Femi Kuti urges stars, fans to focus on Boko Haram victims

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 North East Nigeria.
The Lagos-based Afrobeat star said he would raise awareness among young Nigerians and encourage them to demand a greater humanitarian response, having visited Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, on Monday.
Kuti said: “People need to have a sense of the reality in the northeast, from people walking around hungry to mothers with malnourished children.”
He stated this during his visit to Borno State.
“I hope more celebrities will visit and engage with their fans,” Kuti told the Thomson Reuters Foundation after accompanying the International Rescue Committee on visits to local communities hosting the displaced and a health clinic.
He said: “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 the Civilian JTF, 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 North East, Kuti said he was struck by the generosity of local communities towards those uprooted by the insurgency.
Kuti said: “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 displace for farming.”
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 10pm from 6pm and clubs are packed and pulsating as DJs play the tunes of artists like Kuti and his late father, Fela, the 1970s Afrobeat pioneer.
Kuti stated that there is still much to be done and many people to help before Maiduguri can be considered back to normal.
He said: “There are still so many young people who are displaced, who have lost their parents, who cannot go home yet. They cannot party, and it is them we must worry about the most.”