U.S. President Barack Obama was among world leaders who condemned the attack. Obama said in a statement that “an attack on Nigerian and international public servants demonstrates the bankruptcy of the ideology” of the militants who carried out the attack.
Mike Zuokumor, police commissioner for the Abuja region, told journalists that a suicide bomber was behind the blast, which he said occurred when a car laden with explosives rammed into the building.
“A vehicle, loaded with explosives, drove against traffic, entered the exit gate, smashed it, got to the second gate, smashed it, went to the reception and detonated, and the man inside the vehicle died,” Zuokumor said.
Between 2011 and now, the security situation in our nation has deteriorated far beyond what previously prevailed. In retrospect, I wish I had distributed many more copies of the book, “WHAT TERRORISTS WANT: UNDERSTANDING THE ENEMY, CONTAINING THE THREAT” by Professor Louise Richardson, who was then the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, to the participants at the J.K. Randle International Security Summit:
Professor Dame Louise Richardson is president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews.
A native of Ireland, she studied history at Trinity College, Dublin, before gaining a PhD from Harvard University, where she spent twenty years on the faculty of the Harvard Government Department and later as Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She currently sits on the boards of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and numerous charities, including the Booker Prize Foundation.
A political scientist by training, she is recognised internationally as an expert on terrorism and counter-terrorism. Her book What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat (2006) is widely accepted as one of the most influential in the field.
Her awards include the Sumner Prize for work towards the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and St Andrews in Scotland; Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s College Belfast in Ireland; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in Russia; Notre Dame University in the USA; and the University of the West Indies.
She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Social Sciences in the United Kingdom, an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was made DBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.
After a seven-year term as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, she joined the Carnegie Corporation of New York as President in January 2023.
Louise Richardson is a member of the Booker Prize Foundation’s board of trustees.
This is the full breakdown of the way she teaches it at Harvard University:
Louise Richardson, an internationally recognised expert on international security who spent 20 years on the faculty at Harvard University’s Department of Government, structured her foundational teachings on political violence around a distinct, logical framework. Most famous for her definitive book What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, she views terrorists not as irrational lunatics but as rational political actors operating under specific tactical motivations.
The core definition of terrorism
Richardson emphasises a precise, strict definition to cut through emotional and political rhetoric:
“Terrorism, simply put, means deliberately and violently targeting civilians for political purposes.”
· Political Motivation: Without a political purpose, an act is a conventional crime, not terrorism.
· Targeting Non-Combatants: It is a tactic characterised by targeting civilians.
· Sub-State Actors: She focuses her primary framework on sub-state groups rather than sovereign states.
Applying her 3 Wants + 3 Needs to Boko Haram / ISWAP.
· The Three R’s (What Terrorists Want Short-Term)
· While terrorist organisations seek sweeping political changes in the long term, Richardson teaches that their immediate, near-term actions are driven by a “lethal triple cocktail” known as the Three R’s: Revenge, renown and reaction.
· Revenge: Retaliation against perceived injustices, military occupations, or humiliations suffered by their community.
· Renown: Gaining media coverage and public attention to elevate their cause out of obscurity.
· Reaction: Goading an adversary (usually a government) into overreacting. An excessive military response helps the terrorists by validating their narrative and driving new recruits into their arms.
The Three Short-Term “Wants” (The Three Rs)
These are the immediate, proximate desires that drive a group’s day-to-day tactical decisions and violence.
· Revenge: Terrorists usually seek vengeance for perceived historical humiliations, state violence, or systemic injustices inflicted upon their community.
· Application: When analysing an attack, look at who the target represents. Attacks are often calculated to avenge a specific event, like a government raid, military strike, or restrictive law.
· Renown: Terrorists desire publicity, global attention, and glory for their cause. An attack is a symbolic message meant to show strength and draw recruits.
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