The Nation Newspaper

Tag: #BBOG campaigners

  • BBOG campaigners’ march on the villa

    SIR: On the night of April 14, 2014, 276 female students were kidnapped from their dormitories in Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnappings even as 57 of the girls managed to escape from captivity.

    This was the incident that birthed the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign led by Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education, and Aisha Yesufu, a social activist. I commend the BBOG campaigners for their single mindedness and their tenacity of purpose for not allowing the issue to be swept under the carpet as is the norm in Nigeria despite insults, name calling and intimidation from government security forces.

    The fact that they are still involved in the campaign despite a change in government at the federal level has also debunked rumours which made the rounds that they were sponsored by the then opposition All Progressives Congress to bring down the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    However, I think it is time for the BBOG campaigners to consider a change of strategy in line with the current realities if they are truly desirous of actualizing their aims and objectives. I say this in view of the clash between the police and the BBOG campaigners when they (BBOG) attempted to march on the Presidential Villa. While I condemn all forms of brutality by the police, if indeed there was any, the BBOG campaigners especially Mrs Ezekwesili, who has been in government before, should have known that a march on the villa is a security risk and it would be a failing on the part of the police and other security agencies if they failed to stop the marchers. There is nowhere in the world where protesters are allowed to march onto the grounds of the presidential palace. Not even in America, where they have an open, free and liberal democracy. How much more Nigeria which is bedeviled with a plethora of security challenges, left, right and centre?

    The police was also wrong to have arrested the protesters since they committed no crime. Those in the administration who ordered the arrest of the BBOG campaigners should not fail to remember that they were the major beneficiaries of the campaign as it is an open secret that the issue of the Chibok girls was the Achilles heel that led to the downfall of the past administration.

    They (BBOG) should be patient with the government seeing that the government has secured the release of half of the girls in captivity, has promised to free the remaining 112 girls, and has renewed the fight against their captors. They should also lower the bar of their expectations since recent videos posted on the internet by the insurgents have revealed that some of the girls are now married to their captors with children and have expressed a desire not to return to their families in Nigeria. It will be extremely difficult for the security agencies to secure the release of some of them who have been brainwashed into becoming fighters for Boko Haram or those who are currently experiencing Stockholm Syndrome.

    BBOG campaigners can camp out, carry out rallies, campaigns, grant interviews and engage in advocacy rather than attempting to march on the presidential palace every now and then. They should be less antagonistic towards the government but should collaborate with them as partners in progress in securing the release of the remaining Chibok girls.

     

    • Peter Ovie Akus,

    Ifo, Ogun State.

  • EU plans €140m for Northeast rehabilitation

    EU plans €140m for Northeast rehabilitation

    The European Union plans to contribute €140 million towards the rehabilitation of the Northeast affected by Boko Haram.

    Head of the EU Delegation to ECOWAS and Nigeria, Amb. Michael Arrion said the support is in addition to what the EU already pledged in Oslo in terms of monetary commitments.

    Arrion added that they are aware that 25 LGAs out of 27 need strong support in terms of rehabilitation in Borno state and the EU will contribute to that.

    He made this revelation yesterday in Abuja, when members of the Progressive Alliance of Democrats and Socialists in the European Parliament visited members of the  #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) advocasy in Abuja.

    His words, “I am happy to tell you that very soon we will be in Borno to announce a support recovery and rehabilitation. We will be working with the Borno authorities. I took your message. We know that 25 LGAs out of 27 need strong support in terms of rehabilitation. We will contribute to that, I promise you.

    “We will announce our plans in two weeks’ time. The support is in addition to what we already pledged in Oslo in terms of monetary commitments. In Oslo we pledged €140m in humanitarian response.

    “We are going to announce another package for Borno which is more or less the same amount but this is not for humanitarian assistance but something more long term to address the needs in terms of reconstruction, rehabilitation and recovery. We will implement this package with the state authorities, with Governor Kashim Shettima and the Commissioner for the 3Rs.

    “Of course we cannot be everywhere at the same time but we will work together with other partners, donors and concentrate on a few LGAs. The priority is water, sanitation and electricity. Others will take health and education. We intend to provide electricity to some health centres and rehabilitate some of these centres.”

  • Soyinka faults security clamp down on BBOG campaigners

    Soyinka faults security clamp down on BBOG campaigners

    Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has faulted security operatives for attempting to clamp down on demonstrations by the Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG).

    Prof Soyinka spoke while delivering the keynote address at the 20th anniversary of Halifield Schools, Maryland, Lagos yesterday.

