Lai Mohammed: “Chibok Girls Shouldn’t Be A Yardstick For Judging Us”

Forum 7 years ago

Lai Mohammed: “Chibok Girls Shouldn’t Be A Yardstick For Judging Us”

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the fact that the Chibok schoolgirls were yet to be rescued should not be a yardstick to write off the achievements of government.


Speaking on ‘Nigeria at 56: Recursive, Resilient, Rising’, a Channels Television live Independence programme, Mohammed said the current administration remained committed to rescuing the girls. He said no group, local or international, could claim to have more stake or to be more committed to the quest than the government. Mohammed added that the issue of the rescue of the girls was a humanitarian one that everyone or group should be “passionate but rational about”.

Mohammed reiterated that Boko Haram had been decimated and government was working daily to ensure the release of the abducted girls. Mohammed said government appreciated the efforts of the “Bring Back Our Girls” (BBOG) group but noted that “the administration is as concerned as they are and ready to work with them in ensuring the release of the girls.”

Oby Ezekwesili, one of the leaders of the BBOG, who was also on the programme, also reiterated the position of the minister that 24 hours was critical to ensuring success or failure in cases of abduction.

She admitted that the past administration failed in that regard, but expressed disappointment that more than 900 days after the girls’ abduction, there was no tangible evidence or convincing plans by government on their release.