Welcome to The Daily Show.
-Thank you. -It's, uh,
been a while since I saw you.
Um, I see you at events.
You know, for a long time,
I watched you reporting
on the news.
You were on at CNN,
a familiar face.
And then... you took a break.
-You just disappeared for...
you know, for a while. -Mm.
And it's because
you were writing this book--
 Beneath the Tamarind Tree:
 A Story of Courage, Family,
 and the Lost Schoolgirls
 of Boko Haram.
-Yeah. -For many people,
Boko Haram was a story
of schoolgirls
who were kidnapped in Nigeria.
-It was a trending hashtag.
-Yeah. #BringBackOurGirls.
Exactly. And then,
it just disappeared.
What has happened since?
Well, so, on April 14, 2014--
just to give people
a little bit of background--
the girls were taken.
219 girls disappeared
into the forest.
Um, and of them,
only 107 are back.
So this story's far from over.
These girls endured years
in captivity
and horrific days,
week and-and months
of torture,
-starvation, you name it.
-Right.
Um, and there's still
112 girls missing,
which I think is really my
motivating factor for this book.
It really is interesting
that we've known the facts
around the story.
Some may or may not know that
the girls are still missing,
but-but what you've done in
this book is really interesting,
because you've told it as
a story, which is how I feel...
-Mm. -...human beings
truly understand information.
-Mm.
-You-you went to Nigeria.
-Yeah. -And the story
really happened to you.
-Yes. -Like... like-like,
how did that come to be?
Yeah, so, you know,
I had been covering the story
with CNN
from the very beginning in 2014,
and I stayed on the story.
When the girls--
the first batch of 21--
-were released in 2016...
-Right.
...I dropped everything
and went to-to cover it,
to meet them
for the very first time.
What I couldn't have
foreseen was
that my mother would have
a catastrophic stroke
in December of that same year
that would take me to Nigeria.
So I was actually in country.
My mother was in a coma
in a hospital in Nigeria.
Um, it happened
in-in Sierra Leone,
which is where I'm from, but
we had to move her for surgery.
And it was while I was there
that someone said,
"These girls are going home
for the very first time
-since their abduction."
-Right.
And I had to make a decision--
do I go?
Do I leave my mom in a coma
to take them home,
or do I stay?
And there was this big tussle
between what to do.
But I felt my mother
would want me to honor them
and to make the journey home,
and that's what I did.
It-it is beautiful,
because this book is a story
that-that weaves
so many different pieces
of thread together.
You know, you have
the story of these girls.
You have the story
of your mother,
who grew up
very much like these girls,
-Yeah. -in a world
where she had nothing,
she made everything for herself,
and went on to become
a really successful woman
who then gave you the life
-that you've got
-Absolutely.
And so when you look
at the story,
is there a part of it that
connected you to these girls
-because of your own family?
-Yeah, without a doubt.
You know, I-I say that
there's a certain kinship
that I feel to them.
My mother, um, you know, before
she fell so tragically ill,
would alwys refer to them
as my sisters.
-She'd say, you know...
She felt it as well, -Wow.
because we always discussed
how they were on the same path,
uh, my mother and these girls,
the path of education
-Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
-being transformational.
And so for me,
the moment it happened,
that's what really struck me
that they were taken
-from a school, where they
should have been safe. -Right.
And they were just trying
to do better,
'cause they come
from such poor families.
Most of their parents aren't
educated, but they understood
that education
would make the difference.
And if it wasn't for education,
I wouldn't be here with you.
It's really...
it's really a powerful story,
because you tell the stories
as the girls told them to you,
-Yeah. -which is interesting,
'cause a lot of the time,
you know, people tell stories
 about other humans,
and here it feels like
these girls are telling us
 their stories
and what happened to them
when they were in captivity.
We know that
this is still happening.
We know that the girls
are still missing.
We also know, unfortunately,
in the book, many people
don't even believe
that it's true-- in Nigeria.
-Yeah. Mm-hmm.
-They think it's "fake news,"
which is...
which is heartbreaking.
What can be done? Where
do you think the journey goes?
And, I mean, I still want people
to read the book,
but what do you think happens
after this story
that people read?
Well, I think, you know,
the Nigerian government is...
is... it's a bit like Trump,
a little like President Trump--
-incredibly sensitive
to criticism. -Right.
And so, with that being said,
the spotlight being shone
on the Nigerian government
once more with this book
will move them to reengage
-Right, right, right.
-with this story.
And that's what I really want.
You know,
the families of the 112 girls
feel utterly abandoned.
They feel utterly abandoned
and forgotten,
um, by the world, by Nigeria.
This book, I hope, will have
people back on social media.
Social media works, you know?
-Social media can...
-Wow. Hashtags work?
-Hashtags can... You know?
-Oh, wow.
-#HashtagsWork. Okay.
-Hashtags work.
Um, so if...
if we can generate a groundswell
and get back to using that,
get back to saying,
-"You must do more.
What are you doing?" -Right.
I want everyone here,
everyone here watching,
to use their voice,
use their platform
to hashtag, to...
to hashtag and...
"Nigerian government,
BringBackOurGirls,
Chibok girls."
It will move the needle.
And I tell you how I know that--
because since
this book came out,
the Nigerian government
has reached out to me and said,
"Please come,
so we can talk about this."
That is phenomenal news.
Thank you so much
for being on the show.
-(cheering, applause)
-Really wonderful...
wonderful journalism,
a fascinating story.
 Beneath the Tamarind Tree 
is available now.
Isha Sesay, everybody.
