THE IMPACT OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM ON DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION BETWEEN NIGERIA AND MOROCCO

Religious extremism poses as a threat to both the Nigerian and Moroccan countries. Its effects are widely felt by their gruesome attacks based on perceived ideologies. Both states have made efforts to counter their attacks often considered as terrorist and refuses to let their activities hinder development cooperation between them as proven by signing of bilateral agreements recently to enhance cooperation. This work examines the impact religious extremism plays on development cooperation between Nigeria and Morocco. The aim of the work is to analyse religious extremism in Nigeria and Morocco, discuss development cooperation between both countries and elaborate the impacts religious extremism plays on development cooperation of both countries. The work is based on review of existing literature and sources related to the topic combined with creative efforts. The work concludes that in as much as both countries have had experiences of attacks from religious extremist groups, this does not deter their development cooperation as partnerships are on-going between the countries. The work suggests that regional joint efforts, adopting a multidimensional approach towards counter-terrorism by state governments that goes beyond the security perspective, to include Soft Power which includes influencing and coercing through Education, training and retraining of teachers and guided schools' curriculum within the right ideology frameworks as well as building a strong socio-economic sector aimed at ensuring inclusive development.