#BringBackOurGirls in Manchester - Rally for the #ChibokGirls

Online and offline

As we have kept our voices heard on Social Media, most especially on Twitter, we gathered this afternoon at the Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester to show our support for the #ChibokGirls.

Some people we engage with in Twitter would say not much happens for effective action on Twitter, but I can say that for the almost 100 people that made up the multinational crowd I saw today, none as far as I know were remotely connected to me on any Social Media platform that I use, yet we were there for one purpose.

To #BringBackOurGirls

We were united as Nigerians and citizens of the world, affected by a distant and remote event that could easily have been a sister, a daughter, a grandaughter, a niece, an aunt, a ward, a neighbour, a classmate or just another person, a participant in our common humanity who needs to be freed from that atrocities of terrorism by Boko Haram and the dereliction of duty by the government.

For every gathering of Nigerians and quite a few spoke, you could at least from my perspective expect the nostalgic sound of the Nigerian accent speaking English, then a moment of prayer and at 14:30, we all held hands in silence for 276 seconds, a second for each of the abducted #ChibokGirls.

Thank you

Then more speeches of exhortation, encouragement, politics and everything else that makes the atmosphere uniquely Nigerian.

We were resolved to keep the movement going, we need all those responsible and those with the responsibility to do, to #BringBackOurGirls.

That is the least we expect of our government and those who have the responsibility to keep our children safe.

Thank you to all who joined us in this moment of sadness and tragedy, it means a lot to all of us.

#BringBackOurGirls in Manchester Photo Album