Ezekwesili: Courage in extreme danger (II)

Oby must preserve the integrity of her group and avoid traps. Oby is neither a Northerner nor a Hausa or Chibok woman; she’s a Southerner, a Christian, a detribalised Nigerian and an international personality struggling to ensure that universal  human values are operative in our country. That’s why she feels for those girls, their parents […]

Oby must preserve the integrity of her group and avoid traps. Oby is neither a Northerner nor a Hausa or Chibok woman; she’s a Southerner, a Christian, a detribalised Nigerian and an international personality struggling to ensure that universal  human values are operative in our country. That’s why she feels for those girls, their parents (with whom she has no blood ties) and indeed all Nigerians.
What would have happened to Black Americans if the likes of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, etc, had not struggled for justice and respect for their human rights? Would there have been a President Barack Hussein Obama of America? What would have happened to South African blacks and other non-white population if Nelson Rolihlahlah Mandela had not sacrificed himself for 27 years in jail for their freedom? Do we ask for justice for only the people who speak our language, or worship like us or come from the same village as we do? According to Nelson Mandela, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.”
Asked why she is leading the #Bring Back Our Girls campaign, Oby replied: “The reason that I am part of this and I am a strong advocate for these girls is because I have a soul. I will be accountable to my maker if it would actually be said of me that I was in this country at a time that over 234 children are still missing and I simply couldn’t be bothered.”
From kidnapping 234 Chibok school girls, Boko Haram has captured towns Dikwa, Gwoza, Madagali, etc, and proclaimed a caliphate in Bornu State. Latest reports quote a military source as saying that Boko Haram is planning to seize Maiduguri. The report alleges that the insurgents will attempt to capture the city from a camp just 10 miles from Giwa Barracks. Is Maiduguri being held in trust for Boko Haram until they are ready to take it? Is the Nigerian Army so helpless as to allow Maiduguri fall to Boko Haram so soon after they have lost other territory to them? What really is the problem? What is the army lacking, morale or missiles? Does Boko Haram really have a source of funds equivalent to one trillion naira or more that we have been budgeting for the Army every year, lately?
In the face of extreme danger, Oby has made enormous personal sacrifice to draw our attention to the plight of our young women stolen from us 141 days ago. Like other highly placed Nigerians, she could have just shrugged off this unprecedented kidnap of the Chibok girls and continued with her busy boardroom life. After all, even those whose responsibility it is to protect or recover these girls have since “moved on”. Oby and Nigerians appreciate the anti-terrorism conferences in France, South Africa, Malala visit and a similar, ongoing gathering in Kenya, but where are the girls? Why are the authorities silent on the fate of these girls long after some people said they knew where the girls were? Are people going to continue to pretend that because terrorism is a new phenomenon here, or because they need to work “quietly” to bring back the girls, then it will have to take eternity to accomplish this task? Do we have all the time? Are citizens not entitled to accountability on this serious matter? Even if 234 Nigerian dogs are stolen, are Nigerian animal rights campaigners, for example, not at liberty to expect that Nigerian resources are used to ensure their safe return after 141 days?
One agrees completely with Oby that “we will be a failed nation in every sense of the word in the eyes of the global community if two hundred and something of our children who could be rescued from the enemy’s camp are abandoned and ignored simply because people are obsessed with the obscenity of power”. Who wants to be a citizen of a failed state?
By defying inclement weather, by reaching out to people across several divides, by disrupting her own way of life, by sticking out her neck for those endangered school girls, Oby has shown her tremendous love for this country and its citizens. In practical terms, Oby has shown more concern on this matter than our decision-makers. It is the likes of Oby and her associates who continue to give us hope that Nigeria will blossom. Through #Bring Back Our Girls, Oby has reinforced our national solidarity and created another platform to enable us seek accountability from our rulers and demand that they show us a little more compassion. Whenever the history of Chibok, its daughters, parents and community, Bornu State, North East and Nigeria is written, undoubtedly, Oby Ezekwesili will get a kind mention in it because of her refusal to keep quiet and indeed because she stood for their welfare “regardless of their religion, politics, language and culture.”
Oby Ezekwesili is not an enemy; she is an illustrious compatriot.