French remains one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa, yet in Nigeria, its instruction often falls short of inspiring fluency or passion among learners.
Medinat Oyedele, an award-winning French teacher and multilingual education advocate, believes that needs to change—and she’s spent over a decade showing how it can.
“French is not just a subject; it’s a gateway to regional integration, diplomacy, education, and business,” Oyedele says. “But in most Nigerian classrooms, it’s still taught as a technical chore—detached from culture, creativity, and real-world context.”
Having taught French in both public and private schools across Nigeria and abroad, Oyedele has developed a reputation for her energetic, student-centred approach to language instruction. She blends traditional grammar with music, storytelling, games, and real-life scenarios to help students see French as both useful and exciting.
In 2019, her teaching methods became a model for other educators. Her workshops for French teachers across the Southwest have introduced techniques that replace rote memorisation with interactive conversation practice and contextual vocabulary building.
“When students act out scenes in the market, at the airport, or during festivals, they absorb more than just words—they absorb the life of the language,” she explains.
Her advocacy also extends to curriculum reform. According to Oyedele, one of the major setbacks in French education is the lack of localised content.
“We still use textbooks imported from France or Canada that show snow and metro stations. But our students have never seen those. Why not build materials around francophone African cultures they can actually relate to—Senegalese music, Togolese fashion, or Ivorian food?”
This emphasis on relevance has earned Oyedele national awards, as well as invitations to consult for curriculum development projects. She’s also been a speaker at language education symposia, where she has consistently pushed for a more African-centric approach to French language instruction.
In addition to her work in classrooms and conferences, Oyedele runs a bilingual podcast that showcases simple lessons and discussions on French usage in everyday African contexts.
The podcast, which was initially created for her students, quickly gained traction among language learners across francophone and anglophone Africa.
“In Nigeria, French should not be seen as a luxury or foreign imposition,” she argues. “It should be taught as a necessary skill, especially in the ECOWAS region where many of our neighbours speak it.”
She believes that the key to making French more accessible lies in empowering teachers, embracing creative methods, and giving students reasons to love the language beyond the examination hall.
“I tell my students: French is not just for passing WAEC. It’s for watching films without subtitles, studying in Dakar, getting jobs in Abidjan, or negotiating deals in Lomé. When they see the possibilities, the fear disappears.”
Oyedele’s work reminds us that when language is taught with relevance and imagination, it becomes more than just grammar and conjugation—it becomes a tool for connection and transformation.
Ivorian American, Kassianah Aya Joint (Kassy), who has picked an enviable career in Peacekeeping Operations has said Africa can be a great continent, greater than Europe if Africans change their perception about themselves and the continent.
She said, “I weep for Africa because we don’t realize our greatness. Africans undervalue Africa. How can Europe be stronger than a continent of over a billion people? Ask yourself that. Population wise and square footage wise, it doesn’t add up. So, the issue isn’t the size but the strategy. For example, African Americans are petitioning to get reparations from the American government. So, why can’t different African countries petition to get reparations from their colonizers that stole from them? That is one way.
The African Union can set up strategic plans with the different government leadership from every country on the continent. We have to find a way to keep and cultivate our resources into Africa. We also need to modernize many programs and systems on the continent. How are we going to do that when Africans undervalue Africa and went to run to the Western world every chance they get.
“The way we separate ourselves by nations is our greatest undoing. I think we need more accessibility of movement on the continent from country to country. I think we also need more accountability from leadership. And of course less corruption for Africa to be great again,” she added.
Speaking further, she said, “Africans have been so oppressed as a people (whether Continental African, Caribbean or descendants of slaves) that we need leaders in this generation looking to leave a mark and make a difference in our communities. There is so much work that needs to be done as well as unlearning many of the wrong things we were taught (through colonization & slavery). Dividing ourselves from each other and looking at each other is not the way.”
Kassianah Aya Joint majored in Finance & International (Foreign) Affairs. Living in New York, the stock exchange and being financially empowered intrigued her. She started working on Wall Street as an analyst. It gave her experience and skills with understanding money, the economy and business.
She registered her business in 2014 and started her entrepreneurial journey. As she grew, so did her passion for empowering her people back home. An opportunity at the UN presented itself after many organizing many protest rallies throughout America and she took it.
“I believe in young leaders in government, politics and diplomacy, especially within the African Diaspora for our people. I vow to continue to be a voice for us. Its my passion,” she had cheekily voiced her mind
Her company, Joint Venture Group LLC, was registered in the State of NY, USA. They have different subsidiaries which includes FrancoSuite & Kuziva Foundation as well as other business ventures
After relocating from her home country of Cote d’Ivoire, Kassy as she’s fondly called, settled in New York, New York,
USA upon completion of her undergraduate education in Foreign Affairs and Finance at Pace University.
Along the line she noticed a gap in media companies that represent Francophone artists, interests, companies and culture. There are numerous outlets that publicize what’s happening in pop culture in the United States and many Anglophone countries, offering platforms to celebrities as well as up and coming artists, influencers and creatives in general.
This type of platform was lacking in her home country and Francophone countries in general, and she decided to do something about it.
Kassianah is also a humanitarian with passion to work for the betterment of the black race. She has a plan to run an NGO to be called called Kuziva By Kassy to help young ladies finish their education and start their careers.
Her primary passion is advocating for Africans living in the Diaspora for years.
