WHO MEASURES THE WORTH OF A HUMAN LIFE?

Boko Haram, a terrorist group, has been actively and violently working towards establishing an Islamic state in Nigeria. In its wake it has killed thousands and thousands of innocent people. On 3^rd January 2015 Boko Haram attacked the town of Baga in Nigeria, killing more than 2,000 people! The Boko Haram terrorists continued to massacre and burn communities to the ground till 7^th January 2015.

On 7^th January 2015, 2 masked gunmen shot 12 people dead at the office of Charlie Hedbo after the magazine published cartoons insulting to the Muslims in one of its issues. 1 policewoman and 4 hostages at a super market were also killed in the subsequent days.

While the 17 deaths in Paris, France received worldwide coverage, the 2,000 deaths in Baga, Nigeria received close to no coverage by the world or Nigerian media. While 3.7 million people in France took to the streets to support and honor the loss of their people, who rallied against the violence which Amnesty International is describing as the “deadliest massacre” in the history of Boko Haram?

The Nigerian government itself did not mourn the loss of thousands of its own citizens, why? Has death seeped so deep into them that it no longer affects them? Have they given up all hope against this extremist terrorist organization that they no longer fight against it? Or has fear prevented them from standing up for their own?

While Nigerian government and media may have been faced with fear of Boko Haram, where was the rest of the world media? Why did they not give these helpless innocents a voice? Why did they not raise this issue so that organizations possessing the power to stop this violence could fight for them?

In today’s world, the worth of a human life is being measured by its race, religion and other materialistic factors. The reason for lack of coverage of the Boko Haram massacre can be traced back to the colonial era when the Africans were considered lower to the Europeans. It can even be traced to the hostilities between the Christians and the Muslims for the lives lost in Baga were pre-dominantly Muslim. Just because the west is more advanced does not make their lives worth more. The lives of Africans, Muslims and non-western people is just as important and deserves to be honored and mourned just as much.

While the world is divided along many lines such as political, religious, and economic, it is the duty of the fourth estate to rise above these divisions and report as truthfully as possible. There is dire need for the media to uphold its duties in these times, for today conflicts are many and the helpless unlimited. Only when everyone is given a voice and powerful organizations come to their aid that death and violence can be controlled.