CHIBOK, 100 DISCONCERTING DAYS AFTER...(Please Share) By The Edtorial Board, New Telegraph, 23-07-14 It is highly disconcerting that a hundred days after the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, their rescue has remained an illusion. Within this period, New Telegraph has thrice editorialized on the issue. Unfortunately, nothing has changed beyond glib pronouncements by government about how it would leave no stone unturned in its effort to bring the girls. What seems more important for the Jonathan administration is re-election in February 2015, and it is an agenda it is pursuing with utmost overt and covert zeal. Thus, everything is seen only through this perspective while the fate of the 219 abducted girls has obviously become more of an irritant than a cause for genuine humanitarian and paternal concern. Two recent events point to the apparent lack of compassion on the part of the country’s leadership. First, when Malala Yousafzai visited in solidarity with the Chibok girls and the Bring Back Our Girls advocates, it was almost hijacked by the administration’s officials and turned into a photo opportunity for themselves and, especially the President. Related to that was the near coercive manner in which some of the escapees and victims parents were to meet the President who, for 90 days had ignored every advice to visit the Chibok community. Yet capitalising on that visit to Abuja on the platform of the #Bring- BackOurGirls campaigners, the same group that has been consistently harassed for demanding that the administration should do everything possible to rescue the girls, the President had no qualms asking for a meeting with the visitors from Chibok. The attitude of the Presidency after the botched meeting showed that the concern was more for political mileage than empathy. And yet it is not part of the African culture that those who are traumatized in one way or another, are the ones to visit those who would want to commiserate with them. Sadly, the administration failed to grasp the underlying message of Malala’s visit to the country of the victims on her birthday, which was that the freedom of the girls meant so much to her that she was trading the gaiety of her birthday celebrations for a somber campaign for the rescue of those long-suffering schoolgirls. The country should feel diminished that these girls, for whatever reasons, are still in captivity100 days after they were abducted and disconnected from the rest of the world. Government has failed these young girls and seems to be neglecting its responsibility to the people as insecurity steadily heightens. The glib reassurances that the girls would be rescued and released are meaningless against the background of intangible operational information, which should be a source of hope in the operation and confidence in the administration. The situation increasingly points to the failure of upholding a basic requisite of the constitution, and it is necessary for wellmeaning Nigerians to critically take note of this breach. The time has come for us to start placing premium value on human life and sacrifice personal, political and regional sentiments and understand that among these abducted girls could be the best medical doctors, engineers, architects, economists, accountants, professors, managers, leaders, senators, judges, pastors, entrepreneurs, mothers and career women of tomorrow. The seeming politicisation of their plight should stop forthwith. For, it amounts only to an unrewarding gyration that leads nowhere. We acknowledge that by its nature, the situation has assumed high-level security and intelligence dimension. But only results, not inexplicit reassurances are celebrated and rewarded. Whatever anybody is doing or saying will only make meaning when the girls come home and there is closure for everyone. This needs to be achieved when there is still some human value to salvage. We must not forget that there is much sense in that maxim, which states that injury to one is injury to all. Part of the essence of our religious faiths is the belief in being our brother’s keeper. As noted in our editorial to mark day 50 of the abduction that has become an open sore for the country: “Government must decide to be more coherent and focused in the rescue of the girls. The recent decision by the Obama administration to negotiate with the Talibans for the release of an American soldier shows that every government reacts to a situation with the pragmatism that it deserves, even if it runs counter to an established position.” We resolutely stand with all people of goodwill, within and outside Nigeria, and demand that our girls be brought back home, to breathe the air of freedom again and join in nation-building. newtelegraphonline/chibok-100-disconcerting-days-after/
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 05:49:55 +0000
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