Two years and the third Christmas celebration after the abduction of over 200 senior students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Assistant Editor Seun Akioye investigates how the community has been able to rise from a shocking abduction that grabbed the attention of the world.
Pa Wandazam Allen remembered the first time members of the terrorist group Boko Haram came to Chibok, a predominantly Christian community, in Southern Borno state. He also remembered the last time the attackers came to the community.
“It is a tragedy,” he said several times holding his grey head in his right hand and heaved heavily. “They abducted those girls, they just took them away, we tried to find them but we could not enter into Sambisa forest,” the old retired teacher lamented.
Pa Allen was sitting in his expansive compound in the middle of Chibok town; his house like most of the others was built of clay, with a new brick building about to be completed standing in the centre. As one of the elders of Chibok, the security of the community weighs heavily on his mind.
“My friend called me on the phone that he had information Boko Haram was on its way to Chibok, 10 minutes after he called, we heard the loud sound of gunfire, then there were bombings and everyone started running everywhere,” he said.
Pa Allen has a dramatic way of telling a bitter story which leaves one with an incredible urge to giggle. But there was no mirth in his voice as he went on to describe the arrival of Boko Haram fighters into the town from the western corridor, the loud sound of bombs which killed a soldier, his own dramatic escape and his brave return the following morning to join the chase of the insurgents.
Chibok town has known a prosperous past as a farming community, the chief crops being maize, guinea corn, groundnut and beans. In the days of its prosperity, it was a shining example for religious tolerance and peaceful co-habitation. Predominantly Christian community, it has lived at most amiable conditions with its Muslim population, commerce had thrived and educational standards better than many of its neighbours.
The community gained international attention after 276 schoolgirls were abducted from their hostels at the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) by Boko Haram fighters on April 14, 2014. The mode of execution of the plot had left many people insisting that no girl was abducted until the girls were safely inside Sambisa forest, a fortress of evil only about 40 kilometres from Chibok.
Two years and the third Christmas without the majority of the abducted girls, how the community is moving ahead and what will Christmas be without the Chibok girls.
A broken community
For all its worldwide fame, a first-time visitor to Chibok would be shocked at the non-availability of basic infrastructures. There are two main roads into Chibok namely; Maiduguri/Damboa road and Mubi/Askira Uba road. But whichever road you take there is no respite from bad road, and the quicksand and when the wind blows, a hail of red dust welcomes you to Chibok. From Mubi, the good road ends in Danga and on the northern side, it ends in Damboa.
Inside the town itself, there is no single tarred or graded road despite being the local government headquarters for 10 years. Chibok’s problem is beyond its terrible roads, the town of about 66,000 has no electricity, petrol station or bank. “The main transformers in Damboa and Mubi were blown up by Boko Haram about four years ago but they have repaired some, I still don’t know why we don’t have light yet,” Pa Allen asked no one in particular.
Since the destruction of GGSS, there the Central Primary School has played host to both the Government Day Secondary School and the GGSS. The three schools rotate the lectures within the day with each school allotted about four hours every day before vacating the premises for another school to take over.
Living in Chibok could try the patience of the most diligent, every end of the month, people send trusted relatives to Mubi with their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards for cash withdrawals. Cash is usually scarce in the town and inflation is rife, products coming into Chibok are usually twice the price one can get in Askira or Damboa leaving the impoverished people with little choice.
This year, there has been less rain and harvest has been bad particularly for beans, nobody could explain why this was so and the farmers could only wrung their hands together and lift it to heaven in supplication. “Many people planted large fields of beans this year, but there has been terrible harvest, we don’t know why this has been so but it is not good,” Pa Allen said.
An audacious abduction
Bitrus Wavi remembered the exact time he heard gunshots on April 14, 2014. The time according to him was 11:15 pm. The events of the night had always attached a sort of mystery to it, how could Boko Haram abduct over 200 teenagers willingly without protestations.
Chief Ahmed Yidan
Ahmadu Yidan is the Da Yidan Poga or the traditional head of Chibok; he said the events of that night left everyone in confusion. “Do you know that when these Boko Haram move they sometimes move with 100 vehicles, they have Lorries and there were some Lorries packed here in the town. They carried those ones. They started bombing all over and they went to the girls and said something is wrong, can’t you hear, we are soldiers, come inside this vehicle let us evacuate you to a safe place.
“So the girls were thinking it was some of the soldiers around and some of the insurgents came in army uniform, so they rushed into the Lorries, had it been known they were Boko Haram they won’t go with 20 students. That night there was confusion, every animal even the cows were in confusion those who had BP died, a soldier died because of the bombing, nothing touched him,” Yidan said.
After the initial confusion, the people of Chibok gathered and determined to pursue the fleeing terrorists. Armed with Dane guns, machetes, kitchen knives, sticks and stones, they made a blind dash towards Sambisa forest.
Yidan: “Our vigilante pursued these people, they reached close to Sambisa but they had to turn back. People carrying sticks and Dane gun, if they had armed escort at the time it would not have been like this.”
But some of the girls escaped, at least 56 of them were able to find their way back home. “After the girls saw that they were not soldiers, some of them jumped down and fractured their legs, others hung on the trees and dropped from the Lorries, those were the brave ones,” Esther Allen said.
Yidan and his people believe the government left the rescue of the girls a little too late and are unimpressed by the rescue of 21 girls. But the proximity of Sambisa to Chibok gives the Yidan Poga sleepless nights.
