PERUSE - Friday, June 11, 2021

This Democracy: We Must Keep It On!

June 11, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Friday, June 11, 2021

“In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.” - Barack Obama(44th U.S. President) 

Dear Active Citizen,

Tomorrow, June 12th

is Democracy Day - or should we say, the

irony

of it!

Democracy in name only, it would seem.

Yesterday,

, General Buhari told young Nigerians to "behave" so the country can be secure enough for foreign investment. He said this in the context of #EndSARS. So the Commander-in-Chief is blaming young Nigerians who were protesting against police brutality for making the country insecure? Interesting.

Insecurity continues unabated; the naira is losing value; our courts are just suspending a 2-months strike,

yet banning a platform that amplifies the concerns of citizens is this government's problem. But we know the platform is not the problem; they just don't want to listen to Nigerians. But they will listen.

We will keep reminding them that THEY WORK FOR US!

A

to vent their frustrations about the state of the nation! The protests are organized by different groups demanding different things so shine your eye!

Now is the time to act! No regime has succeeded in silencing the voices of Nigerians.

No regime CAN succeed in silencing our voices!

Enough is Enough!

One year after the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) declared a state of emergency on Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Nigeria,

14 states

(Adamawa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Imo, Kano. Katsina, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara)

are yet to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.

The 'silent epidemic' - Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) is still raging; girls and boys are still being raped and abused. The recent rape and murder of Hinny Umoren in Akwa-Ibom remains fresh in our memory; yet

last week on Tuesday, June 1st, another student of the University of Ilorin, Blessing Olajide was raped and murdered in her residence, in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Citizens, we must work against this societal ill. Are you a survivor of sexual violence? Do you need help? You can reach out to Stand to End Rape by emailing

or calling

Government Secondary School, Chibok

 - where 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014 -

The rehabilitated school was unveiled on

Monday, June 7th,

by

Pauline Tallen

(Minister of Women Affairs). While we applaud this development, we urge the state and federal government to beef up security to ensure the sad event of April 2014 doesn't repeat itself.

We continue to demand the safe return of the remaining 112 #ChibokGirls and other kidnapped victims.

Have a great weekend!The EiE Nigeria Team