FREEDOM FOR LEAH SHARIBU

Sonnie Ekwowusi urges the government to work harder for the release of the schoolgirl

The account of what happened to Miss Leah Sharibu, 15-year- old Dapchi school girl still under the iron grips of the Boko Haram terrorists for refusing to renounce her Christian faith and embrace Islam, is completely factual except that, closed up in our shrinking humanitarianism, we have chosen to down play it. Were Leah Sharibu a Briton, for instance, the whole of Britain would have lit their lamp stands in frantic organised search for her. Leah would have been a subject matter of constant discourse in the British Parliament. The BBC in liaison with the British Investigation and Intelligent Unit would have been airing the minute-by-minute account of the possible whereabouts of Leah.

Unfortunately Leah comes from the part of the world where the intrinsic worth of the human person is less appealing. What appeals in Nigeria are ephemerals and abstractions such as human conquest, nebulous economic figures, political power, fame, honour, craze for titles and putrid display of material wealth. For instance, it is probably only in Nigeria that a federal lawmaker can splash out N100 million or so on a fancy new car for his wife at a lavish birthday party (in reminiscent of the ravish birthday party organised for her vain daughter by powerdrunk Herod) and still feel proud to stand before the public to try to rationalise the sickening extravagance. We need to convince ourselves that these things are not ends in themselves but only have value to the extent to which they emphasise the transcendental concerns of our common humanity. Providing emergency solutions or tokenisms such as construction of roads, provision of pipe-borne water and other public utilities, of course, a first priority, but too often it has become a substitute to addressing the fundamental aspects of our being. Common humanity is a point we must latch onto as we learn to grapple with the multiple perceptions of the truth. At the risk of sounding repetitive, we have a responsibility not to foreclose the humanitarian options made available by the long search for common values from which to build an ethical framework for human solidarity. We have a bigger reasonability not to deprive the future generations of the chance to live fully and to push forward the frontiers of humanitarianism for the benefit of humankind.

According to Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, 113 young persons were abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists at Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State on February 19, 2018. Of the 113 abducted persons, 107 persons had been released to the federal government by the terrorists. The released students comprised 105 Dapchi schoolgirls and the two non-students. Miss Leah Sharibu, however, is still held by the terrorists because she refused to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam. Lai Mohammed has reportedly said that “tortuous negotiations are still ongoing daily to secure” the release of Leah. The logical question is: During the negotiations between the federal government and the terrorists for the release of the Dapchi girls, did the terrorists make conversion to Islam a pre-condition for the release of the girls? If the answer is in the affirmative, why did the federal government agree to such a term knowing fully well that it translated to leaving Leah in the grips of the terrorists for refusing to convert to Islam?

UNTIL MISS LEAH SHARIBU REGAINS FREEDOM THE WHOLE WORLD WILL CONTINUE TO ASSUME THAT ALL THE DAPCHI SCHOOLGIRLS ARE STILL IN CAPTIVITY

Certainly the joy over the release of the 105 Dapchi school girls is incomplete without the release of Leah. Until Miss Leah Sharibu regains freedom the whole world will continue to assume that all the Dapchi school girls are still in captivity. Therefore the federal government should ensure that Leah is released forthwith. Securing the release of Leah should not be used to play politics or to score cheap political point or to canvass for cheap political votes. Right to personal liberty is inalienable right not a privilege. It is generally agreed that the most important single function of government is to secure the freedom of individual citizens. Therefore let nobody take pride in securing the release of Leah. Since Lai Mohammed has said that the federal government is in cordial negotiations with the terrorists, securing the release of Leah ought not be “tortuous” anymore.

Already Leah’s dad Mr. Nathaniel Sharibu has since demanded to know from the federal government why it had failed to negotiate the release of his daughter alongside other girls. Till date, the federal government has not given Mr. Sharibu any answer. Mrs. Rebecca Sharibu, Leah’s mother, has been crying out and saying: “President Buhari seemed to have forgotten about Leah”. There is no doubt that Mrs. Sharibu speaks the mind of all in the world. Everybody in the world is anxiously demanding for the release of Leah. Why? Because Leah is a symbol of the 21st Century quest for religious freedom. “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time”, Thomas Jefferson once wrote. The hand of captivity may seem to destroy that liberty, but liberty is indestructible because it is the greatest inheritance of humankind. Liberty, in essence, is the greatest bequest to posterity.

At Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln stated that before America was born it had already been conceived in freedom. Not just America, all nations were conceived in freedom. All citizens were born in freedom. The state is not the creator of human freedom. Or, put differently, freedom is not the property of the state. Therefore it has no right to deny its citizens their God-given freedom or give them a counterfeit freedom. Rather than accept a counterfeit freedom in disobedience a higher law of God inscribed in her heart, Leah has chosen captivity. In an age in which compromise of principles has become a statesmanship virtue, Miss Sharibu is indeed a reference point of abiding values. She is a beacon of hope for the hopeless; a shining light in darkness. History always accords a place of honour for little heroines such as Leah. When the history of Nigeria is re-written what the little girl has done shall be told in gold. Future generations will number her among the noble and brave. Her name will be surrounded by a halo of glory. Stubborn, fearless, courageous, and faithful to her calling, Leah is a real role model. History will transcribe her name and placed on the same monument with Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and other freedom fighters. Awake, awake; millions of freedom fighters. The voice of Miss Sharibu, the little girl who has been betrayed by the treachery of her people, is calling you. Your dead fathers speak to us from the graves. Heaven calls on you to arise and assert your right to freedom. Let your motto continue to be; resistance! resistance!! resistance!!! Labour for the freedom of the human race. Be optimistic. Struggle to reclaim our lost freedom. Fight to reclaim the lost right of human civilisation.