PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Nigeria: Chibok girls: one year after abduction, politics, xenophobic attacks reported
Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Chibok girls (276 in number), abducted 14 April 2014, from their school, the Government Secondary School in Chibok, in Nigeria's north-east Borno State, by Boko Haram terrorists; politics and the xenophobic attacks in South Africa were the major stories in Nigeria this week.
One year on, 219 of the girls remain missing and are not any closer home than they have been any day since their abduction as 57 of them managed to escape from the clutches of the deadly insurgents. They are said to be picking up the pieces of their lives that were shattered that ill-fated day of their abduction.
On the first year anniversary of their abduction, the kidnapped girls of Chibok must not be forgotten, so declared the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The DAILY INDEPENDENT, with the headline "365 days: Emotions as Nigerians speak on Chibok girls, others", asked the question "Will Nigeria’s abducted schoolgirls ever be found?"
According to the paper, this is the question on the lips of many Nigerians as they appeal to government to actualise hopes raised in the last 12 months on the return of the girls. It reported that the innocent girls, not suspecting any evil, saw heavily armed militants arrive at night at the school in 20 vehicles to kidnap them as they prepared for a test in Physics for the 2014 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
As their juniors were busy writing the 2015 WASSCE examination in some parts of the country, such was not the case in Chibok as the blocks of classrooms remain completely burnt and deserted like a ghost arena.
As the abduction of the girls and others from other parts of the state and beyond attracted worldwide condemnation, government sponsored speculations to secure their release through negotiations has not produced any positive results a year after parents of the girls were thrown into anguish and trauma.
"Chibok girls: Sore on our conscience" was the headline of the VANGUARD newspaper. The story said "On the first anniversary of the abduction of the 219 Chibok Girls, this week, the whole world returned to a troubled conscience. Troubled that 365 days after, those young girls still haven’t returned home to their parents and communities; they have been deprived of the opportunity to fulfill the dream which education helps to nurse, work at and eventually actualise!"
According to the paper, "But for the incredible courage of the #BRING BACK OUR GIRLS activists, who kept advocacy alive, despite the provocative indecencies of agents of the Nigerian government, maybe Nigerians all, would have also moved on. But thank God, on the first anniversary of the crime that Boko Haram perpetrated against the young Chibok Girls, we have been dragged back into our humanity to reflect upon what those girls have endured this past year."
The NATION captioned its story "Chibok girls: 365 agonising days" with the rider 'That there are no words on them ever since is a big minus for the Jonathan administration'.
The NATION asked "What is the life of a Nigerian worth? What value does the Nigerian state place on the life of its citizens? That about 219 pupils of Chibok Girls Secondary School, Borno State, abducted from their dormitory by Boko Haram insurgents, remain unaccounted for over 365 days after indicates that the existence of its people does not mean much to the Nigerian state, especially under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration."
The paper reported that "A day after the horrific incident, Dr Jonathan was dancing merrily at one of his party’s campaign rallies in Kano. And for nearly two weeks, Jonathan was inactive on a matter that required urgent and drastic presidential action.
"It took a worldwide expression of shock and outrage for the administration to bestir itself and begin to respond to the tragic event. Obviously reacting to the seeming paralysis of the Jonathan administration, several countries rallied to Nigeria’s support, providing technical, military and logistical assistance to ensure the girls were rescued. Such efforts were ultimately frustrated particularly by the massive corruption that has characterised the military’s prosecution of the war against terror."
While the online SAHARA REPORTERS headlined its story "Chibok Girls: One Year After…", the NIGERIAN TRIBUNE ran the story under the headline "Ambassadors demand their rescue before May 29".
The story said Chibok girls ambassadors, in conjunction with #BringBackOurGirls group, on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to ensure that the abducted 219 girls from Chibok Secondary School in Borno State, should be rescued before May 29, the day President Jonathan will hand over to President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari.
It said the chibok girls ambassadors spoke in Abuja, during a procession to the Federal Ministry of Education, in commemoration of one year since the Chibok girls were held hostage.
There was, however, a mild drama when the procession got to the Federal Ministry of Education, but were initially locked outside by the security men.
Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, who was part of the procession condemned the attitude of the officials of the ministry, saying: “We are all parents, don’t push it on yourselves and don’t do this because it will happen to you someday. Stop running away from us, we are your people.”
