LOUD WHISPERS: The Twenty-Five Year Old Speech: ‘Building a New House’
In August 1995, I attended the United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing. I took part in many activities at Beijing, the highlight was addressing one of the daily plenaries at the NGO Forum with a packed audience of thousands of women. This is the speech I gave at a plenary on diversity in […]
LOUD WHISPERS: COVID19 Diary
Saturday July 18: JK comes back home after spending almost a week in Abuja. He complains of a headache. I ask him if he feels feverish and he says no, I touch his neck and it seems okay. He always falls asleep before me since I sleep rather late. I kept checking his forehead throughout […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Who Is A Witch?
There was a report some days ago about a group of women in a rural community in Akwa Ibom State who were rounded up and burnt on allegations of witchcraft. In the year 2020. While we wait for the police and government to confirm or refute the news, here is an abridged article I wrote […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Moremi Clinic
In April 2019, I was invited to a seminar at the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice by the State Attorney-General, Hon Wale Fapounda. The seminar was about how to focus efforts on the needs of survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). Wale, my husband, and I go back a long way with regards […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Adults and Good Manners
I was having a discussion with some people a few days ago, and we spent some time talking about some adults and the way they behave, setting a poor example for young people. It reminded me on an article I wrote a few years ago, here is an abridged version. Recently, I was in […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Corona Blues
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, known as CSW, takes place in New York every March. The Commission is the UN body charged with the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. Every year, there is a review on progress made by UN member States during a ten-day inter-ministerial session. The CSW […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Dance and Let Dance
Dance and let dance You own your rythm Live and let live Your life is your own Eat and let eat As long as it is your food Sleep and let sleep As long as it is with your eyes Why not Dance and let dance? What quarrel should I have with your legs? Your […]
LOUD WHISPERS: My Prophecies for 2020
I have been asked why I have not released my prophecies for 2020, and I have had to explain that I cannot share visions I have not received yet. Now, the visions have come and I am ready. For those of you who might be skeptical, I have a pretty decent track record as a […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Check Your Privilege
I used to be on the board of an organisation based in the United States which had board members from around the world. We once had a session at one of our board meetings about privilege, and as part of the preparation for the session, we were asked to do some online exercises on the […]
The Breaker Of Shackles: Oluwaseyi Gabrielle Ojo (1979-2019)
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own. These words from the late Audre Lourde, African-American poet and activist, have served not only as a passionate statement from an individual feminist activist, over the years, they have become a warning and reality check […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Nigeria Women Want
‘I want a Nigeria safe for all women and girls. A country that nurtures the girl child to a meaningful future’. ‘A Nigeria where the voice of girls and women are heard. Where women and girls are seen as part of the development and growth of the nation. Where women are given leadership roles and […]
LOUD WHISPERS: The Strategy Room
Amele: This is unbelievable! How did this happen? When will these lawmakers stop treating us like second-class citizens? Making us beg for rights that should rightfully be ours? How come they can’t make a connection between the low status of women and the inability of our country to meet any of its development goals? How […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Shaping The Future: Strategizing To Win
I am particularly pleased to be speaking to the theme of this year’s conference: Shaping the Future: Strategising to Win’. I have just returned from Addis Ababa, where I went to attend the UN Economic Commission for Africa and Africa Union Regional Preparatory Conference for Beijing plus 25, which will review global progress at the […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Statement from Nigerian Governors Wives Forum on Sexual Violence
A few days ago, with the support of HE Dr Aisha Buhari the First Lady of Nigeria, Wives of Nigerian Governors took the unprecedented step of issuing a joint statement against the escalating levels of sexual violence against women and children in the country. All of us should be concerned. We all have a role […]
LOUD WHISPERS: Before The Next Eulogy
I saw a video a few days ago, it was shown to me by one of the female lawyers who helps me deal with cases of gender based violence. It was a recording of a young woman, stark naked, bleeding and pleading, I will call her Mary. There was blood all over the bed Mary […]