“Why should Sambisa exist? This is what I was thinking, why shouldn’t they make Sambisa become a desert? They should attack this Sambisa forest, it is true there will be collateral damage if they leave Sambisa and these people go to somewhere and kill more people and they run to Sambisa and you leave them because they are using human shields.
“Sometimes I think would it not be better to attack Sambisa, we are not saying they should burn Sambisa, they should match gradually with these armoured weapons and bomb detectors, we know there will be some few casualties but I think it will not be wise to be leaving Sambisa for years because they are keeping some people and then allow many more to die, this is my personal thinking I really don’t know. It is giving me sleepless nights,” he lamented.
The Chief said the people of Chibok are grateful to the world for the support it has received but Chibok remains a prime target for the terrorists.” They want attention, if they attack Chibok they will have a global attention that is why everyone must continue to speak up for us.”
Christmas in Chibok
Around 6:00 am on Christmas day 2016, the voice of an itinerant preacher broke through the violet cold wind which had descended on the town.
Moving from one dusty street to the other, he yelled into a loudspeaker “God is wonderful, his mercies endureth forever.” Soon he began to describe the “enduring loving of Christ” and urged those who are yet to do so to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ after which he wished everyone a “happy Christmas.” The people of Chibok who may have heard the unknown preacher could relate to the message of “the mercies of the Lord,” which the long-suffering people of the town are badly in need of.
Pa Allen wore his white agbada and began to walk with great strides to the EYN, Lutheran Church of Christ LCC. The church would witness its first Christmas celebration in the new building partially paid for by the Borno State Government. All over Chibok, children braved the harmattan and the wind to observe the age-long tradition of exchange of food especially with their Muslim neighbours.
During the 2014 attack, all the churches in Chibok were destroyed, the EYN lost everything and it took a long time to recover. The service was conducted in a mixture of Hausa and Kibaku, the language of the Chibok people.
There was no instrument and the microphone constantly misbehaves, the choir master hums the hymn and then the congregation followed, it was a solemn service by a determined people. The pastor preached from Isaiah 62:8 “Surely, I will no longer give your food as grain for your enemies; and the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, for which you have laboured.” It was a scripture that the people can relate to especially the displaced people of nearby Kumjalari whose grains are currently food for Boko Haram insurgents.
The parishioners have thrown their fears into the singing, groups came up one after the other to sing and ‘raise some dust’ with rigorous and energetic dancing. And sometimes, they sang sorrowful songs, a very emotional moment for the grieving parents.
Nothing can be taken for granted in Chibok, earlier in December, the people received a letter purportedly from Boko Haram informing them of an impending attack on December 15 or 16 2016. Security details in the town was tripled and a curfew from 6: pm to 6: was imposed on the main Aja road.
For every service in the churches and mosques, a detachment of soldiers and vigilantes are deployed to provide reassurance. Pastor Peter Ayuba of LCC said Christmas celebration in 2016 was the best since the abduction.
“We have many more people despite the scare from Boko Haram, people turned out to praise God as we continue to hope that everything that was lost in this town will come back,” he said. At 2: pm, Chibok came alive; the village Christmas dance which was abandoned during the insurgency would hold this year. It has been the talk all day and the space opposite EYN 2 was already filled up.
Security was provided and everyone going into the arena was screened. The dance carnival was the biggest gathering of the year and indigenes who had been in Maiduguri, Lagos and other cities were eager to prove their new social status. Everyone wore new clothes and shoes and carry on in pretended elitism.
Inside the dance arena, dancers march around the drummers and singers. For hours they circle the musicians dancing to various local songs, kicking up so much dust and leaving everyone white as snow. At 5:10 pm, the dance came to an end and social connections began, young boys ran after the girls determined to impress with their new outfits.
“Only a foolish girl will fall for these boys in borrowed shoes and Jackets,” Esther Allen said. In the night, the Allen homestead played host to a lot of young men and girls, who had come to lessen the night. It was the place to talk about the latest trends and impress with knowledge. One of the young people was 18-year-old Shuaibu Madu who considered himself superior to others because he had been to Lagos and spoke smattering Pidgin English.
Shuaibu
Shuaibu ran to Lagos when Boko Haram invaded the town where he stayed for one year in Ajah selling recharge cards. “ I am a Lagosian, now in Chibok all the girls are running after me, they are saying Lagosian come let me kiss you,” he said provoking prolong laughter into the teeth of the night.
Shuaibu is better than his twin sister Awa, a Senior Secondary 2 students who could not speak any sentence in English. “This one is ‘mumu’ (dullard), I have been trying to teach her English but she no gree,” Shuaibu said dismissing his sister, who provoked by the attack, tried unsuccessfully to repel it in English.
No homecoming for Chibok girls When news arrived in Chibok about the homecoming of the 21 freed school girls, there was wild jubilation especially among the relatives of the girls. There would be a lot to catch up on; there would be the Christmas celebration and the dance carnival to follow.
None of the released girls came from Chibok town itself but from the surrounding villages and hamlets. Family members waited for the girls in Chibok, expecting to have some private moments with their daughters.
The girls arrived in a convoy of security details and made straight for the expansive compound of the member representing Chibok in the State House of Assembly, Aimu Foni. But it was not the homecoming the people of Chibok had dreamt, there would be no church service on Christmas day, neither would the girls attend the anticipated Christmas dance carnival.
