Former Education Minister, Obiageli Ezekwesili has accused the Federal Government under Goodluck Jonathan of frustrating attempts by international organisations to bring her on their boards because of perceived support for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
She said the then Federal Government and its agents did this by supplying hurtful and damaging information about her personality to the international organisations which requested information about her.
Taking to her verified personal Twitter handle, she also explained the circumstances surrounding how she came to become involved in the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign.
She tweeted:
“My dear young ones, if there is ONLY one thing you ever LEARN from me let it be this: Be a person of Truth and Consistency. When you are, no matter the LIES against you; events will unfold and find you still standing on the same spot of Truth and Consistency. That’s GREATNESS!
“In this same country, in 2013 at a #UNNConvocationSpeech, I spoke up about the Squandering that was going on with the OIL BOOM MONEY. I asked then FG to stem the haemorrhaging. What was their reaction? They ATTACKED & MALIGNED me gaan. By 2015 the TRUTH of what I said REVEALED!
“In this same country in 2014, after 29 boys of FGC -Buni Yadi was gruesomely killed by terrorists and burnt to death with a video of their charred remains disseminated to taunt Nigeria, I asked then FG to ACT DECISIVELY & also POSTPONE Centenary Extravaganza. Reaction? INSULTS!
“I ignored the INSULTS of then FG and pressed on for ACTION against those that massacred the Buni Yadi in 2014 because failure to do so would SEND A WRONG SIGNAL to the “insurgents” (as they used to be called then). Reaction? The FG to the utter shame of Nigeria hosted a DINNER!
“I moved on and left the FG alone on that matter. Tragically, less than 8 weeks after the Buni Yadi massacre, the terrorists struck at another school on April 14 & by the time full information was verified by a committee of the then FG, 219 Girls of GSS Chibok had been abducted!
“The morning of April 14 news of Nyanya Bomb Blast hit the nation. It was one blast too many in a series of such that KILLED SEVERAL CITIZENS in different towns &cities. On that day, I criticized the FG for failing to COMMUNICATE its counter-insurgency war. Reaction? INSULTS!
“I ignored their INSULTS at me for simply asking FG to COMMUNICATE its Counter-Insurgency war better so that Citizens become well aware of what the country was up against. I took a step to crowdsource the Voices of Citizens on this @Twitter using #CitizensSolutionToEndTerrorism!
“Launching the crowdsourcing of ideas of citizens on how to end terrorism that April 14 of Nyanya Bomb Blast ignited a massive engagement by Citizens on here. By nighttime, I had over 1200 submissions of: #CitizensSolutionToEndTerrorism. It was amazing. What next, I wondered.
“April 15, 2014 morning, I had reached out to .@eie -Enough is Enough advocacy to urge them to take over the large # of
#CitizensSolutionToEndTerrorism that were on my Timeline. I encouraged them to curate, analyze, classify, disseminate and use the result to engage the then FG.
“Thankfully that April 15th 2014 awesome .@_yemia of Enough is Enough @eie took up the challenge & inherited the almost 2000 tweet submissions from citizens: #CitizensSolutionToEndTerrorism! We did not at that time know that midnight of April 14, a CALAMITY had happened in Chibok!
“It was not until the afternoon of April 15, 2014, that I read news of the TRAGEDY of #ChibokGirlsAbduction on my Twitter Page – my Timeline on the @BBCNews handle. I was AGHAST! I had to hold my heart cos my eyes POPPED WITH FEAR. I SCREAMED: Noo Lord! Then I tweeted @ the BBC.
“This was what on that April 15, 2014, I tweeted @ the .@BBCAfrica handle the first time I ever heard of the #ChibokGirlsAbduction: Verified? @BBCAfrica: Over 200 girls have been abducted in an attack on a school in north-east #Nigeria, parents say http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-afr …
“I followed on that 1st tweet with: I hope this is NOT TRUE. The @BBCAfrica reports that some 200 schoolgirls were abducted LAST NIGHT in Borno State? Any Tweeps in Borno? As I waited for some minutes to learn more, tears rolled involuntarily because my mind said “it’s BBC o
“As I waited with sinking feeling on that April 15, 2014, a fellow responded to my tweet and here was my reaction: “Oh dear! Praying our Security Team ACTS swiftly&brings GOOD NEWS @othmanyakubu: @obyezeks abductions confirmed and the number is above 100.” I started wailing.
