The Federal Government has urged the Bring Back Our Girls Group to seeย it (government) as a partner rather than an adversary in the group’sย quest to secure the release of the Chibok girls.
In a statement in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Information andย Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the BBOG’s continued portrayal ofย the government as an adversary and the needless firing of darts at theย President, who is doing his utmost best to bring the girls back homeย safely, are ultimately counter-productive.
”The Federal Government has bent over backwards to carry the BBOGย along and to show transparency in the conduct of the search for theย girls. The recent invitation extended to the group to witnessย first-hand the search for the girls by the Nigerian Air Force is aย clear indication of this.
”However, it came to us as a surprise that in spite of its initialย positive report on the tour, the BBOG has too quickly reverted to itsย adversarial role. BBOG should stick to its role as an advocacy groupย rather than pretending to be an opposition party. The synonyms of the
word ‘advocacy’ do not include ‘antagonism’, ‘opposition’ or ‘attack’.ย In fact, those words are the antonyms of ‘advocacy’,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said it amounts to needless grandstanding for the BBOGย to say it will no longer tolerate ”delays” and ”excuses” from theย President on the release of the girls, as reported by the media,ย noting that such impudent language should have been reserved for those
who did nothing in the first 500 days of the girls’ abduction, not forย a President who has presided over the liberation of all capturedย territory, the opening of shuts schools and roads, the safe release ofย some of the abducted girls and the decimation of Boko Haram.
He assured Nigerians that the efforts to bring the girls back safelyย are continuing, but sought their understanding for not divulging anyย further details so as not to jeopardize the intricate process.
”Let me say unequivocally that the people involved in theย negotiations are working 24/7. The negotiations are complicated,ย tortuous and delicate. Any wrong signal is capable of derailing
things. That’s why the less we say about the talks the better it isย for all.
”We need a huge amount of confidence-building, the kind of which ledย to the release of the 21 of the girls. This has been lacking forย years, but right now we are confident that we are on the right track.ย We won’t do anything to jeopardize these talks, irrespective of theย pressure or provocation from any quarter,” the Minister said
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
