states such as the U.S. Therefore, it has to portray its opposing stand against terrorism for its success.

The other reason for Angolas opposition to terrorism in Nigeria is economically linked. The government has established massive macroeconomic policies that have seen the countrys economy through stabilization. The civil war experienced by the country destroyed its infrastructural system, agricultural sector, schools, and medical systems. The government has made use of the oil industry that is currently booming to enhance the development of these sectors (Wright & George 570). For such developments to occur, peaceful coexistence locally and regionally is mandatory. The existence of the terrorist activities in the neighboring Nigeria is a disruption of the economic growth of the Angolan economy. Therefore, it must oppose the existence of these terrorists in the region and root out their activities. This will stabilize the peaceful state of the western region; hence, robust economic growth.

The regional cooperation and mutual coexistence with the neighboring countries are the other reason. Economic bodies, for instance, ECOWAS demand regional cooperation among member countries to fight terrorism activities. This regional block is very important to Angola both politically and economically; thus, it has to adhere to the organizations approach concerning terrorism (Wright & George 573). The country, therefore, plays an international role in the promotion of peace in the Nigerian country through international community corporation. The mutual existence also enhances stability and safety within the Angolan country. These can only be achieved when the larger western region is free from civil and terrorist war. This only means that as an emerging economically stable country, Angola has to remain strong against any terrorist activities; the Nigerian terrorism is just one case.

Various security resolutions concerning the fight against terrorism have to be effectively implemented to ensure a terrorist free world. For the achievement of this objective, the UN Security Council must ensure that all its member countries give great respect to the sanctioning system (Barnes & Sandra 241). Sanctioning Al-Qaida will weaken the terrorist activities in Nigeria given the fact that Boko Haram, which is the leading terrorist group in the country is an affiliate of Al-Qaida. The security monitoring team should ensure that activities of these terrorist groups are suppressed by dismantling and controlling flow of weapons in and out of their dominance regions.The other action that the country proposes to be undertaken by the UN Security Council is the provision of military support to the Nigerian government. This kind of support can be in different forms such as military weapons, the soldiers, and financial aid to fund the soldiers defending the country. The burden of fighting terrorism is very heavy when analyzed from the resources required for the successful abolition of error. It is logical that the UN Security Council provide them with strong military support to help in defeating the terrorists.

In summary, Nigeria has had a long domestic terrorism war over the last decade, and this has cost it a lot. The presence of terrorist activities within the country has threatened the security level of the surrounding areas; hence, attracting attention all over the world. As a country, Angola supports strongly the war against terrorism in Nigeria due to a number of reasons. These include; the need to maintain its economic growth, to prevent any kind of war that might remind them of the civil war, and to enhance diplomatic relations with other countries. The interventions proposed by Angola to the UN Security Council are to offer military support to Nigeria and to sanction the operation of larger terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida.

Works Cited

Barnes, Sandra T. "Global flows: Terror, oil & strategic philanthropy." Review of African Political Economy 32.104-105 (2005): 235-252.

Glickman, Harvey. "Africa in the War on Terrorism." Journal of Asian and African Studies 38.2-3 (2003): 162-174.

Marcum, John A. "Lessons of Angola." Foreign Affairs 54.3 (1976): 407-425.

Ojukwu, Chris C. "Terrorism, foreign policy and human rights concerns in Nigeria." Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research 11.3 (2011).

Wright, George. "The Clinton administration's policy toward Angola: an assessment." Review of African Political Economy 28.90 (2001): 563-576.