#bringbackourgirls

So I know I have been really quiet this period and a lot of my readers have been checking in on me to see if I have written anything new. Really sorry about my silence. I lost my dad on April 16th, two days after the first Nyanya-Abuja bomb blast (you know the same motor part was bombed twice, with barely a week’s interval, right?) and the very day the Chibok girls were abducted. Loaded with grief for both my nation and personally, I found it hard to collect my thoughts into a coherent meaningful string of words that would say what needed to be said. In my grief I lost all hope but I’m thankful for twitter that allowed me express my pain publicly but still in anonymity.

By the time I had come to terms with my grief, the Nigerian women had decided enough is enough of the government’s nonchalant attitude towards the abduction especially with rumours of the girls being sold off as sex slaves, beaten and being raped repeatedly (link to youtube video of escaped girls recounting their ordeal). Nigerians were enraged because for years we’ve cried for an end to the attacks in the North-Eastern part of the Nation by Boko Haram as we lost churches, police stations, security personnel and families to senseless violence. Somehow all our prayers got answered and the international community was moved to act (with not only the 1.3million retweets for the #bringbackourgirls campaign but also the introduction of technology, intelligence and armed forces). Word has it that the masterminds of the Nyaya bomb blast had been apprehended by the Nigerian army with help from US Special forces. For more on the whole story, follow news agencies. My objective with this post and others to follow is to explain as an inside source what Nigerians are feeling based on the numerous pro and against GEJ information circulating around.

It goes without saying that this can’t be entirely done in one blog piece but I’ll try. First of all, you all know I am pro GEJ, not only because I voted him in but because for once I wanted to say I believe in my government despite their short comings. I applaud the transformation agenda but on the Boko Haram terrorism, just like many Nigerians, I have not been pleased. Before the protests, I spoke to a family member who was in the Nigerian military and what he told me about the plight of our armed forces in the North broke my heart. Tales of how emotionally drained and physically malnourished they were and how greed had caused their superiors to deprive them basic things like brand new uniforms (to cut cost old uniforms of deceased officers were being recycled) and high tech ammunition/arms (old poorly maintained AK-47 was being used by our military to fight radicals with brand new automatic rifles). So rather than say anything, i kept quiet and urged people to pray for Nigeria because the issues on ground involved God stepping in to bring deliverance. This i did through my facebook blog page.

I'm out of time now, the next time i'll tell you more about what led to this campaign and how Nigerians feel let down by their government despite all they've done to improve our nation and bring in foreign investment/attention with their transformation agenda and as seen in the World Economic Forum that still held last week.