On April 14th, 2014, 276 high school girls were abducted from a Chibok school in Nigeria. The group responsible is an Islamic extremist terrorist organization by the name of Boko Haram, whose name itself means, “Western education is a sin”. The BringBackourGirls campaign began with a speech by the vice president of the World Bank of Africa, Obiageli Ezekwesili, demanding the government to bring back Nigeria’s girls. Since then, the slogan and hashtag has trended globally on social medias such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. However, the effectiveness of the campaign remains highly controversial. Although the majority of girls are still missing, the BringBackourGirls campaign has effectively promoted the issue by rousing international outrage.
Social media is perhaps the most influential and prevalent platform to share information nowadays. While it’s true that a mere hashtag can hardly generate any change on its own, the viral nature of the campaign has brought the Nigerian girls’ strife to the world’s attention. In the beginning, few people took notice of the horrifying event. Through social media, celebrities and influential figures from the first lady Michelle Obama to supermodel Cara Delavigne have posted pictures of themselves with the hash tag Bring Back Our Girls. In the span of three weeks, the hash tag was used more than one million times. With the growing western attention, the issue has become incrementally difficult to ignore and global intervention became inevitable. As more people speak up for the issue, world governments are more likely listen and take action.
Many people argue that unlike other campaigns such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the BringBackourGirls campaign has not raised any funds for the underlying cause. However, while the money raised for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge goes to ALS research, the goal for the BBOG campaign is to spread awareness on an international level and thus pressure the government into taking action. The hash tag activism has done the most it can- generate global response. Now, even on the other side of the world, people know of the plight of the Nigerian schoolgirls and are praying for their return. Whether or not the government takes action is not up to us to decide. The campaign is commonly perceived as another example of “slacktivism”, and that’s just exactly what it is. There is little we can do to help the issue other than continuing to share their story.
The viral campaign is also widely criticized for the little action that has resulted. If that was the case, imagine what would happen without it. Nigeria is a country notorious for its corruption and crimes. Before the kidnapping, Boko Haram also killed 59 males in the school while they were asleep, and gunned down 150 Christian men in a village in central Nigeria. Yet, nobody knew of these events. Without the campaign, the kidnapping of the schoolgirls would also go unnoticed. Fortunately, with the amount of public outrage it has generated, the Nigerian government has listened, offered a reward of $300,000 to anyone who can help locate the girls, and accepted international offers of help. The campaign also led to the establishment of a $20m fund supported by the former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown aimed at protecting schools in the troubled region, also known as a Safe Schools Initiative. Therefore, any statement that the movement has generated little impact is an understatement. 219 of the 276 girls remain missing to this day, and undoubtedly the situation would be the same or worse minus the viral movement. Only then, no one would know or care.
In conclusion, the BringBackourGirls campaign is an effective means of promoting the current violence and assault in Nigeria. As our world becomes more and more interconnected, the power of social media will only grow. People can learn more about what’s happening in the world through mass media than they ever could before. With each tweet or Facebook post, we are one step closer to bring back our girls.