When the gate to the ministry was finally opened, leader of Chibok girls ambassadors, Miss Mariam Ahmed, told the ministry delegation, led by the acting permanent secretary, who is the Director, Human Resource Management, Dr Mohammed Bello Umar, that “It is depressing to think of what the girls have gone through and are still going through in captivity.”
Two of the abducted Chibok girls, who managed to escape the Boko Haram camp, who simply gave their names as Christiana and Rebecca, said it pained them that some people still don’t believe that the girls were truly abducted.
The girls, crying intermittently while speaking on the abduction of their friends, said all efforts should be made to rescue them.
In its second story, captioned "Reps urge FG to rescue Chibok girls before May 29", the NIGERIAN TRIBUNE reported that the House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to ensure that the over 200 Chibok girls are rescued before May 29.
The House resolution was sequel to a motion moved by Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who said government should step up its rescue mission to liberate the abducted girls.
In her motion, the lawmaker stated that: “Nigerians should not forget these girls, as they could be other persons’ children, but do everything possible to bring them back.”
While contributing to the motion, Honourable Friday Itulah said “let the world come to our aid to ensure the return of the Chibok girls and all hands must be on deck for information about the girls before the end of this tenure.”
Speaker, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, before ruling on the motion, said “as a nation, we must do everything humanly possible to rescue these girls.”
The violent campaign by Boko Haram started in 2009 with the stated aim of creating an Islamic Republic in the predominantly-Muslim northern Nigeria.
Since then, the insurgents have killed over 13,000 people, over 3,000 of them in 2014 alone, despite a state of emergency that was imposed on the worst-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
On politics, the DAILY INDEPENDENT reported under the headline "Nigerians give Buhari 100 days ultimatum" that barely six weeks to the May 29 handover date, Nigerians have been expressing their opinions on what they want from the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari in the first 100 days.
Former National Publicity Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, wants the incoming administration to tackle corruption, which has rendered government agencies and parastatals ineffective.
Sani stated that corruption has dealt a deadly blow on virtually all sectors of the economy and must be tackled with vigour. According to him, “Nigerians want a change that can tackle corruption which steals our collective empowerment, steals our opportunity and steal our future by outsourcing education, health, power, energy and employment.”
Admitting that the task ahead of the incoming administration is very challenging, Sani suggested that the new administration should bring all Nigerians together and allow them to unleash their energy as a panacea to the long polarisation of the nation which, he believed, the administration of President Jonathan highly encouraged in the past four years.
Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s National Assembly member-elect, representing Amuwo-Odofin Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Hon. Oghene Egoh, wants the president-elect to remove his party toga and work assiduously to ensure youth employment in the country.
He said: “I want the new Buhari government to take the bull by the horns in ensuring job creation.”
“I feel that one of the reasons Jonathan failed to get the needed support from the northern part of the country was his inability to handle the insurgency in the north,” he said.
The National Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Comassie, wants Buhari to take the rescue of over 200 secondary school girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists in Chibok, last year, as a priority.
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has queried the Federal Government’s initial attitude or reaction to the insurgency, which allowed it to fester and gain ground in the North-East of Nigeria.
In addition, Nigerians want the incoming government to carry out reforms in all facets of the economy, including the petroleum and gas sector.
The sector, which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, has been vulnerable to pillaging by economic saboteurs, with the covert support of government institutions and officials as illegal dealings in the sector reached an all time high.
Not a few commentators have noted that the failure of the government to effectively police that sector had led to intractable leakages and the concomitant dwindling of the nation’s fortune, long before the global oil price crash.
In a recent disclosure of the incoming government’s policy direction, ex-governor of Ekiti State and Director of Policy of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, revealed that the Buhari administration proposed to save at least 3 trillion naira annually from plugging the leakages in that sector alone. (US$1 = 200 naira).
Under the headline "Huge debts await Buhari, in-coming govs", the VANGUARD said after the euphoria of their electoral victories, one of the major challenges that will confront the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and 20 or 21 new governors is the level of debt stock the out-going administrations will leave behind.
According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Federal Government has a stock of US$6.445 billion in external debt and another N7. 9 trillion domestic debt totalling N9.19 trillion, as of December 31, 2014. This is the equivalent of two years budget.
The huge debt stock, if not properly managed, can hamper the delivery of democracy dividends.
