Soyinka, Kolade, Ezekwesili renew campaign for Chibok girls osundefender.org/?p=205847 Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade; the Convener of the #BringBackOurGirls, Oby Ezekwesili; publisher of the Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu and several other concerned individuals have called for fresh support towards efforts aimed at securing the freedom of the abducted Chibok girls. The renewed call came at the marking of the ninth month since the school girls were abducted by Boko Haram from Borno State’s border town. Ahead of the commemoration, which was observed on Wednesday, the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Soyinka, Kolade and other “elders” to seek advice on the way forward. The statesmen regretted the inability of the government to intervene on time and rescue the victims. Obasanjo, according to twitter messages, repeated his pessimism about their return, noting that the Federal Government missed the first 48 hours, which he considered very vital. Mrs. Ayo Obe, a Lagos-based legal practitioner who has spoken on the issue, said Obasanjo’s attitude was not encouraging, since he believes that the Federal Government is not doing anything about the situation. She said it was important for #BringBackOurGirls to seek the contributions of former presidents and those of other national leaders on the issue, since the government, which it thought would be moved by its determination, has not taken meaningful steps. But Soyinka, according to Obe’s tweets, said he didn’t want the group “to despair or lose hope. Your government may have failed you, but you are never abandoned by people.” Soyinka was quoted as saying, “The whole nation needs to be mobilised, not just the armed forces, but the citizenry as well, because the Boko Haram threat is existential. This is a statement I don’t often make, but it is important for us to boost and sustain the morale of the military. “We can never really have closure, because of the weight of guilt we should feel towards the Chibok girls. We must be practical. We will never see those girls again in the same form. But we will never abandon them.” Soyinka, who displayed a book entitled, “Return of the Children,”asked the group, “Is it a good omen for #BringBackOurGirls?” The respected professor added that “the sense of self-projection into the predicament of ordinary people is just totally missing” in the government. Kolade, according to tweets by Ms. Obe, said it was shocking that France had drawn overwhelming sympathy from the entire world when it was only Pope Francis that “felt something” for Nigeria. “If you’ve not yet achieved the return of the girls, don’t feel that it is a failure. The group can’t physically bring them back. If Chibok girls are in captivity, only someone with no imagination can be comfortable. It beats me that anyone would go to Unity Fountain to harass #BringBackOurGirls. To call that thinking ‘warped’ is too mild,” Kolade said. Dele Momodu also joined the statesmen to express his disappointment with the laidback attitude of the government and those charged with the responsibility of protecting lives. Amid cynicism, Ezekwesili said the girls must not be forgotten. She called on Nigerians from different walks of life to team up with her group to rescue the girls and raise the campaign against the wanton killing of innocent children and women in the north. The former Education Minister said she would stop at nothing to continue the campaign for the release of the girls. Displaying photographs of mourning parents, she said it was shameful that some people still dismissed the Chibok girls’ incident as a scam, “despite the obvious truth.” “Our cry shall not be in vain. We shall speak on,” she insisted. Though no day passes without the campaigners taking to Twitter, Facebook and other platforms to share their concern, #BringBackOurGirls may have lost social media significance, as politics now defines the contents. Even during the commemoration on Monday, not many Nigerians took to posted messages to show their disappointment. Ezekwesili had repeatedly rebuked Nigerians – public figures and commoners alike – for reducing an incident that has put the lives of 219 girls at risk to political discussion.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 10:47:01 +0000
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