• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
No Result
View All Result
1
Home Africa

Femi Kuti urges stars, fans to focus on Boko Haram victims

24 January 2017, 6:10 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Femi Kuti says he wants to raise awareness among young Nigerians and encourage them to demand a greater humanitarian response. Picture:REUTERS

Femi Kuti says he wants to raise awareness among young Nigerians and encourage them to demand a greater humanitarian response. Picture:REUTERS

Femi Kuti says he wants to raise awareness among young Nigerians and encourage them to demand a greater humanitarian response. Picture:REUTERS

Nigerian musician Femi Kuti has urged his fellow celebrities and their fans to take to social media and pressure the government to do more to help millions of people struggling to survive in Boko Haram-hit north-east Nigeria.

The Lagos-based Afro beat star says he wants to raise awareness among young Nigerians and encourage them to demand a greater humanitarian response.

“People need to have a sense of the reality in the northeast- from people walking around hungry to mothers with malnourished children,” Kuti said during his visit to Borno, the heart of Boko Haram’s seven-year campaign to create an Islamic caliphate.

“I hope more celebrities will visit and engage with their fans,” Kuti told the Thomson Reuters Foundation after accompanying the International Rescue Committee (IRC) on visits to local communities hosting the displaced and a health clinic.

“Then more people will see what is going on, share it on social media, and put pressure on the government to do more.”

Boko Haram’s insurgency has killed about 15 000 people and forced more than two million to flee their homes since 2009.

The Nigerian army, backed up by neighbours, has retaken most areas held by the Islamist militants.

Yet the jihadist group has stepped up attacks and suicide bombings in the past few weeks as the end of the rainy season facilitates movements in the bush.

While calling on more support and aid for people in the northeast, Kuti said he was struck by the generosity of local communities towards those who uprooted by the insurgency.

“It is heartening to see so many displaced people welcomed into the homes of local families and community elders offering to give up land to displaced for farming,” Kuti said.

– By REUTERS

Share article
Tags: NigeriaBoko HaramLagosIslamist militantsTerrorist AttacksFemi Kuti
Previous Post

Dlamini- Zuma to step down as AU Chairperson

Next Post

Dlamini Zuma’s unavailability a missed opportunity: AU

Related Posts

A supporter of Ghana's presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) holds a party flag as she reacts at party's headquaters in Accra, Ghana December 8, 2016.

Ghana’s former trade minister quits ruling party to run for president

26 September 2023, 10:31 AM
Kidnappings of students, once a notorious tactic by militants to intimidate the population, have become a money-spinning industry for armed gangs demanding ransom payments. 

Sixteen people freed after kidnapping at Nigerian university

25 September 2023, 5:00 PM
Supporters participate in a demonstration called by Yerewolo Debout sur les remparts, an anti-France political movement, in Bamako, Mali.

Mali junta expects delay to February elections

25 September 2023, 3:54 PM
Colonel Ibro Amadou delivers a message as he stands with other Nigerien junta leaders while Nigeriens gather one month since coup, in support of the putschist soldiers and to demand French ambassador to leave, in the capital Niamey, Niger.

France to pull troops out of Niger following coup

25 September 2023, 6:52 AM
Militants

‘Gunmen kill 8, kidnap 60 in northwest Nigeria’

24 September 2023, 9:14 PM
Prime Minister of Lesotho Sam Matekane.

Lesotho PM calls UN for more support for least developed countries

24 September 2023, 8:00 PM
Next Post
Dlamini Zuma will officially step down from the AU position at the end of this month. Picture:REUTERS

Dlamini Zuma’s unavailability a missed opportunity: AU

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Concern over exclusion of foreign nationals from Road Accident Fund
  • Cashless taxi service launched in Cape Town
  • Visitors planning to visit the Overberg region urged to postpone their trips
  • ANC building up in flames in Port St Johns
  • Western Cape on high alert following severe storm warning
  • High waves and rough water conditions force beach closures in the Western Cape
  • Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to rest in the town he built and nurtured
  • NSPCA files criminal case against Julius Malema for alleged animal cruelty
  • Snow, heavy rainfall expected in parts of KZN: SAWS
  • Cold-front sweeps across SA bringing snow and chilly temperatures
  • Three dead, scores injured in Cape Town bus accident amidst severe weather
  • Severe weather plunges Western Cape into chaos
  • Mbeki warns against private sector replacing government services
  • ‘Sundowns is capable of winning CAF Champions League for second time’
  • Zoleka Mandela passes away

LATEST

Water filling the pavement next to the Centre Library and parts of the left lane of Darling Street near the City Hall in Cape Town caused by heavy rains, captured on 25 September 2023.
  • South Africa

SA Weather Service predicts clear skies, warmer days in Western Cape


  • Opinion

De Lille praises Sino-SA relations as real deal that bodes well for a shared future


Police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, says according to reports, the suspects mistakenly shot the mother of the intended victim
  • South Africa

Woman, hitmen arrested for killing an old woman in a case of mistaken identity


  • South Africa

William Nicol Drive officially renamed Winnie Mandela Drive


Firefighters work near damaged trucks following a Russian strike.
  • World

Russia hits Ukrainian port and grain facilities in air strikes


Bullets and a crime scene tape
  • South Africa

Mpumalanga police call for help in locating ward councillor’s killer


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2023

Previous Dlamini- Zuma to step down as AU Chairperson
Next Dlamini Zuma’s unavailability a missed opportunity: AU