I saw a film recently. The title of the film is Captain Phillips. The movie, which starred Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi was based on a true story; the 2009 hijacking of Maersk Alabama. In the film, the captain of the ship, Maersk Alabama, Captain Richard Phillips, was taken hostage by Somali pirates. The government of the United States responded to the situation by deploying the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge and two additional U.S. Navy ships. The rescue operation was successful and the hostage escaped without sustaining any injuries during the rescue attempt. The movie is a representation of the value the United States government places on the lives of its citizens. Because of only one life in danger, the U.S. government deployed a warship and additional naval ships.
In
Nigeria, over two hundred girls have
been missing for about four weeks and it took the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria three weeks before addressing
the nation over the issue. Does the president’s (in)action not show how
much value we place on human lives in our nation. In some other places, the
president would have visited the school and the community where the abduction
took place. We all saw the Malaysian government’s response to the disappearance
of the Malaysian MH370.
Last
week, it was reported that two of the women who protested over the school girls’
abduction were arrested and it was alleged that the president’s wife accused one
of the women of being a terrorist and asked her why she was protesting since
her child was not one of those kidnapped. If the report is true, then I hope
the First Lady has sent a letter to Michelle Obama, expressing her displeasure
at the American First Lady for carrying a placard with the ‘Bring Back Our
Girls’ inscription since her daughter is not one of the girls kidnapped.
In fact,
she should order the arrest of everyone who has lent a voice to the “Bring Back
Our Girls’ campaign. Yesterday, the police unsuccessfully tried to disrupt the
meeting of Bring Back Our Girls campaigners and you shudder when you try to
psychoanalyse our political leaders. Are they saying the campaign is
meaningless or that the campaigners do not have the right to campaign? But it
is on record that the president and his overbearing wife did not speak to the
nation until the campaign gained ground.
Recently,
the president and his wife made promises that they would not sleep until the
girls were found. At a meeting with a group of people, the First Lady made this
statement: “These children are my
children. So I won’t sleep and allow you to take my children and do politics.
No…. We must protect our children.” And at the World Economic Forum on
Africa held in Abuja last week, the president
was quoted to have said, “We plead with the parents, as a father, and
the President of this country, I feel pained and I don't sleep with my two eyes
closed. And, I will not sleep with my
two eyes closed until these girls are brought safely back to their parents.”
I hope the president and his wife are keeping their words. Whether they are or
not, they should understand that there
is God O!
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