#BringBackOurSanity

"When members of a family fight, a stranger inherits their home." Igbo proverb.

The low intensity hostility between government and the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) pressure group  peaked again in the last few days .A new video released two weeks ago by a faction of Boko Haram showing many of the abducted Chibok girls looking apparently healthy triggered a frenzy of activities. The video's objective was clearly to intensify the pressure on the Nigerian government over the fate of the girls, and events that followed it showed that it was, at least in part, achieved. One of the girls' plaintive appeal for meeting the demands of the insurgency to exchange them for its detained leaders wrenched at hearts. Other twists were added: the insurgency claimed that Nigerian planes were bombing the girls; many have died or are wounded, and finally ,the threat that Nigerian authorities will never recover the girls alive by use of force. That new video took another casualty: the nation's focus and resolve to sustain a broad agreement that the release of the Chibok girls remains a national priority, a critical and strategic priority  which is part of the imperative of winning the war against the insurgency.

A cacophony followed the release of the video. The military expectedly denounced it as propaganda and attempted blackmail from an insurgency that was pinned to the ground, and denied that it was killing Chibok girls during its bombing sorties. It then followed up by splashing a wanted notice against three persons it said had clues to the whereabouts of the girls. Traditional no-concession quarters renewed calls against any swap or concessions to the insurgency. Parents and the Chibok community were reminded of the gaping wounds in their hearts. The sorrows of parents who identified their daughters in the video were surpassed only by the agony of those who did not see theirs'. Hopes raised by the sight of some of the girls were cancelled by the widespread feeling of utter helplessness in a nation whose military says it has no idea where the girls are being held. Top brass of the military said it knows nothing about the politics of dialogue and negotiations, its job being to successfully wage a war against the insurgency.

BBOG was re-energized by this new development, reeling out old and new demands and grievances against the government over the fate of the girls. It demanded for greater efforts to trace and free the girls; for greater access to information on the state of the war against the insurgency; for a consideration of all options to free the girls, and a host of other demands which suggested that it is unhappy, to put it politely, with government over the fate of the girls. BBOG had assumed a front row in the assembly of critics of government response to Internally-Displaced Persons(IDPs).It leads the clamour for increasing transparency in a war that has had very limited scope for distinguishing friend from foe, and accountability for mixing up the two. It has attempted to wear the mantle of resident-conscience-of-the-nation over the fate of the girls, as well as the manner of the execution of the war. It has occasionally branched into wider matters of accountability and integrity in governance, and has fresh scars to show for this.

When the history of the ignoble end to the Jonathan administration is written, a pride of place will be assigned to the few women and men who couldn't sleep after the abduction of the Chibok girls until leaders with responsibility to rescue them also stayed awake and were held accountable for their failures to stop the abductions or free the girls. Their resistance against an imminent resignation by a nation numbed by atrocities of a rampaging terror group alerted the global community to an outrage it couldn't ignore. A handful of Nigerians refused to walk away from unspeakable incompetence and insensitivity of leaders. It gradually gathered a crowd of world leaders, the famous, the media and the Chibok community and Nigerians around an issue with a simple demand: free the girls and bring them home. Their moving faith in the ability of the Nigerian state to do this was solid and unshakable.

BBOG had  the best cause to fight, but it was clearly lacking the sophistication and the rough edges to its tactics that were absolutely vital in taking on governments, the military, a community tossed and turned around by hybrid interests, flagging spirits of core supporters and a nation distracted by many more disasters and new challenges. Multiple skirmishes with the presidency took their toll on official goodwill and accommodation. Never friends with the Jonathan administration, the movement celebrated its exit and laid a fresh layer of paint to welcome a Buhari presidency that promised to put an end to the insurgency and bring back the girls. In spite of spectacular successes against an insurgency that had the nation literally on the run, the new administration failed to get the movement to shift substantially from its trademark suspicion and hostility to anything that did not deliver the girls. The military's resentment to what it saw as damaging distraction and meddlesomeness from an Abuja-based coalition of busy bodies hardened. The community was tired and weary of do-gooders who raised its hopes and delivered little. Flickers of hope in videos showing some of the girls or a lone Chibok girl picked up and VIP-eed with her Boko Haram 'husband' all the way to the Villa opened up possibilities and created new reasons to quarrel.

Events in the last few days have marked a new low in relations between government and the BBOG movement. For both parties, this is the point where major revisions in relations and strategies need to be made. BBOG needs to understand that it has registered a standard in citizen power around a cause that has few parallels in this country. The credibility and integrity of its leadership cannot be questioned. Its persistence has been a tremendous source of inspiration and support for the families and the Chibok community, and has kept the nation and the global community informed about our living conscience as a people. It should know that its fight is about the girls, and when it steps outside the mandate it gave to itself, it risks fight backs that it is poorly equipped to handle. It is neither an alternative government, nor even the political opposition. It is pursuing a cause that is substantially contingent on capacities of a government it needs as a strategic ally. Bringing the girls home is as much a military target as it could be function of other options. It needs to improve its channels in making inputs into strategies and tactics. It needs to revisit its strategies in the light of current dispositions in political and military circles. BBOG needs to be seen as a vital asset and a major influence in shaping opinions and keeping the nation focussed on the human toll in the fight against Boko Haram. It must not let its frustrations distract it from the goals it had set itself: freeing and reuniting the Chibok girls with their families.

The government and the military should know by now that BBOG  cannot be wished away. It represents the nation's permanent vigilance over the atrocity that was the abductions of the Chibok girls as well as thousands of other females and young men taken away by Boko Haram. It will not walk away from the manner the war is being waged; or from the community; or the welfare of IDPs, or the insistence of the military that it has total discretion management of all  information regarding the execution of the war, access to war theaters  or standards of accountability. There is much that suggests that it will benefit government and public interest if BBOG is pulled away from a hostile position into one in which it can both remain focussed on its mandate, and be useful to a nation at war. Nigeria has lost much in the war against Boko Haram. If we are confused over the real enemy, we would have lost our sanity as well. Further deterioration in relations between government and groups such as BBOG will hand over an undeserved victory to the real enemy.