The Federal Government has not done, or shown that it has done, enough to free the girl
On February 19, the world agonised over the fact that Leah Sharibu, the Nigerian symbol of girl child abduction from schools had spent 365 days in captivity. Few days to the anniversary, her traumatised mother and other members of her family, with the help of some NGOs held a tearful press briefing. They were asking the Nigerian, UK and the US governments to assist in securing her release.
Curiously though, there had been rumours of her death a few weeks back but the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, debunked the wild speculation, dismissing it as political propaganda. We want to believe that this official information is accurate. It gives hope.
However, beyond the rebuttal, the world wants to see the teenage Leah reunited with her family, rehabilitated and re-integrated into the society and back to her school in good time. Her hopes and ours are dependent on the swiftness of her rescue or release from captivity.
While Leah seemingly serves as the face of all abducted girls and women, including the remaining Chibok girls, their tragic fate has very huge national, if not global implications. Most of the girls were abducted from schools around the North East.
Tragically, according to UNICEF statistics, the northern part of the country contributes a whopping 69 percent of the 13.2 million out of school children in Nigeria. Only a paltry four percent of girls complete secondary education there. Invariably, the northern part of the country has a huge illiterate population because the natural nurturers of children are mainly illiterates and logically that impacts on the quality of children such mothers raise, physically and mentally. There is a high rate of maternal/child mortality and growth and mental retardation.
Against this backdrop, the recurrent cases of the abduction of girls from schools are one of the biggest tragedies of this century. Before now, it was marked by religious and cultural obstinacy, especially from the leadership of the region in that they did not adequately mobilise the citizenry to embrace modern education methods.
They also did not effectively galvanise the Almajiri education system to improve the quality of life of the population. It is still largely so. Child marriage is still an issue and it educationally cripples the girl child with the byproducts being death, diseases like Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) and a fertility rate unmatched by the productive capacity of the regional economy.
The constant abduction of girls from schools and the fate of Leah and the remaining Chibok girls continue to rile our conscience. No parent would want to be in the shoes of Leah’s parents. They would prefer them illiterate and alive than the agony of abduction.
We urge the Federal Government to intensify efforts to get Leah released because her continued ordeal sends all the wrong vibes to the citizens and the outside world. The fact that it is reported that she is being held because she is a Christian should worry the government. As a secular nation, her release would augur well for religious harmony as it touches the core of the belief system that is very sensitive in the country.
The fact that five of the Dapchi girls died in captivity also presents a sore point that needs to be urgently addressed; we want those girls to be remembered in ways that the family would be comforted and feel cared for by the country that owes their children protection. The rhetoric over Leah’s ordeal is getting too exhausting and her continued stay in the hands of her abductors economically draining for her family who cannot understandably be in the right psychological state to be productive.
Statistic after statistic keep zeroing in on the north as the poverty and illiteracy region of the country. This is because successive governments have fallen short of providing the requisite infrastructural and social benefits to lift it out of the doldrums. That accounts for some of the anomie of the region, including the dark bloom of Boko Haram and other forms of militant malaise.
The Almajiri and nomadic education programmes seem very ineffective for now and must be re-evaluated for greater efficiency. It is instructive to recall the advice of the Education Chief of UNICEF, Terry Durrnian, “the world would not help Nigeria solve the problem if it does not solve it by itself”.
The outside world and global bodies can only support in minimal ways. We have to take the destiny of the young and vulnerable seriously by creating the atmosphere that would make young girls like Leah secure and live without the fear of bands of never-do-wells who raid schools at night, cart away the nubile youth and subject them to the worst of macho impunity, like domestic exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of physical and psychological tyranny.
We find it curious that none of the major presidential candidates made the fate of Leah and other abducted women and girls around the internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps in the country an issue in the election campaigns. There must be a deeper show of concern about the safety of citizens but, more especially, that of the girl child who is susceptible to a variety of indignity.
The Nation
