The Federal Government has advised the #Bring Back Our Girls Group to see it as a partner rather than an adversary in the group’s quest to secure the release of the Chibok girls.
In a statement in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, chided the #BBOG for its continued portrayal of the Federal Government as an adversary and its needless firing of darts at the President, who is doing his utmost best to bring the girls back home safely, saying that actions were ultimately counter-productive.
The minister said, “The Federal Government has bent over backwards to carry the #BBOG along and to show transparency in the conduct of the search for the girls. The recent invitation extended to the group to witness first-hand the search for the girls by the Nigerian Air Force is a clear indication of this.
”However, it came to us as a surprise that in spite of its initial positive report on the tour, the #BBOG has too quickly reverted to its adversarial role. The #BBOG should stick to its role as an advocacy group rather than pretending to be an opposition party. The synonyms of the
word ‘advocacy’ do not include ‘antagonism’, ‘opposition’ or ‘attack’. In fact, those words are the antonyms of ‘advocacy’.”
Mohammed averred that it amounted to needless grandstanding for the #BBOG to say that it will no longer tolerate ”delays” and ”excuses” from the President on the release of the girls, as reported by the media, noting that such impudent language should have been reserved for those who did nothing in the first 500 days of the girls’ abduction, not for a President who has presided over the liberation of all captured territory, the opening of shuts schools and roads, the safe release of some of the abducted girls and the decimation of Boko Haram.
Assuring Nigerians that efforts to bring the girls back safely are continuing, Mohammed sought their understanding for not divulging any further details, so as not to jeopardise the intricate process.
He added, “Let me say unequivocally that the people involved in the negotiations are working 24/7. The negotiations are complicated, tortuous and delicate. Any wrong signal is capable of derailing things. That’s why the less we say about the talks, the better it is for all.
”We need a huge amount of confidence-building, the kind of which led to the release of 21 of the girls. This has been lacking for years, but right now we are confident that we are on the right track. We won’t do anything to jeopardise these talks, irrespective of the pressure or provocation from any quarter.”
