11th August, 2023
By Celine-Damilola Oyewole
Nigeria’s First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, received Rebecca Kabu, one of the 277 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014.
Accompanied by the Vice President’s wife, Hajia Nana Shettima, the first lady committed to securing Rebecca’s medical care and readiness to return to school.
Mrs. Tinubu expressed gratitude to the National Security Adviser (NSA), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and other security agencies and individuals engaged in Rebecca’s rescue despite her emotional distress.
She said, “Our dear daughter, Rebecca, I welcome you; I’ve been praying for you all night; it is well with you; what has happened to her is traumatising; words are inadequate for me to describe it.
“Cases of amnesia should be treated; it is difficult to get by, but since you are still here, God has plans for you. I thank the offices of the NSA and NIA for not relenting and everyone who is assisting in her rehabilitation.
“Rebecca will be our first comeback story and returnee, she is our first fruit; she is a case I am quite interested in to see that she can go back to school at her own pace.’’
According to the first lady, her NGO, Renewed Hope Initiative, is strongly working on how mature girls who are forced out of school can return to school for quality education.
She promised that Rebecca would be one of the first recipients of her free education benevolence.
If well educated, Tinubu said the younger ones would be able to fit into society and inherit the good legacies the older ones are leaving behind.
“Earlier, I talked to the NSA representative about cases of alternative high schools where girls like Rebecca can go back and learn at their pace because education is important for her and others.
“They need education as a tool for the market place to be able to understand and manage the inheritance and legacies that shall be handed to them.
“We pray and continue to pray that all our children that are still with Boko Haram will come back home. We are waiting in earnest; we have not given up hope. I am sure that by the time she is reunited with her parents, she will be glad.
“With the governor waiting for her, she is in good hands,’’ the first lady said.
Responding, Rebecca, in her low voice, told the first lady that she could barely understand the English Language, but the first lady condoled her, saying that she would overcome it.
NAN