By Kene Obiezu
SIR: Leah Sharibu, the most famous of the Chibok girls infamously taken into Boko Haram captivity remains in captivity and might have even become a mother there if recent stories from the well-oiled propaganda machinery of Boko Haram are to be believed.
For all the outpouring of emotions, prayers and goodwill since the girls were taken and some released, Sharibu‘s battle has very much been deeply personal, long and lonely. No one has ever fully told the story of what life in Boko Haram captivity is like, and perhaps no one ever will.
Boko Haram‘s brutal tactics indicate it will be traumatic. Yet, it is from the depths of such utter despair and darkness that, Sharibu continues to inspire the human spirit.
She would have been home and dry like some others had she renounced her Christian faith and taken up the creed of her oppressors. She has refused to do this and so she remains in captivity till this day.
To hold on to one‘s faith when the road is clear and sunny is one thing. To hold on to the same faith when the road is dark and stormy is another. Sharibu looked captivity in the face and refused to renounce her faith.
In circumstances that would have broken a lot of mighty men, the Chibok girl showed remarkable courage and dignity. For that she has become a symbol – a powerful symbol of what is possible when the human spirit refuses to break under perilous pressure.
Boko Haram has shown itself to be well versed in the dark arts. What their captives go through is better left to the imagination. Sharibu and her sisters have proven to be just a part of Boko Haram‘s elaborate abduction scheme.
More and more captives have fallen into their hands and when they feel like scrawling a message to the Nigerian government in blood, they behead a captive or two. Yet, Sharibu stood up to them, choosing her faith over fear, choosing chains over a hollow freedom.
Sharibu is an inspiring testament to the spirit of the Nigerian woman burdened so much as she is by the crippling demands of a patriarchal society. Women are to be seen and never heard.
They are to be assigned subordinate places which they must occupy without protest. They are treated as second-class citizens.
They are to be owned and not own anything and more than anything, women are treated as objects.
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Because the society in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large is programmed to be patriarchal, women are made to suffer and endure horrible abuses.
Domestic violence combines with gender discrimination to keep women in chains and tears. The society is used to seeing women in chains. It is why a woman who breaks free becomes such a threat to the slavers.
Nigeria desires to grow and develop until it can rub shoulders with countries that have made meaningful progress on the path of national development.
Nigeria has always drawn up elaborate plans to achieve this. Even though the implementation of these plans have always left a lot to be desired.
Nigeria is leaving its women out of its developmental efforts. It explains why the efforts continue to stutter and stop. Without empowering women politically, economically and socially, Nigeria would continue to live a costly irony.
Because women form a large part of the Nigerian society, Nigeria must find safety in their numbers. That they can more than hold their own anywhere makes them equal partners in the Nigerian project, not subordinates. Never inferiors.
Leah Sharibu is fighting a long and very lonely battle in the clutches of Boko Haram. Nigerians have been unanimous in their outpouring of support and goodwill for her.
Whatever happens, her journey is already a story of faith, fearlessness and the triumph of womanhood over incredible odds.
- Kene Obiezu, Abuja.
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