Nigerian CommunicationWeek

#BringBackOurGirls: All Eyes on Boko Haram, Nigeria

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It’s impossible to predict what will go viral on social media, but viral contents share common features     as #BringBackOurGirls, the campaign designed to build worldwide pressure to find school girls who were abducted by Boko Haram, the Islamist militant from their dormitory in Chibok, a village in Borno state.

#BringBackOurGirls is a simple prove that Nigerian is now living in the age of viral reality that comes with sweeping changes.

This global advocacy for the girls which started from local advocacy has captured the world’s attention and galvanized movements.

Since the campaign started, Boko Haram has been analyzed, dissected and ripped apart in the modern world of social media with some spare thoughts for Nigeria’s embarrassing crisis management.

Even Michelle Obama, USA’s first lady has added her voice to the global campaign to bring home the missing Nigerian school girls.

Last Wednesday marked the 30th day in captivity of the 276 girls by the violent Islamist militant and the social media campaign has simply become more spirited and contemplative.

#BringBackOurGirls has gone viral on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, TMZ, Gawker and on the streets.

As at last count, it has recorded over 2 billion hits, 1.5 billion tweets and re-tweets. That is the clout of the campaign.

And for the first time in history of Boko Haram, the immediacy and breadth of access allows almost everyone to have a say, or to watch what’s happening, or to become actively engaged in condemning the sect.

It now transcends age, gender, class, race, tribe or employment status.

Rallies have been held in some Nigerian cities and have been replicated in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Kingston, Jamaica, and even in Afghanistan.

In Abuja, Oby Ezekwesili, former minister of Education, said that the  “The advocacy started online, and moved offline.”

According to her the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, which organizers have used to unite the movement and catalyze international attention, has been tweeted or retweeted.

Hadiza Usman, who began the movement, said she was concerned not only about the kidnapped schoolgirls, but about the indifference of her fellow Nigerians to the suffering from ongoing Boko Haram violence in the north.

“We as a people were trying to develop a value system that was just about ‘me,’” she said, speaking of individualism. “That for me was worrisome… I felt the need to bring together like minds, even if it was just 10 of us.” Usman added.

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