January 2024 Persecution Magazine

EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
The continent of Africa is currently pregnant with a massive youth
movement. Given the demographic outlook of African nations,
marketers will likely be targeting Africa more in the future.
Currently, people living on the continent of Africa make up 17.89%
of the world’s population. However, Africa keeps growing younger.
By 2050, more than 40% of the children in the world will be born
and living in Africa. Thus, Africa represents a disproportionate
opportunity for youth movements—particularly in those African
nations across the Sahel. Across Africa, 19 of the 20 “youngest”
nations in the world reside. And 14 of the 20 youngest nations are
located in the Sahel.
The fact that Africa is about to experience a global youth
movement is not in dispute. As noted in an earlier article, Africa
is the youngest continent; by 2050, it will be the only “youthful”
continent. Yet, what might be disputed is whether this impending
youth movement is a good thing. Is this growing African youth
movement good and desirable?
Maybe. It depends. If marketers in the U.S. accurately assess
the value of youth, then Africa is primed to succeed in the next
century. But what if the marketers are a little misguided or shortsighted?
What if the vitality of a movement isn’t determined by
youth but by something more critical than age?
THE YOUTH MOVEMENT’S CROSSROADS
Like a timid kid in a classroom of bullies, these questions want
to raise a hand to get the teacher’s attention. And like a good
teacher, Silvana Taska has noticed the questions. Writing a brief on
behalf of the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS),
Taska explains that Yemen had a unique opportunity for political
reform fueled by dozens of youth movements. As a result of this
mobilization of youth, Yemen’s revolution lasted longer than most
of the movements at the same time across the Middle East. Taska
points out the particular vulnerability of youth and, thus, youth
movements. The youth movement in Yemen—like other youth
movements—dissolved predictably in one of two directions.
Taska says, “Lack of employment and increasing poverty further
pushed youth activists to two opposite actions: demobilization or
taking up arms.”
Taska’s study is instructive for the coming youth movement across
Africa’s Sahel.
First, the existing political order doesn’t relinquish power easily.
Youth movements historically have dissolved and demobilized
into the existing political order. Political power brokers understand
the value of youth and, thus, absorb them into their own agendas,
repaying with a seat at the table or with the promise of having
a voice in the movement. Will the African youth movement
dissolve into the existing political order? What will that dissolution
produce?
The second direction in which youth movements dissolve is
more troubling—as youth are absorbed into violent extremist
movements. Given the recent trend of violence across the Sahel,
the coming youth movement may arrive with ominous overtones.
According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, militant
Islamist group-linked fatalities have reached an all-time high
earlier this year across the Sahel.
For the political opportunist, the coming youth movement offers
hope for the renewal and longevity of the movement. For the
militant extremist, the coming youth movement represents
the hope for new recruits. The current situation in Borno state,
Nigeria, is instructive on this point. Babagana Zulum, governor
of Borno state, recently made this startling remark: “We have to
stop the younger ones from being recruited into Boko Haram and
ISWAP; otherwise, in the near future, the entire Nigeria will be
wiped off the map.” In this instance, youth is a danger, not an
advantage.
Because of the vulnerability of those displaced persons in Borno
state, violent extremist groups prey upon young, hungry recruits.
These recruits aren’t necessarily hungry for violence. They’re
just hungry. Violence has produced extreme poverty for these
displaced Nigerians. In at least four areas of Borno state, poverty
has reached beyond the crisis stage to the IPC Phase 4 emergency
level. Youthful energy and the threat of starvation make for fruitful
extremist recruiting.
YOUTH, CONDITIONS, AND GOVERNANCE
What Zulum’s statement signifies for the future is that youth alone
is not enough to sustain a good movement. If any good movement
goes forward, it does so by youth and by the conditions necessary
for youth to thrive. What conditions allow youth to thrive?
Strong families, faith in the God who created and sustains all
things, access to private property, entrepreneurial opportunities,
education, jobs, and a predictable rule of law. Many of these
conditions are currently in flux in Nigeria and Borno state.
In Borno state, violence, poverty, corruption, and predation
dominate. Governor Zulum is leading an ambitious effort to get
control of the situation, but many are critical of his actions. He aims
to close the refugee camps in the area and move the internally
displaced residents back to their original villages. His efforts are
highly controversial. He maintains that the refugee centers create
dependency and predation—dependency on NGO’s supplying
food and other necessities. By predation, he means the predatory
recruiting by ISWAP and Boko Haram in the areas where refugees
are most vulnerable. Maybe Zulum’s strategy is too ambitious or
is moving too fast. His point is still one that should be heard. A
youth movement with the wrong conditions could actually hasten
the demise of Nigeria and other African nations.
Christians—particularly Christians in Nigeria—should continue to
have strong marriages, strong families, and strong churches in the
spirit of Christ’s command to “let the little children come and do
not forbid them; for such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew
19:14). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament affirm the
value of a Christian household, including children (Deuteronomy
6, Psalm 127, Ephesians 6). Christians have an opportunity and an
obligation to invest in families, children, and youth discipleship
strategies, which include youth leader development. While it
may seem that other political matters are more urgent, the
real existential crisis in Nigeria and across the Sahel might be
determining how to welcome a healthy youth movement. May
the Lord grant this movement to be an awakening rather than a
darkening, a revival rather than a repeat of the violence to the
poverty cycle.
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Persecution | JANUARY 2024