    He said: “Do not forget the missing girls of Chibok. Democracy is not about campaigning. It is exercising human right. It is about helping the children and the adults build society. Demonstrations cannot be too much as long as those girls are missing. Demonstrations are an act of solidarity. Wherever those girls are today, when their mothers demonstrate, their morale is raised. That is my message to security operatives who get scared of those who are agitating for a cause and tear gas them. They must be treated with utmost respect and must be given their space.

    “It is an act of solidarity for the children. Otherwise, when you stop these demonstrations, you are saying “forget about the children, because we have important things like reviving the economy, corruption among others, to worry about.” Yes those things are important but ultimately, society is for humanity and when one of us is hurt, we must allow ourselves to protest.”

    Soyinka, who was presented with the role model award at the ceremony, added: “I hope we don’t get the negative effects when they bring back our girls. And when we talk about democracy to our children, it is to teach them their rights. Therefore there has to be greater coherence from the government and its agencies. We don’t have to know one single individual among the girls. We should demonstrate democratic responsibility. Let us continue to recognise solidarity with these girls and one day, they will come back or we will get to know what has become of them.”

    The professor of comparative literature also counselled society to engage alternative means of survival in the face of the harsh economy, rather than sit and wait for government.

    He suggested that ‘soup kitchens’ be created in every local government to reduce the impact of poverty.

    “There is no reason why a community like this cannot come up with soup kitchen. Save a little, and even the children have been known to contribute their pocket money in order to reach out to the less privileged in the community. We must put ourselves in the position of the internally displaced persons. It is even a good self interest and can help boost your conscience. Let’s not wait for poverty to eat us squarely and flatten us to the point where we are no longer able to do anything. We should act accordingly, starting from the communities, the local governments, the states and hopefully, the federal government. I consider myself an economics illiterate but I am a consumer and I know where the shoe pinches. These efforts can at least blunt the edge of abject poverty,” Soyinka said.

    The Proprietress of Halifield Schools, Mrs Halima Oke, urged government to work on population control to reduce poverty and starvation.

    She said: “If people are allowed to have children indiscriminately, my belief is that Nigerians will face excruciating hardship never imagined very soon. It is time for citizens, particularly our brothers and sisters in villages to be schooled on the benefits of a small family that can be catered for by the parents, without going cap in hand to beg for hand outs from struggling citizens.”

  • #BBOG campaigners, pro-govt group clash over protest

    #BBOG campaigners, pro-govt group clash over protest

    The police and a pro-President Muhammadu Buhari  group, With Buhari We Stand, yesterday disrupted a protest by members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) movement.

    The police disrupted the protest at the Unity Fountain and in front of the Ministry of Justice.

    Though the movement made its way to the Villa gate after presenting its permit to the police, it was confronted by the pro-Buhari group.

    Leader of #BBOG group and former Education Minister, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, urged the police to learn from former Police |Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu, who attempted to stop the movement but had been retired.

    Dr Ezekwesili said the movement had notified the the police of ts protest 48 hours before the peaceful march.

    She said: “ The authorities of this country decided to issue an order that the #BringBackOurGirls movement cannot march to protest the fact of inaction concerning the then 219 girls who were abducted from their secondary school on April 14, 2014. We decided, according to the tenets of democracy, to go to court to challenge that and the court ruled in the favour of the movement and declared that the police have no right whatsoever to prevent citizens from engaging in this.

    “We have been having our marches. In furtherance of our core values, every march we have is given a 48-hour notice to the authorities. We submitted our letter to the office of the Commissioner of Police as well as the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) responsible for activities of this kind.

    “Today, we continue with our march and here we are, being cordoned off by a huge, heavy presence of mobile policemen. The shameful thing is that they are women, being used against their fellow women…”

    One of the leaders of “With Buhari We Stand” group, Comrade Idris King accused #BBOG of using the Chibok girls as a scam against a government that is doing its best to secure the lives of Nigerians.

    He said that the group came out to say enough is enough to groups like the #BBOG who have been disturbing the government.

    He said: “We are a solidarity group, we simply called ourselves together to chant the cause of support for our President, we gave our caption as in Buhari We Stand, our membership is cut across Nigerians, civil society groups, we are all Nigerians, we called ourselves together to say, let’s say enough is enough to those who are trying to disrupt the good work of our government, we are referring to members of the #BringBackOurGirls who have been disturbing the government to tell you the truth.”

     

    “Any responsible government, the issue of national security cannot be disclosed to the general public, we all know that back in the day, no one felt safe, we were all scared of bomb blasts, when this government came in, in their own wisdom, they used their own strategy and recorded this tremendous achievement, definitely the way these girls are going to come back, is going to be done as we have seen in the area of bombings.

