Chibok Girls
May 19th, 2014 by admin
Tapping into the global support for the release of the Chibok girls is something I have wanted to do for some time particularly after Michelle Obama sent out a picture of herself holding a hand-written sign that was retweeted 46,000 times. Personally, it wasn’t that I had no empathy towards the girls that had been stolen, it was seemly an attitude that has pervaded our entire system for so long. It did not affect me. How wrong I was. It affected me as a sister of a mother, an aunt, cousin, daughter, niece and of course as a woman in Nigeria. Above all, majority of the girls captured were Christian girls writing their final exams. They were simply girls trying to get an education in a difficult place that has recently gained both local and international attention.
Chibok is a remote nondescript community that has been under siege for at least five years by Boko Haram. It is now too dangerous that President Goodluck Jonathan recently cancelled his planned visit there. The President in recent times has spoken against the festering violence and atrocities committed against the nation by the extremist group, Boko Haram, He told the insurgent group to count their days. The speech was inspiring and to say the least it put some energy into the growing support for BringbackOurGirls but if truth be told are these enough So, let’s first understand how much these girls are worth, how long will they be in harm’s way? How long are we going to stand aside and allow the militants dictate to us?
As much as the government has been criticized for its initial non charlant reaction to the abduction of the girls, what is more important is how we have allowed the world to make a case for our stolen girls. This action alone speaks volumes. It demonstrates that empathy invokes action. The real question is where we go from here with the International community pledging total support and commitment to finding the girls. I cannot but imagine the agony of their parents and relatives who are not sure what is happening to their precious children. It is heartbreaking to imagine that the girls may be raped, turned into sex slaves or child brides or trafficked or killed. The very act of these girls trying to get an education in a difficult place was a wakeup call that Nigeria had a real problem. A problem that resonated with the One of the celebrities endorsing “Bring back our girls” is Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who stood up to Islamists who wanted to close her school, too, who was shot in the head. “I believe we are all like a family” Malala has said, calling the Nigerian girls her sisters.
When we get in the habit of thinking of other people as related to us, we’re more likely to be moved by their plight. Imagine this was happening to your daughter, God forbid. How would you feel? What would you do?
However this recent action will haunt Nigeria because we now at the mercy of foreign troops who are currently in control of our security. This intervention will again determine the route Nigeria will take from now. It is the courage of the two hundred plus girls that called to action a chain of events that I am eager to watch and wonder how it will play out.
If truth be told, we are all to blame from the President, the sum of all we are, who initially acted like nothing had gone wrong in his country to the policy makers who have the opportunity to be heard but consistently do nothing and of course you and I who look at our leaders and turn the other cheek because we are not yet affected. How long this will continue, time will tell. In any case, if we continue to look the other way, the stolen girls will not go away. “You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope” so for these girls where ever they have been held captive, things must change, not just for those girls who struggle in difficult situations but for those of us who simply strung our shoulders and say it’s not me. From today, there are no options.
The truth is there is real evil in the world and honestly it is time we make an effort of caring.
The militants watched the world react to the stolen girls and responded by watching and laughing. They silently watch our moves and laugh because they understand what they are dealing with,they understand us, something we are yet to grasp. The kidnapped girls are just a path to achieving their goal. The quest to plunge Nigeria into darkness. I repeat, what happens if our worst fears concerning these girls play out? What happens if they are not found? What happens if….the questions are endless?
The fact is we will not allow them to snatch another 250 girls; we will not allow them to kill our children. So, if this is the last thing we do, we are setting aside the now popular slogan BringBackOurGirls and going all out to get our girls. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your actions.