From the vantage point of Nigerians, it must have been an overwhelming experience to go from being a nation with a decent amount of obscurity to being at the center of a worldwide social media campaign in just a matter of days.
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That’s what happened in April, when insurgents from the Boko Haram terrorist group stormed into a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria, in the middle of the night and abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls. The #BringBackOurGirls Twitter hashtag was born soon thereafter and went viral. People from all over the world held protests, tweeted and crafted Facebook posts expressing outrage and remorse for the families who were experiencing the unthinkable.
But like most humanitarian causes that spark international outrage, the fervor for the movement has since died down, and Nigerians are still contending with the conflict, but with fewer outside voices holding their officials accountable and demanding results.
In The Root TV segment above, The Root's Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele speaks with Chika Oduah—an independent journalist working in Nigeria—about what this experience has been like for Nigerians, especially their being at the forefront of the philanthropic cause that was in vogue for the better part of 2014. In May, President Barack Obama sent 80 military personnel to the region to assist Nigerian officials with the search—but what did Nigerians think of all the foreign interest and help? Watch and see.
Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele is a staff writer at The Root and the founder and executive producer of Lectures to Beats, a Web series that features video interviews with scarily insightful people. Follow Lectures to Beats on Facebook and Twitter.
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