According to the report from the Sun on Sunday, November 2, 2025, Professor Yusufu Turaki, a respected elder statesman, has traced the evolution of Islamic extremism in northern Nigeria, linking it to broader political and religious agendas.
In his historical analysis, Professor Turaki noted that following the implementation of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, twelve northern states adopted full Sharia law. However, he pointed out that agitation for comprehensive Islamic legal systems began much earlier.
The professor outlined a timeline of militant Islamic movements in the region, starting with the Maitatsine uprisings in Kano during the early 1980s. He chronicled subsequent developments including what he termed the Taliban movement in Yobe State and the emergence of Boko Haram’s jihadist insurgency in Borno State in 2009.
Turaki also referenced more recent security challenges, including the resurgence of Fulani militias, widespread banditry, and kidnapping networks. According to his assessment, these various groups represent different manifestations of Islamic militant organizations.
The academic offered a controversial conclusion, asserting that these diverse movements function as coordinated fronts serving a singular purpose—advancing what he characterized as Fulani Muslim interests across the region.
This analysis presents a contentious perspective on the complex security situation in northern Nigeria, attributing various insurgent activities to a unified ethnic and religious agenda.
He said, “Twelve Muslim northern states created full Sharia after the implementation of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution. But serious calls for full Sharia started with the Maitatsine riots in Kano in the early 1980s, the Taliban revolution of Yobe State, the Boko Haram Jihadism of Borno State, 2009, the revived Fulanisation and Islamisation of the Fulani militias and jihadists, the bandits and kidnappers, etc. All these are various Islamic groups turned out practically as Muslim war-fronts created mainly to serve the interest, mainly and principally of the Muslim Fulani.” View, More,
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