The week’s Blogging Carnival theme brought back memories of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign that peeked in the spring of 2014. I recall a picture of Michelle Obama holding a sign with the famous hashtag, a street protest with Hollywood actors holding similar signs (!), and debates around the effectiveness of the hashtag in fighting Boko Haram and in bringing back the girls, after all.

Almost a year later, the news is still reporting on more kidnappings by Boko Haram in Nigeria, which makes this topic as relevant as it was last spring, even though the western proponents for action in Nigeria have forgotten, or moved to a more trendy issue. Because that’s just what they do.

On the other hand, the Nigerian activists that are risking their lives in fighting to bring back their girls are STILL active. Western public figures overshadowed these activists by co-opting a struggle that was initiated by Nigerians and that is now maintained by them.

In the spirit of contesting the white savior complex that sees people from Third World countries as victims needing to be saved, thus attempting to erase their agency, I ask that if you are going to follow the struggle in Nigeria against Boko Haram, you follow these three awesome Nigerian women who have been fighting since the beginning and who are very active online:  ‘Gbénga Sèsan, D Fairy GodSister and oby ezekwesili. They deserve our respect more than anyone else!