in the region often speak of “the great empire”.
A source of particular pride was the empire’s continued independence in the face of advances by a neighbouring caliphate founded by Usman Dan Fodio, a revered 19th-century Jihadist.
In carving out what was one of the largest states in West Africa, Dan Fodio conquered most of modern-day northern Nigeria and chunks of neighbouring states. His caliphate based in the city of Sokoto fell to British colonialists in 1903.
But Sokoto’s attempt to topple Kanem-Bornu was eventually repelled by the empire’s mostly Kanuri forces.
Some experts say this bitter history still strains relations between the Kanuri and the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups that dominate the rest of northern Nigeria.
But it also complicates efforts to understand the recent rhetoric used by Boko Haram.
A video message from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, believed to be Kanuri, released on February 17 included a celebratory reference to Dan Fodio.
Hiribarren and other academics said there is evidence of Shekau and the group’s late founder Mohammed Yusuf citing Kanem-Bornu as part of their ideological rejection of the Nigerian state. The precise record is unclear with respect to public messages, including Yusuf’s sermons which were widely distributed before his 2009 death and videos released by Shekau.
But most agree that some Boko Haram commanders have invoked the great Kanuri Islamic legacy in trying to attract or indoctrinate new fighters.
“It is a reappropriation of a glorious past,” said Hiribarren.
Yan St-Pierre, who heads the Modern Security Consulting Group, agreed that Boko Haram has used Kanem-Bornu to create “historical legitimacy”. But, he noted, the insurgency has demonstrated an “ideological devolution” since its founding in 2002 and this use of history probably has limited impact now.
The Islamist movement which began under Yusuf, partly drawing members from those frustrated with Nigeria’s woeful governance, has over the last five years morphed into a ruthless rebellion that deliberately targets defenceless civilians, including children.
Any claim by Shekau or his deputies to be fighting for the reclamation of Kanem-Bornu is also undermined by Boko Haram’s multiple assassination attempts against the empire’s living heir, Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, known as the Shehu of Borno, who is Nigeria’s number three Islamic cleric.
Cross-border attacks have little to do with empire restoration and more to do with revenge against the militaries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger who are now cooperating with Nigeria to crush the insurgency, St-Pierre said.