When over 200
schoolgirls were kidnapped in the town of Chibok, Maiduguri, North East Nigeria
by Islamist militants Boko Haram on April 14, Nigeria and the entire world was
thrown into a state of shock and confusion.
One can only
begin to imagine the fear, trauma and emotional ordeal not to talk of the
physical assault that these young schoolgirls are facing from the hands of
their abductors. As a matter of urgency, it became a trending topic on social
network. Nigerians went to their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts making
popular the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
These
hashtag brought international notice to Nigeria as the #BringBackOurGirls
campaign had the whole world joining in the demand for the Boko Haram sect to release
the about 276 schoolgirls abducted. Celebrities, politicians, prominent personalities,
groups and even the ordinary man across the globe joined in holding up placards
and taking pictures for upload on their social media accounts to show their
support for the missing girls.
With
the passage of time however with no fruitful results, this grave matter became
the butt of jokes and became just another social issue poked fun at. The main
intent wasn't for the missing girls but rather for self glorification and cheap
publicity. Take situations where pictures and hash tags such as #TakeOurRunsGirl and #BringBackBackOurGirls exist, #TakeTheSuperEagles
and #BringBackOurGirls I doubt the parent of
a missing child is concerned about a placard carrying person facing another
placard carrying individual to demand the return of the girl; all these mothers
are concerned are about the return of their girls. Does Boko Haram own Twitter
accounts and Facebook pages to go check that people are demanding the return of
the girls? Or do I, the facebook or twitter user who sees these photos being posted online daily have the time and resources needed to bring back the girls?
The
truth about hash tag activism is that it leads to public fatigue and overuse. It
doesn't in itself really solve the issue at hand. Take for example when the
Michelle Obama the first lady of America joined the #BringBackOurGirls, it got
over two million retweets but I ask the questions, is Boko Haram shaking? Did
we really expect them to go?
“Oh Michelle is not happy with us, the whole world
wants the girls back, we have to return them.”
I have come to believe some of the celebrities who advocate so strongly online for this issue do so just so they can get popular and I think the rest of us do it to assuage our own conscience. Rather than sit there posting pictures on your Instagram pages, Twitter accounts or Facebook, you
could join the protest on the streets calling for the government to take
necessary action. But as usual the trend is slowly being usurped by more current tragedies, we were all agog with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign at the beginning of this debacle but most of the
world has moved on to other newer controversies. The new trend is #BringBackOurJournalists,
three journalists affiliated to the Al-Jazeera News Network that were sentenced to prison in Egypt. The world believes
their incarceration is abominable just the same way they think the kidnap of
the schoolgirls is.
Boko
Haram didn’t bring back our girls so what are we going to do? Truth is social
media focus changes easily and that is why a trying to use a social media
campaign to battle Boko Haram to bring back our girls won’t work. To like a
Facebook page or picture takes but a click of a button and the same goes to
retweet a picture or tweet on Twitter. Are we really taking a part in the
struggle to bring back the abducted girls or just merely passing time in front
of our computer screens or having fun on our mobile phones with these hash tags?
I
believe to be genuinely committed to this struggle is to take an active part of
mind, action and thought. Boko Haram has only responded to our criticisms of
them on the social media as good, not only do we bring their activities to
global attention, we are in short publicizing their brand. What have we gotten,
more bomb blasts, raids on more villages and we record more deaths daily. Just
two months after the first abduction, REPORTS
have it that they attacked a series of villages in northern Nigeria for three
days before taking 60 women and girls and 31 young men hostage. That is all the
more reason why I agree with the FOX
NEWS PANEL that slams the
#BringBackOurGirls activism. The #BringBackOurGirls is a futile attempt and
action should be the fighting weapon against the menace of Boko Haram.
Akinwale Akinyoade
University of Lagos, Department of English
Yaba College of Technology, Department of Mass Communication
Akinwale Akinyoade
University of Lagos, Department of English
Yaba College of Technology, Department of Mass Communication
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