“Those who already followed me here on Twitter in 2014 would likely remember that EVERYDAY from that April 15 afternoon, ALL I BEGAN TO TWEET ON was a shout out to the then FG and Military to ACT SWIFTLY and RESCUE the abducted ChibokGirls. Sadly, THE FG PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR ME.
“Yet another night – the 6th- since last Monday night when they were abducted. #WhereAreOur85Daughters ? Is our Rescue Op 4 them EFFECTIVE?
“I tweeted daily on the school girls. Then 20th April 2014 after many days of silence followed by misinformation by the @HQNigerianArmy that the girls had been rescued & later RECANTING that 85 Girls were missing; I started a hashtag for their rescue: #WhereAreOur85Daughters.
“On that April 20, 2014, this was one of my tweets: “Yet another night – the 6th- since last Monday night when they were abducted. #WhereAreOur85Daughters ? Is our Rescue Op 4 them EFFECTIVE?” Then I urged tweeps to please keep tweeting #WhereAreOur85Daughters to CALL OUT THE FG.
“For the next many days from the 20th April 2014, those of us on this Twitter Street who were worried that the then Presidency/FG was ominously MUM & NO VISIBLE ACTION appeared to be being taken to rescue the school girls began to use #WhereAreOur85Daughters to ADVOCATE for them.
“Folks, before you ever heard #BringBackOurGirls there was in fact #WhereAreOur85Daughters and both were the result of my DETERMINATION to GET FG ACTION FOR the same abducted ChibokGirls in April 2014! It was in PH @ a UNESCO Book event that upon hearing me, a Tweep tweeted #BBOG
“This was the tweet by .@Abu_Aaid of my April 23, 2014 CALL at a UNESCO Book Capital event in Port Harcourt demanding that the audience& those watching the Live broadcast should join in asking the then FG to RESCUE ChibokGirls. Hashtag #BringBackOurGirls was BORN on that day!
“Whole day April 23, 2014, as I retweeted .@Abu_Aaid and called on all to help us “keep tweeting #BringBackOurGirls until our Government & the world ACTS to RESCUE the abducted ChibokGirls” the hashtag began trending- first nationally& next globally. On April 30, 2014, WE MARCHED!
“You see, while #BringBackOurGirls had become VIRAL on social media networks – especially @Twitter , traditional print & electronic media in Nigeria particularly STAYED SILENT on the TRAGEDY. Many of them would later reveal that then FG had asked them to BLACKOUT on the news.
“Following the lack of FG ACTION & news blackout on the #ChibokGirlsTragedy, discussions started on a couple of Women email list serves triggered by a suggestion by .@hadizabalausman that Women should MARCH to AWAKEN the FG to the plight of the abducted ChibokGirls. WE MARCHED.
“.@Twitter helped us achieve a very effective mobilizing of diverse citizens- women, men, young, old, east, west, north, south, rich, poor, Christian&Moslem. It did NOT matter the differences; people signed on to join what we called the #BringBackOurGirls MARCH on April 30, 2014!
“WE marched to the .@nassnigeria under the stormiest heavy rain I had ever experienced in Abuja. WE engaged with the leadership of the NASS on that April 30, 2014, & marched back to the Unity Fountain. I led the March.
“As we deliberated next courses of options for the group in ensuring FG ACTION for ChibokGirls, I Please two before the crowd: 1. Disperse as a one-off based on the word of the .@nassnigeria Leaders to get then-President to ACT. 2. Come out & MARCH DAILY until then FG ACTED.
“In leading a massive crowd of diverse people many of whom spoke of Shared Humanity as the reason they came out on that April 30, afternoon to MARCH for the #ChibokGirlsTragedy I had to BE STRONG. I had to be FIRM. I pointed out the CONSEQUENCES of any of the 2 options before us.
