B oko Haram or Boko Haramites have become a national phenomenon. The sect has gained some notoriety across the country. Barely two years when we first heard of their activities in Maiduguri and Bauchi, their mandate has now spread across the country.Boko Haram meaning 'Western education is forbidden' is a group with the objectives of fighting against Western education and any individual or organisations that promote it. The strategy of accomplishing these objectives is to cause massive destructions, using bombs. To this end, the country has witnessed a number of bomb blasts masterminded by them.Recent among the cases, is the UN office in Abuja that was bombed on August 26, 2011. As if this was not enough, the group had also sent letters to some of our higher institutions of learning informing them that they are on their way! A visit to some of these schools will reveal that Boko haram has become a major threat to the peace and security of our dear institutions as security men now work both day and night to ensure that adequate preventive measures are put in place.Various people have condemned the activities of this group as anti-national, evil and barbaric. Some advocated that the government should find a way of exterminating them and keep the menace away like pest from our country. Others have subscribed to a softer approach by proposing that government should engage them in dialogue in order to know what their grievances are and find a way of resolving them.Taking a look at this issue from psychological perspectives, we will see that the Boko Haram issue is a behavioural issue that needs to be critically looked into if meaningful progress will be made in tackling it. Psychology is the science that deals with human behavior and the reason behind the behaviour .Behaviour in psychology can be grouped into two: normal and abnormal behaviours. Normal behavior is the kind of behavior that is socially acceptable, desirable while abnormal behavior is the one that is not socially acceptable.Based on the definitions of normal and abnormal behaviour, we can safely conclude that Boko Haram behaviour is not socially or morally acceptable and therefore is abnormal. But saying that this behavior is abnormal is not enough, as we have got to ask ourselves what is the cause of this behavior' Why will somebody wake up one day and say no to Western education' What does a person have to gain by killing innocent souls and himself die in the process' What irrational beliefs influence their irrational acts'Looking at it from the angle of suppressed negative emotions, Albert Ellis, an American psychologist proposes that thoughts determine behaviour,if the thoughts are rational, the behavior will be constructive and vice-visa . Albert argues that irrational thoughts lead to illogical conclusion and illogical conclusion brings irrational behaviour. Moreover, irrational thought emits negative emotions which have some serious psychological effect. In this case, since Boko Haramites feel that Western education is the bane of moral degradation they are bound to generate negative emotions towards it which has now caused them to take to destructive behaviour.Another closely related issue is whether this group sees their behaviour as abnormal. We can say no because when people become disturbed, they are already beyond the pale of using logic to see the errors of their ways .Also, irrationality is cognition, thinking ,talking, or acting without inclusion of rationality. This is where the Boko Haram issue becomes a complex issue.I will like to submit that fighting or killing Boko Haramites is not the way out as this will further reinforce their irrational behaviour.All we need to do is to keep supplying them with rational alternatives of addressing their issues through the media and their affiliated religious organisation. We can also pray that God will open their hearts to the irrationality of their behaviour.Felix wrote in from the University of Ibadan
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