The #BringBackOurGirls group on Friday expressed disgust at the periodic mention of the of the abducted school girls by government.
Convener of the group, Oby Ezekwesili in an interview with DailyTrust on Thursday said three years since the abduction of the girls, government only comfortably mentions them during events or occasions.
She lamented that, although the advocacy group feels exhausted from its daily demand for the girls rescue, it also feels let down because it expected FG to have done better in their rescue mission.
She said the Buhari administration has not matched the results with the kind of expectations that it gave to Nigerians, stressing that there is a "huge disconnect between the high expectation FG gave everyone of us by the kind of promises it made concerning our Chibok girls compared to the result and the way it had managed the tragedy. If this government had managed the tragedy in a way that showed sensitivity better than how the previous government did, people would at least say, oh we can see".
"FG should ask Nigerians for feedback on how badly it has managed the process and everything that concerns the girls. It will see that the results it had generated has no matched the expectations, pledge and promises it has made" she added.
On what other ways should government adopt in the rescue of the remaining 195 girls still in captivity, Oby reminded FG it had negotiated for the release of 21 of the students earlier and should use the experience to negotiate for the remaining girls still in captivity.
"It already has the benefit of experience, it needs to activate it. The problem that we see is who is it that owns the problem of Chibok girls? Where does the ownership of that problem lie? Who is it we can point at in government and say this person is not sleeping because every 24 hour that go by, the person is saying no, I don’t want another hour without having something tangible. The person is not clear in this government. So it is as if our Chibok Girls only get a mention from the government at moments like this. We are marking three years so president is being quoted. So how do you think our Chibok Parents will feel. Will the lack of empathy be this evident if they were kids of the elites" she queried.
The former education minister who appreciated efforts of the military in rescuing the girls regretted that although they are doing their best but their effort is not what is immediately needed for the immediate rescue of the 195 girls.
"When we went to Sambisa we came back with a very positive report about the Nigerian Airforce because they were the ones that hosted our visit to Sambisa. We observed the air component of the operation and we laid it out there. What we saw was professional, commitment on the part of the Airforce officials and the chief of staff. We saw very professional work and on the basis of that, it became clear to us that they needed to do that operation to safeguard the country and safeguard our people but that operation as the first or best option to bring back our ChibokGirls, Not quite" she said.
"Government has already set the pace by negotiating for the release of the 21 girls. That mechanism will deliver the rest of the girls faster than the military operation. The military operation should continue to safeguard the land" she added.
She urged FG to continue what it used in securing the 21 girls in order to get the remaining 195 girls back and should deliver on its promises.
"We have not been impressed by the handling of the issue by government after the release of the 21 girls on the 13th of October, one o the statement from the villa stated that very soon 83 would be released" she noted.
"Governments promise must be fulfilled and if it cannot be fulfilled then engage with the parents community stakeholders, with the public in the kind of that you can communicate. There is a way government will convey message and people will say this sounds reasonable but not when you act as if you have no responsibility to account for anything that concern the Chibok girls. You are obliged to account for the Nigerian people. That is what democratic accountability is all about. A king doesn’t speak without power behind it. We must take every word that comes out of presidency seriously" she warned.
She therefore reminded FG that the group’s demand remains unchanged which includes the rehabilitation programme that must entail that the girls return to a life that is as good as the one they left or better.
"So they can recover wholesomely mentally, physically, socially, spiritually. That recovery steady’s them in a place o normalcy for another opportunity at life. They went to secure knowledge that appetite must be reignited. give them learning environment that would enable them be highflyers academically because they can rule the world academically" she demanded
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