Content analysis is a technique for gathering and analyzing the content of text in various forms. The content refers to words, meanings, pictures, symbols, ideas, themes, or any message that can be communicated. The text is anything written, visual, or spoken that serves as a medium for communication. It includes books, newspaper or magazine articles, advertisements, speeches, official documents, films or videotapes, musical/song lyrics, photographs, articles of clothing, or works of art (Neuman, 2006). For example, Carulo (1989) studied national anthems.
Source Message Channel Receiver
Content Analysis
Transmission
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Also, content analysis goes back nearly a century and is used in many fields;
literature, history, journalism, political science, education, psychology, and so on. At the first meeting of the German Sociological Society, in 1910, Max Weber suggested using it to study newspapers (Neuman, 2006).
Furthermore, content analysis integrates both data collection method and analytical technique as a research design to measure the occurrence of some identifiable element in a complete text or set of messages (Keyton, 2006, p. 233). It allows the study of recorded human communications, such as books, magazines, web pages, poems, newspapers, songs and paintings among others and allows for the transforming of raw data into a standardized form (a process referred to as coding) to investigate manifest or latent meanings. The first are the visible surface content, while the latter the underlying meanings (Babbie, 2013, pp. 295-301).
Weaver (2007, p. 144) explains that the term “frame” can be applied to many different aspects and types of messages. But Gunter (2000, p. 9) subscribes to the need to provide interpretations, which are imperative for accurate description and explanation of the significance of communications in all contexts.
This study acknowledged that every research design has its strengths and weaknesses. Hence, content analysis as a research design can only be used to study recorded communications despite its economy of both time and money, as against other designs like survey. However, Babbie (2013, pp. 306-307) notes that content analysis allows the researcher to revisit recorded human communication in an unobtrusive manner. These corroborate the strong argument put forward for content analysis, that is, its amenability to high validity and reliability in empirical research.
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The research design for this study shall be the qualitative technique. The qualitative method is chosen because the study is concerned with the in-depth understanding of the impact of Terrorism on Trade in North-East Nigeria. This is due to the fact that the study deals with a phenomenon which cannot be broken down to numerical variables and numbers. As such, the researcher found it imperative to adopt the qualitative technique. Microsoft Excel was used to answer research questions 1 and 2 for easy presentation of some data on pie charts and line graphs to establish some facts which the researcher will arrive at in answering the questions.
4.4 Data Collection
The study has employed the secondary and tertiary data for analysis. The secondary data are those collected by the government or organizations but not yet processed. Meanwhile, tertiary data are those already collected and analyzed for another study (Blaikie, 2003), which most certainly was found useful for this study.
4.4.1 Secondary Data
The secondary data include documents from the Nigerian government such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria. The agency is responsible for the collection of various taxes and revenues for the Nigerian government at various levels. Also relevant documents from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other relevant government agencies would be used for this study.
In this phase of data collection, the researcher having gone through several online archives of these relevant agencies mentioned earlier, the researcher travelled back to Nigeria (with an introduction letter from his supervisor) and visited libraries
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of the government agencies concerned and met with officials discussed ways of getting more data to suit the study at hand.
Thus, a set of data collected at the office of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria, an office which is responsible for the collection of all government revenues, was used to portray the trend of the North-East revenues from 2009-2015 using line graphs, so as to show case the trend of the revenue vis-à-vis the trend of attacks within the same period.
The FIRS office is located at the Nigerian capital city of Abuja, where the researcher went in person with an official introduction letter from his supervisor, and after going through printed copies, online archives and other relevant materials, found out that revenues for the country were based on states (as Nigeria has 36 states) and had statistical labels attached to them, which needs to be simplified for easier imputation into Microsoft Excel. So the researcher approached the data analyst of FIRS who simplified the data (just for the North-Eastern [states]) to enable for a clearer comprehension of the data, later sent as an email attachment.
The attachment could be found in the appendices section as Appendix A. It allowed for a simplified and clear imputation of values in Microsoft Excel to arrive at the said line graphs in the data analysis section.
