Am intrigued you find the motivation to be racial, rather than Ideological.
I give it to you that African nations have had a history of violence, but so has the religion.
Nigerian's did not bomb themselves over anything before the advent of Boko Haram, now it is almost a regular thing in the far North. Believe me when I say that no amount of Ethno-racial conflict could have caused that other than an in grained ideology.
Don't forget that it happens elsewhere outside African and even the Western nations
RE: Jihad Watch: Boko Haram Kills Aid Worker, Says Christian Girl to be Slave