{"id":64833,"date":"2019-02-16T06:07:49","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T05:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=64833"},"modified":"2019-02-16T06:07:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T05:07:49","slug":"has-nigeria-forgotten-leah-sharibu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/has-nigeria-forgotten-leah-sharibu\/","title":{"rendered":"Has Nigeria Forgotten Leah Sharibu?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nBy Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye<\/p>\n

As President Muhammadu Buhari, the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian
\nArmedForces, moves from one state to another, campaigning for a second
\nterm despite nearlyfour years in office which has been widely adjudged a
\nhorrendous failure, a15-year old, tender, innocent girl called Leah
\nSharibu remains a hapless, pathetic,traumatized captive of Boko Haram,
\nobviously, under the most dehumanising conditions.Given what has,
\nreportedly, been the horrible experiences of young, beautifulgirls like
\nher who have been captured by these terrorists, one is really scaredto
\nimagine what Leah might have been subjected to for nearly one year now.
\nMostpainful is that she hardly gets mentioned again these days by those
\nwhose jobit is to rescue and bring her home!<\/p>\n

HasNigeria forgotten her then? Has President Buhari who may have Leah\u2019s
\nage mates asgrandchildren forgotten her? Has he given up hope of ever
\nbringing her home againto her heartbroken parents? What happened to the
\npresident\u2019s very loud promiseto rescue her quickly? Or even his firm
\npledge during the campaigns for hisfirst term that he would end the Boko
\nHaram menace in six months and ensure thefreedom of all their captives?
\nWhat did he have in mind to do when he wasmaking these promises? Has he
\nexecuted those plans and what was the result? Orwas he merely dropping the
\npromises (just to win the election) which he probablyno longer remembers,
\nlet alone making any attempts to fulfil?<\/p>\n

Leah was among the 110students of\u00a0the Government Girls\u2019 Science and
\nTechnical College,Dapchi, Yobe State, abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on
\nFebruary 19, 2018. Shewas\u00a0only 14.\u00a0When in March news broke thatthe
\nterrorists had brought back the girls with the same fanfare they took
\nthemaway like kids going on an excursion, Leah\u2019s parents rejoiced like the
\notherparents, and rushed down to embrace their beloved child and take her
\nhome. Buton discovering that her child was not released with her
\nclassmates, Leah\u2019smother, Rebecca Sharibu, fainted. The shock was too much
\nfor her.<\/p>\n

Speaking of her experiencelater, she said, weeping profusely: \u201cMy heart
\nwas broken when I searchedthrough the released girls and could not set my
\neyes on my dear daughter,Leah\u201d.<\/p>\n

Leah\u2019s equally traumatizedfather, Nathaniel Sharibu, could only
\nsorrowfully plead that serious effort bedeployed to bring his daughter
\nback: \u201cNigeria must do all withinits powers to bring back my daughter the
\nsame way they did to others.\u201d Afternearly one year and no heartwarming
\nnews had come in about his beloveddaughter, the only girl in the family,
\nhis conclusion would probably be that hemerely sang ballads to the deaf!<\/p>\n

Theterrorists had refused to release Leah because she is a Christian and
\nhadrefused to renounce her faith and convert to Islam as demanded by
\ntheterrorists. That was her offence which she has paid dearly for. Her
\nheart musthave bled as she watched the other girls go home, but she
\nremained firm in herresolve not to trade her faith with her freedom. If
\nshe is still alive (and webelieve she is), there is no doubt that she is
\nstill firm and unbending abouther faith.<\/p>\n

Howdoes Leah see Nigeria and her leaders today? An American boy would look
\nyoustraight in the face and declare that he is ready to die for America
\nany day,anywhere, and he means every word he uttered. Same goes for youths
\nfrom severalother countries. Why? They know very well that should any of
\nthem be in troubleany day or anywhere, their country would spare no
\nresources and efforts torescue them. They also trust in the ability of
\ntheir country to get them out ofharm\u2019s way. Their leaders are patriotic
\nand humane and sincerely love and carefor the people they are governing.
\nThey are not the callous and selfish type whoonly remember the likes of
\nLeah when they want to use their predicament toscore cheap political
\npoints.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, June 23, 2018, a young football teamin Thailand, made up of
\n12 boys between the ages of 11and 16, went missing with their coach in a
\nNorthern Thailandcave. The world stood in awe as their country went all
\nout to trace and bringthem home. Nobody bothered to ask why they embarked
\non such an adventure. Thatwas no longer necessary. The most important
\nthing was their safety. The wholecountry and their leaders united in their
\nresolve to rescue the boys and gavethemselves no rest until they were
\nfound and brought back to safety. Thededication and concern of the Thai
\nleaders aroused the sympathy of the worldwhich moved in to help.<\/p>\n

Insaner countries, the worsening insecurity in the land and the fact that
\nmany ofour citizens are either in captivity or brutally displaced are
\nenough reasons forGen Buhari to excuse himself from a second term contest.
\nBut in these parts,people seek power not to serve the citizenry, but
\nlargely to gratify some self-servinginterests. So, even if they run the
\ncountry completely aground, they would stillseek another term in order to
\nreturn to play the undertaker.\u00a0 The verdict of history holds no attraction
\nforthem.<\/p>\n

So,as Buhari is campaigning for a second term, Leah\u2019s hot tears continue
\nto flow.Each day, she looks out for the rescue team that is yet to even
\ntake off. Senseof loneliness and abandonment are her daily sources of
\ntorments. \u00a0May be, our leaders are wishing that we shouldforget Leah and
\nmove on \u2013 like they seem to have done to the Chibok girls. Afterdeftly
\ndeploying their horrible plight to great effect to win the election in
\n2015,they are yet demonstrate that they possess the capacity to bring them
\nhome.<\/p>\n

AsBoko Haram captures more communities, all we hear is INEC\u2019s assurances
\nthat itwill still conduct elections in those areas. That is what is
\nimportant to them,not necessarily the liberation of the people whose lands
\nhave been violated andannexed. In some of the places, aid agencies are no
\nlonger able to access thepeople trapped here and there with food and
\nmedical supplies. Poorly motivatedand ill-equipped soldiers are being
\nkilled with chilling frequency by betterarmed terrorists. The country
\nunder a retired general seems to haverelinquished the monopoly it ought to
\nexercise over the instruments of violenceand coercion. Nigerians have,
\ntherefore, become lame ducks before bandits who brazenlyabduct, kill and
\nrender them \u00a0\u00a0homeless daily with utmost impunity \u2013 as ifgovernment is on
\nrecess. It is that bad.<\/p>\n

*Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is a Columnist andMember, Editorial Board, Daily
\nIndependent newspaper (scruples2006@yahoo.com<\/a>)\u00ae<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye As President Muhammadu Buhari, the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian ArmedForces, moves from one state to another, campaigning for a second term despite nearlyfour years in office which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nHas Nigeria Forgotten Leah Sharibu? - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/has-nigeria-forgotten-leah-sharibu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Has Nigeria Forgotten Leah Sharibu? 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