'Advocacy Is Not Antagonism, Opposition Or Attack'- FG To BringBackOurGirls Group

Lai Muhammed and Founders of Bringbackourgirls Group.

The Federal Government has asked the BringBackOurGirls group to see the government as a partner rather than a member of the opposition in  the quest to secure the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.


The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this in a statement in Abuja, said the BBOG’s continued portrayal of the government as an adversary and the needless firing of darts at the President, who he said, was doing his best to bring the remaining Chibok girls back home safely, was ultimately counter-productive.

He said the BBOG must therefore stick to its role as an advocacy group.

Mohammed also said that the Federal Government had been transparent in its handling of issues affecting the Chibok girls.

He said, “The Federal Government has bent over backwards to carry the BBOG along and to show transparency in the conduct of the search for the girls. The recent invitation extended to the group to witness first-hand the search for the girls by the Nigerian Air Force is a clear indication of this.

‘’However, it came to us as a surprise that in spite of its initial positive report on the tour, the BBOG has too quickly reverted to its adversarial role. The BBOG should stick to its role as an advocacy group rather than pretending to be an opposition party.

“The synonyms of the word ‘advocacy’ do not include ‘antagonism,’ ‘opposition’ or ‘attack’.

“In fact, those words are the antonyms of ‘advocacy.’’’

The minister said “it amounts to needless grandstanding for the BBOG to say it will no longer tolerate ‘’delays’’ and ‘’excuses’’ from the President on the release of the girls, as reported by the media.

Mohammed noted that such impudent language should have been reserved for those who did nothing in the first 500 days of the girls’ abduction, not for a President, who, he said, had presided over the liberation of all captured territories, the opening of shut schools and roads, the safe release of some of the abducted girls and the decimation of the Boko Haram sect.

He assured Nigerians that the efforts to bring the girls back safely were continuing, but sought their understanding for not divulging any further details so as not to jeopardise the intricate process.

The minister said, “Let me say unequivocally that the people involved in the negotiations are working 24/7. The negotiations are complicated, tortuous and delicate. Any wrong signal is capable of derailing things. That’s why the less we say about the talks, the better it is for all.

‘’We need a huge amount of confidence building, the kind  which led to the release of the 21 of the girls.

“This has been lacking for years, but right now we are confident that we are on the right track.

“We won’t do anything to jeopardise these talks, irrespective of the pressure or provocation from any quarter.”

The BBOG, however, declined to comment, saying it did not want to take issues with the Federal Government.

“We don’t have a comment for now, we don’t want to take issues with the government,” the BBOG spokesman, Sesugh Akume, said.