Obiageli Ezekwesili
Speaking in Ibadan on Sunday at the annual public enlightenment lecture entitled “Good Governance and the Challenges of the African Child,” organised by the Dorcas Oke Hope Alive Initiative (DOHAL), Ezekwesili revealed that government had done a lot to stop the campaign group but proved futile.
Ezekwesili, who is a former minister for education further disclosed that members of the group have been beaten on several occasions by government agents while others have been traumatised, harassed and intimidated.
“As a citizen of this country, I have the voice and the right to demand and ask questions on some issues affecting not only the people of this country but also the poor masses. They have done everything to discourage us, but there is a cost we have to pay. We are determined; we are willing to pay the cost of a decent society,” she said.
According to her, if the Chibok girls who went to school and got abducted were children of the elite, they probably would have been found no matter what it takes. She explained that she had nothing to do with politics, but hinted that the search for the kidnapped girls have been politicised.
The former minister further hinted that the government had also, on several occasions erroneously informed Nigerians that the campaign to bring back the girls was being sponsored by the opposition parties, an assertion Ezekwesili, has strongly refuted.
The former minister recalled that after two attacks on separate institutions without any resistance from the nation’s security operatives, the terrorists group, Boko Haram raided government girls secondary school, Chibok, Borno State and kidnapped 276 girls.
Ezekwesili, however, revealed that out of the kidnapped girls, 57 of the girls escaped while 219 are still being held captive by Boko Haram.
“If you think that Chibok School is far, it is not as far away as you think; it can happen in any school that your child attends. The parents of the kidnap,” she said.
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