     

    “Let me tell you the truth, the Chibok girls are only being used as a caption against Boko Haram, there were series of Nigerians that w ere kidnapped by those people, on a daily basis, our security operatives rescue a lot of people, these Chibok girls have been used just as a scam because if you can see what Ezekwesili is doing with this #BBOG, she is doing a good job but now that the government is in a critical situation of restoring peace and order in the country, she should not do it now, that is what we are saying, enough is enough, let the government do what it is doing because it is doing a very good job.”

     

    Our girls of Chibok are people where trying to gain an education so that they can join the Nigerian police, or the Nigerian army or the people who have served their nation in one capacity or the other but just look at you, you have been assembled to stop our march, a peaceful march, our movement has been a citizens movement of great core values we have been civil in our advocacy, we a democracy, you have no right to stop us from proceeding in a freeway.

     

    “May I remind you that Mbu once thought that he was the be all and end all of policing but a day came when it became past tense for Mbu so whoever is leading, let it be known that we will carry on with this march.

     

    “A government that pledged that during the period of its electoral campaign that it was going to bring back our Chibok girls swiftly, a government which when the President was being inaugurated stated that he would not consider Nigeria to have defeated Boko Haram and won the war until the government has rescued our Chibok girls and all other abducted citizens of Nigeria, we expected that same government to have worked swiftly and we as a movement is saying Mr President, no more excuses, no more delays.

     

    “Why should they take their time, it is day 876 since our girls have been in captivity. We said after one week of waiting for cohesive action that is driven by diligence and commitment, that are conveyed to any reasonable person that will know that action is being taken, not some bureaucratic squaddles that has attended anything that concerns our Chibok girls, when we did not see any form of real action, we decided that every 72 hours we will march to take our Chibok girls on the front bunner of the Presidents priority.

     

    “What is going on, is our government saying that demanding for our Chibok girls is in violation of the law? Is it now a crime to ask the government to perform it’s responsibility to the children of the poor that have been in Boko Haram captivity, I want you to know that freedom cannot be curtailed in a democracy, if the government is saying to us that we are no longer a democracy, it should let it be known clearly, we are not in violation of any rule or law, we met with due all process guidelines in order to embark on our protest.”

     

    One of the leaders of “With Buhari We Stand” group, Comrade Idris King accused #BBOG of using the Chibok girls as a scam against a government that is doing its best to secure the lives of Nigerians.

     

    He said that the group came out to say enough is enough to groups like the #BBOG who have been disturbing the government.

     

    He said: “We are a solidarity group, we simply called ourselves together to chant the cause of support for our President, we gave our caption as in Buhari We Stand, our membership is cut across Nigerians, civil society groups, we are all Nigerians, we called ourselves together to say, let’s say enough is enough to those who are trying to disrupt the good work of our government, we are referring to members of the #BringBackOurGirls who have been disturbing the government to tell you the truth.

     

    “Any responsible government, the issue of national security cannot be disclosed to the general public, we all know that back in the day, no one felt safe, we were all scared of bomb blasts, when this government came in, in their own wisdom, they used their own strategy and recorded this tremendous achievement, definitely the way these girls are going to come back, is going to be done as we have seen in the area of bombings.

     

    “Let me tell you the truth, the Chibok girls are only being used as a caption against Boko Haram, there were series of Nigerians that w ere kidnapped by those people, on a daily basis, our security operatives rescue a lot of people, these Chibok girls have been used just as a scam because if you can see what Ezekwesili is doing with this #BBOG, she is doing a good job but now that the government is in a critical situation of restoring peace and order in the country, she should not do it now, that is what we are saying, enough is enough, let the government do what it is doing because it is doing a very good job.”

     

    In responds to the In Buhari We Stand group, leader of the #BBOG strategic team, Aisha Yesufu said that they have no business with the other group.

     

    According to her, Nigeria is practising a democracy and therefore, everyone has the right to come and and protest for or against anything they want.

     

    Her words: “We have left the pictures of our girls at the Villa gate for the President to reminding himself that their are girls out there asking to be brought back home.

     

    “We have no business with that group, they are there, it is a free world, we are in a democracy. And every body has the right to come out and protest, for or against so they have every right to be here and we have no business with them. We had no interaction with them, our business is was with the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the reason why we mention President Muhammadu Buhari is because he is the President, if tomorrow he is no longer the President, whoever is president, we will deal with that person, so our business is not with any group.

     

    “But the biggest problem we had today is with the police who think that their alligence is with the president and the ruling party rather than the Nigerian state and it’s people and to that we told them that they have to be law enforcers not, not law breakers.”

     

    END