Most of the abducted Nigerian school girls have not been found and the online campaign has fizzled out. Still, we cannot choose silence, because injustice is always personal
In the past year, Boko Haram seized over 2,000 schoolgirls and women. Boko Haram are an internationally recognised extremist Islamic group in Nigeria, who will not cease their violent attacks until the Islamic law is the only law in Nigeria. The best way of doing this, of course, is to put the ‘Sharia law’ into practice and abduct schoolgirls. Charming.
The campaign launched in response was initially successful. The hashtag of ‘#BringBackOurGirls’ was trending all over the world, with people like Michelle Obama taking part. It put pressure on the Nigerian Government and other governments to protect these girls and women. It was on the news every day, there were documentaries and much more.
As humans, we have a natural obligation to protect the basic rights of others. Whilst we know this, the campaigns for #BringBackOurGirls has slowly died. Some girls have been rescued, but not all. The campaign shouldn’t stop until every girl has received justice. Every parent deserves peace in their hearts. As the campaign slowly dies, so does the hope in the hearts of waiting parents.
Political injustice in Nigeria will continue to occur. But this tragedy of innocent girls being tortured should not be overlooked. It should be used as an incentive for governments to work together and protect the lives of others. It is important that this event never happens again elsewhere in the world, especially not in Nigeria. However, with the heightening of political injustice in the country, the Islamic Boko Haram group may find more creative and tyrannical ways of putting their message across.
What can be worse than raping a girl repeatedly? What can be worse than forcing a Christian girl to turn against her own God and become Muslim? What can possibly be worse than threatening the girls through the lives of the family members they love?—Family they may never even see again.
The girls who did escape may be the ‘lucky’ ones, but it may not feel that way to them. The experience was so intense that it has scarred them for a lifetime and more. Some may be reminded of it by their children who were a product of rape. Their souls are dead and gone, and this is why political injustice in Africa needs prevention. Imagine being 16 years old all over again, I’m sure you wouldn’t have dreamt of going to school and never returning home. But this is the thought that plagues these girls’ minds; fear that when they go out, they will never return home. Perhaps we need a new hashtag. Something like ‘#StrengthenOurGirls’ because they have at least brought back some of them. But they definitely broke them and left their souls to be lost.
We all know the difference between right and wrong. So we can comprehend that this abduction was wrong. But what would also be wrong is to assume that the kidnapping doesn’t affect you. If something isn’t done by our governments today, something similar will be done by more Islamic terrorists tomorrow. Perhaps at some place near you. If you return home from work one day and receive a call saying your daughter, or your niece has been kidnapped, then the horror of this possibility will become a reality, and you will know that this problem concerns everyone. Even if this doesn’t happen, surely it’s a part of human nature to care for others and promote the need for political injustice in Africa to be suppressed?
The #BringBackOurGirls campaign did slowly die. Did everyone start to lose hope? Was there ‘more’ important news on the agenda? Either way, the campaign was successful to an extent, but our future campaigns needs to learn from the mistakes of previous ones and aim to be more influential.
Take part in bringing down political injustice in Africa. Have a reason to look in the mirror at the end of the day and say, ‘I have done a good thing today’. You may be the cause of why someone is smiling.
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