Barring another last-minute change of mind, President Goodluck Jonathan will today in Abuja meet with some selected parents of the abducted girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok and a few of the girls who escaped from their abductors. Incidentally, today makes it 99 days since the 276 female students were kidnapped from their school by members of the Boko Haram sect, although 57 of them had since found their way back home.
We hope the president will use the occasion to assure the traumatised parents of the Chibok girls and indeed all Nigerians that concerted efforts are being made not only for their rescue but also to ensure lasting security in the country. It is also important for the president to distance himself from the antics of people within his administration to criminalise the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group, comprising of Nigerians from all walks of life, religion and ethnicity, who had been holding a peaceful sit-out since April 30 this year to demand for the rescue of the abducted girls.
We agree with the spirit behind the BBOG group because the fear that the girls could easily be forgotten in the daily swirl of things is very real. The aim of the group has therefore been to remain at the Unity Fountain as a reminder that the girls are still in captivity. And to the extent that all they seek is the release of the girls from their abductors, their aspiration and that of the government is the same.
It is noteworthy that the group has succeeded in attracting worldwide attention to the plight of these young girls, compelling a unique humanitarian solidarity that is unprecedented in our nation’s history. Presidents, first ladies, film stars, sports men and women, governments and international organisations, religious leaders as well as so many ordinary people around the globe, have joined the campaign for the release of the Chibok girls. Along with this publicity, however, critical weaknesses and lapses on the part of the federal government in the rescue effort have been exposed, in a manner that has apparently irritated the authorities and placed them on the defensive.
Initially, the BBOG group was able to engage constructively with certain agencies of government, including the National Assembly, the National Security Adviser and representatives of the President. As time went on, however, the narrative changed. The executive began to question the demand to “bring back” the girls, on grounds that it sounded accusatory of the federal government. Since then, matters have continued to degenerate as the members of BBOG group have been castigated by the State Security Service (SSS) and accused, amongst other allegations, of being a franchise and having ulterior motives that are quite unrelated to the rescue of the school girls.
For a group that meets daily in the open, with the only item on their agenda being the Chibok girls, their families, their welfare and how to enhance the rescue effort, the SSS stigmatisation is most unfortunate. It is perhaps because Nigeria is coming from a long history of military rule that the authorities are finding it difficult to comprehend that in a democracy, citizens have the right and freedom of expression, to legitimately meet and associate with each other on any issue of concern, for as long as they wish. It is certainly healthy that Nigerian citizens should demand for accountability and good governance, irrespective of religious affiliations or ethnicity.
Therefore, we believe that the activities of the BBOG group can only strengthen our democracy and fortify our unity. As President Jonathan receives the parents of the abducted girls today, we ask him to see his goal as aligning with that of the BBOG group which essentially is to ensure that the Chibok girls are brought back home alive.
