Has Systemic Grand Corruption Shaped Boko Haram’s Terrorist Landscape in Nigeria?

Research indicates a strong relationship between the systemic grand corruption in Nigeria and the ongoing onslaught by Boko Haram terrorist group. Both concepts currently shape and redefines the overall economic, political and social landscape of Nigeria as they no doubt impact adversely on the lives and human rights of the people. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks on Resource Curse, Captured State and Frustration-Aggression theories, this paper offers a rigorous scrutiny of the presumed relationship between endemic grand corruption and Boko Haram’s terrorist threats. The paper achieves this by the qualitative content analysis and evaluation of some relevant secondary data. It argues that the systemic grand corruption in Nigeria evidenced by weak institutions has sustained Boko Haram terrorism. It contends that the emergence of the regional military coalition and further global procurement of advanced military hardware may not eradicate Boko Haram’s threat in the absence of strong political and national will to tackle grand corruption. The paper recommends robust anti-corruption intervention particularly in the allocation and disbursement of the military budget and other public expenditures as well as eradication of mass poverty through the realization of Socio-economic rights.