LAGOS, Nigeria – During the largest demonstration in Nigeria’s recent history, 13 women gathered to support their fellow citizens risking their lives to march against police brutality.
Women were all in their 20s and 30s. On top of all their fields. Many never met face to face. They met each other months ago via social media, and named their group the Feminist Coalition. They jokingly called themselves “The Avengers.”
“We have decided that if we do not take action, women will suffer the most,” said Odunayo Iveni, a 27-year-old founding member of the Tech Entrepreneur and Feminist Alliance.
Last year they raised thousands of dollars on crowdfunding websites to support protesters who took to the streets to condemn human rights violations by a special anti-robbery squad, or police unit called SARS. Basic services were provided to the protesters by the feminist coalition: legal aid, emergency health care food, masks, rain coats. But when peaceful protesters were shot by the military, and demonstrations were wounded, the feminist coalition did not.
Now, their sights are high. They want equality for Nigerian women, and they are focusing on issues such as sexual violence, women’s education, financial equality and representation in politics.
The fight for equality will not be easy. The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill, first introduced in 2010, has been repeatedly voted on by Nigeria’s male-dominated Senate.
And then there’s the matter of being a proud feminist in a country where the word feminist is commonly used as an insult.
Over the years, identification as a feminist has abounded in Nigeria. The decision to form a coalition of female symbols was indicated in the name of the organization, and in their yellow logo. Many of the opponents who benefited from her help were men – and not all of them were supporters of women’s rights.
“We only used the word because we wanted to tell them where the money came from,” Ms. Ewen said.
We talked to some of the women behind the feminist coalition about why they joined and what they are trying to change in Nigeria.
Oluvasun Ayodji Osovabi
Before Oluvasun Ayodji Osovobi started his non-profit organization, Stand to End Rape, in 2014, it was common in Nigeria to open a newspaper and find a picture of a child rape victim in the guise of crime, with no idea how to identify in public. . Affects his life. The women were raped and to no avail. Many health care providers had no idea how to collect evidence of rape.
Ms. 30 years. Osovobi is trying to change attitudes by changing public policy and practice. Her nonprofits run seminars to help people prevent sexual violence, and rape survivor networks, where survivors can share experiences, guide each other and feel less lonely. He has worked to create laws prohibiting sexual harassment and violence.
But men generally choose whether to pass such laws or not.
“We need more women to go into those spaces and make important policies and decisions to expand the voice of others,” Ms. Osovobi said.
Tito Ovia
It was Tito Ovia’s national youth service that made her realize she wanted to work on public health. Posted in Nigeria’s AIDS Control Agency, she noted that due to a lack of data, it was difficult to say whether the money spent on HIV / AIDS prevention was making a difference.
Ms. 27 years. Ovia founded a company with friends in 2016 aimed at trying to ensure that healthcare in Africa is driven by data and technology. A company called Helium Health has helped create electronic medical records and hospital management systems in hospitals and clinics.
She said she did not expect the feminist coalition’s work to be so serious, supporting the protesters as they risked their lives to try to change the police system that made the youth ruthless.
“I thought this would be more fun than this, don’t get me wrong,” she said with a laugh. “I thought we’d meet, we’d drink, we’d talk about people. We’ll do some work. Little did I know that Jan would be in danger. “
Damilola Odufuva
Prior to the Feminist Coalition, Damilola du Dufuwa, 30, founded a support group for Vine and Vine, Nigerian women.
She wanted to create a safe and fun place where young women could gather, drink and complain about sexual harassment in the workplace, pressure to get married, the patriarchal system and its gatekeepers and any frustrations they had – and then start figuring out solutions.
Mrs. Odufuwa, head of the large cryptocurrency exchange in Africa, recently returned to Lagos from the United Kingdom when she set up wine and vinegar. She was shocked by how women are treated in Nigeria.
She and her co-founder Odunayo Ivenii – the same pair behind the feminist coalition – made sure that wine and wine also wear her feminism as a badge of honor.