The massive security build-up to the girls’ arrival saw the Brigade Commander, 28 Task Force Brigade Mubi, Brigadier General Felix Omoigui also relocating to Chibok. Apart from the Army, there were the personnel of the Department of State Security (DSS) the Nigeria Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) with the operational name of CRACK, the Nigeria Peace Corps, The Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), Borno
State Vigilante Group, and the Baka Boys etc.
The security operatives were assisted by two armoured tanks and several Ak-47 rifles, only the parents of the girls were allowed into the house and that is after vetting and delay. Since their arrival, the girls were not allowed to come out of the rooms despite their protestations. Family members who were fortunate to see them were not allowed to take pictures.
“We have been waiting since 7:00am to see our daughter but the security is preventing us, we are not from Chibok and we have to ride a bicycle for two hours to get to our village, we do not understand why the government is hiding them,” a parent complained.
The residents of Chibok began to resent the increasing restrictions on their movements around the Aimu Foni compound. A member of the vigilante group who was also drafted to the girls details said: “The grip of the military over the girls is stifling, what would have been better than putting the girls in a uniform and escorting them to the
dance yesterday, let them mingle with their friends, it would have been a good therapeutic healing for the girls.
“There are more than 3000 people at the carnival, what they are saying is that the lives of the 21 girls are more important than that of the whole of the people here at the dance,” he said. The Nation also gathered from relatives who had seen the girls that there was something close to a mutiny as the girls continued to demand a chance to come out to Chibok town if not to their own villages. It was also learnt that the girls went on hunger strike on December 24, to press home their claims.
But a high-ranking security operative told The Nation that the security of the girls is of utmost importance. The official who pleaded anonymity said there are security reports that Boko Haram may want to embarrass the government by recapturing the girls. “The families should please exercise patience, we have a red alert and we have instructions to protect these girls with everything we have got.
Soon, everything will be okay,” the official said.
Winning hearts and mind
Many of the soldiers deployed to Chibok are veterans of the war on the insurgency in the Northeast. According to some of them who spoke on strict conditions of anonymity, they had seen action in faraway places like Birte, Mubi, Alaganna, Biu and Sambisa forest.
“We were the ones that captured Mubi, it was a fierce battle but we drove away the Boko Haram and killed so many of them,” a private soldier said as he held on firmly to his Ak-47 rifle. The soldier later went to Biu where he described an elaborate fight against the insurgents which resulted in the total annihilation of the terrorists.
“Chibok is peaceful, that is why people can go to church, I have been here for only eight months and I have not seen anything unusual, we are hoping by next year we will be able to go home back to normal
duties,” he said.
His team leader a Corporal wearing crisp, clean uniform agreed with him. “Our Baba (Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Turkur Buratai) has said we will return to the barracks next year, we believe in honestly. I cannot wait to see my family again.” The Corporal was
one of the soldiers who retook Chibok from the insurgents. To prove the veracity of his claims, he took out his phone and opened to a note he had on it. “See, I wrote it down that day. November 13th, 2014, Chibok on fire,” he then gave a handsome smile which lit up his youthful face. “You cannot stand here, when those people came, it was like a herd of cows, my brother, it was fire that day, no one can forget.”
There has been relative peace in Chibok ever since thanks to the successive innovative commanding officers posted to the town. Holding and locking down Chibok is no mean task as the town is surrounded by villages still in the hands of the insurgents and the borders are porous and almost endless, giving terrorists multiple options of entry.
One of the innovative ways introduced by the army is the motorcycle patrol of the various entry points into the town. Armed soldiers made a duty of cycling round the bush into the far outposts of the town, every day. Also, communication posts are built all around Chibok; The Nation also ventured far into the borders around the town and found soldiers in trenches in the bush. One location was commanded by a Lieutenant who was assisted by a Staff Sergeant.
Despite the haze and cold, the soldiers remained at their duty post, they looked white, eyes devoid of sleep and their palms were coarse and hard when they shook hands.
The soldiers have been able to integrate with the local population; they visit the markets, attend to the needs of the people and provide specialized services for them. The people have also come to trust the soldiers knowing many of them by name.
On Christmas day, many families tried to outdo each other in providing food and drinks for the security personnel.” The people here appreciate us, some of us are learning the language to better interact with them and win their trust,” a soldier said.
The soldiers too have known fear. On the night of the abduction, only 15 men were on guard in the town led by a Lieutenant Godknows. It was a bad night for the soldiers, outgunned, outnumbered and caught in surprise, the soldiers retreated, one died from the shock, “Boko Haram didn’t touch him, it was the shock that killed him,” an elder said.
But there is anger in Chibok over the fate of Lieutenant Godknows and his men. There were rumours that they were court-martialed and jailed for failing in Chibok. The Nation could not confirm the true position before the publication of this story.
“It is not cowardness to withdraw when you are faced with a superior power, what will 15 soldiers do when Boko Haram came with over 200 fighters with RPG and heavy artillery, even the US Marines cannot withstand them. We are asking the government to release Godknows, he did the best for us and we are unhappy that he is being punished,” a CJTF member who said he joined in the war as a tribute to Godknows said.
