I always look at these types of articles with a raised, skeptical eye. We all get that there is a historical contingency that explains how things came to be the way they are, and that there is a lot of blame on the West for shaping that contingency. That said, we're talking about abduction, rape and slavery on a mass scale. This isn't a run of the mill terror group, or a resistance/guerrilla force. This is cold blooded. It's always said that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, and normally, there's a lot of grey area there. That's not what we're talking about in this case. There's no way to blame the West for this specific act.
I agree; I think it would be inappropriate to lay all or even most of the blame on Western history, for Boko Haram's actions re. the kidnapping of Nigerian school girls. I posted this article primarily because I appreciated some of the historical context it gave, particularly in regards to the various iterations of Boko Haram like groups prior to its current form (i.e. the Yan Tatsine movement). I happened to have done a research paper on Yan Tatsine (a earlier iteration of Boko Haram) and this article echoed some of the academic papers I had read concerning the effects of the disruption of the social structure and network in northern Nigeria. I found it interesting to see how legacies of colonialism have shaped or influenced current economic and social structures, which often seem to remain in place due to poor governance etc. That being said, Nigeria isn't the first country to be colonized by a western power and from the few other sources I've read, (so of course, this is not the most well-founded opinion), there seems to be a lot more pressing issues on the ground such as Goodluck Jonathan's complete inability to lead effectively, ethnic group tensions (elections are coming up relatively soon), ineffective and often brutal police responses etc... So again I agree it is inappropriate to blame the West for this specific incident of kidnapping and Boko Haram's terrorizing of northern Nigeria, but I do find value in this article as an example of the consequences of never attempting to address the vestiges of colonialism which, along with many equally important factors, seem to create systemic instability.
I totally agree that it's a worthwhile read. I just disagree with the premise. I learned a lot though. The West deserves so much of the blame for Africa's endemic problems, but I think that it denigrated a bit when ALL the problems are blamed on the west. Boko Haram is a special case that needs to be dealt with by Africa and the west jointly. It wil be good for everyone, but especially the innocent victims here, those poor kidnapped little girls.