By Baron Ike
Speakers at this year’s bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) lecture on Saturday rose from the venue of the event leaving a great impression of government failure to rescue the abducted school girls four years after.
From Senator Najatu Mohammed who was the chairman of the lecture to Pastor Tunde who delivered the lecture, it amounted to irresponsibility on the part of the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari not to have secured the release of the girls more than three years a promise to do so was made.
Founder of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Bakare, called on President Buhari to deliver on the promises he made to Nigerians in 2015, insisting that it is constitutionally necessary for citizens to demand for their rights.
He also accused the Federal Government of failing to appoint women into sensitive positions of authority, and advised Buhari to protect citizens, especially the girl child faced with genital mutilation, trafficking and slavery, early marriage, unequal access to education, economic empowerment, and aspirations.
The theme of the 2nd annual lecture of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls campaign’ was: ‘Towards a just and good society: Renewing our commitment to the girl child.’
Bakare insisted insisted that, unless the government began to prioritize girl child education and freedom, the country may not achieve its full potential.
Bakare, Vice Presidential running mate to President Buhari in 2011 on the platform of the defunct Action Congress Nigeria (ACN), stated that “the fact that the Dapchi episode happened four years after the Chibok incident and one year to elections, just as it was in the Chibok case, is evidence of an alarming national malady.”
Bakare added: “There is something wrong when a nation is twice bitten yet never shy with respect to the safety and security of its girl child.
“There is something undeniably wrong when the girl child repeatedly becomes the bargaining instrument in negotiation deals between the government and terrorists.
“There is something absolutely wrong when the girl child becomes a pawn in a political chess game in which the major political parties seek to score political points.
“One of the key indicators of stability or the lack thereof in a nation is the state of its girl child because she is often the most vulnerable in a destabilised polity.
“The problematic issues encountered by the girl child in any society are symptoms of an underlying malady which must be diagnosed.
“The right intervention must be guided by the realisation that the Bring Back Our Girls campaign is symbolic.
“It is the realisation that the girl child can grow to become a strong and accomplished woman contributing significantly to society.
In her remarks, co-founder of the group, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, said that they would not bow to pressure until victory was won.
Ezekwesili, like other activists demanded the release of the remaining 112 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Government Girls College, Chibok, Borno State four years ago.
She said the lecture had assumed a life of its own in the light of the poor treatment meted out to the girl child in Nigeria and the need to correct the anomaly.
Chairman of the event, Senator Muhammed blamed the military for not doing enough to see to the rescue of the girls.
Mohammed called for the total overhaul of the military, insisting that they are culpable as regards the events in the north east.
She urged Nigerians to join in the campaign to ensure that the abducted girls regain their freedom.