Hafsat Abiola is a human rights, civil rights and democracy activist,
founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), and daughter of
late business man/politician, MKO Abiola. Her letter below Dear
President, As young global leaders we would like to express our deep
concern about the recent situations in Nigeria. The massacre in Baga has
been Boko Haram’s deadliest so far and what has it met with? Your
silence. Most disturbing still is the fact that you would send a message
to France condemning the killings there, yet seem unable to address the
Nigerian people who look to you for leadership. Unfortunately, it would
not be the first time On 10 November 2014 a suicide bomber killed 47
people and injured 79 others. The following day, with barely a mention
of this horrific incident targetting children, you launched your
re-election campaign. And despite the ease with which you move on, even
you will remember the abduction of the schoolgirls in Chibok in April
last year. It was 40 days before you addressed the country on that
occasion. Nigerians waited, perplexed, as your government debated
whether or not the abductions had even taken place. As a result, of all
the girls captured, only 52 have secured their freedom – escaping on
their own. The rest are still in captivity, still waiting to be rescued,
276 days after being taken from their friends, family and community.
Could it be that your government also doubts that the Baga attacks
happened? Amnesty International’s satellite images confirm that indeed a
massacre took place, and as many as 2000 people are dead. Yet your army
wastes time contesting the numbers. Whether 150 or 2000, we’d like to
hear from you on your governments plans to secure the region and to bear
witness to the loss of lives in Baga. We have seen a clear incompetency
in handling matters of national interest. In the context of existing
ethnic and religious fault lines, silence only says that Nigeria’s
government does not care about the victims and is not dealing with the
insurgency. True the global community has also failed to maintain
pressure on your government that seems ambivalent about fulfilling its
constitutional role to secure the lives and properties of its citizens.
As 1.5 million Nigerians flee their homes, swelling camps within Nigeria
and overwhelming border communities’ (if not same as before), it seems
the only hope to see you act is global outrage. It was this that finally
forced you to address the nation and the world 40 days after the Chibok
abductions. It was only then that you reached out to other countries
and, with their help, agree a plan for a regional security force to
secure the porous borders between Nigeria, Niger and Chad where Boko
Haram roams undeterred. Perhaps, had international pressure been
sustained last year, a multi-regional force would have been based in
Baga as planned. Perhaps it would have been strong enough to repel Boko
Haram when the militants attacked on 3 January. Perhaps 2000 lives could
have been saved. But Isis happened and the world moved on, leaving a
small national military unit to stand between thousands of armed
militants and a town of ten thousand people. We now know what happened.
The world has seen pictures of bodies still strewn around the forest and
river where they died. If these deaths do not generate the attention,
outcry and action that they ought to, we can only prepare the ground for
more bodies because Boko Haram shows no sign of relenting. The
insurgents can be defeated but first you must decide if the lives of
Nigerians are worth it or not. Break the silence, Mr. President. Call
for global attention and support to avert a crisis that begins to echo
the early days of the Rwandan genocide. Be the voice for the thousands
of innocent people who have died and the millions who yearn for peace.
They have the right to rebuild their communities and claim their place
in the unfolding rise of the African continent. Hafsat Abiola-Costello
Founder/President Kudirat Initiative for democracy Nigeria
Co-Signatories Arnaud Ventura, France Bjarte Reve, Norway Binta Niambi
Brown, USA Erik Charas, Mozambique Funmi Iyanda, Nigeria Georgie
Bernadette, USA Jacqueline Musiitwa, Zambia Loulwa Bakr, Saudi Arabia
Leo Shlesinger, Chile Marieme Jamme, Senegal Mark Turrell, Germany
Rossana Figuera, USA Salim Amin, Kenya Soulaima Gourani, Denmark Susan
Mashibe, Tanzania Tara Fela Durotoye, Nigeria
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