Je suis Afrique

The girl could not have been any older than 10, a bomb strapped to her body, concealed by her hijab.  On the afternoon of January 10, she was sent, this girl, into  the Maiduguri Market in the northeastern region of Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram. 

When the bomb detonated, her body was split in two, catapulted in opposite directions across the busy market.  In addition to the girl, as many as 20 people were killed in that explosion.

Meanwhile, 200 kilometres away, not far from Lake Chad, in the town of Baga, Boko Haram was also carrying out the final stages of a massacre.  Now, there are corpses everywhere — on streets, in buildings and homes, even the bushes, most burnt beyond recognition.  The insurgency has spread to well over a dozen neighbouring communities with the death toll estimated as high as 2,000. The majority of the victims are women and children.

Even before that, on New Year’s Day, Boko Haram swept into Malari, yet another town in the northeastern region and abducted 40 boys and young men, ranging in age from 10 to 23, many of whom will likely be trained as soldiers or turned into suicide bombers. 

Media blackout in Nigeria

You would think that such incredible carnage in a concentrated area over so short a period of time would warrant international attention as front-page news, accompanied by a rush of outrage and condolences from world leaders.  You would think so…but you would be wrong.  

It makes me deeply uncomfortable to compare tragedies because every human life has weight, importance; every human life matters — but that is precisely why I feel compelled to make this comparison.  You would have to be completely daft to not notice the stark difference in the world’s reaction to the massacres at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish-owned market in Paris that claimed the lives of 17 victims, as compared to its reaction to the aforementioned events in Nigeria. 

While nearly every media house in the world provided nonstop coverage of the attacks in Paris, with the exception of posts and tweets on social media, there was virtually no international coverage of the attacks in Nigeria. 

Statements condemning the Paris attacks came from all parts of the globe, from prime ministers and priests, Muslim organisations, advocacy groups and celebrities.  Even Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan issued a statement in which he pledged his support in the fight against terrorism.  

Jonathan comments on Paris attack

“President Jonathan,” it was written in the statement, “also sees the attack on Charlie Hebdo as another manifestation of the depravity and brutality, which the world has to contend with in what must become a truly collective effort by lovers of peace, progress and freedom.”

For his own country and people, however, President Jonathan, who is hoping to be voted in for a second term in next month’s elections, had nothing to say.  There was no official statement of condolence.  

This weekend, as homes and people in Baga were being set aflame, and somebody’s 10-year-old daughter was being outfitted with explosives, President Jonathan was giving his foster daughter’s hand in marriage at a lavish, high-profile wedding.

Such is the hypocrisy and lip service of African leadership.

No comments from African leaders

But President Jonathan was not alone in his silence...or hypocrisy.  Not a word from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the sub-regional governing body, or any of the Presidents of its 15-member states.Not a word from Kenya, which has also experienced numerous acts of terrorism over the past years, and whose President heads the East African Community (EAC), the bloc for that sub-region. And nothing at all from Rwanda, a country that knows what it means and how it feels for one group of citizens to massacre another while the entire world silently watches yet pretends not to see.

Interestingly, in April 2014, on the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta formally apologised for East Africa’s silence and inaction during that atrocity.  

“Our region also stood aside,” said President Kenyatta, “and for that we owe the most profound apology to the people of Rwanda.  We have learned that no one from far away can be relied on to come to our aid; we must build an independent capability and will to protect the lives of our children and their future.”

Only the African Union, which will hold its annual summit in two weeks, has issued a formal statement condemning the recent acts of terror by Boko Haram, but without any call to action. 

It is worth mentioning that many Francophone West African leaders saw fit to show solidarity with France, their former coloniser by being present at the rally for unity that took place.  That march was the largest in France’s history, attracting over one million people, nearly 50 of which were world leaders.  

Francophone reps in Paris

Those leaders who went to France to take a stand for freedom of expression just so happened to be the Presidents of Mali, Niger, Togo, Benin, Gabon and Senegal — all nations which, in recent