It’s been a year since over 300 young school girls were kidnapped from Chibok, a town in Nigeria. Now although there has been a #BringBackOurGirls campaign here in the US, a year has come and gone with only a few of the girls managing to escape. There are still over 200 that have not been found and Boko Haram, the “Islamist Extremists” who have kidnapped these girls continue to elude the Nigerian gov’t.
Apparently this group wants to establish an Islamic state, and not unlike ISIS, they seem to believe that torturing and kidnapping young girls is somehow going to make this happen… And even with all the international attention that the #BringBackOurGirls campaign garnered, this Boko Haram group didn’t feel pressured or interested in making any arrangements or negotiations. And like ISIS, makes you wonder what the real agenda is. Because if your main goal is to conquer as much territory as possible, in a specific region, for the purpose of establishing an Islamic regime, then it would stand to reason that you want to get ahold of what matters most to the governing regime. Once you have that, then negotiations should commence because, after all, you want to the power to reign, right?
So Boko Haram’s leader has claimed that the girls were married off… Really? You kidnap girls to marry them off? And this brings you closer to establishing your Islamic state? Riiggghht.. But the sad thing is, girls in most countries, including this one, do not place high on the priority list when it comes to politics, health, employment, legal, ethical, moral or social matters. Harsh and sad, but true. Don’t believe me or agree? Try being a female in any country, young or old, and see how “easy” of a time you have getting your voice heard and needs met. And hey, you want a bigger challenge? Add being a female of color to the mix… Yep. Life just got a bit more challenging didn’t it?
It’s just a shame and quite vexing to me that yet another group has been allowed to grow in number and commit such heinous crimes. I mean, in addition to the kidnapped girls, there have been countless people who have been abducted, forcibly recruited, abused, sexually assaulted and enslaved… WTH is going on? Between the US, the UN, and the Nigerian gov’t, please tell me why, why, why, is something more not being done? ISIS, Boko Haram, who’s next? Is the KKK coming back in full force? We have all this damn technology, yet we can’t get close enough to take down these folks? Hmmm.. Or is it that we don’t really want to? Things that make you go, hmmm…
#BringBackOurGirls
Dawn M. Edwards 