With over 200 schoolgirls
abducted in April still
missing, many Nigerians
are outraged that the #
BringBackOurGirls hashtag
is being adapted as a political slogan for
President Goodluck
Jonathan's re-election.
In one sense, you can
understand what the
president's supporters were
thinking. The
#
BringBackOurGirls hashtag,
calling for 200 school girls
abducted by Boko Haram
militants in April, became
one of the world's biggest
ever social media
campaigns. So why not
borrow the slogan for the
president's re-election
campaign?
The hashtag #
BringBackGoodluck2015
seems to have first been
used on Twitter by a group
campaigning on behalf of
the president. On 30th
August, they tweeted: "There
is no vacancy in Aso rock
With over 200 schoolgirls
abducted in April still
missing, many Nigerians
are outraged that the #
BringBackOurGirls hashtag
is being adapted as a
[the president's palace] we
want Goodluck Jonathan
again #NigeriansDemand #
BringBackJonathan2015." It is
unclear whether it has been
officially endorsed but it has
been widely used on printed
banners at campaigning
events across the country.
But the slogan seems to
represent a dramatic
misreading of Nigeria's
public mood. The abducted
school girls are still held
captive, despite repeated
promises by the
government - and President
Jonathan himself - to secure
their release. So far, the
government has not taken
military steps to rescue the
girls, arguing that if force is
used to rescue them, they
may end up being killed by
the militants.
There's now a major
backlash against the
hashtag, as people have
taken to Twitter to label it
as insensitive. It has
appeared more than 1,500
times in the last 24 hours,
and the vast majority been
used to criticise the slogan.
"That hashtag is not only
inappropriate but it is
insultingly silly. And it is
bereft of any political tact,"
said one. Another said the
slogan's inventor "has the
combined IQ of 500 frogs.
Why not coin another
hashtag?". "I didn't realize
Boko Haram had kidnapped
the President!"
said a third.
Japheth Omojuwa, a
columnist at Nigerian
newspaper Punch, told BBC
Trending that he felt the
decision to use the slogan
was "absurd".
"They are using variation of
our hashtag #
BringBackOurGirls to
campaign for the president,"
he said. "These are people
that failed to secure the
release of these girls over
150 days since their kidnap."
Terrorist attacks carried out
by Boko Haram are still rife
in the country. Research by
Amnesty International
suggests at least 2,000
people have been killed as
a result of the conflict this
year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-29130369