Three influential #EndSARS campaigners Feyikemi ‘FK’ Abudu, Odunayo Eweniyi and Damilola Odufuwa have been included in TIME magazine’s Next 100 list as emerging leaders who are shaping the future.
The Time100 Next list is an annual list that serves as an extension to the Time100 list. The Time100 Next aims to highlight “the 100 individuals who are shaping the future of their fields and defining the next generation of leadership in business, entertainment, health and science, sports, activism, and more.”
TIME wrote that the individuals on this year’s list provide “clear-eyed hope” amid a global pandemic, deepening inequality, systemic injustice and existential questions about truth, democracy and the planet itself. According to Dan Macsai, editorial director of the TIME100, “Everyone on this list is poised to make history. And in fact, many already have.”
The trio raised nearly N150 million during the #EndSARS protests to facilitate medical assistance, legal aid, food for protesters. Their entry was written by Suyin Haynes, a TIME’s senior reporter covering gender and culture.
“When protests calling for an end to police brutality and the disbandment of Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) erupted across the country in fall 2020, Damilola Odufuwa and Odunayo Eweniyi, founders of the Feminist Coalition, sprang into action. Drawing on their expertise in tech, they raised donations in Bitcoin to offer protesters medical assistance, legal aid and mental health support,” Haynes wrote.
Haynes continued: “Simultaneously, Feyikemi “FK” Abudu acted quickly, raising funds from both Nigeria and the diaspora to organize food and security arrangements for protesters on the ground. Abudu later joined forces with the Feminist Coalition, and the organization, comprising 13 founding members, raised more than $387,000 in two weeks. As their fight continues—in mid-October, the government pledged to implement police reform, but efforts to suppress dissent, including by arresting demonstrators, are ongoing—the coalition’s leaders hope their crucial role in the protests demonstrates the importance of having women in leadership.
This article was culled from Guardian Life.
