I’m APC member – Hadiza
Below is Hadiza’s full statement, “I have
watched, with keen interest, recent attempts
by some principal officers of the Federal
Government of Nigeria to discredit me and
the #BringBackOurGirls group. This is not
new. It has been the case since we
commenced our citizens-driven advocacy
movement, which explains why my initial
reaction was to ignore the chatter and
concentrate on the noble work of the
#BringBackOurGirls campaign. Unfortunately,
my humble silence is being taken as license
to further dissuade and divide the populace
by spreading inaccurate information, through
advertorials, thereby tagging the
#BringBackOurGirls group as an affiliate of
the APC.
“I, Hadiza Bala Usman, the Convener/Initiator
of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, is a
member of the APC, and there has been no
time I have hidden this fact or tried to mask
it. But let’s be clear, when I worked to
mobilize women, men, and Nigerians at large
to come out on April 30th to protest that the
Government should intensify efforts to
#BringBackOurGirls, I did so not as an APC
member, but first as a HUMAN BEING, as a
WOMAN, a MOTHER, a NIGERIAN and an
AFRICAN. It was never about politics and/or
my political affiliations; it was rather about
our shared humanity as human beings. As a
mother, I have experienced the trauma of not
knowing where my child is for few minutes;
does it then surprise many why I would be
moved to act on behalf of mothers who are
yet to see their daughters for 2 weeks (at the
first instance) and now over 189 days after?
“I came out as a concerned citizen of
Nigeria, one that is very interested in the
unity, growth, and development of this nation;
one that knows the important role an
educated girl-child would play in contributing
to the success we all anticipate for our dear
country. That these girls dared education in
the face of terrorism, intimidation, insecurity,
and other life-threatening circumstances, is a
rare display of courage, doggedness, and
hope. This is why I, alongside other
#BringBackOurGirls campaigners, daily
advocate to make sure these girls are not
forgotten, but that they come home to
contribute their quota to national
development.
“This moment therefore offers for us a
unique chance to stand united as a nation,
whether you are in PDP, APGA, APC, or any
political party; Christian or Muslim; from the
North or the South. The issue of the abducted
Chibok girls is an opportunity to UNITE and
not DIVIDE – to unite against insurgency,
terrorism, and every common enemy that
seeks to divide us as a people. We must
unite to ensure that every girl and boy in
Nigeria has equal access to education. We
must unite to change the narrative that no
matter one’s tribe, gender, religion, social
strata, interests, and political affiliations, we
can all come together as one to transform
our beloved nation for the best.
“I, Hadiza Bala Usman, choose to tow the
path of UNITY. I will not be intimidated by
anyone, and I will continue to stand for the
Chibok girls regardless of my tribe, religion
and political affiliation”.
Hadiza’s admission co-incided with a letter
of apology by Chief Ogbe in which he told the
BBOG that he did not intend to make them
uncomfortable, but rather was out to show
solidarity with their good works and insisted
that the demand of the group must be
acceded to by the federal government by
taking every necessary step to bring back the
girls.
In a separate statement, in Abuja, yesterday,
Chief Ogbe lamented that the greatest tragedy
of the Chibok girls abduction was that the
federal government was in denial and did
nothing after it became too late to
immediately rescue the innocent students.
His words, “the tragedy of the Nigerian
situation with regards to these Chibok girls is
that from the very beginning, Government
and some leading members of the POP were
in complete denial.
“Sarcastic comments were even attributed to
a woman leader of the ruling party. In one
part of this country, a group of governors at
their gathering, in unmistakable mockery and
callous indifference, said that if girls were
missing, their names should be sent to them
so they could help find them.
“Since then, nothing concrete has been
offered the Nigerian public by way of regular
briefings about what the government is doing
about these girls. It would seem therefore
that the matter should be treated as another
football match lost which should be
forgotten. It took a 17 year old Pakistani girl
called Malala within the age bracket of these
girls to come to Nigeria to wake up our
conscience.
“But for the BBOG, Nigeria would have
portrayed herself to the world as a strange
society that cares nothing for human -life,
especially those of the children. While the
rest of the world from Africa, Europe, Asia
and the Pacific rose up in shocked reaction
to this tragedy, we at home here have
succumbed to petty politics and ethnic
chauvinism.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/bbog-apc-link-coordinator-admits-apc-membership/

A 17years old left her country to come down here, while some people were just shouting up and down in abuja and on twitter: #bringBackourgirls when they could have gone to maid or sambisa and wage a more effective campaign.