Another Side of the Coin: Where Are Our Children? And When Will They Return? Activist Verydarkman's Question to the Oyo State Governor.
By Abubakar Shehu Dokoki
Everyone, what you are seeing here is a prominent activist in Southern Nigeria, nicknamed "Very dark man" – that is, "VDM."
Since those forty students were abducted in Oyo State, they have not rested. Their poets are singing, and their activists are protesting.
In the images you see, this is the protest organized by this man, which he took all the way to the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde. He went there, took hold of the microphone, and said to him: "Where are our students? And when will they return?" No one stopped him, nor was any attempt made to arrest anyone from his entourage.
The Governor took the microphone and said: "Oyo is not Chibok. I'm ready to sacrifice myself for abducted children." In Hausa, that means: "The Oyo students are not like those of Chibok. I am prepared to sacrifice my life to rescue the children who were kidnapped." This statement seems like a slight to Northerners, but he did speak the truth when he said "Oyo is not Chibok" – whether we like it or not, they will not allow their students to remain missing as long as those of Chibok did.
Since they prioritized the search for these students, nothing has distracted them – not even the Defense Minister's comments, the Rarara-Davido feud, or anything else. They have only one thing on their agenda: "Everyone is talking about the abducted students." But here in the North, after the killing of General Rabe Abubakar, we only talked about four things: Salim Goje's wives, Rarara's arrival in Abuja, the Rarara-Davido clash, and imposing a gag order regarding the Defense Minister's statement.
But their leaders are not supporting them in demanding what is rightfully theirs. Just days ago, I read that there is still a governor here in the North who has detained people since the time of the previous cost-of-living protests.
Truly, we have been left behind. Only Allah can set things right for us.