Now, everybody seems to be playing politics with the abducted girls instead of seriously looking for ways to free them. Their abduction has given Boko Haram the exposure they desperately sought, so now keeping the girls and dangling them in front of the whole world, and swearing on their heads, has kept the world focused on their activities. This is politics.
The Military’s leg dragging, delays, and prolonged inability in finding and releasing the girls, which we now know is for the personal gains of the generals, is politics.

Even the failure of the government in tackling the abduction at the beginning with force, and in stopping Boko Haram on its tracks is also politics of a dubious type. President Jonathan, from the very beginning of the Boko Haram saga, held the opinion that the Northerners were using Boko Haram to discredit him, and unseat him as president. It is also common knowledge that some Northern power houses had threatened to make his presidency an uneasy one. Plus the fact that the activities of Boko Haram has so far, been concentrated in the North, the President seems to be telling the Northerners to boil in their own soup. That too is politics.

Whatever the case may be, President Jonathan is in charge, and this whole thing is taking place under his watch, and he is to blame for all the discrepancies. He has failed to show leadership.

(We will continue.)

Our girls are still missing. The government is still not providing answers as to where they are held, when they will be released, and how soon they will come home. Instead, we see a lot of bickering going on between the government and some activists who are demanding action from the government, about whether the case of the girls has now become political or not. An argument that only begs the issue, and delays the finding and releasing the girls.

No wonder the help promised by the international community in finding the girls is yielding no results. The Military must be thinking that the promised help means that they should be sit tight and let the outsiders do the job for them. The generals in their air conditioned offices probably see this as their chance of becoming even richer than they already are. A prolonged search means more money will be allocated, the generals will stuff their pockets more, badly armed, ill fed, and disillusioned army will be sent out to face the marauders, and the overall result, failure. Back to the drawing board, and everything repeats itself. The top shots are probably making sure that this drama never ends.

My heart goes out for those girls, because they are not only dealing with their captors, they are also dealing with the ineptitude of a government and the criminal minds of top security officers they depend on to save them.

(We will continue.)

It has become very difficult to sifter the truth from what is happening, and the attempts of the Nigerian Military and the authorities to cover up, and claim victory over Boko Haram. The bombing in Lagos is still undergoing claims and counter claims of who really is responsible, Boko Haram, or the hand of God. Boko Haram claims they did it, a very belated claim, and the authorities claim otherwise. Who do we believe?

Recently, the Military claimed to have fought back an attack of Boko Haram to their base, killing a good number of the attackers, but the villagers are telling a different story. According to them, the Military fled their camp, and Boko Haram has continued to rebuff their attempt to return to their base. Again, who do we believe?

It is important to state again that Nigeria is not at war, but she is being stoked to go to war by some invisible elements who think that they can benefit if Nigeria goes to war. These elements are investing heavily in the bloody activities of Boko Haram, by using a bunch of illiterate fools to do their dirty job, hoping in the end to reap from it. Unfortunately, all they have succeeded in doing is to discredit the government as a government without backbone.
The President has already lost control of the North, he better not lose control of the South. The girls are still missing…

(We will continue.)

The first time I heard that the Nigerian government hired an American company to manage her image, and make the Nigerian government look good to the world in spite of their many blunders, I realized that indeed Nigeria needs a few wise men at the helm of government, or at least, a few wise men as advisors to the President. How can anyone, with the kind of record that is staring us in the face think that it will only take a good lier to make her look good. They say that it takes two lies to cover up one lie. How many lies will it take to cover up the kind of lies we are witnessing in Nigeria?

The facts are there for everyone to see. The government is not only failing, but has failed. It has failed the abducted girls, it has failed the whole population, it has even failed herself. When a government cannot protect her citizenry, when a government has lost control of the authority given to her, when a government, instead of delivering results looks for ways to justify her lack of competence in delivering, this is the government telling the whole world that politicians in the country are trying to stop her from going for a second term…

If it is true that this is all politics, then whoever is at the helm of this campaign is not only astute, but has succeeded in showing the whole world how incompetent this present government has become. It is already too late for the government to redeem itself.

(We will continue.)

President Jonathan of Nigeria has now formally invited the parents of the abducted girls to a meeting. It is not clear where the meeting will take place, but the invitation has been sent, has been received, and the parents have pledged to attend. This is progress. We shall now wait and see how things go. We should never forget that this meeting if, and when it happens was initiated by Malala. We thank God for that and hope that her involvement in the affaires of the Chibok girls will yield quick results.

The President’s adviser is up in arms defending the President’s lateness in taking action on the Chibok girls’ case, citing the many other duties the President had to see to. Sometimes, these people think they are talking to some fools who cannot read between the lines. In the case of the Chibok girls, President Jonathan failed, period. No amount of justifications can right it. It will be better that he simply accepts his failures and move on from there, than make excuses.

The Military too is trying to justify the excessive desertions of the soldiers when confronted with Boko Haram. Like why at this crucial time they have to cut the salary of their soldiers to half? With all the money the government claims to be spending on the Military, they chose this time to be cutting salaries, and they think they can justify that?

(We will continue.)

