The initiator and convener of the #BringBackOurGirls group, Hadiza Bala Usman, has confessed to being a member of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, she hastened to clarify that her being an APC member does not have anything to do with her initiating/convening the #BringBackOurGirls group but rather, in the interest of the abducted Chibok girls.
The group has been championing the call for the release of over 200 schoolgirls abducted over six months ago in Chibok, Borno State by the Boko Haram insurgents.
She described as unfair, an attempt by some key officials of the Federal Government to blackmail her as a result of her activities in the group.
Bala Usman’s statement issued Tuesday reads:
“I have watched, with keen interest, recent attempts by some principal officers of the Federal Government of Nigeria to discredit me and the #BringBackOurGirls group.
“This is not new. It has been the case since we commenced our citizens-driven advocacy movement, which explains why my initial reaction was to ignore the chatter and concentrate on the noble work of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. “Unfortunately, my humble silence is being taken as license to further dissuade and divide the populace by spreading inaccurate information, through advertorials, thereby tagging the #BringBackOurGirls group as an affiliate of the APC.
“I, Hadiza Bala Usman, the Convener/Initiator of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, is a member of the APC, and there has been no time I have hidden this fact or tried to mask it.
“But let’s be clear, when I worked to mobilize women, men, and Nigerians at large to come out on April 30th to protest that the Government should intensify efforts to #BringBackOurGirls, I did so not as an APC member, but first as a HUMAN BEING, as a WOMAN, a MOTHER, a NIGERIAN and an AFRICAN.
“It was never about politics and/or my political affiliations; it was rather about our shared humanity as human beings. As a mother, I have experienced the trauma of not knowing where my child is for few minutes; does it then surprise many why I would be moved to act on behalf of mothers who are yet to see their daughters for 2 weeks (at the first instance) and now over 189 days after?
“I came out as a concerned citizen of Nigeria, one that is very interested in the unity, growth, and development of this nation; one that knows the important role an educated girl-child would play in contributing to the success we all anticipate for our dear country.
“That these girls dared education in the face of terrorism, intimidation, insecurity, and other life-threatening circumstances, is a rare display of courage, doggedness, and hope. This is why I, alongside other #BringBackOurGirls campaigners, daily advocate to make sure these girls are not forgotten, but that they come home to contribute their quota to national development.
“I came out as someone who, from a very young age, watched my (late) father always advocating and standing up for what is right, no matter the cost. These are values he passed down to me and there was no way I was not going to stand up and demand for the rescue of the Chibok girls. My father would have done the same if he were here.
“No one should be made to make the choice of being a member of a political party and being empathetic towards issues that bother on our shared humanity; neither should any citizen be denied the right and opportunity to express their natural humanistic tendency of compassion, on the premise of divisive sentiments, interests, and affiliations.
“When we allow such divisive narratives as that being peddled by people paid with taxpayers’ money to fester in our national discourse, we must see that rather than gain, we lose instead. Rather than come united, we become disunited.
“This moment therefore offers for us a unique chance to stand united as a nation, whether you are in PDP, APGA, APC, or any political party; Christian or Muslim; from the North or the South.
“The issue of the abducted Chibok girls is an opportunity to UNITE and not DIVIDE – to unite against insurgency, terrorism, and every common enemy that seeks to divide us as a people. We must unite to ensure that every girl and boy in Nigeria has equal access to education. We must unite to change the narrative that no matter one’s tribe, gender, religion, social strata, interests, and political affiliations, we can all come together as one to transform our beloved nation for the best.
“I, Hadiza Bala Usman, choose to tow the path of UNITY. I will not be intimidated by anyone, and I will continue to stand for the Chibok girls regardless of my tribe, religion and political affiliation”.
