YAQOUB POPOOLA, ADO-EKITI
Multiple award winning gender activist and EndFGM Advocate, Abimbola Aladejare, has emerged West African Youth Ambassador of the African Union (AU).
The foremost Ekiti-born gender crusader and right activist who is the Founder and Executive Director of The New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD) emerged as one of the top 6 from over 2000 applicants and the only successful applicant for West African Saleema Youth Victorious Ambassador, a role that will empower her to speak against Female Genital Mutilation and advocate to Heads of State to support the elimination of the menace in West Africa and Africa as a whole.
You will recall that Abimbola was conferred with the prestigious “Advocate of the Year” by the Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ) in 2019 as well as SDGs Goal 17 Champion by the Ekiti State Government.
Some interventions of her organisation included the non-violence election campaign popularly tagged Vote Not Fight Campaign during the 2018 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, the Ekiti Youth Agenda Campaign in 2019 and several EndFGM edutainment campaigns across Ekiti State since 2012 when the organization was established by Abimbola.
NIGAWD was one of the reputable NGOs chosen by The Nigeria Foundation for the Support of Victims of Terrorism (Victim Support Fund) for partnership in the recent distributions of palliatives to cushion the effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic on Ekiti citizens.
Abimbola Aladejare is a Nigerian FGM-Survivor activist and anti-FGM frontline campaigner who has been promoting the socio-economic rights of girls, women, children and youths in Africa and beyond.
As an EndFGM Ambassador for The Girl Generation (TGG), Abimbola supported the training of EndFGM organizations in The Gambia, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
She is a Member, National Technical Committee on FGM in Nigeria since 2014 and Champion, DFID Anti-FGM Champion. Abimbola is also a member of Ekiti State SDG Board, Ekiti State Covid-19 Taskforce and SDG 17 Youth Advocate, while she also authored the book “A Different Lady”.
She is also the convener of a Adolescent Reproductive Health and Right Program tagged “When Girls Talk” and “When Boys Konnet”. Abimbola is the convener of a yearly Matured Single Ladies Retreat for single ladies above 28 years old. She runs a bible club for kids in her house on a weekly basis. She is all encompassing!
Responding to the honour, the NIGAWD Boss stated that the appointment would spur her to do more for humanity.
“I feel honoured given the privilege to serve as West African Ambassador and I commit to use my skills, capacity and lesson learnt to boost the EndFGM campaign in Africa,” she stated while speaking to newsmen.