Chibok IDPs: We are left to suffer On the northern outpost of Chibok, there are 20 new building built of
red bricks lying in a rectangular form. These buildings house the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from nearby villages of Kumjalari, Kubrivu, Kaumutayahi, Kakilmari and Kwada. The houses were built by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
On Christmas day, about six children played in the sand in front of one of the houses, the house belonged to Sunday Garba, the spokesperson of the IDPs. In 2014, he had escaped from Kumjalari with
his family after Boko Haram struck. Now resident in Chibok, life could not have been more bitter.
“There is no Christmas for these children,” he said pointing to the bare feet, dirty children chasing each other in the sand. “Who will buy chicken for them, there is nothing for them to eat,” he said in a despondent voice.
Garba had known prosperous past, he was a big time farmer harvesting more than 100 sacks of guinea corn, but that is now history, he now works as a farm hand in Chibok. Sunday Kabir has joined the local vigilante; it was his way of fighting back after he was forced to leave Kumjalari four years ago.
“We have lost everything, we don’t have anything for Christmas so what do we do?” he lamented. The plight of the IDPs from the surrounding villages is telling. After the villages were sacked, they returned to their farms and planted. But as if on cue, Boko Haram fighters emerged from nowhere and chased the farmers away just as harvest was to begin.
“When our wives tried to get some food from the farms so that we won’t starve, they were chased away by Boko Haram. The terrorists have harvested our guinea corn and they are right now as we speak harvesting our beans, how do we survive now?” Kabir asked.
In Chibok, there are more than 200 IDPs living in squalor, at least two families share one room and conveniences are open to many more families. Here, there is neither privacy nor decency. “We are suffering here; we have no food, no mat to sleep on and no clothes.
Many of us escaped with nothing except the clothes on our backs,” Garba said.
Even though much of Borno state has been retaken from the insurgents many villages around Chibok are still in the hands of the terrorists. A contingent of soldiers was stationed at Kwaja but the refugees accused the soldiers of not venturing to capture other villages around Kwaja.
“When our wives went to harvest and were chased away, they ran to the soldiers in Kwaja which is only five kilometers from Kumjalari but the
soldiers refused to follow them, also when we lost some CJTF people and asked the soldiers to escort us to remove the corpses, they refused,” Kabir alleged.
While government and the international communities have focused attention on the IDP camps in the big cities, the refugees in Chibok are largely forgotten. With their food in the hands of Boko Haram, the refugees, once proud and prosperous farmers have resorted to begging.
But Chibok is not a place to beg, whatever was left in the earth was not enough for the people and they can ill afford to feed extra mouths. “ That is why the children go hungry, they are not in school and they have no clothes to wear,” Kabir lamented.
“If I am not released, let us meet in heaven” Paul Lailai and Yusuf Madu are united not only by their coming from the same village of Bulabam but together in grief mourning their missing daughters. The two had left their village for the almost two hours bicycle ride to Chibok when they heard 21 colleagues of their daughters would be in town from Abuja.
The girls who were recently released from Boko Haram captivity had been in the custody of the Federal Government. Two days before Christmas, they were ferried to Chibok to celebrate with their families. Paul and Madu hoped they would be able to get some information from the girls. Paul’s missing daughters are Ladi and Mary while Madu’s daughter is Christiana.
“I did not see my children when the Boko Haram released their video, I cry everything I think about what they are going through,” Paul said.
In the past two days, the two had remained in Chibok struggling to come to terms with the reality that they would not hug their children, at least not yet.
When Madu spoke, his voice carried no strength, it sounded hollow and far away. “ I looked through the pictures released by Boko Haram and I didn’t see my daughter Christiana, that is why I came to find out if there is any news of her,” Madu said.
He was in luck. One of the released girls had a message from Christiana to her parents and the message was not heartwarming. “She told one of the girls to tell us she is alive but there is no way she could escape. She said greet my parents and my younger ones, tell them if it is God’s will I will see them again, if not, we will meet in heaven.
“When I heard that, I cried and did not eat, Christiana was the child who looked after me, sometimes I feel it is better I am not around in the world but I believe if I am alive I will see her again,” Madu said.
The parents of the missing girls had lived in frustrated hope.” Whenever the local government calls us for a meeting and we return home, the mother would ask if it was good news, when we reply in the negative, all the women and the children would begin to cry,” Madu added.
For 60-year-old Rebeka Nteke, the tears are yet to cease. When Abubakar Shekau released a video of the girls, she saw something that gave her grief and hope; her daughter, Hauwa Nteke. “I still thank God but I am looking for my daughter, I saw her in the video but I know one day she will be back,” she said and then began to cry.
Bitrus Yanna, the father of Ruth Bitrus fares no better. When Ruth was abducted, he joined the group of villagers who went after Boko Haram in the hope of finding the girls. “ I went as far as Selari and Zangore but I could not locate her. When it happened and the government did not believe us, I was very angry but now I have left everything in the hands of God while praying that she will return to us,” Yanna said.
Mariam Wavi’s mother has remained devastated. Unable to cope with the abduction of her daughter, she has relocated to her ancestral village.
Mariam’s absence has left a gaping hole in the lives of her parents because they are both blind. Mariam’s brother, Bitrus has been consoling her, giving her hope. “ What can we do, she is yet to return but we are hoping. Our mother is devastated because she was really the main helper of our parents,” he said.
When Mariam was taken, Bitrus took a motorcycle, armed with a stick, he pursued the terrorists in vain, over two years after, he is struggling with the reality that she may not return.
