219 Girls: Waiting Till Eternity? Today. Ninety days. Of anguish. Of hope. Of hopelessness. Of talk. Of nought. The Chibok abduction tragi-drama continues, with no clue whatsoever to when the curtain will fall and what the ending promises or portends. The first 90 days of it has been nerve-wracking. On the night of April 14-15, 2014, Boko Haram insurgents crept into the sleepy, hitherto obscure town of Chibok in Borno State, stormed the Government Secondary School (GSS) there and abducted more than 270 girls. About 50 girls have, however, so far escaped from the insurgents’ clutches and returned home. Chibok has since gained prominence and become virtually a daily news feast. It has also lost whatever little life the location of the GSS has gifted it with, as the inhabitants, whom the insurgents last month again threatened to attack, have been fleeing the town. Last month, Chibok indigenes expressed disappointment with the federal government over what they called federal government’s “inability to provide adequate security” for them. That exasperated feeling is being better experienced by the traumatised parents of the abducted girls. For them, every minute of the past three months has been nail-biting. After what many have condemned as the federal government’s initial lethargic reaction to the abduction, and even regrettable statements from some quarters doubting the abduction, government has eventually been taking military action that promised rescue and return of the remaining girls in activity. But hope, for the parents and the nation at large, has remained just that - hope. Perhaps, as some maintained, if the federal government had sprung strong military action immediately the Boko Haram insurgents struck and were receding into the forest, the nation wouldn’t be talking today about 90 days of failure in rescuing the girls, and 90 agonising days for their parents. The parents and the nation will remember that when, just like King Nero was cavorting when Rome began burning, President Goodluck Jonathan was in Kano State some 12 hours after the abduction dancing away at a political rally to welcome former governor of Kano State, now Minister of Education Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau who just then defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While it can be argued that the federal government was working silently to rescue the girls, as its aides have maintained, it took the efforts of a group of Nigerians to raise the issue to local and international fore and galvanise action. On April 23, an Abuja-based lawyer, Ibrahim M. Abdullahi tweeted a “Bring back our girls” call which former Vice President (Africa) of the World Bank Dr Oby Ezekwesili made in her speech at the opening ceremony for a UNESCO event honouring the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt as the 2014 World Book Capital City. Within minutes, the call began trending heavily, first in Nigeria, and later globally to become a social media campaign under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. The hashtag has tweeted more than one million times worldwide. The campaign has since been given practical vent; a social crusader and daughter of the late Dr Bala Usman, Hadiza Bala Usman has been co-ordinating and sustaining protests in Abuja to drive the federal government to be more aggressive in its efforts at rescuing the abducted girls from Boko Haram. In the lead of the protests has been Ezekwesili herself. Abroad, famous world leaders like President Barak Obama’s wife, Michele have also been doing public protests on #BringBackOurGirls. The protests in Abuja were not without some strange twists to them, as, once the Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police Joseph Mbu banned the protests, and on another occasion, some elements believed to be pro-government disrupted the rallies. Such incidents threw a slur on government’s commitment to the rescue efforts. The protesters have laid siege to Abuja, unyielding until the girls are rescued. That may not be any time soon, although the military boasted they have been able to locate where the girls are, US forces have joined in the search for the girls and other foreign governments like the British and Chinese have offered assistance. Apart from the commitment of troops to the cause by Nigeria, the federal government has also been voting huge funds to enhance military operations. But there are reservations about sincere spending of the funds, which some say are hampering successful execution. In an interview in May with Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Sarah Ferguson, Bala Usman declared, ‘’When we look at the expenditure, we look at the budget of the Nigerian security, we see N1 trillion in 2012, we see over ₦850 billion in 2013, we are conscious of the fact that these amounts of money are not translating into a direct security for the lives of Nigerians.” President Jonathan has admitted that the Federal Government has spared no resources in its efforts to rescue the girls. He also told Washington Post why he has been silent on the abduction saga. “I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by Nigeria’s military, police and investigators to find the girls kidnapped. I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness. “My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice.” Assuring words. But so far, that the huge spending the president admitted to has been barren, as specifically regards rescue and return of the girls. Ninety days after, the abducted girls remain in Boko Haram’s captivity.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 13:43:04 +0000
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