Chibok Girls: One Year In Memory, Will they Ever be found?

Today makes it year since 234 or more girls were taken from Chibok. After one year, I do not know how these girls are doing, what effect they will have on us by the time they return. It has been a painful long year. We hope they are safe and good where ever they are.
To celebrate their one year, I am re-publishing this piece I wrote six months ago on the 14th of October 2014. It is a reminder of how long it has been. Read the piece below....
I stood in-front of a wooden bar and behind me was a deep dark night. I could not move forward because the bars obstructed the way, neither could I move backward because of the fear of what I may find. I clasped my hand to the bar and peered through the spaces between them in a bid to see through the thick darkness but, I saw nothing. All I could feel was mosquitoes’ bites.

Suddenly, she grabbed my hands from the other side of the wooden bar. I tried to break free from the stranger but she said to me “when are they coming for us, when are they coming to take us home” She spoke in a petrified tone.

Shivers of fear ran through my bones as I mumbled, “Who are you?’’ To which she replied, ‘’it is Ruth, the girl taken from Chibok, when are they coming to take us home”. I tried to imagine how I got there and to convince Ruth that the government was working hard to bring them home; although, I did not believe my words. Continue below....



Her eyes were filled with tears and she said “we have stopped counting the days because we have lost track of the days and months. I cannot in details tell you what it is like here from the slavery to the subjection of inhumane treatment but, I can tell you that most of us are half dead. Despite this painful truth, we still want to come home”. Those were her words as tears trickled down her face. “If they are doing so much, why are we still here or, HAVE WE BEEN FORGOTTEN?” She quizzed further.

Her voice echoed in my ears as I woke up to realize it was all a dream. A dream that one day, the 200 plus girls taken from Chibok will come home. A dream that Ruth and the other girls will be free from the shackles of their abductors.

6 months or call it half a year and our world (Nigerians) has gone silent as if nothing happened. The rave of the World Cup 2014 came and swerved our thoughts from the cause, so did the Ekiti and Osun elections, the Commonwealth games, the Synagogue collapsed building, the $9.3 million South African saga. All these have come and gone but, one thing remains; the Chibok girls are still missing.

We have allowed people who are indirectly affected by the situation to bear our cross. They came out in solidarity for our cause but we stayed at home, at our work places and watched them. In the words of Alicia Keys “when it happened it was all over the news and the media but now it seems people have forgotten. People need to be reminded that the Chibok girls are still missing”. As a mother, a pregnant woman, and a celebrity, she used her personality to support the cause with her husband, Swizz Beatz supporting her 

mission.
I cannot obviously tell what Nigerian celebrities do with their time and money but, can I ask them what cause they fight for? They spend their time showcasing their affluence but will not canvass for matters like this. When they need help however, they never miss their ways back to the people. 2015 election is around the corner and you will soon see them singing the praise of the man who drops the cash (sycophants!).

Half-way across the world, a first lady tweeted for this cause but, I sought Mother Nigeria and she was nowhere to be found. When the issue broke out, she wept and we were dazed at her emotional display but, that was it! We did not hear her cry anymore. It is only mothers they say that understands the plight of losing a child. I therefore expect Mother Nigeria to do more because, should her daughter be among the kidnapped in Sambisa, negotiations would have been done and dusted.

Now to the issue of negotiations, one life is more important than those of 10 Boko haram members. We do not negotiate with terrorists we claim but, the country whose lead we follow exchanged 1 soldier for 3 Taliban soldiers. And, the same can’t be done for our girls?! Negotiate the return of our girls, it is worth the sacrifice. Sometimes, one can’t help but wonder if it is a case of Gender or Class that negates the negotiation process.

With the 2015 election fast approaching, the air is gradually becoming polluted with Jingles of various sorts. The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) are beating the drum for Nigerians to demand that President Goodluck contests for re-election. Why can’t TAN beat the same drums for the Chibok girls to be emancipated the horrors they are going through. When will Nigerians gallantly rise and defend the future of the country? We should demand that no election holds until the Chibok girls return to us safe and sound.

Finally, as with the innocent blood that has been shed in the past, let us not allow the case of the Chibok girls to be another blood spilling affair. Let us be united even as we were in the face of the Ebola crisis and demand that our girls be released. Let us stand firm against terrorism and religious bigotry. Let us be reminded that the Chibok girls are still missing though we may have forgotten. Let us demand that our girls be released. Let us stand firm against terrorism and religious bigotry. Let us be reminded that the Chibok girls are still missing though we may have forgotten. Let us walk into the street to demand for their release. Let us emulate the spirit of the Honk Kong people who are out of their homes demanding they be heard. Let us put pressure on our leaders, mobilize more supports from the international communities and groups. Let us petition the world for our girls to come home.

The voices of the innocent children are still crying in the wilderness. We can either act or continue whistling as we go about our businesses.

 

Edited By Festus.