The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima on Sunday spoke about the negotiated freedom of 82 abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
Below is the full text of his speech:
First of all, I will like to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for
securing the lives of our abducted daughters and schoolgirls from
Chibok. I also thank God for giving strength to their very resilient
parents in the Chibok community and for guiding our President, Muhammadu
Buhari and our military. I want to place on record
our very profound gratitude to Mr President for his sincerity in making
the freedom of our daughters one of the topmost priorities of the APC
administration. The President has since proved his overriding
commitment after the first set of girls were freed. I am sure many
Nigerians were surprised by this negotiated freedom of over 80
schoolgirls.
This cheering news came at a time many critics thought the President
wasn’t at work. If there is one thing Nigerians must learn from this
joyful development, all Nigerians must believe that in whatever
circumstance, President Buhari has this country at heart and he works
round the clock to address critical national problems such as we have
seen in the successful freedom of our daughters and also in the
sustained fight against the insurgents. That the Buhari administration,
alongside international and local humanitarian partners, was able to
negotiate the release of these girls at a time the administration
stepped up battle against the insurgents is an extraordinary record of
achievement that very few leaders around the world could have achieved.
We must reaffirm our trust and confidence in the President and we must
as Nigerians, thank God once again for giving us a leader that is
sincere, a leader that is focused on his set goals and a leader that
everyone believes he is very patriotic. Negotiations leading to the
freedom of these girls could not have succeeded if Buhari lacked
integrity. The reason is because international actors who helped in
facilitating the negotiation, would certainly not have been involved if
they had doubts about the integrity and sincerity of the President. It
is also Buhari’s integrity that has made it possible for our gallant
armed forces to be more equipped than ever and it is his integrity that
has made countries in Africa, Europe and the United States to support
Nigeria in the ongoing and so far, successful fight against the Boko
Haram insurgents.
Of course, everyone recognize that it is the work of the military and
multi-national joint task force and volunteers that have placed the
Federal Government in position of strength to negotiate the freedom of
our daughters and schoolgirls.
I want to salute our gallant military, members of the multi-national
joint task force for their efforts in freeing these girls and in their
progressive efforts to free Borno from insurgents. I want to pay
special tribute to parents of these girls who suffered unimaginable
trauma of going to bed and waking up without their daughters for over
three solid years. As a father of two daughters, I imagine what it
means to know that either or both of my biological daughters lived in
the hands of insurgents for these years. As Governor of Borno State, I
lived with the kind of pains that these parents lived with because I
know they looked up to the me as their first leadership responder. I
know the pains of being a Governor whose hundreds of young, adorable
and promising female citizens were violently abducted while in a
Government school and writing exams organized by Government.
I salute the resilience of these parents. More than the parents, I
salute the courage of these girls who witnessed the naked jaws of death
but yet persevered for three years until more than half of them secured
freedom. I thank all men and women of good courses who have supported
us, particularly those who have kept the Chibok schoolgirls matter in
the front burner. No matter what we think or make of the Bring Back Our
Girls campaign group, the group has kept the need for rescue of these
girls alive. I believe it was for this reason that the Federal
Government invited them for a tour of the Fallen Sambisa Forest some
months ago.
I will like to call on all Nigerians, particularly our friends in the
media, to cooperate with federal experts that would have the task of
counseling and rehabilitating these girls. The full rehabilitation of
these girls should be our collective priority. We should put their
rehabilitation first before our understandable search for news
insights. The Borno State Government will always be committed in
whatever way necessary to partner with the Federal Government in the
full rehabilitation and the education of these girls. The freedom of
these girls has renewed our hope and strengthened our faith in the
commitment and capacity of the Buhari administration to continuously
work towards the freedom of our remaining daughters that are still in
captivity.
With very strong empathy, I urge parents whose daughters are not part
of those freed so far, to keep their hopes alive and remain strong and
prayerful. Like I have always said, no sane parent gives up on a missing
child, we will never loose hope in getting back our remaining daughters
alive. I thank members of the local and international media for
standing by the Chibok community and for standing Borno. It is my
fervent prayers that all persons abducted by the insurgents will be
freed, the fight against Boko Haram will be worn and Borno will witness
enduring peace and prosperity.