“There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time & energy to help others without expecting anything in return.”
– Nelson Mandela
On the night of April 14, 2014, members of the notorious Boko Haram group abducted some 276 girls from their dormitories at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok. Last Friday 14th of April, marked three years school girls were criminally abducted from their school of learning by Boko Haram terrorists. 57 escaped, 219 were missing until some, 21 were “released”. Up to date, as many as 195 girls are still missing. As many as 17 of their parents have reportedly lost their lives as a result of the trauma and many are still daily agonizing.
While the search for the remaining girls continues, we must salute the members and leadership of #Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) as well as entire global solidarity movement for keeping the memory of the missing school girls alive. The point cannot be overstated, missing girls or missing persons are possible future workers, doctors, nurses, mothers, future legislators, future governors, Presidents not just statistics. The received wisdom is even more emphatic on the special importance of girls; It says if you educate a girl child, you educate a whole community. Those who abduct girls out of school have definitely criminally abducted communities of future doctors, nurses and leaders. We must therefore join forces with the forces of progress and development worldwide for the liberation of our beloved girls of Chibok and all persons in captivity.
An injury to one of these young female teenagers is an injury to all of us. We must further commend the pressure through mass actions and protests by civil society organizations to ensure the release of the remaining abducted school girls since their abduction three years ago. President Buhari has commendably shown better sensitivity to the global mass campaign for the release of the girls, compared to its predecessor which criminally ruled in denial of the abduction. But it’s not yet over until the last girl is rescued. After Almighty God, governments all over the world are established to offer welfare and security to their respective citizens. Security of lives and properties of citizens is the primary responsibility of government under the 1999 Constitution.
We acknowledge the commendable efforts of President Buhari administration to smash the dens of the Boko Haram terrorists. But it is not yet over until all the abducted Chibok school girls are brought back safe and alive and the perpetrators of the heinous crime are brought to book. Government must therefore intensify effort to ensure the release of the abducted Chibok girls without further delay. However the war against terror in Nigeria and anywhere should not be the war to reclaim territories but to regain and restore lives in this case rescue the Chibok girls to return to their homes and schools. At the second commemoration of the abduction, last year the co-convener of the great campaign for the release of the girls OBIAGELI (OBY) EZEKWESILI made some remarks worthy of being repeated to further motivate all to keep the campaign alive. She noted that “In today’s world of multiple threats, security has rightly been expanded beyond the militaristic sense of the word to the new concept of human security. A Secure society is therefore one in which national security is a composite of elements that in the past where treated in silos and never found deliberate convergence. For many countries, any talk about security now includes not just militarily but also of the nation’s values, interests and the freedom of its citizens across the dimensions of politics, economy and society. Nigeria is a good example of how only such expanded definition of security can help defeat terrorism and rebuild lives and communities.
At the heart of the rebuilding is education which today is endangered by the savagery of the forces of terrorism to whom education is abominable. We cannot however allow these forces of darkness to redefine our civilization for it is one which appreciates the all encompassing role that education places in building any modern society.” She went further to add that “Nigeria has in the last decade especially, been grappling with multi-dimensional threats that have attained existential proportion. The severity of the effects of the destabilizing forces have created worries about the long term sustainability of the nation of diverse people, cultures, ethnicities, religions, geographies, endowments and possibilities. At the heart of resetting the button is to prioritize the education and empowerment of our girls. A girl child soon becomes a women and where women go, a nation goes. When we secure our girls and women, we secure our future. Indeed, our girls are our future! Nigeria must become a girl child empowering nation if the trajectory and outcomes of our development process is to deliver the opposite of past and current dismal standards”.
Issa Aremu mni
