Missing???!!! Bring back our girls!

Well, I guess the post I wrote and titled 'Missing' on the 25th of April is not valid now, right? People do care. I mean look at the 'Bring back the girls' protests, photos and media coverage over the last few days, right?

Wrong. Well, for me. 

Somewhere deep in my soul, I am still not satisfied. We should demand for the girls to be brought back but you and I know that we waking up nearly three weeks later and shouting 'Bring back our girls!' is NOT going to bring them back or make them appear. Yes the media attention to this story and the global response is amazing but I cant help but feel its all just a little too late. Even if all the protests are successful and result in the girls being found, I can't imagine the trauma and horror all those girls would have experienced. Many if not all those girls are scarred for life. 

I hate to be such a pessimist but maybe this is what working in the media does to one. Even the people protesting now, do they really care or is it just a hype to them? Something to discuss, a dinner table topic? For crying out loud, these are lives! Teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them!! I know that people are making genuine efforts but do we all really care or are we just going through the hashtag?

I'm disappointed with the government- there's nothing new about this one- but even more so, I am disappointed with everyone riding on this hashtag. Why didn't we start our protests the day the girls went missing? Did we just realise that they are human beings too? Did we just realise that they are people's daughters?

The video Boko Haram released claiming responsibility for the abduction proves my point. The terrorists know that they have already done enough damage to destroy the girls forever even if they are found today. Thus, our extensive media coverage of this now, is actually benefiting them. Yes, I said it. I mean look at how confident Abubakar Shekau was in that video! It is obviously helping propagate their mission to let the world know how 'very terrible' Nigeria is.

Maybe I'm wrong but maybe, just maybe there's truth in this post. My point? We need to act faster when things like this happen. Lets not wait till it becomes a media phenomenon. 

With all my love,

Dara Rhodes. 

Rakes and Knives

I read a story by a young man called Mister Charles-Idu. His story is called “hoe and machete.” Although this is my story, it was his story that inspired it.

Will it be fair to say the British people that colonised Nigeria left us with rakes and knives? Will it be fair to say that the British strategically planned our current state? I’m sure it’s not fair to say that. They didn’t take our brains did they? At least not physically.

Still, I can’t help but think they might as well have. They gave us rakes to ensure we keep farming for just ourselves and our families and then they gave us knives to settle every dispute we have with each other. A country so so so blessed, yet more than half of the population depend on their farms.

Hear me out. Is it possible to put 3 different countries together forcefully and not expect disputes? Is it possible to randomly give one of them the largest land mass in the country and expect the other two to remain silent? This automatically creates a tussle for power. This automatically creates tribalism. This automatically creates chaos.

You don’t believe me? I have one word for you. Biafra. These problems caused the Biafran war. Yes, the foulest war Nigeria has ever witnessed. The saddest war Africa has ever seen. The war that changed the history of Nigeria for ever. The war that Britain watched.  

Why must we end every clash with knives? I don’t see the United States of America or England ending their country’s battles with knives. I’m saddened when I think about how they left us. I almost feel they gave us false hope. How can you hand a baby a rake and a knife? Somebody once told me that if the British government knew the amount of oil Nigeria has, they would never have left.

As far as I am concerned, all our country’s problems stem from the very beginning. Boko Haram that plagues Nigeria today is a product of the tussle for power, tribalism and chaos that I mentioned earlier. All our problems are. 

Enough of the blame game. Let’s face the reality that is our country today. We don’t need the government to sugar coat the problems or try to “fix” problems that are not the real problems. What we need is a government that will realise the root of the problems and then truthfully rebuild the country. As far as I am concerned, Nigeria needs to discard the rakes and knives and then, rebuild itself.

Have a wonderful day!

With all my love,

Dárà Rhodes x