Renowned Afrobeat
musician, Femi Kuti, has urged celebrities and their fans to work with
the government to help millions of people struggling to survive in Boko
Haram-hit northeast Nigeria.
The Lagos-based
Afrobeat star said he wanted to raise awareness among young Nigerians
and
encourage them to demand a greater humanitarian response, having
visited Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, on Monday. "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.
"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 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.
In Maiduguri, which
has seen its population almost triple to five million in recent years,
there are signs a sense of normality is gradually returning to the city.
The curfew has been
pushed back to 10p.m. from 6p.m. and clubs are packed and pulsating as
DJs play the tunes of artists like Kuti and his late father Fela, the
1970s Afrobeat pioneer.
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