“Consequence of option 1 was: the .@nassnigeria had no track record for solving matters of Citizens’ concern & so we needed to be circumspect. Consequence of option 2 was: it involved SERIOUS PERSONAL COMMITMENT & COST for each of us to come out DAILY to march. Crowd CHOSE 2!!
“When resounding shouts of option 2 rent the air on that April 30, 2014, at the Unity Fountain, I repeated the CONSEQUENCE & asked if they were ready for the commitment to the cause of the abducted girls to such extent. The response was YES! .@tsambido went on his knees & held me.
“I had no idea who .@tsambido was until he knelt on that wet ground of Unity Fountain &held me as I struggled to raise him back on his feet on that April 30, 2014. His CRY was “promise me YOU will not stop demanding for FG to bring our daughters back”. Also crying, I PROMISED him.
“.@tsambido was the Chibok Community Leader in Abuja &had led all his people resident in Abuja and beyond to April 30, 2014, #BringBackOurGirls march. That PROMISE made to him to NOT STOP DEMANDING until the FG would bring “our daughters back” KEEPS SOME OF US UNTIL TODAY.
“Do I need to write about the multiple lies, assaults, insults, attacks, slander, libel, antagonism directed @ me IN PARTICULAR & labelling me as “enemy of the state” by then FG? They spared nothing in orchestrated plans to “destroy her person”. Thanks to GOD, they FAILED&FAILED.
“The worst of the MALICIOUS LIES that the then FG and its allies spread widely was: “Oby Ezekwesili is working for APC – the opposition- because they have PAID HER MONEY” “They have PROMISED HER POSITION when they win”. ALL WICKED LIES. Some weak-minded people believed them.
“The kind of ATTACKS CAMPAIGN the then FG launched against me what ALL THEIR MIGHT, ONLY STRENGTHENED MY RESOLVE to USE MY VOICE for the #ChibokGirls, #ChibokParents Victims of Terrorism & the #NorthEast more broadly. The more they ATTACKED ME, THE LOUDER MY VOICE OF DEMAND.
“Today, when ATTACKED by some mischievous folks from the NorthEast of Nigeria as an “Igbo woman”, I just LAUGH. In those terrible days of 2014 when PEOPLE even from that region FEARED to raise a VOICE on the TERRORIST TRAGEDY in their communities, I DID. I WAS IGBO THEN AND NOW.
“For USING MY VOICE to amplify the cause of those 219 young women who went to acquire the same Education that has taken me very far in Life, the then FG having FAILED to beat me down decided TO MAKE ME THE FALL GIRL for their 2015 Elections Loss. They LIE, “You campaigned for APC”
“I campaigned for APC? WHAT A SLOTHFUL LIE. Many should recall that in March 2014, APC had, in fact, received a SERIOUS TONGUE LASHING from me when they surprisingly invited me as Keynote Speaker as an Economic Development expert to their Economic Blueprint Summit @ the Hilton.
“Why did I tongue-lash APC at their Economic Summit event to which they invited me in March 2014? SIMPLE. I was TIRED of the incorrigible SELFISH attitude of our Political Class which spent so much effort bickering to “Capture or Retain Power” while terrorists RAGED ON & KILLED.
“In fact, when I got the mail inviting me to Keynote at the APC Economic Summit, I asked the fellow to go and make sure it was NOT A MISTAKE. After several back & forth, I finally confirmed acceptance to speak at their Summit. I decided to use it to CALL OUT OUR POLITICAL CLASS.
“On March 5th 2014 one day before the APC Summit I had accepted to speak as an Economic Development expert, I tweeted this: “Tweeps, I’ve been invited by APC to deliver the Keynote Speech @ their unveiling of their Road Map tomorrow. It shall b nothing but d Truth.” #OnlyTruth
“Writing the speech that I delivered as invited economic Development expert at that APC Economic Summit was intense. It really was. I wanted our Political Class to hear me LOUD & CLEAR as my mom usually says No way was I going to deliver some anodyne speech to that gathering.
“When I finally got the inner inspiration of what to title my Speech to the APC Economic Summit, the rest was easy. The title? ”THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH OF ELUSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- NIGERIA’S CENTURY OLD FAILURES AND PROSPECTS FOR A NEW NIGERIA” #TheUncomfortableTruth
“…I was enthusiastically received at the Venue on arriving at the Hilton to deliver my speech as an invited economic development expert. After delivering my speech & walking up to their Party Stalwarts to shake their hands; no one bothered to walk me out to my car! I WAS GLAD.
