Sharon's Muse.... Let's chat over coffee while I ponder some things
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Sharon's Muse.... Let's chat over coffee while I ponder some things |
About Me
Name::Sharon Cullars
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Friday, March 17, 2006 One woman = change  Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi believes that she can change a whole country. Many may think she's crazy, but that's not stopping her.Countries don't change unless people take a stand. Rights are not given, they're won. Respect is earned. And Ms. Akiyode-Afolabi deserves much respect for being a woman who's willing to take on a Nigeria and its entrenched customs again women's rights. Here are just a few of her crazy beliefs: She believes Nigerian women deserve not to be stoned for adultery and has campaigned since 2002 to overturn an Islamic court's death sentence against Safiya Hussaini who became pregnant while divorced. She believes police should recognize that domestic violence is a crime and is teaching women that it is not OK for their husbands and male relatives to use them as punching bags. She also believes that young girls are not chattel to be forced into unwanted marriages. Ms. Akiyode-Afolabi is a barrister and Executive Director of the Women Advocates Research And Documentation Center in Lagos, Nigeria. In a speech she made to the Round-Table Discussion on "Women's Leadership and Political Empowerment, " she shared her moment of epiphany: "I was a student at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile -Ife, a very active student within the male dominated Students Union Government; I was vocal in the Union's politics because of my passion to make a change. However the exclusion of women in the mainstream unionism was a great concern to me, one day I made up my mind to challenge the status quo, hence I picked up the baton, with a slogan 'where a tradition is lacking a striking example becomes necessary.' I contested for the position of Public Relations Officer of the Union; one of the key positions in the Union, and today the history has made me the first elected Female PRO." Just as she fought to enpower herself, she's fighting to empower her countrywomen. To do this, her organization is currently promoting a parliamentary bill that would incorporate "more women in policymaking, budget allocations and employment programs" in Nigeria. Thanks to Salon's Broadsheet for introducing me to a woman I should have known about a long time ago.
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