By Favour Afolabi
The return of these 82 girls, in addition to the earlier 21 girls, is the best news I have heard as a Nigerian – at least in the last 3 years within this polity. And it is my prayer that the other 100+ girls are also returned safely to their parents as soon as possible in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
I have long held the belief that ‘Chibok’ [and the associated Boko Haram matter] along with ‘the Civil War: Biafra’ have been the two worst scars on the collective Nigeria conscience since independence – and the earlier we can rid ourselves of this as a nation the better for us all.
Of course, the political undertones would always be ripe in the air but I really care for nothing about those anymore – I have since moved on from those brickbats and back-and-forths – at the end of the day, there will never be an ‘agreed truth’ of what really happened on that fateful day – we should all just work together as a nation to ensure that these innocent girls are returned safely to their parents.
It is also my hope that in the coming years Nigerians would learn a lesson from this debacle – to always play politics without using human lives as cannon fodder in the process. This is also a triumph of Professionalism/tact over melodramatics – the negotiations by the Military intelligence along with civil society groups around the world in ensuring the release of these girls shows that “when we want to work, we can work and achieve results” – we can let those who are experienced [or at least have the genuineness of heart to pursue certain causes] to do what they must in achieving desired results without coming in their way with political rhetoric.
The entire team that oversaw this process must be commended and encouraged to do even better without allowing them become the ITEM of unnecessary media attention, CNN-typed panels, and uncalled for gallivanting around the world to tell tales of ‘their successes’ – we really can do much more as a nation in the backgrounds without losing out on the real goals we set for ourselves while being lost in the fanfares.
This must not be a rocket science situation – we can receive back these girls, continually in exchange for some of the Boko Haram prisoners – and even with along with CASH [if it must be done] while still waging war against this dastardly sect to the point that you can still go ahead ‘to catch or kill’ those same prisoners you already released – this is no new modus operandi around the world in dealing with extremist groups of this nature – if we are sincere within this polity, we can do unbelievable things for the greater good for this polity.
I thank the unrelenting #BBOG movement for their persistence – I have not always agreed with the modus operandi of a few of the faces of the group – especially in the early days of this debacle but I guess even they too, having experienced several things in this polity in the last couple of months have also come to see that some of the assumptions they made were not really what they thought they were – of course, it is difficult to separate politics from advocacy yet those that choose the latter course would always have to learn the complex task of maintaining the thin line that exist between the two.
This nation will prevail over evil in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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