Nigerian women in their hundreds, on Monday, thronged the streets of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, singing and jubilating in appreciation of President Muhammadu Buhari for the safe return of over 300 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina State.
The group, under the aegis of Women For Buhari (WFB), said they are proud of the president for again acting like a “true father and leader” who has the nation’s interest at heart.
The president of WFB, Princess Ajibola, speaking on behalf of the women at the Unity Fountain, noted that as wives, mothers and sisters, they are the greatest beneficiaries of this quick intervention by President Buhari and the security agencies.
Recalling the trauma families of the Chibok girls went through, Ajibola said her women broke down in tears when the news of the abduction of the schoolboys surfaced.
But she recounted that the cheering reports of their release brought uncontrollable joy and sense of pride.
According to Ajibola, President Buhari’s swift approach ensured the release of the children.
Commending the president, she added that his patriotism and concern for the lives and property of the citizens is second to none.
While also applauding the Service Chiefs for their cooperation, the women hailed the efforts of the troops who put their lives on the line several times to ensure saftey of Nigerians.
Read full statement below:
I am delighted to address the world on this auspicious occasion of the release of the over 300 secondary school boys abducted by bandits in Kankara, Katsina State.
We as wives, mothers and sisters wish to say that we are the greatest beneficiaries of this quick intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies.
As wives, we know how painful it would feel for a house to experience the absence of a child.
As mothers, we know what it means for a child carried in the womb for nine months to go missing in one day.
While God has imbued our men with the strength to bear such emotional breakdowns with restrain, for us as mothers, that pain is doubled by the bond we have with the children and our tendencies to be highly emotional in the face of tragedies.
When the incident happened, we put ourselves in the shoes of the biological mothers of those children and we felt the exact pains they.were going through.
We recall how many parents of the Chibok girls who could not withstand the psychological trauma of losing their children to unknown persons gave up and breathed their last as a result of the despondency.
As the nation is yet to recover fully from the Chibok incidence, the news that over 300 teenage boys have been abducted again, but this time.at a science secondary in Kankara, Katsina State was too much for us to bear.
This is because these are promising children who like the Chibok girls, were abducted from their schools while studying.
When we saw the video of some of the boys with one of them pleading to the government to intervene on their behalf, most of us broke down and wept as we couldn’t take it any more.
To us, the video confirmed our worst fears that the Kankara school boys may have gone the way of the Chibok girls whose rescue dimmed from the day the Boko Haram terrorists started parading them in videos and using them to bargain.
But alas! On Thursday night, barely a week after the abduction took place, we received the good news that the Kankara school boys have been released.
We asked ourselves whether we were dreaming or it was sone mischief makers at work. But it turned out that it is true that the over 300 boys abducted by bandits at the Government Senior Science Secondary School, Kankara have been released.
We followed the story up to the point that they were taken to the Government House, Katsina and we leapt for joy!
This is why we have called for a rally today to show appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to serving our nation.
This is someone who has seen it all and could have chosen to retire and enjoy his perks as a former head of state and a retired General.
But his sense of patriotism and concern for the lives and property of the citizens has made him to offer to serve us we say without fear of contradiction that it is his leadership style that has made is recover these intact because we remember how a previous administration had handled the matter when faced with a similar challenge.
In simple words, we have gathered to say thank you to our father, President Buhari for not letting us down in our time of trial.
We thank him for acting swiftly using the right approach which have seen our children back home without a single shot fired.
We are grateful to Mr. President that not only have the boys returned, but all of them are in good shape and high spirits.
We cannot but feel the joy of their mothers who like us, must be shedding uncontrolled tears of joy.
President Buhari has always acted like a true father and as a leader who identifies with the youths.
It was this love for children that he has that had made the President to introduce the school feeding programme in primary schools.
He was the first President to approve a one hundred percent increase in the allowances of our youth corpers.
He also introduced many welfare schemes to cater to young persons and give them opportunities of fresh starts in life through such programs like the N-Power etc.
We pray for wisdom and guidance to our President as call on all Nigerians to pray for his good health and long life.
We cannot also forget the efforts of our military men who have put their lives on the line several times to ensure we live safely and peacefully.
We can see their hands everywhere and we know that if not for them the terrorists would have done their worst.
We thank the Service for the level of cooperation between them which has negated the bid for unnecessary rivalry and helped in fighting insecurity.
Again we say without fear of contradiction that a wise team does not change a winning coach.
These set of service chiefs have been outstanding and any call for the removal would be resisted as it is not in the interest of Nigeria.