Keterbatasan Pendidikan dan Kerentanan Remaja pada Fase Post-Compulsory Education: Analisis Rekrutmen Boko Haram di Nigeria

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the impact of the state’s structural failure in the education sector on the vulnerability of adolescents in Northern Nigeria to recruitment by Boko Haram. Using an explanatory qualitative method based on secondary data, this issue is analyzed through the theoretical frameworks of Structural Violence and Human Security. The findings reveal that high dropout rates during the post-compulsory education phase create a critical sense of insecurity. Although the government has sought to mitigate conflict through traditional state security approaches such as military operations and reintegration programs—these reactive measures have proven ineffective in addressing the root causes of the problem. The sudden cessation of educational protection demonstrates that the state has created conditions of institutional abandonment. This unaddressed vacuum has triggered multidimensional deprivation such as identity crises, social alienation, and economic frustration and contributed to exploitation by Boko Haram, which acts as a substitute provider of basic needs. This paralysis of the educational infrastructure ultimately constitutes a form of structural violence that actively fuels transnational security threats. Therefore, a paradigm shift in policy toward human security is urgently needed, particularly through the integration of vocational education to expand the safety net of education, the reformulation of affirmative post-conflict programs, and the enforcement of distributive justice.