The Director General, National Centre For Women Development, Onyeka Onwenu, on Monday called on citizens of Nigeria to engage the government in constructive criticism over the abduction of 234 schoolgirls in government school Chibok, Borno State, adding that no government is perfect.
Onwenu made the call while speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily.
“This Boko Haram issue has been politicised for a long time and I think we ought to be very careful about that,” she said, maintaining that there should be no name calling at this stage.
“This is the time to rally support and come together,” she said.
Series of protests, online and on the streets, have been staged in different parts of the world, most especially in Nigeria, as concerned groups and individuals call on the government to #BringBackOurGirls.
Onwenu commended the effort, stating that it had helped the nation to focus attention on the event, but insisted that “this is the time to come together.”
When went further to say that those who accused the government as well as the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, of being slow to act were wrong as they had been working behind the scenes. “I don’t think any government will come out to give the nitty gritty of their operation,” she said.
She admitted that all tiers of government involved in the situation, the Federal Government, Borno State government and the local government where Chibok is located, had made mistakes in their handling the situation.
However, she raised some issues concerning events preceding the abduction and called on the Federal Government to carry out a thorough investigation into the matter.
According to Onwenu, some things did not add up, including the list of students presented by school principal which had 60-year old students. She claimed that some imposters had posed as mothers of the missing school girls, during the protests.
