Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie believes that without the help
of foreign countries, Nigeria is fully capable of bringing back the
Chibok school girls abducted by Boko Haram.
“Now we have American drones helping us
in this forest and even the French have sent in people – shouldn’t they
be fixing their own economy? We can solve our own damn problems.” she
said at the Hay Festival.
She also added that “I’m sure that there
are hunters in that area who know that forest very well. Why haven’t
they been used? Why aren’t we depending on them?
What we need is a better equipped
military, a better trained military: we don’t need Americans to send
people in. This is my Nigerian nationalist rant”
The “Americanah” author also pointed out that the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls was started by a Nigerian and not an American.
“It was very much a grassroots social media Nigerian campaign. The fact that westerners are sharing in
something started locally is fine with
me.“It was very much a grassroots social media Nigerian campaign. The fact that westerners are sharing in
I recognise that the campaign made a
difference. People paid attention and then the [Nigerian] government had
to sit up a little bit.”
