20 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020
Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020 --- 21 Leah Sharibu: Why FG should do more — CAN Woman Leader Pastor Dr. Mrs Mabel Oyin Sowoolu is CAN Woman Leader and former president of the Women Wing of Christian Association of Nigeria, WOWICAN. In this interview with WO, she speaks on the negative effect of the circumstances surrounding Leah Sharibu’s purported birth of a child fathered by one of the commanders of the Boko Haram insurgents. According to her, the federal government should be held responsible regarding the plight of Nigerian girls especially Leah Sharibu. By Ebunoluwa Sessou There are reports that abducted Leah Sharibu gave birth to a baby for one of the Boko Haram commanders. In your own view as a mother and as one of the leaders in the Christian Association of Nigeria and by and large Christian community, what is your position on this? As a mother and grandmother, a spiritual leader and a woman, if it is true, it is a serious matter and very unfortunate. If something happens to one person and you feel nothing has happened until it affects you, you will not understand what it is. If it is true, the government has so many questions to answer from God. They have questions to answer from God or what do you expect such a girl to do in that situation. It is either they kill her or make her do what they wanted. For me, it is like a dream because what the federal government told us last was that she would soon be released. And now, she is carrying a baby. Even if we have no power over the perpetrators of such evil, God in heaven will make His judgment. They will not go unpunished. All the spirits, all mothers are crying because if it is true, the perpetrators will never go unpunished. The Lord who makes heaven and earth will ensure that they really suffer for the act. It is not a matter of having a baby. She is under serious emotional stress, and you know what that means. How old is she that she should undergo such emotional stress? We are praying that God Almighty will judge those who have put that girl in such a situation. She is a Nigerian who has the right to religion. One will assume that Christian leaders would have put some machinery in place especially after the assurances given by the federal government that Leah Sharibu would be released, until this recent report? The Christian Association of Nigeria tried her best. We did all we could. The government is not just responsive and it is a bad omen for us as Nigerians. The Save Our Girls group also did her best. There are communiqués about Leah Sharibu released by CAN. CAN in the Northern states did; CAN in Nigeria as a nation did. We have never kept quiet about it. Peradventure the story is false, what do you think the government should do? Whether it is true or not, the point is that they should ensure the release of the girl. If it is true and she is not out by now, maybe, the government is trying to feel the pulse of the masses before they do what they want to do. If it is true, let them bring out the girl, enough is enough. We are talking about Leah Sharibu yet we still have the Chibok girls in Boko Haram custody, what do you think Nigerians or Nigeria government should be doing right now? We all know what they should be doing. If they are ready, they should ensure that the Chibokgirls are released. They should explore every avenue to get the girls out of the place. Look, it is not a good omen at all. We By Josephine Agbonkhese NIGERIANS were disappointed last Sunday when at the 2020 Grammys in Los Angeles, USA, Beninese singer-songwriter and actress, Angelique Kidjo, was announced winner of the World Music Album category for which one of their indigenous music stars, Burna Boy, was also nominated alongside three others. That was Kidjo‘s fourth Grammy win in n i n e nominations; first of which came in 1995 with her first Grammy coming 12 years later when she won the Best Contemporary World Music category. It would have been the first for Burna Boy though—and of course his first Grammy nomination too; a feat made possible by his fourth album ‘African Giant’ in which, interestingly, he collaborated with Kidjo on a track entitled ‘Different’. While Nigerian music lovers still feel defrauded by the Record Academy as they couldn’t see any reason their homeboy to whom should all put ourselves in their position. These girls did not bargain for what they are currently passing through or prepare for what they got themselves into, neither did their parents did. An adage says, a child is dead is better than a child is missing. If the child is dead, we will know she is dead not the one we do not know her where about. The government will say, it is not easy but I know, it is what they can do. As much as we are all praying for the successful return of the girls, it is unfortunate, that the government has been negative about the responses. And that is the truth. We all know that release of victims of Boko Haram insurgents attracts negotiation, do you think, government will be doing the right thing in terms of negotiation? I do not think negotiation should be a problem for responsible government. As long as it is to secure the release of those girls, government should do everything possible to get them released. We are talking about innocent lives that money cannot buy. These people are using millions of naira to acquire wealth, why can’t they safe lives? Is it a sin to be girls; is it a sin to be a woman? God created us. Any money spent to get these children back is money well spent. And I know that is the view of every good mother. There seems to be reinforcement of the operations Continues on page 22 Meet female Beninese Angelique Kidjo who dashed Nigerians’ hope at the 2020 Grammys Kidjo dedicated her award lost the Grammy, we bring you a few things you probably didn’t know about four-time Grammy award winner, Angelique Kidjo—plus perhaps why her album, ‘Celia’, won over others in the Best World Music Album category. *Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin, on July 14, 1960, to a Beninese father and Yoruba mother. *At age six, she was already performing with her mother’s theatre troupe. That gave her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance, so much that in school, she joined her school band, Les Sphinx, and soon found success as a teenager with her adaptation of Miriam Makeba’s “Les Trois Z”, which played on national radio. *She grew up listening to Beninese traditional music, Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, James Brown, Manu Dibango, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Osibisa, Celia Cruz and Santana. *The success of her first album, ‘Pretty’, which was recorded with a Cameroonian, earned her a tour of West Africa until political conflicts in Benin led her to relocate to Paris in 1983. Continues on Page 25
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