By Aham Njoku<\/p>\n
\n
Recently, the Peoples Democratic\u00a0<\/span>party<\/span>\u00a0(P.D.P) tried to make political gain out of a statement credited to<\/span>\u00a0Chief\u00a0<\/span>Audu<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Ogbeh<\/span>, that some members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigners are members of all\u00a0<\/span>All<\/span>\u00a0Progressive Congress (APC). Further, the PDP claimed that the presence of\u00a0<\/span>Hadiza<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bala<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Usman<\/span>\u00a0one of the coordinators of BBOG campaigners at the presidential election declaration of<\/span>Muhammadu<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Buhari<\/span>\u00a0in Abuja finally put a seal to that assertion.<\/span><\/p>\n \n The above and other similar\u00a0<\/span>attempts to vilify the BBOG campaigners is<\/span>\u00a0not only bizarre but indeed ridiculous. First, it must be made crystal clear that the 1999 constitution of Nigeria guarantees every citizen the right to Freedom of Association. The fact that a person belongs to an association that is urging the Federal Government to take steps to rescue innocent and\u00a0<\/span>defenceless<\/span>\u00a0citizens who were abducted by militant insurgents does not in anyway preclude them from belonging to a political party of their choice.<\/span><\/p>\n \n An adjunct to this is to point out that there is nothing also wrong for a citizen to belong to an opposition party. In civilized countries like America and Britain both the ruling parties now and the opposition parties have at one time or the other reversed their roles\u00a0<\/span>either as the government in power\u00a0<\/span>or the opposition party.<\/span>Indeed t<\/span>he PDP is one of the opposition parties in Lagos Sta<\/span>te,\u00a0<\/span>Ogun<\/span>\u00a0State, Edo State, Oyo\u00a0<\/span>State,\u00a0<\/span>Anambra<\/span>\u00a0State, Imo State, Rivers State,\u00a0<\/span>kwara<\/span>\u00a0State<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Osun<\/span>\u00a0State and \u00a0Kano State to mention but a few.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Another important point to note is that the 1999 constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of speech. The BBOG campaigners have not done anything wrong by exercising this right when they continually ask the federal authorities to act and rescue these girls. Drawing from the above, the laughable attempt by some spin-doctors to castigate the campaigners clearly stands reason and logic on its head.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Again, before these spin-doctors and propagandists deceive the gullible within the citizenry, it must be stated clearly that what the BBOG campaigners are doing is right, good and should be commended. Since the PDP government was elected to protect the citizens of Nigeria and provide for their welfare, it is wrong for<\/span>anybody to criticize them for urging the federal government to carry out its constitutional duties. While the federal Government sees the action of these campaigners as an irritant, the campaign has brought many advantages with<\/span>\u00a0it. Since the campaign, no major abduction like those of\u00a0<\/span>Chibok<\/span>\u00a0girls has taken place again. Also major super powers like America, Britain and France and indeed the entire world\u2019s attention has been drawn to the Nigerian Insurgency. The safe school initiative championed by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is another gain from the campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Recall that during the reign of the military dictator, Field Marshall\u00a0<\/span>Idi<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Amin<\/span>\u00a0Dada in Uganda, some\u00a0<\/span>Isreali<\/span>\u00a0citizens were hijacked in an air plane and kept in Uganda against their will. The\u00a0<\/span>Isreali<\/span>\u00a0Government carried out a\u00a0<\/span>major ,<\/span>\u00a0well- planned, well-coordinated and well-executed military offensive to rescue its abducted citizens. In what is now known as the famous \u201c90 Minutes\u00a0<\/span>At<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Entebe<\/span>\u201d, the\u00a0<\/span>isreali<\/span>\u00a0military and intelligence service in a move that made its citizens proud and raised nationalism and patriotism to an all time high, rescued all its citizens with only two casualties.<\/span><\/p>\n \n The PDP Federal Government should stop engaging in empty propaganda and discharge its constitutional duties to the citizens accordingly. They would have achieved so much in bringing the insurgency to an end if they had used the energy, time and resources\u00a0<\/span>channeled towards fighting the peaceful BBOG campaigners who are mainly mothers and women in addressing the menace of insurgency. As they continue to throw brick \u2013 bats at these campaigners, Nigerians are keenly watching and would not be taken for a ride. As a former American President once said, \u201cYou can fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n By Aham Njoku Recently, the Peoples Democratic\u00a0party\u00a0(P.D.P) tried to make political gain out of a statement credited to\u00a0Chief\u00a0Audu\u00a0Ogbeh, that some members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigners are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n