According to external debt figures released by the DMO, Lagos State is the most indebted state in the country with a debt of US$1,169,712,848.65.
On the ravaging xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the DAILY INDEPENDENT ran the story under the headline " Xenophobic attacks condemnable – FG". The report said that the Federal Government has condemned the ongoing xenophobic attack being carried out by South Africans on Nigerians and other Africans residing in that country.
In a statement on Thursday night by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, the Federal Government described the act as “unprovoked and condemnable”.
The Ministry stated “the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has received reports of xenophobic attacks in South Africa directed at migrants and migrant workers, especially of African origin. The attacks, according to the reports began two weeks ago with locals attacking and looting properties owned by fellow Africans including Nigerians.
The attacks have led to the death of five people and the displacement of over 2000. Among those killed was a 14-years-old. The people and Government of Nigeria stands in solidarity with the rest of the world to condemn these unprovoked attacks on fellow Africans who have left their countries to seek greener pastures and better livelihood for themselves.
The VANGUARD ran the same story with the headline "Xenophobic Attacks: South Africa begs Nigeria, others; pledges to bring perpetrators to justice".
It reported that the government of South Africa has pleaded with Nigeria and other nations in Africa affected by the ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country as ECOWAS has condemned the attacks and demanded urgent actions from the South African government.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Emily Nkoana-Mashabane, who met with Ambassadors and High Commissioners from African countries in South Africa, noted that “it is therefore with a deep sense of pain and regret that we as the South African Government humbled ourselves before the African diplomatic community; and we expressed, through them, our heartfelt apologies to the African continent and people for the actions of those of our citizens who have behaved in a shameful manner”.
“In the new Constitution of our free and democratic South Africa, we made a promise to ourselves and to the world that we would remain committed to the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism, non-sexism and the rule of law”.
“Furthermore, at the core of our foreign policy is the commitment we have made to the world that we will always prioritise Africa in all our endeavours because we are an integral part of the African continent”.
The attacks on foreign-owned shops which started in Durban last week have now spread to Johannesburg, where many foreigners have fled.
A hate speech given by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, is said to have fuelled the attacks. The Zulu King has come under enormous criticism for fuelling sentiment against foreigners.
In a speech to thousands of supporters in Pongola last month, Zwelithini complained about crime and dirty streets and said immigrants “should take their bags and go”.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 18April2015
One year on, 219 of the girls remain missing and are not any closer home than they have been any day since their abduction as 57 of them managed to escape from the clutches of the deadly insurgents. They are said to be picking up the pieces of their lives that were shattered that ill-fated day of their abduction.
On the first year anniversary of their abduction, the kidnapped girls of Chibok must not be forgotten, so declared the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The DAILY INDEPENDENT, with the headline "365 days: Emotions as Nigerians speak on Chibok girls, others", asked the question "Will Nigeria’s abducted schoolgirls ever be found?"
According to the paper, this is the question on the lips of many Nigerians as they appeal to government to actualise hopes raised in the last 12 months on the return of the girls. It reported that the innocent girls, not suspecting any evil, saw heavily armed militants arrive at night at the school in 20 vehicles to kidnap them as they prepared for a test in Physics for the 2014 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
As their juniors were busy writing the 2015 WASSCE examination in some parts of the country, such was not the case in Chibok as the blocks of classrooms remain completely burnt and deserted like a ghost arena.
As the abduction of the girls and others from other parts of the state and beyond attracted worldwide condemnation, government sponsored speculations to secure their release through negotiations has not produced any positive results a year after parents of the girls were thrown into anguish and trauma.
"Chibok girls: Sore on our conscience" was the headline of the VANGUARD newspaper. The story said "On the first anniversary of the abduction of the 219 Chibok Girls, this week, the whole world returned to a troubled conscience. Troubled that 365 days after, those young girls still haven’t returned home to their parents and communities; they have been deprived of the opportunity to fulfill the dream which education helps to nurse, work at and eventually actualise!"
According to the paper, "But for the incredible courage of the #BRING BACK OUR GIRLS activists, who kept advocacy alive, despite the provocative indecencies of agents of the Nigerian government, maybe Nigerians all, would have also moved on. But thank God, on the first anniversary of the crime that Boko Haram perpetrated against the young Chibok Girls, we have been dragged back into our humanity to reflect upon what those girls have endured this past year."
