Nigeria’s international cooperation and strategic communications frameworks in the fight against terrorism

Abstract

The impact of international cooperation could be properly situated with the adoption of collective security by regional blocs and the African Union. This could also be seen in the strategic alliance formed in the Lake Chad Basin among Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameron, in stemming the tides of terrorism. It was against this background that this study examines the effect of international cooperation and strategic communication on the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. This study measures the Strategic communications framework with the target audience and counter-narratives. The study adopts an exploratory research design while content analysis of publicly available archive documents was employed for the analysis. Secondary data were generated via journal publications, the internet, the library, and other documented materials relevant to the study. The review of literature on the effect of international cooperation on the fight against terrorism reveals that international cooperation among countries will help in the fight against terrorism. The fight against terrorism and its causes is now viewed as a collective effort on the part of all members of the international community. The empirical literature also shows that the target audience which constitutes an integral part of strategic communication plays an important role in the fight against terrorism. It can be deduced from the reviewed literature that counter-narratives are effective in the fight against terrorism. It concludes that international cooperation, target audience, and counter-narratives have the potential to improve the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. It recommends that Nigeria should strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the sharing of best practices and information on terrorism, evaluating the efforts of other States, and better coordination with other countries in the fight against terrorism. Security agencies should work in collaboration with communities and as well as civil society, religious leaders, and community leaders, using credible messengers and a variety of media to dispel terrorist narratives.