Former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili has urged the President, Muhammadu Buhari to always speak the truth to Nigerians especially concerning issues surrounding insurgency to avoid doubts in the mind of the citizens.
The former Education Minister who is the leader of the BringBackOurGirls, BBOG, campaign made the call in Abuja on Monday during the group’s usual sit-out.
She said: “The government cannot afford to go to the old ways where lies were fed to the people. Let there be truthfulness. Government should not create a trust deficit syndrome because it will be difficult to mend. Everything that the government is doing concerning the war, they should tell the truth. We will get used to it and join in the solution.”
Reiterating the mandate of the movement which is the continuous demand of the missing Chibok girls, Ezekwesili urged the president to deliver on his promise to the parents of the abducted girls.
“What drove us out of our comfort zone is that we got tired of not doing anything. We will continue with our core value. No matter what anyone want to do, this advocacy will continue. A pledge is a pledge. We made a pledge to parents of the Chibok girls and will not fail in this pledge.”
“We have gone through a lot. But what we have gone through is little of what the 219 girls are going through in the hands of the Boko Haram sect. Let nobody succeed in making us feel we should not continue. We will continue until the girls are back. The girls deserve justice and they have not been given justice. We are unhappy that they are spending close to two years in the hands of the terrorists.”
“I have not lost hope. There is no basis to lose hope. Though we might be depressed sometimes, we won’t lose hope. We will stand for the girls. We will hold on to the commitment the president made to the Chibok girls’ parents and Nigerians. We believe that he will keep his promise and bring the girls back.”
She added that, “Some people have been vocal about our Chibok girls, but now they feel the Chibok girls are distractions. Our Chibok girls are not distractions,”