The
hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has since the kidnap of over 200 girls in Chibok,
Borno State, Nigeria been a unifying force across the global market to get the
Nigerian government answering many questions it kept mum on, as well as having
the Federal Government living to its expectation of protecting the lives and
properties of its citizenries.
On
April 14, 2014, was the first bomb blast at Nyanya motor park located on the
outskirts of Abuja, which killed over 70 people, then later that night was the
inhumane abduction of Over 200 girls by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State,
though tens of these girls escaped, much more are still held captive might be
sold for ₦2,000.00, as noted by the Boko Haram leader.
With
the global market and internet space being the most instrumental mechanism to raising
eye brows and driving accountability by the Nigerian government to protecting
the lives of its citizenries, only God knows what would have been the case, in
terms of the Goodluck Jonathan’s response if the internet space was not a
global unifying force to putting government and many wrongs to right.
Having
closely analysed the happenings and information surrounding this national
outcry that has since gotten international, my conclusion is that this is an
incident with many questions and one answer.
The wrongs with
many questions:
Passiveness
of the Nigerian Military: As disclosed on CNN,
if the revelation by amnesty international that the Nigerian military were informed
4 hours prior to the kidnap is anything to go by, one only wonders why the
requested reinforcement by those on ground, 17 military personnel, was treated
with kid gloves. If this is indeed the case, then perhaps the words of Kashim
Shettima, the Borno State Governor, as reported on reuters.com
that “Boko Haram are better armed and are better motivated than our own
troops," could have accounted for the military bizarre unaccountability.
Three weeks for
government presence in Chibok:
With the damage done, what on earth would be the excuse for the Federal
Government taking three weeks to visit Chibok and its neighbouring environment?
Interestingly, it wasn’t the President that visited the scene but the service
chiefs and neither has the President visited nor met with the affected families.
The first lady of
Nigeria’s “offer of help”:
The mention of “help” in the meeting the first lady had with staff of the Government
Girls Secondary School makes one wonder if she thinks she is doing them a
favour.
I
really just don’t get why the word help is used, like “help” is an alternative
the affected parents needed to #BringBackOurGirls . She said “Now the first
lady is calling you, come I want to help you, come to find yar missing
child, will you keep quiet…”. In such, “Dia is God ohhh”.
Offer
of help is a NO, especially when she has failed to meet with the affected parents.
On the flip, she would have, with a blink of an eye, directly or indirectly commiserated
with the affected parents. About 2 weeks it took for her to publicly speak on
this issue which has indeed gone viral in the social media and traditional
media across the world, courtesy her acknowledgement of the “bloods sharing in
Borno and her tears” in the video clip.
The right with many
answers: the
strength of the social media has been a significant tool and the right to having the Nigerian
Government exude a proactive approach to finding the girls. Courtesy the protest
from top global entertainers, government officials and humane individuals
across all continents, the search for these girls could metamorphose to finally
putting an end to the menace by Boko Haram.
In
conclusion, “We should be clear this is just not a Nigerian issue but a global
issue, there are extreme Islamist around our world who are against education,
against progress, against equality and we would fight them and take them on wherever
they are” and "let us all pray
for their safe return. Let us hold their families in our hearts during this
very difficult time. And let us show just a fraction of their courage in
fighting to give every girl on this planet the education that is her birthright”,
as said by the United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron and the United States
of America First Lady, Michelle Obama.
God
bless Nigeria!!!
