Enough Is Enough, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and BudgIT Nigeria — the major partners for the conference — plan to use this year’s edition to highlight the broadening function of new media platforms, especially social media, in facilitating discourse between government and the governed, with particular reference to Africa.
Today is the final day of the two day event. Click here to read PREMIUM TIMES full updates of the yesterday’s activities.
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Chris Ihidero, the moderator of the ongoing panel on ‘Using the Social Media as a Sex Education Tool’ asked why sexual violence, especially against women, is growing across Nigeria.
Jekein Lato-Unah of Stand to End Rape (STER) said the crisis is worsening because Nigerian men like to control women. She said there is a stigma even towards female menstrual cycle, with some cultures even deploring it.
“It is a biological thing,” Ms Lato-Unah said, no one should discriminate against anyone because of this.
Another panelist Dorothy Njemanze said some men often claim they are attracted by provocative way some women dress. She contradicted this by saying that that should not be an excuse because men often patronise prostitutes and still inflict violence on them.
Prostitutes are humans, too, Ms Njemanze said.
Also speaking on the panel, Anthonia Okoli said there are always threats even against those who seek to end sexual violence against women.
She cited an example of her friend in Ondo State whose daughter was stalked because she tried to stop a man who was encouraging rape on Facebook.
Mr Ihidero said women alone cannot combat threats against themselves, suggesting that men should be carried along.
Chizobam Ofoegbu, also on the panel, said there is even a growing sexual violence against boys. She suggested that a therapy should be introduced to cater for boys who were exposed to sexual activities at early age by women.
She said the menace had even spread into churches, where women take advantage of boys and rape them. This often causes serious psychological damage to victims.
Therefore, the fight against sexual violence should be a collective effort amongst both genders.
Ms Njemanze said she was raped at eight by four people. She said she could not talk about it. She said she had had an accident at age four and was undergoing therapy.
She added that she now understands how critical it is to educate children at early stages rather than waiting until it is too late. She says rapists carry out their activities like armed robbers, they get their victims to easily succumb to their demand using violence.
She said parents should educate their children and make them understand that sexual violence could be oral but it is still rape.
Ms Dorothy said people don’t know that there are different kinds of rape in this world, According to her she said every single woman have been harassed in this world and people just keep quite.
Ms Chizobam, said when we are born we are taught to learn how the society
should accept us, she said they see daddy and mummy come out after having sex and they see that it is a good way how to leave life.
She said, people have to understand what are the benefits after sex. she added that a woman get to think when she have sex just to get pampered, get more loved.
Session 8: New Media as an advocacy Tool
Panelists are Megan Chapman Bukky Shonibare, a member of the bring back our Girls Campaign, Ose Anenih and Laila Johnson-Salami (Moderator).
Ms Megan said People ask why she was still involved on #OtodoGbame, and she responded that it was because there are about 30,000 people who are still homeless. ”I don’t want to forget and I don’t want others to forget” she said.
She added that when the issue of #OtodoGbame trended on Social Media, there were responses from across the world and they were able to raise N2million within two days for the affected. ”So yes, social media has been useful in amplifying advocacy.”
she furthered that, with the use of proliferation of digital tools, they were able to those who were forcefully evicted and they were also able to engage with on advocacy which made impact. she said they would still have to keep tag on the victims aftermath the demolition.
Ms Megan also said social media users should not use skepticism to let them get far as doubt has made people diverse from reality to fake news.
Mr Anenih said instead of accusing a woman for wearing short clothes the society.
Mr Anenih said, social media as an advocacy is very powerful, he sighted an example with the trending song going in the country he used the trending video of popular musicians as an example on what Nigerians are talking about and how Nigerian have been so involved in the musical video.
Ms Bukky said that people forget forget easily that boko haram are still very active. adding that, people just believe on the notion that social media platform is ”just social media”, and it would only get to a point when the government find out that the social media can also be an embarrassment, like the abduction of the Dapchi girls it was when the government knew that the campaign led to a big embarrassment to the county.
she said We need to keep reminding people of the issue even when it is no longer trending. That’s why I started my daily picture campaign on twitter.
Ms bukky also gave her SARS menace experience and how social media helped her share her story to the public, she said it helps people to understand the story because audiences took to the platform to share there own ordeal with the force she said social media helps people bring there own story from different perspective.
The current session is on ‘New Media and Elections’ and it has Fatu Ogwuche, an election technology expert, as the moderator.
Fareeda Noubremma, a Togolese activist, said the necessary constitutional reforms aimed at improving elections in Togo cannot be implemented before the upcoming election in that country.
Ms Noubremma said social media is helping Togolese youth to intensify advocacy around democratic process in the country, especially elections.
The effect of social media advocacy by the youth has already prompted the Togolese authorities to commence large-scale monitoring of citizens online.
She said the more they are being monitored, the more they are energised to look for more platforms to strategise on their advocacy.
Yasmin Bilikis from Sierra Leone said youth in that country have also been using social media to effectively advocate for a better governance.
She said the social media played a key role in voting out the incumbent president during the last presidential election in Sierra Leone.
She said the social media was used to drive the campaign to get out the vote across the country.
Precious Gaye, a Liberian journalist, said President George Weah and his political party exploited the power of social media to appeal the young generation and first time voters in the country.
She also said Liberian electoral authorities used the social media to reach out on its efforts, as well as text messages to reach those who might not be on the Internet.
Kwami Ahiabenu from Ghana said the youth on social media encouraged the electoral commission in that country to improve on its presence on social media, a campaign that paid off.
In the last presidential election in Ghana, Mr Ahiabenu said electoral commission was able to immediately address issues that were raised on the field, from polling units to collation centres.
He said in 2012, people made good use of social media, but by the 2016 election, the effort had improved significantly and the role of social media in the success of the election was widely acclaimed.
Ms Noubremma said even though social media could be used to galvanised the citizens ahead of election, there should be efforts to improve logistics so that people would be able to vote when they get to the polling unit.
She said there should be a system that limits repression of voters, especially by security agencies who might be firing teargas to disperse potential voters.
Mr Williams said people should be tenacious around the issue of voting. He urged citizens to see elections as a civic responsibility and make sure they exercise it, notwithstanding the frustration they undergo in the process.
Mr Ahiabenu says there are still cases in which people would vote but it would not country, which could demoralise social media users. He says is difficult to deal with some serious electoral malpractices like rigging to suppress the will of the people, but that citizens should not be discouraged to stay away from polling units because of that.
Mr Williams said citizens should continue to use the social media to fight for the right things to be done during elections. He said during the Osun governorship election last month, social media helped the people to know who actually won the election, even though the person might not have been declared winner.
The September 22 election was heavily condemned by civic groups and diplomatic missions in Nigeria who observed it. Potential voters of Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, were said to have been prevented by a collaboration of the police and political thugs from exercising their right to choose on the day of the rerun election on November 27.
Mr Williams said citizens are free to consult for political parties, but they should always allow citizens to hold victors to account when they get to power because they are using public resources.
Mr Williams said StateCraft, an election strategy firm he co-founded, only did its job professionally, saying citizens are the ones who should hold whoever is voted into office to account.
The firm is widely believed to have worked for President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence in 2015. Both Mr Williams and his partner, Chude Jideonwo, have come under repeated backlash promoting Mr Buhari, whom critics said had performed miserably as president.
