By Godwin Etakibuebu
It is deliberate that l am dedicating today’s column to the memory [until those who took her away into the “arranged captivity of Boko Haram” return her back] of this beautiful daughter of the Nigerian State. If Nigeria can boast of a Statesman anywhere, then this our daughter is more than qualified to be addressed as a State-Girl. She remains an icon forever when the history of the Nigerian struggle on religious matters shall be documented for posterity.
She remains first among equals for the survival of the Nigerian project. She shall be celebrated through the annals of this country’s symposium, either dead or alive; though we would prefer her being alive and that is if the “gods of the Nigerian land” that took her away into captivity decide so. As this beauty attained the age of 16 years yesterday, Monday May 14, 2018, a birthday she would not even be able to celebrate because of where she would be; the “unknown forest of both the living and the dead”, only known to the evil ruling class of the Nigerian State.
As her absence remains a monumental agony and anguish to the parents, the Dapchi Community of Yobe State and the entire world of Christianity, the big question that confronts the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressive Congress [APC] is: when shall Leah Sharibu; the only girl remaining in captivity of Boko Haram, after 110 of them were conveniently carted away from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State on February 19, 2018, be returned back to her parents?
Leah Sharibu remained the only girl the so-called Boko Haram captors refused to release for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. The remaining 104 who were all Muslims were returned with fan-fare back to Dapchi under the watchful view of the Nigerian Security apparatus. The other five that never returned were said to have died somewhere along the line of operation.
The refusal of the captors in releasing Leah Sharibu because of her Christian faith has authenticated the connotation for the rise of Boko Haram on one hand and the militarization of the Nigerian State by Fulani Herdsmen in the other hand, albeit a war of elimination of one religion for the survival of the other in Nigeria.
Today’s work is however not about the establishment of this fact but an exercise in honouring the memory [no, not the word memory because our President shall unfailingly bring her back to her parents] of our dearly beloved daughter, permit me to yield the floor to a few of Leah mother’s comments a few hours ago. Let us feel the pain of a mother who is at the cross road of about losing her daughter to a group of people that did not just believe that her religion [Christianity] should exist.
“The parents of Leah Sharibu, the only Dapchi girl still being held by Boko Haram terrorists have called on Nigerians to pray for her safe return as she marks her 16th birthday on Monday (yesterday). Mrs. Rebecca Sharibu while speaking with newsmen on Sunday said they (parents) would fast and pray on Monday (yesterday), adding that Nigerians should join them in offering special prayers for her safety and timely return.”
“Tomorrow, Monday, May 14, 2018, our daughter, Miss Leah Sharibu, will be 16 years. If she were here with us, we would have been celebrating her 16th birthday with her. She is not with us and all we can do is fast and pray for her as a family and I want to appeal to all Nigerians and other concerned people around the world to help us pray for her safety wherever she is and for her return as well.”
“President Buhari has seemed to have forgotten about Leah but we know God who brought her forth will not forget her. We believe that God is keeping watch over her and our prayers would be answered,” she said, lamenting the delay in negotiating the release of Leah when the 105 of the girls were returned within a record time. She accused President Buhari of not doing enough in the case of Leah.
“The President promised us that Leah would be released, but we wonder why it is taking him too long to facilitate her release as was the case in the release of the other 105 Dapchi girls. Mr. President knows the channel he used to secure the release of the other girls and he cannot tell us that he doesn’t know how to get Leah back to us. But it seems he has left us and Leah to our fate. No one is talking to us about her issue, not even the state government,” she lamented.
Finally, having listened to the lamentation of Leah’s mother, we are prayerfully calling on the President to use all his executive powers in bringing our Leah Sharibu back to us; her parents, the good people of Nigeria and to the world community of Christendom.
President Buhari can achieve this within hours by giving instruction to his Military Chiefs and other security organisations [minus the Inspector General of Police who would disobey his order] to “re-arrange their sentry position” the same way they “restructured and relocated their sentry positions”, which made the taking away of those girls from Dapchi an easy assignment for the so-called Boko Haram terrorists. That is on one hand.
Then on the other hand, the President can have a heart-to-heart talk with Mama Boko Haram; Barrister Aisha Wakil, whom without any doubt has so much influence of control over the leadership of Boko Haram, and our beloved Leah Sharibu would be on her way home safely. The good thing about this woman of Enugu State origin, who studied Law at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, having gotten married to Wakil Gana; an official of the Borno State High Court, is her total commandment of respect within the rank and file of the Boko Haram hierarchy. She can do the work for President Buhari any day without sweat. Why can’t the President use her to bring our Leah Sharibu back home?
It is only by so doing that the President can prove to the whole world that he is not sharing the demonic thought of the Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen ideology that “Christianity should be wiped out of Nigeria”. I think the President would want to prove his innocence of not sailing in the same ship with those anti-Christian elements from the North. Leah Sharibu’s release from captivity offers President Muhammadu Buhari this golden opportunity. And l can see him grabbing it!
Godwin Etakibuebu; a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.