Saturday, May 17, 2014

Nigerian Leader Cancels Visit to Village of Abducted Girls

President Goodluck Jonathan was set to visit the Village of Chibok last week, but security problems forced him to skip the trip for now. The article described Mr. Jonathan's visit as having symbolic importance, which is probably true. The problem I have with that though, is that even though symbols can be very powerful, the whole #bringourgirlsback campaign is symbolic and not much has happened to help the situation so far. This is making a pretty good case for realism. Even as United States, Britain, China, and France weigh in on what to do from here and offer their assistance the condition seems to be getting more complicated. It seems that the Nigerian government has never really dealt with the problems the Boko Haram have caused and now they are being force into action. I think this is both good and bad. On one hand, the way the government was slow to their feet on this one is unfortunate and may have severe consequences, but on the other, I don't think any country could come with a way to fix this. If there was a way, I feel like it would have been suggested by now, especially since so much time has passed. With that being said it seems the general consensus is that the Nigerian government is ill equipped to handle these events. I also thought it was interesting that Nigeria was the one to release the statement that the United States, the European Union and Britain will all be in attendance at this meeting on approaching the problem. I think that this is their way of saying some the major players a on the world stage are now entering the game and backing us, to the Boko Haram. I would hope that some of these intimidation strategies will force some talks between the two sides of this issue. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds and I'm hoping for the best and  I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm rooting for those girls.

The link is here.

Katie Krupica

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