Aslam KHAN, PhD.^

Abstract. Nigeria is presently in the limelight for ruthless violence and economic and political turmoil. The kidnapping of more than 200 Chibok girls, State sponsored terrorism, killing and large scale migration of the helpless citizens are few pointers to the fact. The emergence of Boko Haram as an existential threat and political use of religion and ethnicity are dragging Nigeria towards a failed state. The current Boko Haram has no clear objective and they kill and destabilize people without any bias of religion and ethnicity. The bombing and killing inside mosques and churches are obvious facts. The most effected outcome of this crisis is destabilization of educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities. Most of the educational institutions have been shut down and parents are having a great fear to send their loved ones to schools. Due to this, Northern Nigeria is becoming educationally and intellectually backward. The education is man making and society making, suffering to the extent where nobody can expect development, prosperity and most difficult one ‘peace’. The situation in Northern Nigeria looks worse than the Hobbessian State of nature and beyond Machiavellian quest for power, where human life and morality has no value. The paper will try to explore the existing realities of these phenomena critically and will try to suggest measures for viable peace in the highly volatile region.

Keywords: Threats, Peace, Terrorism, Boko Haram, Religion, Ethnicity and Killings