A former Minister of Education, Dr. (Mrs) Oby Ezekwesili, has berated President Goodluck Jonathan over his failure to rescue the over 200 Chibok girls, who were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen in April 2014.
Ezekwesili, who spoke on a programme monitored by our correspondents yesterday, pointed out that President Jonathan’s slow response to free the girls from the insurgents’ captivity smacks of “incompetence and deceit on his part to take charge of the country’s affairs”.
The former minister compared the French government’s quick response to terrorists attack on the country three days ago with Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram, saying the latter has not demonstrated the requisite will-power to rescue its territory from invaders.
Ezekwesili, who is a co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls, an advocacy group dedicated to drawing global awareness to the plight of the Chibok girls, expressed concern over the increasing number of female suicide bombers in Nigeria, stressing that the development points to the failed security index of the nation.
Notwithstanding, the ex-minister said she would continue to fight for the freedom of the girls in “the face of blackmail, intimidation and threat to her group by the federal government”.
A former Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, who also spoke on the programme, however, faulted the minister, saying it was wrong to heap all the blame for the disappearance of the Chibok girls on Jonathan alone, “when his intelligence personnel didn’t report the incident to him as at when due”.
