My eyes water, my heart aches, Aljazeera echoes, two hundred and thirty four girls.
I feel like I am in between chocking and falling into cardiac arrest.
Aljazeera echoes, the sound bounces off my wall like 808 sound bites, fear is in the air, rising like chimney fumes on portobello road steady moving like Lagos traffic.
This isn’t the days of Nubia where the worth of any being is hailed and respected.
This is like the Biafra war, Like apartheid, Like genocide.
This is a new Nigeria. Where children are now pawns to Boko Haram hastily being flung on their chess boards with no remorse but this is not a game.
It is the reality of the state of Africa. It is mass abduction of our wealth. Our children.
Two hundred and thirty four girls.
Two hundred and thirty four times my sisters innocence is stripped like a vulnerable sheep to slaughter.
Two hundred and thirty four times my cousins are soaking in fear like sponge to fairly liquid.
Two hundred and thirty four times a young woman is violated of her human rights.
Two hundred and thirty four times my fathers heart strings are pulled like the symphony of Billie Holiday’s Gloomy Sunday.
Two hundred and thirty four times my mothers joy ripped from her womb like those 9 months were just an illusion.
Say it out loud TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR. Our daughters, Our future.
This is more than social media and retweets. Tenacious as it may seem, HOPE is all we have. Clearing the croaks in our throats to speak words of freedom and healing.
To know the difference between faith and reality. To understand the meaning of life and uncertainty.
This is corruption. This isn’t a euphemism so don’t use it to describe violence. This is violence. This is raw. Aljazeera echoes. Two hundred and thirty four girls. This is mass abduction. This is car bombings.
Listen out for it… Do you hear it? That is silent tears, Broken hearts, Tormented flesh and lost spirits roaming. This is what is looks like when we die and the world stands silent. This is the new Nigeria.
If you are in London, this Friday (May 9), please join us at Nigeria House for a solidarity protest. The address is 9 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5BX. The closest tube station is Charing Cross. Let’s #BringBackOurGirls