The NATION captioned its story "Chibok girls: 365 agonising days" with the rider 'That there are no words on them ever since is a big minus for the Jonathan administration'.
The NATION asked "What is the life of a Nigerian worth? What value does the Nigerian state place on the life of its citizens? That about 219 pupils of Chibok Girls Secondary School, Borno State, abducted from their dormitory by Boko Haram insurgents, remain unaccounted for over 365 days after indicates that the existence of its people does not mean much to the Nigerian state, especially under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration."
The paper reported that "A day after the horrific incident, Dr Jonathan was dancing merrily at one of his party’s campaign rallies in Kano. And for nearly two weeks, Jonathan was inactive on a matter that required urgent and drastic presidential action.
"It took a worldwide expression of shock and outrage for the administration to bestir itself and begin to respond to the tragic event. Obviously reacting to the seeming paralysis of the Jonathan administration, several countries rallied to Nigeria’s support, providing technical, military and logistical assistance to ensure the girls were rescued. Such efforts were ultimately frustrated particularly by the massive corruption that has characterised the military’s prosecution of the war against terror."
While the online SAHARA REPORTERS headlined its story "Chibok Girls: One Year After…", the NIGERIAN TRIBUNE ran the story under the headline "Ambassadors demand their rescue before May 29".
The story said Chibok girls ambassadors, in conjunction with #BringBackOurGirls group, on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to ensure that the abducted 219 girls from Chibok Secondary School in Borno State, should be rescued before May 29, the day President Jonathan will hand over to President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari.
It said the chibok girls ambassadors spoke in Abuja, during a procession to the Federal Ministry of Education, in commemoration of one year since the Chibok girls were held hostage.
There was, however, a mild drama when the procession got to the Federal Ministry of Education, but were initially locked outside by the security men.
Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, who was part of the procession condemned the attitude of the officials of the ministry, saying: “We are all parents, don’t push it on yourselves and don’t do this because it will happen to you someday. Stop running away from us, we are your people.”
When the gate to the ministry was finally opened, leader of Chibok girls ambassadors, Miss Mariam Ahmed, told the ministry delegation, led by the acting permanent secretary, who is the Director, Human Resource Management, Dr Mohammed Bello Umar, that “It is depressing to think of what the girls have gone through and are still going through in captivity.”
Two of the abducted Chibok girls, who managed to escape the Boko Haram camp, who simply gave their names as Christiana and Rebecca, said it pained them that some people still don’t believe that the girls were truly abducted.
The girls, crying intermittently while speaking on the abduction of their friends, said all efforts should be made to rescue them.
In its second story, captioned "Reps urge FG to rescue Chibok girls before May 29", the NIGERIAN TRIBUNE reported that the House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to ensure that the over 200 Chibok girls are rescued before May 29.
The House resolution was sequel to a motion moved by Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who said government should step up its rescue mission to liberate the abducted girls.
In her motion, the lawmaker stated that: “Nigerians should not forget these girls, as they could be other persons’ children, but do everything possible to bring them back.”
While contributing to the motion, Honourable Friday Itulah said “let the world come to our aid to ensure the return of the Chibok girls and all hands must be on deck for information about the girls before the end of this tenure.”
Speaker, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, before ruling on the motion, said “as a nation, we must do everything humanly possible to rescue these girls.”
The violent campaign by Boko Haram started in 2009 with the stated aim of creating an Islamic Republic in the predominantly-Muslim northern Nigeria.
Since then, the insurgents have killed over 13,000 people, over 3,000 of them in 2014 alone, despite a state of emergency that was imposed on the worst-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
On politics, the DAILY INDEPENDENT reported under the headline "Nigerians give Buhari 100 days ultimatum" that barely six weeks to the May 29 handover date, Nigerians have been expressing their opinions on what they want from the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari in the first 100 days.
Former National Publicity Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, wants the incoming administration to tackle corruption, which has rendered government agencies and parastatals ineffective.
Sani stated that corruption has dealt a deadly blow on virtually all sectors of the economy and must be tackled with vigour. According to him, “Nigerians want a change that can tackle corruption which steals our collective empowerment, steals our opportunity and steal our future by outsourcing education, health, power, energy and employment.”
