PBS NewsHour quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on why the terrorist organization Boko Haram has kidnapped more than two hundred female students in Nigeria:
The previous recalculation was 20 years ago, before the telecommunications industry soared and before the advent of the multi-million-dollar “Nollywood” entertainment scene, said J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
Even with money flowing into the country, Nigeria still struggles with development and corruption — and the inability to protect its civilians, Pham said. Although Boko Haram’s call for strict Sharia law isn’t shared by the majority of Nigerians, its message that the government is corrupt and isn’t helping its citizens “resonates somewhat” with the population, he added.