After the parents of the abducted girls refused to see President Jonathan for obvious reasons; one, that it took the visit of Malala to him to convince him of the need to see them, two, that they know that seeing him will not resolve the problem of their daughters, and three, that the president should have called the meeting in Chibok, not in Abuja, the authorities are now claiming that the refusal of the parents to see the President is politically motivated. We know it is not, but trust the authorities to cling to any excuse to justify their indolence and failures

The authorities now want to turn the blame away from them and focus it on the parents. Very soon, we will be told again that it is the parents’ fault for the delay in freeing the girls. I said again because they have blamed them before for not giving them the names of their daughters, and perhaps their photographs too, to splash them all over the world’s news papers. Of course, the government must be right even in doing wrong. When it comes to the issue of the Chibok girls, and as things stand now, they are wrong! No excuse will ever clean up this mess they have made of it.

If President Jonathan really want to politicize the abduction of our 276 girls, he should hurry up and have them released. The more he waits the more it damages his chances of ever winning a second term. Unless, as it always happens, he rigs the election.

(We will continue.)

Today we hear President Jonathan tell us that Israel has joined the search for the girls. One day, they tell us that they know where the girls are, another day they tell us that the search for the girls continues. This is simply to show that the Nigerian authorities will pull anything from under their sleeve just to shut everybody up.

I am really very pleasantly surprised to see that President Jonathan accepted to meet with Malala. Of course, he had no choice but to meet with her. He knows the whole world was watching. It has to take the visit of Malala to Nigeria, and her call on the President, to get the President to promise to meet with the parents of the abducted girls. Something he should have done immediately the girls were abducted. Even his visit to Chibok, the place the abduction took place has eluded the people of Chibok. We hear that he is afraid to visit the place for security reasons.

This is a man who is commander in chief of all Nigerian armed forces, a man who moves in and out of the country, and within the country with fully armed security guards, and he cannot visit a crime scene after three months, and have not met with the victims of this crime, or the escapees … What manner of President is this? And why are Nigerians still putting up with him? This is the same man who wants to be re-elected President for a second term?

(We will continue.)

I hope that there will be a way that the abducted girls will come to know how much the world is hurting for their sake. Because if they do, it will make them strong and more determined to stay alive so as to see the day of their release. In these past few days, interest in their situation and condition has once again risen, especially with the visit of Malala to Nigeria and her promise to fight for the release of the girls, and to not keep silent about their predicament. “I will continue to speak out for them until they are released,” she says, and that is also where I stand in this matter.

When three weeks after their abduction, no one was paying attention to their plight, a lone voice at the CNN spurred me to take a stand by starting a blog solely for them. I had wanted the blog to be a one time thing, or to visit it only when there was the need to do so, but seeing the indolence of the Nigerian authorities on the matter, and their laid-back attitude toward the girl’s plight, I could not stop writing.

I wanted to be among the voices that will not stop crying, that will not stop asking for answers and demanding for solutions. I wanted to be the voice of those girls, and like Malala, I will not stop until those girls return. As some protesters said recently, “We cannot just push the issue of the Chibok girls back and go on with life as if nothing has happened, and I add, 276 lives of defend-less girls cannot be brushed under the carpet and be forgotten.

(We will continue).

It warmed my heart this morning when I read about the visit of Malala to Nigeria to see and sympathize with the mothers of the abducted girls. It is heartening to hear her say that “we must not keep silent” until those girls return. What a great support for our girls, and thank you very much Malala. She should know the pain of young girls who have been deprived of all human rights, girls with no voice. I am very, very touched about her move, and very grateful for the support. We need more supports like that for those poor girls.

The police now offers a reward for information on the girls, and on the activities of Boko Haram. About time… This was long over due. The police also says that the security situation in Nigeria has greatly improved. This could be in their wildest dream, because just as they are assuring us that they are in control of the situation, Boko Haram has claimed to have release mehem in Lagos. They claim two explosions in Lagos, and if that is true, we have to believe that an all out war is looming in Nigeria.

To disguise their presence and undercover activities, Boko Haram now uses women suicide bombers. If according to their belief men suicide bombers who die in the process are promised seven wives in the after world, will the women also get seven husbands when they dies in the act? If these women are denied all rights in this world, what guarantees do they have for a better luck in the after world? Foolish women!

(We will continue).

I saw this heading today, “Islamic Terrorists are Tugs not Theologians,” a defense for Islam.

We have had many well meaning Moslems in the past rise up in defense of Islam to douse the criticisms at Islam as the religion of violence. Whatever the case may be, the radicals go on their rampage in the name of “ALLA,” GOD. Therefore, they are fighting God’s battle, or a battle in the name of their God. To me this is religious battle, however we look at it.

They seized young girls from their school, kept them in bondage for 89 days today, forced them to convert to Islam, and possibly forced them into marriages to themselves, all in the name of their religion, and someone has the audacity to defend a religion that allows this?

Until Boko Haram and the likes of them renounce the use of their religion in all of their bloody exploits, until the whole Moslem world rise up in one voice to denounce the activities of Moslem radicals wherever they are operating, until the Moslem wealthy stop sponsoring, protecting and harboring the radicals, any defense of Islam in the light of all these are wasted efforts. From time immemorial, Islam has been a religion rooted in violence! History supports my claim. It is a well known fact.

(We will continue).