Next, the NEMA office is in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria and the researcher went in person and was able to access their library with a duly signed official introduction letter from his supervisor, stating that he is undergoing a data collection phase of his study. The researcher was able to get current materials for his study, among them are Annual bulletins and other current printed journals and magazines which show case the various attacks (by Boko Haram in the NE) which took place
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within the period under review for the study. All these attacks were presented using a pie chart (as nature of attacks), together with percentages and a line graph (for the number of attacks).
The NBS office in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria was another office (library) visited by the researcher and useful materials with relevant insight on the North-East and Boko Haram activities were retrieved by the researcher which helped him in harmonizing and articulating such data to arrive at comprehensive outcomes in the data analysis phase of the study.
4.4.2 Tertiary Data
The tertiary data are data from renowned peer-reviewed academic journals, textbooks, collaborative research reports on the Boko Haram and Terrorism, and also documents from civil societies in Nigeria. The opportunity derived from the tertiary data will enhance the researchers’ ability to understand other peoples’ views, comments and opinions on the impacts caused by the Boko Haram and terrorism to the Nigerian State. As such, these ideas and opinions will form the basis for conceptual analysis.
4.5 Data Analysis
Data Analysis is the process which involves processing data collected in such a manner that it answers the research questions (Blaikie, 2003). As such, the researcher aims to present the various data collected to enable him to analyze them, so as to reach a logical conclusion.
4.6 Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis is the reflexive process of identifying themes (Bouma & Atkinson in Keyton, 2006, p. 290) to generate multiple plausible
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contextual interpretations. It is stated that the process involves two distinct steps;
analysis and interpretation. The former requires labeling and breaking down raw data to find patterns, themes, concepts and propositions, while the latter is making sense of or giving meaning to those patterns, themes, concepts and propositions (Keyton, 2006, pp. 290-291).
Finally, this chapter was able to explain the methodology for this research and has connected it to the next phase of the research, which is the data analysis and findings section, in which the various data collected by the researcher was analyzed to arrive at the results for this research.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 5.1 Introduction
Boko Haram as the name implies, is a combination of two words from Hausa and Arabic languages. It signifies that western education that came to Nigeria through colonial domination is forbidden. According to the sect’s ideology, the nation shall be Islamized as the current system is contaminated. To achieve this goal, revolution must be on the move. Therefore, the group embarks on insurgent activities as the only alternative to make its ambition realistic. This, in a more stylish form, accelerates the strength of the sect in an ever-unexpected fashion.
Consequently, the advent of these insurgent activities had caused and is still causing a great loss to the economy and social setting of the Nigerian polity (Achumba, Ighomereho, & Akpor-Robaro, 2013). Some researches carried out have identified unemployment among the teeming youth, as well as illiteracy and poverty as responsible factors for supporting the insurgents’ movements (Azahalu, Akwara, John, Morufu & Joseph 2013). Others, as scholars argue include law-enforcement agencies deep in corruption and inadequacies vis-à-vis police personnel and policing strategies (Idris, 2013; Smith, 2007). Gofwen (2004) argued that, violence such as those having ethno-religious sentiments affect the nation-building process. Recent studies indicate that criminal gang-members are largely the youth born out of misfortune due to unemployment/poverty (Akande & Okuwa, 2009).
Affirming the argument, members of the insurgent group are found within the tender ages of youth. This gives the insurgents more confidence and empowered spirit in the context of their struggle. Along this line, the group gains momentum to supersede the government’s strength (Eme & Ibietan, 2012). More evidently, the
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year 2014 witnessed a territorial secession by the Boko Haram sect in three North-Eastern states. This is a failure of the Nigerian government and a success to the insurgency (Human Rights Watch, 2015).
Therefore, in the light of all these, the research study presents its data analysis which will enable readers to have a clear-cut understanding of how each research question is answered and discussed using the results of the various data collected and analyzed.