The other Army Paul Martins (surname changed) has been sitting on a tree trunk on Chibok- Damboa road for two hours, like the hundreds of schoolchildren who were dragged out of their holiday to welcome the governor, he was tired and hungry.
“ The governor should have told us he is not coming, we have been waiting since 10:am, there is no food, there is no money, we are just here,” he groaned. Paul has more reasons to be despondent, as a member
of the CJTF, he claimed he has not received any payment for the past six months since he signed up.
“ We buy our own uniforms, we buy our own bullets and we don’t get paid to fight Boko Haram, we just feel that we cannot be running away from men like us, we both have one life, lets exchange bullets and if
I die, then that is it,” Paul said.
But he has not always been brave, when the insurgents struck in November 2014, Paul trekked to Biu, encountered countless obstacles and found his way to Anambra state to his in-laws. Six months ago,
tired of running, he came back to Chibok, signed up with the CJTF, bought his gun and bullets and went to the trenches.
The security of Chibok though rests on the Army, credit must also be given to the CJTF and the local vigilante. Armed with Dane guns and local charms, the young boys and old hunters helped chase Boko Haram fighters away from Chibok.
These volunteers according to investigations were spurred on by love for country and community and are not paid for their services. There was a man, one of the leaders of the CJTF in Chibok simply known as Bamal-Gana or Bagana. This Bagana was a great hunter, possessing terrifying magic; members of the CTJF claimed that he cannot be killed by iron or bullet.
In the last week of November 2016, Bagana led some of his men to Shawar village, about 10 kilometers West of Chibok. “ We have secured the place but some of us stepped on these bomb they plant inside the
ground (IED), then Boko Haram came out and started firing at us, we responded and killed some of them before we could get away but three of us died including Bagana,” one of the men who participated in the raid said.
But the CJTF has not been able to recover the corpse of their fallen colleagues and properly mourn them. “Bagana was fearless, Boko Haram can’t kill him, even in battle when soldiers turn back he won’t, his
death is a huge loss and the government has not even sent condolences to his family, he had three wives and many children,” the man said.
Two other commanders who spoke to The Nation said if the CJTF had Ak-47 or a pump action rifle, they would vanquish Boko Haram in no time. “We fought with our cartridge guns and captured many towns, what we really need is a pump action we would finish Boko Haram, but who will buy it for us?
The vigilante was reborn after the abduction of the school girls, since then, they have remained an integral part of the security apparatus of Chibok. Usually dressed in brown uniform, the vigilantes looked hungry and sad. Also working without salaries, they are poorly armed with Dane guns and charms.
“We are here to protect our community, we may not be paid but we are determined to protect our families, we can’t just sit and wait for them to be captured again,” one of the vigilantes said.
December 26, 2016 Activities began early in preparation for the visit of the governor of Borno state, Kashim Shetimma, a town crier had gone round the villages asking school children to dress in uniform to welcome the governor. Soon politicians arrived, intimidating the people with their security details, at 11: am, the students of the three schools lined up in the harmattan on Aja road, awaiting the governor.
It was a wait for godot, the children stood in the dust for many hours as the governor was said to be in Damboa, there was no food or water for them, the teachers and security details also got frustrated. With strength failing, the children lay on the dusty dirty road, the teacher too at the end of their patience could only look on helpless.
At exactly 3:00 pm, as if on cue, the students began to march to their homes, starting with the smaller kids, soon the welcome party was over, the kids were determined not to wait any longer despite protestations from the teachers.
The governor finally arrived at 5:00 pm, but the majority of the relatives of the Chibok girls had left in anger unable to see their daughters. “ My village is two hours away, by 6:00 pm, there will be a curfew and I will have nowhere to sleep,” a parent who had spent the better part of the day in a shouting bout with the soldiers said. He then mounted his bicycle and began to ride furiously out of Chibok. Ten minutes later, the governor arrived.
The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Adam Sulaiman alongside his team has met with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Inclusive Business Sweden, Mike Debelak and his partners in Stockholm, Sweden to discuss collaborative initiatives.
The focus of the meeting is aimed at driving collaborative initiatives between Nigeria and Swedish/ European organizations in the key areas of water sanitation, capacity building and youth empowerment in agribusiness.
The minister made it known that all the ministries and departments are working hand in hand to deliver on the Buhari administration goals to Nigerians.
Sulaiman further noted that there are several concessions for organizations that are willing to invest in Nigeria, adding that the government is providing 70% investment security for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Agribusiness in Nigeria.
Present at the progressive meeting, the Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Scandinavia Chapter, Ayoola Lawal, commended the initiative, encouraging other Ministers to seek out collaborative initiatives like Hon. Sulaiman.
“There are lots of opportunities in Europe that Nigeria can benefit from just the East African countries are currently tapping every opportunity they deemed fit for nation building,” Lawal stressed.
At the end of the meeting, the Minister thanked the Inclusive Business team and his partners and he said that he is happy that meeting marks the beginning of win-win collaboration between Sweden and Nigerian organisations.
He thanked Mr. Adebola Adekiitan of FLEESD Nigeria and the Chairman of APC Scandinavia, Lawal for the concerted efforts on the initiatives.
Nigeria’s Inaoyom Imong, has been announced the winner of a Whitley Award by the Whitley Fund for Nature, a prestigious environmental prize.
