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Hypocritical hashtag sympathy

Politicians and their wives sending wrong Mother’s Day message to Nigeria



Aside from the heinous act itself, the tragedy of the 276 black Christian girls kidnapped by terrorists Boko Haram is that it all comes down to the über convenience of today’s hashtag.
#BringBackOurGirls is a feel-good political hashtag, the main source of communication for celebrities and politicians of the day. Given the evil that Boko Haram does perhaps a more appropriate hashtag would be: #BulletsForBoko. The impoverished masses of Nigeria, most of whom have no access to hashtags, and who must count on governments within the international community to do the right thing, woke up this morning knowing it is Mother’s Day and that almost 300 girls kidnapped from their school are still missing from their mothers and families five days less than one month later. While the wives of world-famous politicians are still milking the Boko Haram kidnappings for publicity, news reports indicate that the abducted girls have likely been split up into smaller groups,

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“The hundreds of kidnapped school girls missing for three weeks in Nigeria may have been broken up into smaller groups and may--or may not--still be in Nigeria, senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the search told Fox News.”
Nelson Mandela’s widow Graça Machel sent a message to the kidnapped girls this morning with words that would wrest compassion from even the hardest of hearts: “If someone, somehow, can get this message to our girls in Nigeria, even if is just the wind whispering to them, we want them to know that we love them and we care for them,” Machel said in her message.
“Their plight has touched millions of hearts in Africa and beyond. “We send them waves of love and comfort, to warm their hearts and dry their tears.”
While no one would suggest that Machel did not mean well, and no matter how emotive her message, it is just words. Michelle Obama followed her earlier #SaveOurGirls hashtag with the delivery of her husband Barack Obama’s weekly radio address yesterday. “Like millions of people across the globe, 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,” Mrs Obama said in the address.
“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.” “Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday he believed the girls, abducted by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, were still in his country. “Militants stormed a secondary school in the village of Chibok, near the Cameroon border, on April 14, and kidnapped the girls, who were taking exams at the time. Fifty have since escaped, but more than 200 remain with the insurgents. “The United States offered this week to send a team of experts to Nigeria to support the government's response effort, which has been criticised for being slow. “I want you to know that Barack has directed our government to do everything possible to support the Nigerian government's efforts to find these girls and bring them home,” Mrs Obama said. “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.”
The first lady noted that the school where the girls were abducted had been closed recently because of terrorist threats, but the girls insisted on coming back to take exams. “They were so determined to move to the next level of their education...so determined to one day build careers of their own and make their families and communities proud,” she said. “And what happened in Nigeria 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.” (Reuters, May 10, 2014) The kidnapping of the Christian Nigerian girls is not about Barack Obama, not about Michelle Obama, and not even about their two daughters. It is about the high human toll of terrorism allowed to run rampant by the governments of the West who do nothing to counter it--which includes their fear to even name it. The leaders of those governments and their wives should quit the hypocritical hashtag sympathy trend and replace it with something significant to return the girls to their heartbroken families. No other Mothers Day message to Nigeria will do.


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Judi McLeod -- Bio and Archives -- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

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