Chibok Girls Rescue: Just 21? Not impressed!

By Joseph Rotimi… Nigerians, especially the ruling political class and their backers within and outside the country were in a virtual state of euphoria about a week ago when Boko Haram eventually released 21 out of over 200 girls to the government. This is more than two and a half years after their obviously well planned and articulated kidnap by the terrorist Boko Haram and their collaborators within the Nigerian establishment and security forces.

No true nation would allow such a crass and brazen assault on its sovereignty by psychologically challenged bunch of criminals such as Boko Haram. It appears as if Boko Haram was deliberately allowed to flourish. Even today, while the government claims Boko Haram has been technically defeated, they seem to tenuously rise from defeat to cause havoc. The help of the so-called international community is also suspect, because none of our major “helpers” would allow the travesty of Boko Haram for a month on their territories, while Nigeria has battled a nebulous enemy for nearly a decade with no end in sight.

The largely Christian Chibok girls were kidnapped on school property, at night, in a part of the country that was under military emergency. The kidnappers needed information as to the precise location of the girls and obviously got it. They also had to cover some distance to get to the school and make good their escape. They accomplished all these fits except for a few girls who luckily managed to escape. And for nearly three years, the misgovernance of Nigeria, the inefficiency of its security forces and the duplicity of internal as well as external collaborators has been on display. A security agency that was able to organize “sting” operations against hapless Judges was unable to locate or “sting out” the Chibok girls, or provide any coherent strategy for liberating them. In saner climes, it would have been virtually impossible to pull the Chibok stunt. And should it happen, those girls would be located within 24 hours or less and rescued. Where do you go with nearly 300 abducted girls in Britain, France or even Ghana for example?

As a country, we appear not to have any prestige or honor to defend or protect. We are content to allow the destruction of our people and have our sovereignty impugned because of our internal contradictions and an ill-defined national philosophy. Sometime back, Israel went to war over the abduction and killing of three of its teenagers. And the United States started a media and political blitz against the workings of the Italian justice system over an obviously flawed young woman’s possible involvement in the murder of her roommate in Italy. In contrast, Nigeria and Nigerians have watched helplessly, for nearly a decade, the extermination of over 20,000 of its citizens and the rendering of countless others as refugees.

The rescue of 21 kidnapped girls out of over 200 (probably a thousand more unreported), after nearly three years of abduction is a less than stellar performance for a nation that spends so much on defence. Our Generals tend to have large girths but little hearts: they have huge mansions but little compassion or patriotism. When given the opportunity, many of them are ready to screw the nation over instead of stretching their necks out to defend it. Boko Haram and its antics is a clear indication of the worth of Nigerian lives and the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.

The negotiations to release the girls after these years; no matter how it was achieved, is a clear confirmation to Nigerians that when trapped in the “valley of the shadow of death” a citizen’s life is not considered sacred but negotiable or expendable.

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