5.2 Economic Consequences of Boko Haram Terrorist Activities on Trade in Nigeria
According to Oladimeji & Oresanwo (2014), a question that needed to be asked on this is, ‘Can incentives to attack trade and other businesses increase the activities of terrorists’? As it could be observed, terrorists are rational actors because they want to achieve their stated goal and objectives as efficiently as possible. The specific goals of a terrorist group may appear outlandish and difficult to appreciate by outside observers, but terrorists, nevertheless, will endeavour to reach these goals as effectively as they can. They strive to achieve a maximum effect through the actions chosen. Empirical research has convincingly established that terrorists would indeed opt for those kinds of actions from which they expect the highest benefit–cost ratio. If, for instance, the police and other security services (Immigration, Customs, State Security Services etc.) would make some kind of terrorist act more difficult to accomplish, the terrorists would quickly shift to a different attack mode. Terrorists being the rational actors, so it is necessary to consider the benefit–cost relationships of various strategies from the point of view of the terrorists.
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It could be seen vividly that in recent years, Boko Haram terrorists have shown new patterns, shifting increasingly from the police and military targets to civilian targets (i.e. hostage-taking, kidnapping and other forms of recruitments), including trade and business activities. Recent terrorist attacks in Nigeria affected both the national and the international economy. The economic consequences can be largely broken down into short-term direct effects; medium-term confidence effects and longer term productivity effects.
The direct economic effects of terrorism include the destruction of life and properties, responses to the emergency, restoration of the systems and the infrastructure affected and the provision of temporary living assistance, are most pronounced in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and thus, matter more in the short run. Direct economic costs are likely to be proportionate to the intensity of the attacks and the size and the characteristics of the economy affected. Major attacks in Abuja, Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, and Yobe states of Nigeria by the Boko Haram sect have caused major activity disruptions, especially the Abuja bomb blast that happened in April, 2014 and the abduction of over two hundred (200) secondary school girls in Chibok (a local community) of Borno state although, the direct economic damage was relatively small in relation to the size of the economy. But the cost of terrorist attacks and insecurity in Nigeria has slowed down trade activities, particularly in the North-East region and even the import/export trade activities between Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states that are sharing boundaries with the neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republics.
This has caused the states and the country to experience a decline in revenue and other forms of taxes, which were obtained previously as a result of trade and other business activities in that region (Oladimeji & Oresanwo, 2014).
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The indirect negative implications of the Boko Haram terrorists have the potential to affect the economy in the medium term, by undermining consumer and investor confidence. The activities of terror attacks can reduce the incentives to spend as opposed to save, which may lead to a reduction in the investment in the economy and this will have a multiplier effect on the economic development of the entire country through normal business cycle and trade channels. Falling investor confidence may trigger a generalized drop in asset prices and a reduction in quality that increases the borrowing costs for riskier borrowers (IMF, 2001b).
Figure 5.1 Portrays how terror attacks affect the economy of Nigeria Adopted from: Oladimeji and Oresanwo (2014).
From figure 5.1 above, the influence of terrorism on the economy which portrays how Boko Haram terrorists attack brings about a drop in confidence and it has a direct impact on trade, businesses, investments, public spending, consumption, import / export etc. All of which have a significant effect on the gross domestic
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product (GDP) of Nigeria in the long run. This is due to the negative decline in trade activities, which often leads to low income taxes and other government revenues.
5.3 Boko Haram Terrorists and Their Renewed Forms of Attacks in Recent Years
The group employs various methods such as assassination of key individuals, attacks on police and UN headquarters in Nigeria’s capital city (Abuja), bank robberies, attacks on military convoys, roadside bombings and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The group also uses suicide bombers to carry out attacks (Aghedo and Osumah, 2013).The US has also declared the insurgent group as terrorists in 2013. Boko Haram selects its targets in urban areas, but relies on local support and collaboration to carry out attacks (Zenn, 2012).
