Top Nigerian music acts, Dbanj 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.”
ONE has received support from high profile women including singer and entrepreneur Beyoncé, COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg, actress Meryl Streep, Angelique Kidjo and other leading women from the worlds of business, arts, politics and activism, who wrote an open letter to world leaders demanding action.
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