When Boko Haram first captured global attention, many people—both inside Nigeria and abroad—struggled to understand how such brutality could emerge from within our own communities. The group’s violence felt shocking and senseless, as if it had appeared suddenly without warning. Yet for others who grew up in Northern Nigeria and were familiar with its history, the language of religious struggle and reform used by Boko Haram sounded disturbingly familiar, echoing older tensions that had shaped the region for generations.
It is this uneasy mix of shock and familiarity that Professor Moses E. Ochonu tackles in his powerful new book, Boko Haram: The Past of the Present Upheaval (University of California Press, 2026). The book does something many commentators have failed to do: it places Boko Haram firmly within the long history of Northern Nigeria, helping readers understand not only how the movement emerged but also why it resonated in some communities and was rejected in others.
My connection to this book is both intellectual and deeply personal. Moses and I belong to the same generation. We grew up in Northern Nigeria at roughly the same time, shaped by many of the same social and historical forces that he now writes about with such clarity. Our paths connected in graduate school, though at different institutions—he pursued his PhD in African history at the University of Michigan, while I was doing mine at Yale University. While my career eventually moved into development finance and private investment, Moses remained in academia, where he has gone on to become what I consider the leading historian of Northern Nigerian history of our generation.
“While these factors matter, Ochonu argues that they are only part of the story. To truly understand Boko Haram, he shows that we must look deeper into Northern Nigeria’s history—into earlier periods of religious reform, social unrest, and political upheaval that shaped how communities understand authority, faith, and resistance.”
That distinction is not given lightly. Today, he holds the prestigious Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in History at Vanderbilt University, one of the highest honours in the field. His earlier books—including Colonialism by Proxy: Hausa Imperial Agents and Middle Belt Consciousness in Nigeria and Africa in Fragments: Essays on Nigeria, Africa, and the Global African Diaspora—have already reshaped scholarly conversations about colonial governance, regional identity, and state formation in Nigeria. Beyond books, his essays and public interventions have helped policymakers, scholars, and general readers better understand the long-term historical forces shaping conflict and governance in Nigeria today.
We also had the opportunity to collaborate directly when he contributed a key chapter to a volume I co-edited on Africans. Investing in Africa, a project that sought to rethink the narrative of African capital formation and agency. Even in that context—far from insurgency studies—his historical precision and intellectual discipline stood out.
His new book on Boko Haram may be his most important contribution yet.
For years, many explanations of Boko Haram have focused on poverty, weak governance, or global jihadist networks. While these factors matter, Ochonu argues that they are only part of the story. To truly understand Boko Haram, he shows that we must look deeper into Northern Nigeria’s history—into earlier periods of religious reform, social unrest, and political upheaval that shaped how communities understand authority, faith, and resistance.
What makes this book especially valuable is its balance. Ochonu does not try to excuse Boko Haram’s violence. Nor does he treat it as an isolated or mysterious phenomenon. Instead, he carefully traces how the group’s ideas connect to earlier religious debates and movements, while also showing how Boko Haram broke sharply from established traditions. In many ways, the group drew strength from history even as it rejected many of the values that defined Northern Nigerian society.
This insight is crucial because misunderstanding history often leads to misunderstanding conflict. Over the years, I have worked in parts of Nigeria affected by insecurity, and one of the recurring lessons is that development efforts fail when they ignore historical realities. Projects designed without understanding local grievances, identities, and memories often miss their mark, no matter how well funded they are.
Ochonu’s book helps fill this gap. It reminds us that Boko Haram did not emerge from nowhere. Its rise was shaped by decades of social change, economic disruption, and political tension. By placing the insurgency within its historical context, he provides a clearer lens through which policymakers, analysts, and citizens alike can better understand the crisis.
This is not just an academic exercise. It is a necessary step toward building lasting solutions.
Nigeria has spent more than a decade fighting Boko Haram through military means. But military responses alone cannot address the deeper forces that sustain insurgencies. Lasting peace requires understanding—and understanding requires history.
That is what makes Boko Haram: The Past of the Present Upheaval such an important book. It offers readers something that has been missing from many public discussions: a clear, grounded explanation of how the past continues to shape the present.
For me personally, reading this book also carries a sense of pride. To see someone from the same generation, who shared similar formative years in Northern Nigeria and academic beginnings abroad, produce a work of such depth and relevance is deeply gratifying.
But beyond personal pride, this book matters because Nigeria needs it.
In a country where public debates often focus on immediate crises, history is sometimes treated as a luxury rather than a necessity. Ochonu reminds us that history is neither distant nor abstract. It is alive in our communities, in our conflicts, and in our search for peace.
And in understanding Boko Haram’s past, he gives us one of the most powerful tools we have for shaping Nigeria’s future.
The book will be available at all Roving Heights outlets across Nigeria.
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Dr Wiebe Boer, Chief Growth Officer, the JIPA Network & Editorial Advisory Board Member, BusinessDay
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