OMOTOLA, D’BANJ, BANKY W, OTHERS JOINS CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

All for women in the society, Nigerian music and showbiz stars including Omotola, D’banj and Banky W alongside some of Africa’s

male artistes are set to join in a remix of the song ‘Strong Girl’.

The song is a campaign tool seeking an end to the abuse of women and

the girl-child.

The campaign, being championed by ONE.org, has the theme ‘Poverty is

Sexist’. The song originally featured female artistes, Selmor

Mtukudzi, Waje,Yemi Alade and Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade

Ekeinde amongst others.

These strong women are now being backed by some of the leading males

in African music. D’Banj, Diamond, Banky W, Femi Kuti will be lending

their powerful voices to this brand new version of the song. It will

also feature Bono who is the lead singer of U2 and co-founder of ONE

and will be produced by Cobhams Asuquo.

According to Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, “Women and girls everywhere are

disadvantaged from the moment they are born. Who doesn’t want their

sisters, daughters, nieces to have the same chances in life as their

brothers, sons and nephews?” Continuing, she said “That’s why this

Strong Girl remix is so important. Our message is loud and it’s

impossible to ignore, I hope that our leaders are listening.”

Speaking about the remix, D’Banj said: “We may be remixing Strong Girl

but the message stays the same. Women and girls everywhere are held

back, through lack of education and economic opportunities. This

prevents them from achieving their fullest potential. It’s not right

and we must change this. The first step is changing this at home in

Nigeria so we can show the world we are taking women’s empowerment

seriously.”

Strong Girl was originally written and recorded by Arielle T,

Blessing, Gabriela,Judith Sephuma, Selmor Mtukudzi, Vanessa Mdee,

Victoria Kimani, Waje and Yemi Alade in April, and released on May

13th. It’s part of ONE’s Poverty is Sexist campaign, which calls on

world leaders to implement smart policies and targeted investments in

the health, education and economic empowerment of women and girls, so

that they can unleash their human, social, political and economic

potential.

Also speaking, Bono, Lead singer of U2 and co-founder of ONE said:

“The strong men here are backing singers, or at best amplifying the

Strong Girl phenomenon. ONE is part of a social movement that is

centred around a brand new conversation between bright minds and

impatient hearts North and South of the equator… ONE’s ‘Poverty is

Sexist’ campaign is part of that agenda. It has more members in Africa

now than in Europe. In truth, we should have called ourselves HALF

because only now are we becoming truly ONE.”

Dr Sipho S. Moyo¸ ONE’s Africa Executive Director, said: “The world is

at a cross roads. We can choose the path of justice and fairness by

investing in girls and women, or we can let this golden opportunity

slip through our fingers. When leaders meet in New York next month,

they have the fate of the planet in their hands. If they truly work

for the good of all, they must focus on boosting women’s access to

health, economic empowerment, political participation and safety.

Crucially it is up to African leaders to show the way and make this

happen. We can make our continent a shining example for others to

follow, but only if we make the right choices ahead of these Global goals