“The opening of my Speech on that March 6, 2014, made some of their Party Stalwarts UNCOMFORTABLE. I read Thanks for inviting me as your Keynote Speaker at your Unveiling of Road Map Summit. I do not know how you decided to take this high risk of inviting me to your gathering.
“The rest of my opening as I read my Speech at that APC Economic Summit was: “I do not know how you took this high risk of inviting me to your gathering; knowing full well that my zeal for candour can be generally unsettling for some people of your class and occupation.
“I continued with my stern opening to the APC Economic Summit thus: “Since you took the risk, I have assumed the liberty to speak boldly even to your discomfort especially considering that we live in a season of grim when our country is greatly troubled.
“Continuing with my Speech at the APC Economic Summit March 2104: “In perilous times like this, Truth is the absolute freedom. I shall be spurred on by the counsel of George Orwell who in honour of Truth stated that “in a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.
“Furthermore to the APC economic summit gathering on that March 6, 2014; my Speech read: “I further assume that if you wanted someone with the skills of deceit, it would not be me that you would have invited to your gathering. I, therefore, speak to you today, not as a politician.”
“If YOU care to read the rest of that Speech, you must brace yourself for History, Politics, Governance and Economics because it traced the History of our checkered Political & Governance contexts that explain our dwarfish heartbreaking Economic UNDERPERFORMANCE since 1960.
“Yet it served the then FG in 2014 to IGNORE FACTS of my very PUBLIC position on our Political Class – my Speech stated that Nigeria does not have a Political Party CRISIS but a Political CLASS CRISIS-. It DELIBERATELY MALIGNED ME and tagged me APC to TAINT my PUBLIC OPINION.
“The then FG did EVERYTHING to give credulity to ITS MALICIOUS LIES by simply pointing to a few friends that are members of APC (then in opposition). Friends like N. Elrufai ( my ex-colleague 2000-2007) and R. Amechi (served with me on NEITI as Rep of 36 Houses of Assembly).
“The then FG KNEW that I was NOT IN ANY WAY PART OF the APC and that trying to TAINT my DEMAND for ACCOUNTABILITY as that of “Opposition “ was a heinous thing. Yet they carried on as there were enough “We Hate Oby Brigade” in that administration to egg them on!
“Then FG including some of its people who used to be my friends began a massive whispering campaign against me EVERYWHERE. 3 international banks which wanted me to serve on their Boards were told that they would be considered “hostile to FGN” if I became a Director. IT WAS LOW.
“3 international Technology & Oil firms which also wanted me to serve on their Board were similarly winked at with SAME, “If Oby becomes one of your Directors, we will consider you hostile to our Government”. All this for simply ASKING A GOVERNMENT TO RESCUE #ChibokGirls.
“As I stated in my Opening Tweet on this Thread, STAYING on the path of Truth and Consistency NO MATTER THE COST is one of my non-negotiable values in Life. I STOOD ON no matter how MIGHTILY the then FG abused its powers to hurt me for DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY.
“Power Baton exchanged in May 2015 WE @BBOG_Nigeria continued with OUR DAILY ADVOCACY while publicly giving new FG some few weeks to settle in and GIVE US ITS RESCUE PLAN for OUR #ChibokGirls. Within a matter of weeks in office, WE became WORRIED their ATTITUDE WAS SAME as PAST!
“How could it be that as soon as they took office, neither President.@MBuhari nor his VP @ProfOsinbajo immediately took a trip to assure the people of Chibok, especially the 219 families of the abducted girls? How could it be that the ChibokCommunity in Abuja was not reached?
“By the 2nd week of June 2014, WE @BBOG_Nigeria wrote requesting a meeting with President .@MBuhari to get a STATUS REPORT on the FG’s RESCUE OPERATION for #ChibokGirls. It was NOT UNTIL early July we got a response conveying July 8 for a meeting we requested. PARENTS WERE GLAD.”