Women, Intelligence Gathering and Countering Violent Extremism in Nigeria: A Postcolonial Feminist Discourse

ABSTRACT Within the analytic purview of postcolonial feminist theory, this article investigates how women leverage their intelligence-gathering capabilities in Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) in Nigeria. Although P/CVE is widely perceived as an androcentric project, the threat posed by violent extremism to global peace and security has heightened the clamor for increased involvement of women in the formulation and implementation of peace and security policies in Africa. In 2000, this clamor gained international recognition and support following the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 which focuses on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). The resolution acknowledges the disproportionate impact of violent conflict on women and recognizes that women empowerment and gender equality are critical to the attainment of sustainable global peace and security. Notwithstanding, most Euro-American and other global frameworks against women victimization tend to accord the contributions of African women in P/CVE an epiphenomenal consideration. While academic discourses focus more closely on the victim-vanguard narratives of women in relation to terrorism and insurgency, the role of women in intelligence gathering for P/CVE has not received the needed attention in the literature. The universalizing posturing and influence of most global frameworks against women victimization hardly account for the role of African women, with their deep knowledge of their homes, families and communities, as invaluable resource for gathering actionable intelligence crucial for effective P/CVE.