Why should 17 deaths bring the world to a halt? But 2000 do not elicit a whisper

I like his page on Facebook — Boris Kodjoe, actor and director. He asked this very apt asking that got me questioning myself whether I have failed my calling and my people, Africa.

“The killing of 17 victims in three despicable terrorist acts this week prompted a unity march by 1.5 million people, including 40 world leaders, in Paris. Well done. Maybe it's just me but did anyone else hear about Nigeria? Two thousand civilians, including women and children, were massacred by terrorists this week. Can somebody tell me why nobody is marching for those victims? Any world leaders planning a trip to Lagos or Abuja this week? Too busy? Bad flight connections? Just asking. Imagine the statement we could make”.

Facebook response My response to that post on Facebook was, “Edem Ashigbi: Very apt. This is my disappointment with our leaders in Africa. What are the political leaders doing? And what are we the media leaders in Africa also doing? We need to have a change of paradigm; otherwise, we will not be taken seriously. Let’s start and the world will take us seriously”.

As a people, we need to recognise this saying from my friend at MultiTV, Nana Ansah Quao, that I paraphrase “The tale of hunting will always glorify the hunter till the lion learns to tell his story”.

As African media leaders, we need to come together to help tell Africa’s story and determine what should be priority for the world. If we do not do so, things like what Boris Kudjoe is complaining about will keep happening. Where are the African Media Initiative and other African media organisations? What am I doing and what am I going to do about this? Kwasi Twum, Edward Boateng, Chief Cyrstal, Agya Kow Ansa and our other media leaders, where are you? We need to act and this should galvanise us to act and act decisively.

ECOWAS I also call on our Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Chairman to galvanise our Presidents and the African Union (AU) leadership to wake up to this, as the ECOWAS Chairman, President Mahama of Ghana, did in the early days of the outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease.

There is no way the killing of 17 people can be worth more attention than the massacre of 2,000 people. This cannot be and we should not allow it. Yes, the Middle East suffers killings of such magnitude but most of the time they happen in countries of outright war and conflict but not in a democratic country such as Nigeria that is even preparing for elections. Two thousand people will die in Nigeria and we all pretend nothing has happened or it is normal! It is not normal and we should not allow this to continue.

Proactive stance Mr President, I support your proactive stance on this Boko Haram issue. We should act now; otherwise, we will be sorry. There is unity in strength and we should be united now and act to prevent the senseless slaughter of our people. Our lives are as precious as those of any group of people. But why are we allowing this to happen; the lives of cattle seem to have more value than ours. The Malian President was there at the Paris march. Please let’s love ourselves too. Please bring what you saw there home. Which other African leaders were also there? Let’s tap into what you did and saw there and act.

‘Stop politicking’ President Goodluck Jonathan and the political parties in Nigeria, especially the Democratic People’s Party(DPP) and the All Progressives Congress(APC), instead of going on with your politicking, you should all forget about this democratic process (election), which does not seem to be benefiting our masses and mass up in unity to stop the killing of our brothers, sisters, mothers and children. I call on the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana to take this message to the political elite in Nigeria. You need to take the first step so we can all mobilise behind you to stop this. Or are you by your actions telling us that you do not care?

The Nigerian media, you need to also play your roles as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, or are you also just fixated at your profits. Civil society in Nigeria, what are you also doing? Paraphrasing the words of a song we sang during the military rule of our former President J.J. Rawlings better captures my message to fellow Africans.

The fight “Nigerian people, make you stand up and fight for your rights, we no go sit down make them kill us and cheat us every day – dabida”.

Let the French and Nigerian events and how long the Daily Graphic has dedicated its very profitable page two to the “Bring back our girls” campaign, jolt us from our sleep and slumber. Let’s all start acting as responsible leaders. The political leadership and media leadership of Africa have to be the vanguards for this, but religious leaders — the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, the Christian Council of Ghana, the Chief Imam and other religious leaders- God will ask the blood of these innocent people from you. You need to play your leadership roles. Where are the civil society leaders? Labour unions, where are you? We need to wake up to this call. We are all leaders and we need to act.

As an engineer, I see no analysis that will make 17 greater than 2000; the difference is 11,665 per cent (eleven thousand, six hundred and sixty five per cent difference). Let’s act to bring value to ourselves and protect our people or posterity will not forgive us.