#Bringbackourgirls: Malala’s petition inspires Michelle Obama

Two days after ending her three-day visit to Nigeria, Pakistani girls’ education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai, has launched a petition seeking international intervention for the release of the abducted Chibok girls.

Malala

The 17-year-old activist, who survived assassination attempts by the Taliban extremist group, stated that she wanted the global community to stand with the Nigerian girls and shame those working to deny schoolgirls an education.

Malala, in the petition she hosted onchange.org, a go-to website for hosting online protests, reminded world leaders that the abducted girls must get the assurances that “they are not alone.”

As of Wednesday evening, Malala had collected over 60,000 signatures from concerned individuals and groups from different parts of the world, many of who demanded greater action for the prompt rescue of the girls.

In the petition titled, “Stand with me and the Nigerian girls,” the girls’ campaigner said the world must not be silent “while our sisters in Nigeria and around the world are targeted in this war on education.”

According to her, young girls from different parts of the world have a right to an education adding that the safe return of “our innocent sisters in Nigeria” must be at the front burner.

“Show the world we are stronger than those who deny schoolgirls an education. As strong and determined as we are, we cannot do this on our own. These girls in Nigeria must know they are not alone; we will not forget those still in captivity.

“We need you to stand with us. Sign this petition to show you are with us, and that together we are stronger than fear, oppression and violence. We are stronger than those who stand in our way. Stand with us, and together we will win,” she wrote on the petition.

According to many of those who signed the petition, the missing girls must be found and brought home as their present predicament is simply horrible.

One of the petitioners, Mary Stevens from Guelph, Canada, said it was about time people stood up and did something about the freedom of the girls.

“All people deserve an education and an opportunity to grow in mind and spirit. We must all stand up and be counted and support this petition. We will make a difference. I am stronger than apathy,” she said.

First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, hailed Malala for standing with the Chibok girls and other schoolgirls being denied the opportunity to further their education.

Writing on her official Twitter page, Michelle stated, “Thank you Malala for inspiring girls around the world to be stronger than adversity and pursue their education.”

Also, Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates, in a message on Twitter, stated that she has drawn inspiration from Malala’s solidarity with the young girls facing hardship with accessing educational opportunities.

“I’m inspired by Malala and girls around the world who are proof that courage is stronger than fear,” she tweeted.

Meanwhile, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, and ex-British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has hailed the efforts of the #BringBackOurGirls coalition in campaigning for the freedom of the abducted girls.

Against the backdrop of allegations by the Federal Government that the group was politicising the abduction and being run as a franchise, Brown described the solidarity of the group for the girls as relentless.

“In Nigeria ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ are leading the charge as they stand in solidarity with the girls who have now been in captivity for more than three months. The group has campaigned relentlessly for the girls’ safe release,” a message on Brown’s website on Wednesday, quoted him as saying.

In another message on his Twitter page, Brown stated that schools should be safe havens and places of learning and not theatres of war.

He added that the United Kingdom should extend more assistance to Nigeria to effectively contain the menace being posed by Boko Haram.

“Britain must give more help to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram,” he tweeted.

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the #BringBackOurGirls group meant well for the Nigerian nation.

“The #bringbackourgirls campaign groups are pursuing a good cause and that cause should be supported by all well-meaning Nigerians,” she wrote in a Twitter post.(punch)

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#Bringbackourgirls: Malala’s petition inspires Michelle Obama

#Bringbackourgirls: Mass Kidnap of Schoolgirls in Nigeria an Unconscionable act - Michelle Obama

The mass kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria was an “unconscionable act” of terror against the education of girls, US First Lady Michelle Obama said Saturday.

Speaking in her husband’s place during President Barack Obama’s weekly Saturday morning address, Michelle Obama said that this violence “was not an isolated incident … it’s a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions.”

“Like millions of people across the globe,” Michelle Obama said, “my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night.

“This unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group determined to keep these girls from getting an education – grown men attempting to snuff out the aspirations of young girls.”

On April 14, 276 schoolgirls were abducted in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibook, and the kidnapping of eight more girls from Warabe on May 5. Three weeks later 223 girls are still missing.

The Islamist terror group Boko Haram claimed responsibility, and threatened to “sell” the girls into slavery.

“In these girls, Barack and I see our own daughters. We see their hopes, their dreams – and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now,” Michelle Obama said.

Obama praised the courage of the parents to send the girls to school despite the threats, and of the girls going to class knowing “full well the dangers they might encounter.”

The girls were “determined to one day build careers of their own and make their families and communities proud,” she said.

Obama evoked the example of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who “spoke out for girls’ education in her community … and as a result, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman while on a school bus with her classmates.”

The courage of Malala “and girls like her around the world should serve as a call to action” because “more than 65 million girls worldwide are not in school.

“Yet, we know that girls who are educated make higher wages, lead healthier lives, and have healthier families,” thus boosting “their country’s entire economy.”

US presidents issue a weekly radio address on a subject of their choosing. A video version is also posted on the White House website each Saturday.

Michelle Obama has appeared alongside her husband during the addresses, but this is the first time that she spoke alone.

Earlier this week, she expressed solidarity with the kidnap victims, tweeting a photograph of herself holding a placard bearing the slogan #BringBackOurGirls, the hashtag used as the rallying cry for a viral campaign calling for the schoolgirls’ return.

Seven military officials along with a State Department expert arrived in Nigeria on Friday to help search for the girls. Three FBI personnel and four others were due to arrive Saturday.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday described the kidnapping as “heartbreaking” and “outrageous.”

 

#Bringbackourgirls: Mass Kidnap of Schoolgirls in Nigeria an Unconscionable act - Michelle Obama