Imong, a conservation leader, won the prestigious ‘Green Oscar’ for his work in protecting Africa’s most endangered great gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) in Cross River state, Nigeria.
HRH! The Princess Royal presente Inaoyomd a Whitley Award, a prestigious international nature conservation prize worth £35,000 (N8.2 million) in project funding to Imong at a ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society, London.
Globally recognised as a hotspot for primate, amphibian, bird and butterfly species, the tropical rainforests of south-eastern Nigeria are home to the Cross River gorilla, with only 300 estimated to remain in the wild.
These primates and their habitat are under threat from lack of legal protection, deforestation and hunting to supply the illegal bush-meat market.
The Princess Royal and 2015 Whitley Awards recipient Inaoyom Imong, Nigerian conservationist at The Royal Geographical Society, London, 29th April 2015.
As Director of the Cross River Landscape Project at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Nigeria, Imong leads a community-based conservation project in the Mbe Mountains to protect the forest and its fragile population of Cross River gorillas.
Imong has established the Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains (CAMM), which brings together people from nine different communities in a joint effort to manage the Mbe Mountains area and secure its legal status as a community wildlife sanctuary.
Imong’s efforts have not only kept the gorillas from being hunted – not a single gorilla has been poached since the inception of the project – but built capacity for their future conservation.
Imong is helping people establish alternative livelihoods as eco-guards to improve the protection and monitoring of Cross River gorillas and other wildlife; giving people a sense of ownership over the conservation of the forest.
In his speech, Edward Whitley, Founder of the Whitley Fund for Nature said: “The calibre of this year’s Whitley Awards winners is outstanding.
“Although they each face remarkable and different challenges in their home countries, these exceptional individuals are passionate about securing a better future for both people and wildlife. The Whitley Awards are a celebration of their achievements.”
Imong is one of seven individuals to have been awarded a share of prize funding worth £245,000 (N58 million) by the Whitley Fund for Nature, winning the Whitley Award donated by the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Other winners in the 2015 Whitley Awards are: Panut Hadisiswoyo – Indonesia, Pramod Patil – India, Rosamira Guillen – Colombia, ArnaudDesbiez – Brazil, Jayson Ibañez – Philippines and Ananda Kumar – India.
HRH! The Princess Royal will also present the Whitley Gold Award 2015 – a prestigious profile and funding prize awarded to a previous Whitley Award winner in recognition of their outstanding contribution to conservation.
The Whitley Gold Award is donated by The Friends and Scottish Friends of the Whitley Fund for Nature and is worth £50,000 (N12 million).
This year’s recipient is 2009 Whitley Award winner, Dr. Dino Martins from Kenya for his project – People, plants & pollinators: protecting the little things that power the planet.
Dino is working with local people to raise awareness and encourage the adoption of more sustainable farming practices that conserve pollinators, boost crop yields, and benefit people in East Africa.
Joining the Judging Panel to assist in selection, the Gold Award winner also acts as mentor to new Whitley Award winners receiving their Awards in the same year.
“If a man isn’t willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he’s no good”
― Ezra Pound
The only authentic Iron Lady, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, died last week Monday. Since her demise she has racked up as much diverse passion as she did while alive! Her reign as the British prime minister was full of drama and tension. She governed her country with such a tough hand and mien that she became known as the Iron Lady. Her relevance to our continent was no less important and her death has awoken in many bitter feeling on how she dealt with the continent in a brutish manner.
Many still remember how she aligned with the hated apartheid regime in South Africa and dubbed Nelson Mandela and other liberation fighters in Southern Africa as “terrorists”. In fact, her alignment with the apartheid regime led the inimitable Fela Anikulapo-Kuti to release his widely acclaimed record on the United Nations, in which he asked rhetorically “Wetin unite for United Nations?”
In Africa, we never speak ill of the dead and that perhaps is responsible for why many have continued to pour encomiums on her. However, as one whose record in Africa is abysmal, I have no qualms in saying that she may have being a great British leader who affected her world positively, but for me as an African she was a leader who cared less for others outside her country or race.
I still remember that it was during her reign that many Africans, nay Nigerians, who had hitherto looked at Britain as the place to get educated abandoned the country and looked towards America. She raised school fees so much that many who had then looked on American education with some level of disdain turned there in search of the then proverbial ‘golden fleece’. The British loss became America’s gain, so much that today there are more Nigerians in pursuit of education in America than in Britain.
This was perhaps good because it made us to quickly cut off the apron string of colonialism. Well, she was only living up to name as many Britons still regard her as a veritable ‘milk snatcher’ because it was during her tenure as a minister that she stopped the serving of milk in schools across Britain.
It was later during her reign as a prime minister that many Nigerians of my age grew up as proud Nigerians. This was epitomised in the seventies when the government of the then Gen Olusegun Obasanjo decided to nationalise the British Petroleum (BP) by naming it Africa Petroleum (AP). It was a period when we felt proud that we could challenge a powerful colonial master and get away with it. The decision to nationalise the BP perhaps sent a signal to the British and other governments around the world that our country was not to be trifled with.
The decision led to a softening of the tough stance on the fight against freedom for the southern African countries by Britain. The Iron Lady was humbled. Another memory I have was in the eighties when she visited Nigeria. On that trip a visit to the palace of the Emir of Kano was part of her itinerary. I was then a student at the Bayero University Kano, and the Student Union had mobilised us to the vicinity of the palace to register our protest for the British government’s support for the apartheid regime.
