Efficacy of counter-terrorism cooperation: A critical appraisal of Nigeria–United States counter-terrorism cooperation

Abstract

Nigeria has struggled to combat terrorism for over a decade despite its domestic strategies and multilateral cooperation with its contiguous neighbors and bilateral assistance from several superpowers, especially the United States. This has resulted in the death of many innocent people and the displacement of others. There is no doubt that alliance formation is considered a needed panacea for thwarting terrorism. Despite the cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, the growth of terrorism in Nigeria has not been reversed. However, the task of finding the answer to why Nigeria–US counter-terrorism cooperation has not achieved the desired objective in Nigeria remains an imperative for this article to grapple with. Thus, the study concludes that for Nigeria–US counter-terrorism cooperation to be efficacious, both countries need to deepen their bilateral engagements devoid of politicization of assistance and vested interests.