By Zainab Suleiman Okino
At the last count, not less than five countries—the US, UK, France, China and Israel – have indicated their interest to help Nigeria rescue the schoolgirls of Chibok. World leaders and celebrities have also identified with Nigeria through their social media crusade in the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls solidarity, which immediately went viral. David Cameron, Atiku Abubakar, Mikel Obi, Michelle Obama, Angelina Jolie, Christiane Amanpour and millions of activists, gender campaigners, ordinary people and humanists have all joined in the campaign.
Former US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton and Mrs. Obama in scathing remarks, condemned in the strongest terms the abduction and Nigerian government’s lethargic approach to violence and corruption. While this intervention is trite in view of the pervading insecurity, the politicization of the matter, and in the wake of the uncertainty surrounding the abduction (despite the latest video showing them in hijabs) of the school girls, the country and its leadership should actually be in a mourning mood. Although it is not yet Uhuru, the question is what would have happened if the world had looked the other way as the government expected us to do?
Actually, the world’s media beamed their searchlight on us and our underbelly, revealing that we are uglier than they thought. All the major newspapers have written strongly worded editorials on our travails, and most are about our dark side; those things that no Nigerian newspaper can write without being branded a Jonathan hater, or accused of doing the opposition’s biddings.
However, instead of the authorities to worry about the unmasking of Africa’s most populous nation and the world’s 8th oil producer, where corruption and poverty hold sway and where less than 5 per cent of the population control the country’s oil wealth, leaving others in peril, the authorities seem to be enjoying the attention. To them it’s like a movie, a form of theatrics, and high drama, which only mirrors and not mimics. Wake up guys; this is reality, this is no fluke and make-believe. Nigeria is being shred to pieces even as confidence keeps eroding.
The Jonathan government has become a butt of joke. And as the The Wall Street Journal in its report of Monday put it: “The kidnapping of 276 school girls has made Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan a target of scorn inside and outside his country”. Former US ambassador John Campbell said Jonathan “is totally out of his depth” and “looks feckless”.
It is, however, amazing that Jonathan and his cabinet do not view the expose as an admission of weakness on his part and loss of respect for the nation. Our sovereignty is being eroded, independence threatened; our kind of politics—where the president blames others for his failure— is questioned and the economy is depleted. Yet, we are ecstatic that foreigners have taken over the responsibility of government to rescue the missing girls; and with it our pride as a nation.
I had thought the focus of the world on us, not for positive exploits but for the wrong reasons should rattle the Nigerian government, no matter how noble the intentions are. I had thought the presidency would accept, with pains and regrets, the intervention from other countries, but the government appears to relish it, accept it with gusto and speak glowingly about it as part of their achievements.
On what basis can we beat our chest and lay claim to anything glorious, anything close to patriotism and any form of nationalistic fervour? How then can we reject our classification as a failing nation when the gaping hole in our security engender foreign assistance to fix internal resurrection very much like Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan and Pakistan? Before the authorities celebrate the coming of the Americans, does the government realize that the reality of the nation’s vulnerability will further expose and task it on issues of rights violation, management of the economy, corruption, freedom of expression, and freedom of choice or election? I hope they are ready?
That is why one was taken aback about the Police’s reaction to the continued demonstrations over the girls’ abduction last Sunday. The Police dispersed the gathering and reportedly told them they (Police) had orders to break protests and demonstrations. The Chibok girls’ matter is now internationalized; it is a mass movement that no government muzzling can stop until they are returned hale and hearty to their parents.
The other day the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan ordered the arrest of the leader of the #BringBackOurGirls protest, accusing her of impersonation, whereas, as a Chibok indigene, resident in Abuja, she represented one of the parents of the missing girls. A combination of global and local pressures forced her and her goons to drop the case and quickly release the woman. When the same first lady, attempted to put the abduction blame on Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state and his wife, she got in return an unexpected backlash that questioned her duties as a first lady and sincerity of purpose in calling for the meeting in the first place.
So, someone should tell the Nigerian government and their Police force that the Chibok girls abduction has taken a life of its own that no political force can stop. It is like igniting a fire, which can snowball into a limitless inferno.
Therefore, the Nigerian Police should exercise caution in “taking and executing orders from above”. This is not time to flex muscles; it is a time for introspection. It is time for this government to ask itself questions: what have we not done right? How sincere are we in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency and violence across the country in general? Where has a quarter of the nation’s money budgeted to combat insecurity gone? Has this government not criminally neglected a part of the country, leaving the people to their own devices?
It is also not a surprise that the Nasarawa state correspondent of the Daily Trust was quizzed over his story that NSCDC members joined the #BringBackOurGirls protest in Lafia, the state capital. Revolutions in form of the Arab spring were begun this way; a small spark turning into a big conflagration, capable of consuming anyone, including those in fortified fortresses. When push comes to shove it is not only civil defence officials; even people from unexpected quarters, can turn against their commander-in-chief, because ultimately, it is about the country and not any individual.