Crisis in Nigeria: #BringBackOurGirls
#BringBackOurGirls. The social media rallying cry has generated global attention for nearly 300 girls abducted from their boarding school in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants.
But why hasn't more been done to find them? And why did it take so long for the Nigerian government and others to take action?
On Friday, Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric led an in-depth and wide-ranging discussion on the on- going crisis.
Couric interviewed Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala live from Abuja, the capital city, where she was attending the World Economic Forum on Africa.
Okonjo-Iweala praised business leaders for coming together in support of the missing girls and helping to launch a safe schools initiative.
While she gave her support to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, she expressed outrage over the situation involving the missing girls.
"I have a daughter, I have four children.It's unacceptable and unimaginable," she said.
Her own mother was kidnapped and released after five days in 2012.
Joining Couric in New York was Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who wrote an influential column about the missing girls last Sunday.
"The greatest threat to militancy in the long run comes not from drones but from girls with schoolbooks," he wrote.
He echoed that sentiment with Couric.
"The government is responsible for protecting its students. The biggest treasure isn't oil, it's children."
Also interviewed from Abuja was human rights activist Hafsat Abiola, who criticized her government's ineffectual efforts to find the girls.
"We don't want to listen to explanations. We want to see results and our girls come home," she said.
Abiola knows first hand about the violence that has plagued Nigeria over the years.
Her father was elected president of Nigeria in 1993 but was jailed by the military before taking office.
He later died in prison. Abiola's mother was killed during a demonstration for her husband in 1996.
As the conversation circled back to the global social media movement, Couric brought in filmmaker and activist Ramaa Mosley, who has played an integral role in spreading #BringBackOurGirls around the world.
"I've been seeing it as an SOS to the world," Mosley said.
Though the slogan was originally generated in Nigeria, Mosley's initiative to spread the hashtag has been credited with sparking international outrage over the girls' abduction and the slow response by the Nigerian government and the international community.
"I'm honored to have helped," she said.
