1 Year Chibok Girls Speech by ChibokGirls Ambassadors

Hello everyone my name is Maryam Ahmad and I am an ambassador to one of the 219 girls that were abducted from their school exactly one year ago.
Being a Chibok girl ambassador is of great significance to me as a young girl because I can’t help feeling that it could have been me.
Many other girls like me across the country are equally outraged and heartbroken over the issue of the abduction of these girls. We see ourselves in the girls, and we can’t imagine having our hopes and our dreams crushed overnight.

As a Chibok girl ambassador and putting myself in the shoes of these girls, It is depressing to think of what the girls have gone through and are still going through in captivity. It also pains me to think of the sorrow my parents would have been going through right now if I was one of the abducted girls.
 

 
It is even more painful when you consider that many students in some parts of Nigeria are scared to go to school for fear of the danger that could come their way, but the Chibok girls still took that risk.
They went to school to write their exams with the hope of completing their education and building careers that would help them lead productive lives. All they wanted was an opportunity to one day contribute meaningfully to the Nation and to the economy.
We the Chibok girls and ambassadors of the Chibok girls are children of Nigeria. We are your daughters and your sister’s daughters and your brother’s daughters. Will you honestly live happily in your house if it was your daughters that were kidnapped?
As we mark 1 year since the abduction of our Chibok sisters, I and other Chibok girl’s ambassadors are calling on the government of Nigeria to bring back our girls NOW and ALIVE.
We the Chibok girl’s ambassadors are demanding that the government of Nigeria should give us clear details of what is being done to bring back our sisters.
We urge the government to show strong commitment and concern about their abduction.
We ask that the government should, as a matter of priority, make education safe in all parts of Nigeria while prioritising the return of our sisters.
It is 1 year since they were abducted, but we are still committed and hopeful. We will not get tired of calling for the release of our sisters. 365 days and we are still calling out loud and clear; stronger than ever.
I will end by quoting our mother and role model, Mrs OBY, when she said something deep that stuck with me.
She said that “A single voice is all it takes to remind us of our values as human beings, That even if it is only one voice that is constantly reminding us that these girls are not back, then that single voice is enough to continue to remind us that as human beings, we should not, we cannot and we must not ignore the suffering of these girls and their parents.”
THANK YOU
Maryam Ahmed
(Leader of the Chibok girl’s ambassadors)