by Timawus Mathias
But for her unique experience which is traumatic, she cuts an image similar to our Aki and Paw Paw – being a teenager with the task and words of the elderly as her message.
One hears her with a temptation to think it was one of those kid stars, cast in a high profile political role. Malala Yousafzai is the Pakistani girl who chose not only to be educated against the clutches of dogma, but also to engage in active campaigns for the rights of the girl child to education in Pakistan. The Taliban took note of her and found her passionate activism more irritating than an itch and therefore chose to silence her. In a botched assassination attempt three years ago, the Taliban commando style, raided a school bus, identified her by name, and shot Malala in her head – a cruel and dastardly act that sparked off global outrage.
For days Malala became the most famous teenager in the world and drew the attention of the superpowers in condemnation of the Taliban. As soon as she gained consciousness and stabilized, she was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, where she received intensive rehabilitation amidst equally extensive media coverage and following.
Malala was in Abuja to add her voice to the global campaign for Boko Haram to bring back the remaining 219 girls abducted since April 14th 2014, over 90 days and counting. In a series of meetings with parents of the missing girls and in fact some of those that managed to escape the abduction, Malala, though standing a far cry from the timidity of her Nigerian age group, particularly the girls from Chibok, she tried to cheer the local folks revealing her desperation that the abducted girls are still out there at Sambisa. She was in Nigeria in order to add to the pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to work harder at the task of recovering the girls, who were taken from their boarding school by the terror group, Boko Haram.
Through Malala, we have the latest update on how President Jonathan truly feels about the embarrassing abduction of the schoolgirls, especially given the apathy government has shown over the local #bringbackourgirls activities. In the characteristic inspiring show of passion, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl revealed that the president assured her he would not only meet with the families of the kidnapped girls, but that he would work harder to uncover their location and bring them home.
“The president has expressed his solidarity with those girls and his sadness. He has assured that these girls will come back home safely. He has several options but that he will choose the best to ensure the girls are released safely,” Malala explained during a press conference.
Thus three months since the girls were kidnapped, we still have the president making promises, and this is what underlines the frustration of Nigerians with the engagement of the terror group on the release of the abducted girls.
Malala today is an iconic symbol of protest against global denial of rights to education for the girl child. She has stood on the podium where powerful world leaders stood at the United Nations to address indeed the world at large. Her visit to President Jonathan was a world event whose coverage competed favourably with the final outcome of the Brazil World Cup tournament. But did it raise hopes about the return of the girls beyond the promises from Aso Rock Villa?
The month of July is important for Malala. Her birthday is July 12, and Monday July 14, marked an anniversary of the assassination attempt on her life. In recognition of her global significance, the United Nations had made July 14 “Malala Day”. Asked what she wished for her birthday, she quipped that “we all raise our voices for those under oppression, to show our own power and courage is stronger than their campaign of fear.” What a birthday wish from a 17-year-old. And will the world grant it?
Malala has written an article for the Washington Post in which she told the story of her having spent her birthday in Nigeria, where she spoke up for the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram and called on the country’s leaders to do more to help them. She has launched the hashtag #strongerthan on behalf of the Nigerian girls and her larger campaign for women’s education, explaining: “We want to say that we are ‘stronger than terrorism’. So I say that I am stronger than fear. I am stronger than violence. I am stronger than terrorism. I am stronger than every kind of thing that stops me from getting education.”
In Nigeria where activism and crime compete for patronage among political parties, one wonders how Malala’s #Strongerthan message would resonate, unless President Jonathan assertively shows that he is stronger than his opponents, the global community, and indeed Boko Haram deem him to be.
Somehow, I do not go with critics of President Jonathan on Malala’s visit simply because I do not think it was his own to plan it. Malala needed a cause to lavish her birthday present of global media focus on and none fitted better than Nigeria’s hostage situation with regards to the Chibok girls. And so we got honoured by her inspirational presence.
There is meaning in Malala not holding up the #bringbackourgirls sign. Like Boko Haram, it has acquired a homegrown status and should maintain the profile. Maybe someone should suggest to the government to lay off its ongoing intimidation of the #bringbackourgirls campaigners, and run along and away instead with Malala’s #Strongerthan – of course, following with words and action that complete the dictum.
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Article written by Timawus Mathias
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