It has been several weeks since over 200 girls were abducted from a school in Chibok. I still shudder when I think of it, younglings whose only crime is to seek Education. My teenage daughters cover up and shut their door when they hear their brother coming. Now these kids abducted by men they have never seen before have to change, eat, sleep in the presence of total strangers. They have become pawns, bargaining chips, in a whirlwind they neither have control over nor comprehend. The world has stood as one to find these girls taken away in fear and now the subject of worldwide attention.
My hat goes off to all the women across Nigeria who stood solid in bringing attention to the matter until it went viral. To the international community, world leaders, artists and musicians who have joined the call for the girl’s release; I am overwhelmed by the show of solidarity everywhere. #Bringbackourgirls is all over the world with supporters from Pope Francis to Michelle Obama.
The Nigerian Government is doing its best and accepting help from everywhere to search and rescue the girls. Our reality as mothers is that we are still in tears and are prayerful until the girls return.
Like a lot of organisations have been saying, we need to be prepared for their return and for providing psychological and strategic debriefing for them. There are tales of girls earlier abducted who returned pregnant. It is scary.
Being in a den of insurgents is not for the lily livered and it’s even unthinkable for young minds. It may be the beginning of emotional trauma for a lot of these girls, if not well handled even if they have not been abused.
The Nigerian Medical Association, Guidance counsellors, faith based organisations and international bodies with competencies for managing post-hostage situations need to work together to help our girls. It’s a long drawn road but it is doable.
Let us pause for a while and take stock of our boarding school situation against the backdrop of this abduction. History always gives us lessons. I am a mom whose children have passed through boarding schools and I went to a boarding school myself, aeons of years ago.
Beyond the saga of the Chibok girls, there is a disturbing trend in several boarding schools across the country. I worry about the health provision for boarding school kids. I worry even more about security for them and worry myself sick about guidance and counselling for kids in all our schools.
Let’s look at them one by one taking the last one first. I have been privileged to tour some secondary schools in Nigeria as part of giving back. I am a role model to most students in schools today and so touring gives me a sense of what is going on, while I inspire them to be of good behaviour, study hard and we share jokes, laughter and songs. They trust me, so they tell me things including rape, sexual harassment by some teachers and even family members. Till date some still call me for career counselling. Some of those with cases of sexual harassment confide in me and tell me that neither their parents nor the school authorities take them seriously. They are afraid of stigmatisation so they keep quiet. I have interviewed students in several of these schools and even spoken to some parents. Girls are unfortunately at the top of the pile while a limited number of boys are sexually harassed. We all need to keep a close watch.
Medicare: Too many schools do not provide a sincere and robust Medicare for their students. They ask for incredible school fees and do not even have a basic health care system in place. I have seen and heard of kids who have died in the hands of their carer-takers in boarding schools because either they did not take the ailment seriously or think the child is pretending. In the end a poor medical system kills the child. I have seen parents go to litigation on these matters. That it makes the school more accountable is not in doubt but the pain of a lost child remains forever.
Finally security, which is the biggest thing on our plates right now ; a lot of schools in Nigeria provide wishy- washy security for their boarding schools. People with no skills whatsoever in security management are kept at school gates across Nigeria.
Some of them cannot express themselves in English, others have no intelligence training and most of them are in it for the end of month pay and bring nothing to the table.
The sheer number in the Chibok case is mind boggling. I have no doubt that the security men in the school had no clue who to call, what to do and how to do it when they were visited by insurgents on that fateful day.
It is time to gird our loins. Schools nationwide need protection. Our children need better protection in boarding schools. School owners, proprietors and principals now have to do better. Enough said. Let’s keep praying.
#Bringbackourgirls
Eugenia Abu
