by Temitayo Famutimi
| credits: File copy
Campaigners demanding the rescue of the over 200 abducted Chibok girls have lamented that the online advocacy was dwindling.
According to them, the online #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which attracted global attention and grabbed international headlines before now, is gradually dwindling.
Expressing concerns over the
development, American Congresswoman, Sheila Jackson-Lee, said there was a
need for people around the world who value girl-child education to
continue to rally support for the schoolgirls who have been in Boko
Haram custody for over 115 days.
Writing on her Twitter page,
Jackson-Lee, who represents the Texas’ 18th Congressional District in
the US House of Representatives, stated that it would be quite
thoughtful and compassionate for all campaigners to keep up the with the
support to find the girls.
“Do not let the world forget until every
girl is found,” she advocated, adding, “We will not forget them and we
will not rest until they are returned.”
Another American lawmaker, Frederica
Wislon, who had been in the forefront of the campaign, stated that since
the Chibok girls were still with the insurgents, all those who gave the
online advocacy a push from the outset should not begin to “stand idly
by.”
The Congresswoman from Florida argued
that it was high time the Federal Government rescued the students as
girl child education was a lifeline to any nation’s development.
“We can’t allow this story to fade from
the headlines. Attacking and abducting schoolgirls is unconscionable.
When we educate girls, we change the world and educated girls lead to
empowered societies,” she added in a series of messages on her Twitter
page.
A member of the Abuja #BringBackOurGirls coalition, Amina Atoyebi, also lamented that most people “are tired” of campaigning for the girls’ rescue.
She appealed to Nigerians both home and
abroad not to relent in speaking up for the schoolgirls in captivity,
adding that doing so would go a long way in sympathising with their
parents and loved ones.
Atoyebi, however, described as “utterly
ridiculous” for the Federal Government to be allegedly vague on the
efforts being made to rescue the girls in captivity.
“This is utterly ridiculous! Almost four
months since the girls were abducted. The sad truth is that the Chibok
girls’ lives will be totally different from what it was before the
abductions. Most people are tired about the #BringBackOurGirls issue. We must not move on just like that. Let us speak up for them.
“But what is the Nigerian Government
doing to bring back these girls? They are being vague and don’t want to
be held accountable. I don’t think that the relatives of any kidnapped
politician was in captivity for up to four months. What is worse than
any bad government is a people whose humanity and consciences have been
eroded. After 100 days, it is natural that the numbers will dwindle
forcampaign. A lot can happen in 100 days.”
Asking Nigerians and well-meaning
individuals in different parts of the world to rally round the Chibok
girls, an online activist, Jeff Okoroafor, asked, “If in 115 days no one
cared to ask your whereabouts, how would you feel? That is exactly how
the Chibok girls are constantly feeling today.”
Okoroafor argued that the majority of
the girls would feel “distressed, ostracised and forgotten”, 115 days
since their abduction from their school dormitory.
He added that the thought of what those girls were going through was depressing and unimaginable.
“One hundred and fifteen days since
their abduction, where is the government? Where is this nation’s
leadership? Without being told, the abducted Chibok Girls are being
battered by their captors. We pray that the government act urgently to
rescue them,” the online activist added on Twitter.
But an online commentator, Victor
Asemota, queried the effectiveness of the online campaign in securing
the safe release of the girls.
“I still have not seen scientific proof
that the hashtag campaign led to meaningful change for good. If you have
it, then please share with me,” Asemota argued.
But another social commentator, Henry Okelue, disagreed with Asemota over the effectiveness of the #BringBackOurGirls online campaign.
According to Okelue, the online campaign
had been successful in drawing the attention and concern from people
around the globe to the girls’ plight.
“When Nigeria’s history is updated, the
campaign will find a place of pride and posterity will remember it for
good,” Okelue said on Twitter.
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