However, in a recent study by the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), it has said that Boko Haram’s use of child bombers has increased over the last year, with one in five suicide attacks now done by children. In a report titled, Beyond Chibok, UNICEF (2016b) analyzed how boys who were abducted and recruited into Boko Haram’s ranks were forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty, while girls were exposed to severe abuse including sexual violence and forced marriage to fighters.
The UN report was released as Nigeria approaches the second anniversary of the kidnapping by Boko Haram of more than 200 girls from their boarding school in Chibok. UNICEF (2016b) said that the girls, who are often drugged, were behind three-quarters of such attacks committed by the militant Islamist group in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad. There has been an 11-fold increase with four attacks in 2014,
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compared to 44 the next year, including January 2016, the report said, adding that the change in tactics reflected the loss of territory by the terrorist group.
Furthermore, the report also said up to 1.3 million children have been forced out from their homes across Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger. UNICEF (2016a) said that a 17-year-old girl who was abducted and is living with her baby in a camp at Maiduguri told the UN agency that she refused to marry a terrorist member despite facing death threats. The girl whom was interviewed on anonymity revealed her ordeals as, “Then they came for me at night. They kept me locked in a house for over a month and told me: ‘Whether you like it or not, we have already married you,” she narrated.
It has been observed over the past year, that the estimated number of bomb attacks in North-Eastern Nigeria and neighbouring countries has increased sharply.
The proportion of attacks involving boys and girls is also on the rise, with children as young as eight being forced to commit such acts. The use of children, especially girls, as suicide bombers have become one of the defining, and alarming features of the conflict (UNICEF, 2016b).
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Figure 5.2 Above Portrays the Various Suicide Attacks Between Jan., 2014 – Feb. 2016
Source: UNICEF (2016b).
5.4 Abductions and Suicide Bombings
On 14 April 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted in the town of Chibok in North-Eastern Nigeria. The world was shocked; this led to the formation of a movement known as #BringBackOurGirls in Nigeria as a global movement. The movement started demanding their return, with serious pressures on the government of Nigeria to rescue them. Since then, at least 1.3 million children have been uprooted by Boko Haram violence across four countries in the Lake Chad region (Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria).Scores have been separated from their families and subjected to exploitation, abuse and recruitment by armed groups. Some have even been used to carry out suicide bombings. Yet, their stories are barely told.
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However, UNICEF (2016b) said that Boko Haram insurgency has triggered the displacement of 2.3 million people since May 2013. In just one year, the number of displaced children has increased by over 60 per cent, from 800,000 to 1.3 million children. This is one of the fastest growing displacement crises in Africa.
This complex emergency is first and foremost a crisis of children’s care and protection. In North-Eastern Nigeria and increasingly in neighbouring countries, children are killed, maimed, abducted and recruited by armed groups. They are exposed to sexual violence, schools are attacked and humanitarian access is limited.
Hit-and-run attacks and suicide bombings are depriving people of essential services, destroying vital infrastructure and sowing fear. In North-Eastern Nigeria, about 90 per cent of displaced families are sheltered by some of the world’s poorest communities, placing additional strain on already limited resources. Boys are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls are exposed to severe abuse including sexual violence and forced marriage to fighters. Some are also used to carry or detonate bombs (UNICEF, 2016b).
5.5 Data Analysis on the Research Questions
5.5.1 Research question 1: What are the terrorist activities faced by investors in the North-East region?
The major attacks are categorized into; Gun, Bomb and Kidnapping attacks respectively. The statistics of these attacks which was earlier presented in table 2.2 (in chapter 2 page 32) is shown in a pie chart below.
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Figure 5.3 Portrays terrorists activities by Boko Haram
As portrayed in the pie chart above, the highest number of attacks by the insurgent group is by gun attacks which is recorded at 64% and is followed by bomb attacks which is recorded at 35% and finally, kidnapping which is recorded at 1% of the total attacks carried out between the periods of July, 2009 and August, 2015.
However, according to Frustration-Aggression theory when an individual or
However, according to Frustration-Aggression theory when an individual or