Admitting that the task ahead of the incoming administration is very challenging, Sani suggested that the new administration should bring all Nigerians together and allow them to unleash their energy as a panacea to the long polarisation of the nation which, he believed, the administration of President Jonathan highly encouraged in the past four years.
Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s National Assembly member-elect, representing Amuwo-Odofin Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Hon. Oghene Egoh, wants the president-elect to remove his party toga and work assiduously to ensure youth employment in the country.
He said: “I want the new Buhari government to take the bull by the horns in ensuring job creation.”
“I feel that one of the reasons Jonathan failed to get the needed support from the northern part of the country was his inability to handle the insurgency in the north,” he said.
The National Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Comassie, wants Buhari to take the rescue of over 200 secondary school girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists in Chibok, last year, as a priority.
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has queried the Federal Government’s initial attitude or reaction to the insurgency, which allowed it to fester and gain ground in the North-East of Nigeria.
In addition, Nigerians want the incoming government to carry out reforms in all facets of the economy, including the petroleum and gas sector.
The sector, which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, has been vulnerable to pillaging by economic saboteurs, with the covert support of government institutions and officials as illegal dealings in the sector reached an all time high.
Not a few commentators have noted that the failure of the government to effectively police that sector had led to intractable leakages and the concomitant dwindling of the nation’s fortune, long before the global oil price crash.
In a recent disclosure of the incoming government’s policy direction, ex-governor of Ekiti State and Director of Policy of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, revealed that the Buhari administration proposed to save at least 3 trillion naira annually from plugging the leakages in that sector alone. (US$1 = 200 naira).
Under the headline "Huge debts await Buhari, in-coming govs", the VANGUARD said after the euphoria of their electoral victories, one of the major challenges that will confront the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, and 20 or 21 new governors is the level of debt stock the out-going administrations will leave behind.
According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Federal Government has a stock of US$6.445 billion in external debt and another N7. 9 trillion domestic debt totalling N9.19 trillion, as of December 31, 2014. This is the equivalent of two years budget.
The huge debt stock, if not properly managed, can hamper the delivery of democracy dividends.
According to external debt figures released by the DMO, Lagos State is the most indebted state in the country with a debt of US$1,169,712,848.65.
On the ravaging xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the DAILY INDEPENDENT ran the story under the headline " Xenophobic attacks condemnable – FG". The report said that the Federal Government has condemned the ongoing xenophobic attack being carried out by South Africans on Nigerians and other Africans residing in that country.
In a statement on Thursday night by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, the Federal Government described the act as “unprovoked and condemnable”.
The Ministry stated “the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has received reports of xenophobic attacks in South Africa directed at migrants and migrant workers, especially of African origin. The attacks, according to the reports began two weeks ago with locals attacking and looting properties owned by fellow Africans including Nigerians.
The attacks have led to the death of five people and the displacement of over 2000. Among those killed was a 14-years-old. The people and Government of Nigeria stands in solidarity with the rest of the world to condemn these unprovoked attacks on fellow Africans who have left their countries to seek greener pastures and better livelihood for themselves.
The VANGUARD ran the same story with the headline "Xenophobic Attacks: South Africa begs Nigeria, others; pledges to bring perpetrators to justice".
It reported that the government of South Africa has pleaded with Nigeria and other nations in Africa affected by the ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country as ECOWAS has condemned the attacks and demanded urgent actions from the South African government.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Emily Nkoana-Mashabane, who met with Ambassadors and High Commissioners from African countries in South Africa, noted that “it is therefore with a deep sense of pain and regret that we as the South African Government humbled ourselves before the African diplomatic community; and we expressed, through them, our heartfelt apologies to the African continent and people for the actions of those of our citizens who have behaved in a shameful manner”.
“In the new Constitution of our free and democratic South Africa, we made a promise to ourselves and to the world that we would remain committed to the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism, non-sexism and the rule of law”.
“Furthermore, at the core of our foreign policy is the commitment we have made to the world that we will always prioritise Africa in all our endeavours because we are an integral part of the African continent”.
The attacks on foreign-owned shops which started in Durban last week have now spread to Johannesburg, where many foreigners have fled.
A hate speech given by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, is said to have fuelled the attacks. The Zulu King has come under enormous criticism for fuelling sentiment against foreigners.
In a speech to thousands of supporters in Pongola last month, Zwelithini complained about crime and dirty streets and said immigrants “should take their bags and go”.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 18April2015
