STILL ON THE CHIBOK MATTER

Chibok, a small town in Maiduguri has ceased to be an unpopular name as it will go down in history for creating a lot of buzz in the international scenery. If one was to search for international trends, it will be noticed that the Chibok girls hash tag, popularly known as #bringbackourgirls, will be at least amongst the top 10, if not number 1.

A lot of vibe has been generated, and developing stories come up almost regularly. Top news channels like CNN and BBC are not left out as they sometimes break their programs in order to provide viewers with developing stories on the matter.

Top celebrities that would have sworn that they had not heard the name “Nigeria” have even contributed their quota by promoting the awareness. Until now, most people abroad unintentionally disregarded African countries -- one may get a glimpse of this attitude from the way the rest of the world refers to Africa as though it were a single state. But all this has eventually come to an end as Chibok has placed Nigeria on the international map. This development, I must say is very regrettable, because I would have wanted this grand recognition to come from something glorious.

Having said all this, I often wonder how the girls in question, who have raised this great attention, feel in their forced hideout. Each morning when I wake up, I wonder what it would feel like to wake up in a forest. My imagination grows wilder when I think about a gun pointed at me in a place where I know there is no savior.
The situation is not supposed to be hopeless, but since these insurgents are just random ignorant fellows that don’t mind sacrificing their wretched lives in other to ruin the future of some innocent girls who have barely started their lives, is there any real hope?

What could be going on in the minds of these girls? Are they aware that there is a lot of disturbance created for their release? Do they still believe that they can see their parents again? Would they want to go back to school after all this is over? Have they been molested or raped in the forest? Only they can answer these questions -- only they!
It beats my imagination when people now joke about the situation. Some people say all sorts of rubbish in order to be funny and record some cheer.

Frankly speaking, I won’t blame any of the girls if they choose to get mad at life. If they were to apportion blames, whom or what should they blame? Is it the military that didn't secure them? Or the government that is selfish and too political (I’m just putting it lightly)? Should they blame their parents for giving birth to them in Chibok neighborhood or for even sending them to school, in the first place? Or should they blame life for producing them at all? OK! I think they should just go ahead and blame the insurgents. After all, that is the obvious direction everyone’s finger is pointing. I mean, why not?

But what if (just what if) this Chibok situation didn’t surface itself at all, will the country, nonetheless, be a better place? Well, what can I say?
The truth, anyway, is for us to remain hopeful as a country that the girls will return safely. We should try to locate the parents of these girls and encourage them so that they’ll have the fortitude to await their children. A whole month away from your child is enough for a parent to miss their children, how much more when they know their children aren’t safe— it’s worth mourning for.

The government should take the help the international community is rendering, since our local military has proven incapable of solving this mystery.
People should stop making jokes with the situation on social networks.
Let us imagine as though we were related to the girls, and be supportive in every way. We would be surprised as to how far our little support and prayers can go. I have faith that all this will end well, and so should everyone.

THE TRUTH, THEY SAY, IS A BITTER PILL WE MUST SWALLOW TO SURVIVE.