ABSTRACT
Many analyses of Boko Haram oscillate between two pitfalls: on one hand, the theory of irrationality, which focuses on the group's brutality and its religious fanaticism, and on the other hand, the conspiracy theory that sees in the sect a well-organized, highly structured group that was planted in Nigeria by al-Qaeda or Daesh. In the first case, the insurgency is reduced to its common law criminal dimension. Boko Haram constitutes a gang of furious madmen, and its combatants kill simply for the pleasure of killing. Today, Boko Haram does not just result from the globalization of Islam or a clash of civilizations. First, culture shock dates, above all, from the arrival of the colonial master in a region that was already open to the world via the Trans-Saharan trade. From this point of view, Boko Haram is also the product of local history, as shown by its rejection of the British colonial education system.
