by Joel Allotey

#BringBackOurGirls is rapidly becoming just another online craze. A new fad not unlike the #Occupy movement (remember? #OccupyThis, #OccupyThat- I wonder if the 99% ever got their fair share of the national cake before the movement fizzled out). Indeed the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, having very clear objectives and a strong impact from inception, is at risk of fizzling out- even before the girls are found. 

With the upsurge of the global outcry to #BringBackOurGirls one must admit it has made a significant impact in beleaguering the Nigerian security forces to adopt a more enthusiastic stance in a bid to recover the abducted girls. The street protests in Abuja, London, Washington, Johannesburg among other places around the world, also did well to draw the world’s attention to the ongoing crisis in the country, and most importantly badger the Nigerian leadership to action –two whole weeks after the unsuspecting pupils where snatched from their school.

Nigeria is now hot on the news. The media is having a field day covering this horrific sequence of events. Reports of military support from the US, UK, France and China may give some hope to the anxious parents of these children, who for the past three weeks have been ravaged with thoughts of the horrible experience that their beloved daughters are going through in the hands of those heinous savages and the equally perverted degenerates who would venture to purchase the girls from the insurgents.

Twitter has experienced torrential tweets and retweets regarding this crisis. From the average citizen expressing his or her frustration with a passive and indifferent government, to high ranking political figures emphatically stating their support for Nigeria, to renowned celebrities in the global entertainment industry also trying to get in on the online campaign – many posing with their #BringBackOurGirls posters and placards. This moves one to ask “What exactly do these people know about Nigeria? About our struggle with terrorism and insecurity? About Chibok?”

The answer…Nothing.

#BringBackOurGirls is rapidly becoming just another online craze. A new fad not unlike the #Occupy movement (remember? #OccupyThis, #OccupyThat- I wonder if the 99% ever got their fair share of the national cake before the movement fizzled out). Indeed the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, having very clear objectives and a strong impact from inception, is at risk of fizzling out- even before the girls are found. The most like reason why this would happen is because the world, including majority of Nigerians, are unable to relate in any way whatsoever to the harrowing grief, pain and anxiety that these affected families and the abducted girls themselves are going through. No pictures of the abductees have been released to put a human face to this crisis and most importantly, most people in Nigeria and almost everyone else around the world does not know anything about Chibok, or Borno State for that matter.

The Wikipedia article for ‘Chibok’ is five sentences long- Local Government Area in Borno State (Northern Nigeria). Headquarters (of the Local Government) in the town of Chibok. Land area of 1,350km² and population of 66,105. Postal code is 601. Over 200 girls abducted by Islamist militants. That’s about it. Many Nigerians, myself included, didn’t even know a place called ‘Chibok’ existed until about three weeks ago.

It becomes difficult to maintain the interest of the global community in this saga especially when the attention of the media gradually starts to deviate to other pressing and nascent global issues. Just like news of the mysterious Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that has yet to be found, the likely sequence of reactions around the world would go something like–“What a sad and horrific event!!!” –to –“We MUST do all we can to resolve this crises!”-to – ”Still hoping for the best” – to – “…by the way, whatever happened to those Chibok girls?” The worst part is, all this could happen within a couple of weeks. The nightmare however, for the victims and their families, endures much longer.

#BringBackOurGirls has highlighted the inherent passiveness of the Nigerian Security forces and their inability to expunge the insurgents. It has drawn the world’s attention to the precarious situation of the country and most importantly it has brought Nigerians together to support a just cause.

We may not be able to embark on a rescue mission in Sambisa forest (the suspected hideout of the militants in northern-eastern Nigeria), but we can continue to support this campaign until everything possible, and more, is done to rescue those innocent children and deliver Nigeria, once and for all, from the plague of insurgency.

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Joel Allotey is a student at the University of Ghana Medical School had he tweets from @JCallotey

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.