“We are a feminist organization,” Ms. Odufuwa told a male talk show host in a 2019 interview about wine and wine.
“Oh!” Replied the host, using his word he would raise his voice.
“We’re very feminist,” she replied with a laugh. “Your reaction tells me that feminism is considered this bad thing.”
Odunayo Avenii
Odunayo Ivenii, a 27-year-old tech entrepreneur, did not understand how big a deal it would be to put “feminist” in the group’s name.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a crying voice for the whole movement,” he said. “Honestly, now it is, I’m so proud that we used the word ‘feminist’ because people relate to it in a way that doesn’t equate the word ‘feminist’ with the word ‘terrorist’.”
Despite the history of the feminist movement in Nigeria, the identity as a feminist is seen as radical.
Mrs. Eweny recently got her favorite equations: tattoos: Schrન્dinger’s equation, the golden ratio, and the uncertainty principle.
It is working to reduce the uncertainty in the lives of Nigerian women.
Financial Equality for Women – One of the main problems identified by the Feminist Coalition, known as Mr. Pigwest, Mr. Savenii launched a savings application in 2016. The idea is that people should be able to save and invest very little money. It has more than 2 million customers – men and women.
Laila Johnson-salute
As the anchor of Nigeria’s largest TV news show, Laila Johnson-Salami vividly remembers her male co-host asking the producer to name her first.
But it was unconditional. Through Newsday in a show on the TV channel Isa Rees, he informed Nigerians about the protest, which adopted the hashtag #EndSARS.
At 24, he is the youngest member of the coalition. Her main goal, she said, is to attract a smaller audience. And recently she started a podcast that could help her achieve that.
She used her platform to hold politicians to account, but said, “If I knew one thing for sure in this life, that Laila would never get into politics.”
The interview that Mrs. Johnson-Salami has conducted on the Broken Record podcast is very different from her television interview. They are intimate chats about the importance of vulnerabilities and everything from adoption and investment.
Fakhriyah Hashim
“Time’s up, it’s over,” Tweeted Fakriyahya Hashim, in February 2019. “You’ve moved away from the monopoly on women.”
His tweet marked the beginning of the #MeToo movement in northern Nigeria. In it, Ms. Hashim created the hashtag #ArewaMeToo – Areva – meaning “North” in Hausa, a West African language spoken by most Nigerians.
Ms. Hashim, 28, in what she calls a “culture of silence,” in a highly-charged field, #Arevametu took evidence of sexual violence. When it erupted on social media and in street protests, it was banned by the Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria’s highest Islamic authority.
Skilled Hashim launched another campaign, #NorthNormal, urging Nigerian states to criminalize violence and enforce laws to expand the definition of sexual violence.
Her activism for women’s rights has led to death threats and abuse. Now, she has put a little distance between herself and the people behind those threats, taking a fellowship at the African Leadership Center in London.
Feminist coalition members were all working from their homes due to the epidemic, so being in London during the #EndSARS protests, it was equally capable of raising awareness and raising funds.
“I know that whatever goals and objectives we have set, we are achieving,” she said. Hashim said.
Do omu
Approximately two-thirds of Nigerian girls and women do not have access to sanitary pads. They can’t afford it.
Cars Omu, 29, has been fighting Nigerian girls for the past four years to get pads and other sanitary products. She focuses on girls in public schools who come from low-income families, and girls who have had to leave their homes and live in camps.
There are 2.7 million internally displaced people in northeastern Nigeria as a result of violent and uncontrolled insurgency run by the Islamist group Boko Haram and its Sh Fashut. And for many women and girls living in camps, struggling to get enough food and clothing, let alone expensive sanitary pads.
Her organization, Sanitary Aid for Nigerian Girls, again takes up Ossable Pads, Ms. Purchased by Omu and his colleagues with money, so that the girls have one less thing to worry about. Some of the girls they helped never had a pad.
“Women’s issues are fought by women,” he said.
