Analysts are asking President Muhammadu Buhari not to waste time in rescuing the missing 110 Dapchi schoolgirls and make their parents happy just like he and his family felt when his son, Yusuf, returned from a medical trip recently, JESUSEGUN ALAGBE writes
Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, was incontrovertibly excited last Thursday when their son, Yusuf, returned from a medical trip abroad that she took to virtually all the social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to make the announcement and express her delight.
She posted three pictures of her son, one wherein the President, beaming with a huge smile, welcomed Yusuf — donning a light grey kaftan, traditional cap and black shoes — with a handshake at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Another photograph showed the Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), leading prayers as Yusuf sat down, while the third photograph showed some officials surrounding the President’s son while he received a handshake from an unidentified woman.
Embellishing the pictures with words, Aisha wrote, “We thank God for the return of our son, Yusuf, today after his medical trip.
“On landing at the airport, he was received by the Minister of Health [State], Dr. Osagie [Ehanire], while at the Villa he was welcomed by family members; wife of the Vice-President [Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo]; the Minister of Interior [Dambazau]; Governor Yahaya Bello [of Kogi State] and associates.
“On behalf of the family, I wish to express our appreciation for the goodwill and prayers since the unfortunate accident. May God Almighty bless all and continue to guide us all aright.”
Although Mrs. Buhari did not disclose the country where Yusuf received medical attention, there were reports that he was flown to Germany after he had an accident while riding a motorcycle with his friend, Bashir Gwandu, in the Gwarimpa neighbourhood of Abuja in the late hours of December 26, 2017.
Yusuf was said to have sustained a head injury and a broken limb and was immediately admitted to Cedarcrest Hospitals, Abuja, where he underwent emergency surgical operations by the hospital’s team of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons.
He was subsequently discharged from the hospital on January 12, 2018, after which he was flown abroad for further medical treatment.
On March 1, 2018, he arrived from the trip. Meanwhile, just as the first family were happy when Yusuf returned home after weeks in the hospital, Nigerians have also been calling on President Buhari to quickly rescue the missing 110 Dapchi schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram militants on February 19, 2018, so that their parents too could beam with happiness.
The terrorist group had attacked the Government Girls Science and Technical School in Dapchi, Bursari Local Government Area of Yobe State, with eyewitnesses saying that the insurgents had driven into the school premises in 12 machine guns-mounted trucks, setting off explosives as they approached.
Several of the schoolgirls were said to have fled into the bush, and by the time Boko Haram ended the attack, many of the girls had been missing. By February 25, the Federal Government declared that 110 schoolgirls were still unaccounted for.
The attack brought to memory a similar situation which occurred when the Boko Haram insurgent group kidnapped 214 Chibok schoolgirls on April 14, 2014. About 112 girls are still missing till today.
Although President Buhari said on Monday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, that he would visit Yobe State, analysts and social commentators have asked him to ensure the safe return of the abducted schoolgirls.
Second Republic lawmaker and Northern elder statesman, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said just as Buhari’s son was entitled to safety and his family was entitled to happiness, so are the missing Dapchi schoolgirls and their families.
Mohammed also criticised the government for not mobilising the military soon enough to go after the insurgents after the attack, while also chastising politicians who are only bothered about how the Dapchi incident seemed to be damaging Buhari’s political goodwill as the 2019 elections approach.
He said, “No one would be happy to lose a child, whether they are involved in a reckless motorcycle accident or not. But just as Buhari and his wife were happy when Yusuf returned from his medical trip the parents, guardians and people of Dapchi community are also entitled to happiness. They too would love to feel the happiness the first family felt when their son returned.
“Apart from happiness, every Nigerian child is entitled to safety. And let me make this clear, the President’s child is not superior to any of the missing schoolgirls and other girls earlier kidnapped by Boko Haram. The safety and happiness of every Nigerian child should be the priority of the government.
