Crisis in Nigeria: #BringBackOurGirls
#BringBackOurGirls. The social media rallying cry has generated global attention for nearly 300 girls abducted from their boarding school in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants.
But why hasn’t more been done to find them? And why did it take so long for the Nigerian government and others to take action?
On Friday, Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric led an in-depth and wide-ranging discussion on the on– going crisis.
Couric interviewed Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala live from Abuja, the capital city, where she was attending the World Economic Forum on Africa.
Okonjo-Iweala praised business leaders for coming together in support of the missing girls and helping to launch a safe schools initiative.
While she gave her support to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, she expressed outrage over the situation involving the missing girls.
“I have a daughter, I have four children.It’s unacceptable and unimaginable,” she said.
Her own mother was kidnapped and released after five days in 2012.
Joining Couric in New York was Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who wrote an influential column about the missing girls last Sunday.
“The greatest threat to militancy in the long run comes not from drones but from girls with schoolbooks,” he wrote.
He echoed that sentiment with Couric.
“The government is responsible for protecting its students. The biggest treasure isn’t oil, it’s children.”