Although I was unable to join the crowd due to a last minute schedule I remember those who were able to make it there gave the late Thatcher a taste of the anger of the Nigerian student movement.
In fact, a classmate of mine, a lady to the boot, was able to smuggle herself so near that she threw a raw egg at the visiting prime minster and it fell short of landing on her head but at her feet! It was a serious security breach which led to her arrest, questioning, and detention for a few hours. That was long before these days of terrorists when even we can no longer move near our local leaders not to talk of visiting heads of governments!
But whichever way it is, Mrs Thatcher has gone down as a leader who is different things to different people. For instance, The Telegraph a day after her death came out with a banner headline saying: ‘The woman who saved the nation’ on the same day The Sun wrote: ‘The woman who divided the nation’. What an epitaph.
But for me as an African I identify with The Sun. She not only divided her nation she divided the world.
It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything – Joseph Stalin
In a few days, Uhuru Kenyatta is to be sworn in as President of Kenya. He is coming to power exactly thirty five years after the death of his father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the founding father of the country. He was in his teens when his father who led the country to independence died in 1978. His rise to power has struck a first in the continent; he becomes the first sibling of a former president who comes to power through a free and fair election.
Although his victory was contested by his rival, Raila Odinga, the victory has been affirmed by the country’s highest court as “free and fair” thus aligning with the verdict of the international observers who had earlier given the same verdict.
Kenyatta’s victory over his challenger, Odinga brings to mind the bitter rivalry which hallmarked the rule of his father and his arch-rival and the father of Raila. Oginga Odinga was like a thorn in the flesh of the older Kenyatta. Students of history would remember that the duo were the arrow heads of the fight for the country’s independence in the same way that the late Joshua Nkomo and President Robert Mugabe were for Zimbabwe.
However, a combination of ethnic majority and intrigues led to bitter rivalries as it is wont in Africa. The older Kenyatta who came from the majority ethnic group of Gikuyu was able to subdue any threat from the older Odinga who was a Luo. It is perhaps the same ethnic rivalry that led to the present scenario.
Before the March elections, tension had risen around the world and many had feared that the unfortunate 2007 violence that trailed the election was going to replay itself. In fact, the fear was so palpable that many had already fled the country, in search of safe havens. The 2007 after election violence caught the international community unawares because the East African country, despite its hiccup democratic credentials had been an oasis of peace on the continent. The 2007 violence shattered all that reputation.
It was therefore not surprising that the international community’s attention was focussed on the country so much that months leading to the election many had appealed for calm and called for a free and fair election. And as if the country was aware of the importance of the election and the need to redeem its image, it made sure the election was conducted as freely as practicable. This was demonstrated so much that even when some unexpected glitches came up the electoral body quickly made up and conducted the election fairly well.
However, as Kenyatta assumes office, he becomes the second African head of state to be indicted by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He is joining this unenviable class with President Omar El-Bashir of Sudan who has been indicted for war crimes. Kenyatta’s indictment is in connection with the 2007 election violence. He is in this boat with his Vice President-elect William Ruto.
How this would affect his reign and his relations with other heads of governments around the world is of interest to this writer. Would he be able to visit some countries that are signatories to the ICC treaty or would he be an isolated president as El-Bashir is gradually becoming?
Whatever happens Kenya must be saluted for their determination to rescue their country from a cliff-hanger situation. They have been able to tell the world that elections may be factitious and laden with acrimony, but that they are capable of making up with themselves. This is a lesson for the rest of Africa.
In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams. ~ Nigerian proverb
This column, blog more appropriately here, is not new. At least, not to those who have encountered it in print before. However, for those who may be reading it for the first time, it may be necessary to spell out what it is all about.
As the name implies; it is a blog about Africa, our continent. In this forum, we are going to take a look at what perhaps from day to day escapes the attention of many of our newspaper columnists and writers. In Inside Africa, our major focus of operation is principally Africa as a continent. Anything we write or ponder about would be strictly about issues that concern the continent. Domestic issues would only be commented upon if in the long run they have any bearing on our role as a country in Africa.
And because the continent cannot live in isolation, we are only going to be concerned about issues outside the continent in as much as we think such are going to have effects on the continent.
But let no one think this is a case of ‘Afghanistanism’, a phrase coined by a senior colleague in the nineties when the military was in power. For the young ones who may not understand, the senior colleague coined it when many columnists for fear of arrest decided not to comment on local issues but write about foreign affairs. Hence, he said many preferred to go to Afghanistan!
But this is not our intention here. No. Our strong belief is that at the home front we have enough writers and columnists who are already dealing with domestic issues. So we should talk more about our continent and not leave it solely to foreign correspondents.
We are going to talk about elections, politics, corruption and innovations that could make the continent move to the next level and dictate the pace of the new world.
This is not going to be a tea party or an easy task to achieve. Many have always wondered if there is anything to crow about Africa, a continent that has been stigmatised with the tag of underdevelopment, famine, wars and election violence and all that.
The recent election in Kenya will not escape our scrutiny or the unfolding crisis in Mali. We are going to give our magisterial pronouncements and weigh in as at when required. This is not going to be a forum to only vilify, we are going to applaud and salute those who lift the name and banner of the continent beyond the current morass.
As the opening proverb above says, we are going to build bridges through which we shall cross to the land of understanding. Welcome to Africa.
