As
President Muhammadu Buhari, the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed
Forces, moves from one state to another, campaigning for a second term despite nearly
four years in office which has been widely adjudged a horrendous failure, a
15-year old, tender, innocent girl named Leah Sharibu remains a hapless, pathetic,
traumatized captive of Boko Haram terrorists, obviously, under
the most dehumanising conditions.
Given what has, reportedly, been the horrible
experiences of young, beautiful girls like her who have been captured by these
terrorists, one is really scared to imagine what Leah might have been subjected
to for nearly one year now. Most painful is that she hardly gets mentioned again
these days by those whose job it is to rescue and bring her home!
Has
Nigeria forgotten her then? Has President Buhari who may have Leah’s age mates as
grandchildren forgotten her? Has he given up hope of ever bringing her home again
to her heartbroken parents? What happened to the president’s very loud promise
to rescue her quickly? Or even his firm pledge during the campaigns for his
first term that he would end the Boko Haram menace in six months and ensure the
freedom of all their captives? What did he have in mind to do when he was
making these promises? Has he executed those plans and what was the result? Or
was he merely dropping the promises (just to win the election) which he probably
no longer remembers, let alone making any attempts to fulfil? |
| *Leah Sharibu |
Leah was among the 110
students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College,
Dapchi, Yobe State, abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on February 19, 2018. She
was only 14. When in March news broke that
the terrorists had brought back the girls with the same fanfare they took them
away like kids going on an excursion, Leah’s parents rejoiced like the other
parents, and rushed down to embrace their beloved child and take her home. But
on discovering that her child was not released with her classmates, Leah’s
mother, Rebecca Sharibu, fainted. The shock was too much for her.
Speaking of her experience
later, she said, weeping profusely: “My heart was broken when I searched
through the released girls and could not set my eyes on my dear daughter,
Leah”.
Leah’s equally traumatized
father, Nathaniel Sharibu, could only sorrowfully plead that serious effort be
deployed to bring his daughter back: “Nigeria must do all within
its powers to bring back my daughter the same way they did to others.” After
nearly one year and no heartwarming news had come in about his beloved
daughter, the only girl in the family, his conclusion would probably be that he
merely sang ballads to the deaf!
The
terrorists had refused to release Leah because she is a Christian and had
refused to renounce her faith and convert to Islam as demanded by the
terrorists. That was her offence which she has paid dearly for. Her heart must
have bled as she watched the other girls go home, but she remained firm in her
resolve not to trade her faith with her freedom. If she is still alive (and we
believe she is), there is no doubt that she is still firm and unbending about
her faith.
How
does Leah see Nigeria and her leaders today? An American boy would look you
straight in the face and declare that he is ready to die for America any day,
anywhere, and he means every word he uttered. Same goes for youths from several
other countries. Why? They know very well that should any of them be in trouble
any day or anywhere, their country would spare no resources and efforts to
rescue them. They also trust in the ability of their country to get them out of
harm’s way. Their leaders are patriotic and humane and sincerely love and care
for the people they are governing. They are not the callous and selfish type who only remember the likes of Leah when
they want to use their predicament to score cheap political points.
On Saturday, June 23, 2018, a young football team
in Thailand, made up of 12 boys between the ages of 11
and 16, went missing with their coach in a Northern Thailand
cave. The world stood in awe as their country went all out to trace and bring
them home. Nobody bothered to ask why they embarked on such an adventure. That
was no longer necessary. The most important thing was their safety. The whole
country and their leaders united in their resolve to rescue the boys and gave
themselves no rest until they were found and brought out to safety. The
dedication and concern of the Thai leaders aroused the sympathy of the world
which moved in to help.
In
saner countries, the worsening insecurity in the land and the fact that many of
our citizens are either in captivity or brutally displaced are enough reasons for
Gen Buhari to excuse himself from a second term contest. But in these parts,
people seek power not to serve the citizenry, but largely to gratify some self-serving
interests. So, even if they run the country completely aground, they would still
seek another term in order to return to play the undertaker. The verdict of history holds no attraction
for them.
So,
as Buhari is campaigning for a second term, Leah’s hot tears continue to flow.
Each day, she looks out for the rescue team that is yet to even take off. Sense
of loneliness and abandonment are her daily sources of torments. May be, our leaders are wishing that we should
forget Leah and move on – like they seem to have done to the Chibok girls. After
deftly deploying their horrible plight to great effect to win the election in 2015,
they are yet demonstrate that they possess the capacity to bring them home.
As
Boko Haram captures more communities, all we hear is INEC’s assurances that it
will still conduct elections in those areas. That is what is important to them,
not necessarily the liberation of the people whose lands have been violated and
annexed. In some of the places, aid agencies are no longer able to access the
people trapped here and there with food and medical supplies. Poorly motivated
and ill-equipped soldiers are being killed with chilling frequency by better
armed terrorists. The country under a retired general seems to have
relinquished the monopoly it ought to exercise over the instruments of violence
and coercion. Nigerians have become lame ducks before their abductors and
killers. It is that bad.
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