Nigeria

My friend and I were recently discussing why it has taken so long for America and other powerful international countries to get involved or at the least become aware of this situation and we boiled it down to the fact that no one really cares about Africa. It sounds horrible, but Africa is treated like this far away place that is not populated by the same kind of humans as everywhere else. Crisis like the Rwandan genocide and the crisis in Darfur have shown a general lack of commitment or steady interest towards Africa in general. Of course it is much more complex than this, and another massive component of crisis like the one in Nigeria are the corrupt governments and general lack of infrastructure in African countries. As Johnnie Carson in the NPR article states, the Nigerian government may like military aid, but it does not especially enjoy the lessons and lectures from Americans on human rights. I imagine that it is incredibly frustrating to have a foreign entity barge into your way of life and tell you how everything needs to change. American and Western attention spans are short; we lack the patience (and adequate funds) to consistently offer support and help to impoverished African nations. That is the only way to ensure things like this from happening so often. Subsequently, it seems understandable (albeit irresponsible) that the Nigerian government would not want to admit that they had allowed 300 school girls to be kidnapped and ransomed because it would only bring the government more external scrutiny and criticism.
If it was the Mount, I do not think the kidnapping would have even been fully executed before authorities were notified. It would be national news within an hour. There would be no hesitation from the government to step in and help because an atrocity like that is unheard of in our country. Yet somehow, when we hear that it is happening in Africa it suddenly seems to be a normal occurrence for that war-torn continent.