Will Chibok girls, Leah Sharibu ever be found?

Buhari had promised that every Nigerian child would be safe in their schools in the run-up to the 2015 election. But only recently, armed men attacked Engravers College, a boarding secondary school in Chikun, Kaduna state and abducted two staff and six female students. Like the missing Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu, they are victims […]

Buhari had promised that every Nigerian child would be safe in their schools in the run-up to the 2015 election. But only recently, armed men attacked Engravers College, a boarding secondary school in Chikun, Kaduna state and abducted two staff and six female students.

Like the missing Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu, they are victims of the failure of the people who swore to protect them. Their sin: they dared to seek knowledge. Despite several assurances from the presidency that abducted Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu would be reunited with their families, they remain in the den of their abductors, leaving their distraught loved ones in the prison of hope.

Sadly, the narrative of a disturbing breach of contract between law-abiding Nigerians who pay their taxes on the one hand and the federal government on the other hand with the primary responsibility of protecting Nigerians which birthed the abductions highlighted has refused to change with a retired General as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces inspite of high expectations.

What appears to be an advertisement of the hopeless and helpless situation of the worsening security problem bedevilling Nigeria is the resolve of the Borno state government to engage prayer warriors to bring back the peace that has eluded his state and the entire North.

True, Nigeria is arguably the prayer capital of the world. We pray about everything- poverty, bad economy, corruption and everything under the sun, including simple things common sense can solve!

Now that the Borno state government has contracted 30 Saudi-based clerics, expressing its readiness to engage clerics of different faiths in Nigeria, it is safe to say good times are indeed here for prayer warriors in Nigeria. What the government has failed to tell Nigerians is how much of tax payers’ money is piped into the project.

Shouldn’t we demonstrate seriousness in leveraging technology to combat the rising spate of insecurity across the land like what obtains in same climes?  What are those in the power loop doing to take away the over 10 million out-of- school children that represent time bombs on our streets? Why are more people getting trapped in the chasm of poverty every passing day?

Until we stop paying lip service to the issues that threaten our peace and unity, Dapchi and Chibok will continue to happen. But our missing girls must not be forgotten.

Ladesope Ladelokun    ladesopeladelokun @gmail.com