“My thought on the Dapchi schoolgirls and the remaining Chibok schoolgirls yet to be released by Boko Haram is that if the past and present governments had done the needful according to international standards, the girls would have been rescued and the country would have been better for it.”
However, Mohammed alleged that certain “powerful” politicians were in the know as regards the Boko Haram attack on Dapchi because they [the politicians] were benefitting from the crisis in the North-East.
Making reference to the Nigerian Army’s admission that troops were redeployed from the Dapchi area before the abduction of the schoolgirls, Mohammed said, “We have some politicians and some people in the military who have turned the tragedy in the North-East into a money-making scheme. A lot of money is being made by some people from the crisis.
“If not, why did the military withdraw from Dapchi hours before Boko Haram attacked the school and kidnapped the girls? Who ordered the troops’ withdrawal?
“Also, there are some greedy politicians making callous statements concerning the missing girls; we have politicians who are only concerned about the collateral damage the incident seems to be making on the re-election idea for Buhari. It’s just unfortunate.”
Be that as it may, the elder statesman warned the Federal Government against saying it had destroyed Boko Haram when the group was still carrying out attacks.
He said, “Politicians should stop making statements that make us wonder whether we are fools. You can’t be sitting in the conducive environment of Aso Villa while 110 girls and their Chibok colleagues are missing. Their lives are not inferior to others.”
Echoing Mohammed’s thought that no Nigerian child’s life is inferior to that of another, on Monday, the senator representing the Kaduna Central District and civil rights activist, Shehu Sani, condemned the somewhat uninspiring response of the Federal Government to the kidnapping of the Dapchi schoolgirls.
“If the abducted Dapchi girls were the daughters of the President, governors, senators, ministers, traditional rulers and the Nigerian bourgeoisie, the nation’s national and carnival flags would have been flown at half or quarter mast, our response to tragedy is profiled in class,” he said on on Twitter.
Speaking to our correspondent, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, noted that just as the President’s son returned to the country and the first family was happy, Buhari should also put smiles on the faces of the families of the missing girls by rescuing them on time.
He said, “No person’s life is more precious than another’s, whether rich or poor. The President’s son was even welcomed by ministers and other top government officials. When he (Yusuf) had the accident, Buhari personally went to see his son in the hospital.
“But the same President could not go to nearby Benue and Adamawa states to commiserate with grieving families whose loved ones were brutally hacked down [by suspected Fulani herdsmen].”
While some Nigerians argued that Buhari was expected to show more care towards Yusuf as he is his son, an economist-cum-public affairs analyst based in London, United Kingdom, Mr. Kayode Adewale, said it was not supposed to be so, saying the President ought to make the Dapchi girls’ parents equally happy just as he was happy when his son returned.
“Once you become the President, every Nigerian child becomes yours. They become entrusted into your hands and you are, therefore, responsible for their safety and well-being,” he said.
Activist and CEO, Gabasawa Women And Children Empowerment Initiative, Maiduguri, Borno State, Mrs. Doris Yaro, also asked the President to promptly rescue the missing Dapchi schoolgirls as their parents, just like him [Buhari], were entitled to be happy.
“I love the way Nigerians are drawing the parallel between the President’s son’s return and the missing girls. Are they [the girls] not human beings? Were they not also born by some mothers? Were they not conceived in their mothers’ wombs for nine months? This is a pathetic situation. I am pained by the evil happening every day. What a wicked country!” Yaro wept profusely as she spoke briefly to our correspondent.
In the meantime, a psychologist at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Dr. (Mrs.) Bonke Omoteso, said as the girls remained missing, several of the parents would be going through psychological trauma by now.
She said, “From a psychological point of view, the parents of the missing Dapchi schoolgirls must be feeling worried, anxious and fearful by now. Some of them would be remembering the Chibok incident and be feeling both hopeful and hopeless, considering that some of the Chibok girls have been released while some have died and some missing.
“Some of the parents of the Dapchi girls might be sick by now and having serious psychological trauma. Some might be having increased blood pressure while some would have lost weight. The incident is a tragic one.”
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