Stop Acting As Opposition Party, Lai Mohammed Tells BBOG
Lai
Mohammed, minister of information, has called on the Bring Back Our
Girls (BBOG) group to stop seeing itself as an opposition party and
remain focused on its advocacy.
In a statement issued on Monday
by Segun Adeyemi, his media aide, the minister urged the advocacy group
to see the government as a partner and not as an adversary in its quest
to secure the release of the Chibok girls.
He
said the “continued portrayal of the government as an adversary and the
needless firing of darts at the president, who is doing his utmost best
to bring the girls back home safely, are ultimately counter-productive.
“The
federal government has bent over backwards to carry the BBOG along and
to show transparency in the conduct of the search for the girls. The
recent invitation extended to the group to witness first-hand the search
for the girls by the Nigerian air force is a clear indication of this.
“However,
it came to us as a surprise that in spite of its initial positive
report on the tour, the BBOG has too quickly reverted to its adversarial
role. BBOG should stick to its role as an advocacy group rather than
pretending to be an opposition party. The synonyms of the word
‘advocacy’ do not include ‘antagonism’, ‘opposition’ or ‘attack’. In
fact, those words are the antonyms of ‘advocacy’,” the minister
admonished.
Mohammed
said “it amounts to needless grandstanding for the BBOG to say it will
no longer tolerate ‘delays’ and ‘excuses’ from the president on the
release of the girls, as reported by the media, noting that such
impudent language should have been reserved for those who did nothing in
the first 500 days of the girls’ abduction – not for a president who
has presided over the liberation of all captured territory, the opening
of shuts schools and roads, the safe release of some of the abducted
girls and the decimation of Boko Haram.”
He
assured Nigerians that the efforts to bring the girls back safely were
continuing, but sought their understanding for not divulging any further
details so as not to jeopardise the intricate process.”
“Let me say unequivocally that the people involved in the negotiations are working 24/7,” he said.
“The
negotiations are complicated, tortuous and delicate. Any wrong signal
is capable of derailing things. That’s why the less we say about the
talks, the better it is for all.
“We
need a huge amount of confidence-building, the kind of which led to the
release of the 21 of the girls. This has been lacking for years, but
right now we are confident that we are on the right track. We won’t do
anything to jeopardise these talks, irrespective of the pressure or
provocation from any quarter.”
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