Seun Bamidele is a PhD research fellow at the Institute of Peace, Security, and Governance, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. He is presently a lecturer in international relations at Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Nigeria and mostly works with topics related to peace and conflict in Africa, including issues such as land rights and conflicts of citizenship, migration and the new landscape that is emerging with regard to insurgency and geopolitics. Bamidele holds the United Nations training certificate in peace and security from the Peace Operations Training Institute, United States of America and is also a recipient of many international grants, awards, and fellowships including the prestigious Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa fellowship of the Social Science Research Council (2017, 2018, 2019); Trust Africa (2015); Equator Peace Academy, Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda, (2012) and Women in International Security (WIIS), Washington, USA. He has published articles in India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs (SAGE) International Journal on Minority and Group Rights (Brill); African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review (Indiana University Press), and Jadavpur Journal of International Relations (SAGE) and African Journal of Legal Studies (Brill).
Award Information
This study interrogates the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria. It sets to know whether community security arrangement can become the future of counter-insurgency in Nigeria. CJTF emerged in the midst of serious security challenge posed by Boko Haram insurgency, first as independent community effort, and later as partner with security forces. Although worries have been expressed in some quarters about the CJTF metamorphosing into an ethnic militia, the fact that the CJTF neutralized the Boko Haram threat indicates that it is an untapped security potential in Nigerian communities. The study adopts David Galula's theory of counter-insurgency. The theory identifies two approaches to counter-insurgency: direct and indirect. While direct approach advocates strictly military tactics, indirect approach emphasises incorporating local civilians in the fight. The research design is historical and exploratory. Qualitative methods of data collection will be adopted through secondary and primary sources. Primary data will be collected in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states through structured key informant interview (KII), In-depth interviews (IDI) and focus group discussion (FGD). Secondary data will be sourced from texts and the internet. Preliminary interviews have been carried out through the pilot study in order to test the validity of the research instruments.