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Betty Abah

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Betty Abah
Abah in 2020
Born (1974-03-06) March 6, 1974 (age 50)
Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria
NationalityNigerian
Alma materUniversity of Calabar, University of Lagos,
Occupations
  • journalist
  • author
  • children's right activist
AwardsMedia Excellence, State honours in National Youth Service Corps Nigeria, Reporter of the Year, Print Journalist of the Year, Honorary Mention Award for Investigative Reporting, Fellow award from Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships, USA.

Betty Abah (born March 6, 1974) is a Nigerian journalist, author and a women and children's rights activist. She is the Founder and Executive director of CEE HOPE, a girl-child rights and development non-profit organization based in Lagos State[1][2][3]

Early life|Education

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Abah was born in Otukpo, Benue State which is in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. She obtained a first degree in English and literary studies from the University of Calabar in 1999 and a master's degree in English literature from the University of Lagos in 2012.[4]

She worked with Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, where she led the women’s campaign desk and coordinated projects focused on women’s environmental rights throughout the Niger Delta and the African sub-region. Abah’s work in journalism and her subsequent activism have earned her several local and international awards.[5]

Career

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Abah is a journalist with experience in Nigeria, having worked with The Voice Newspaper in Makurdi, Benue State, and then Newswatch and Tell Magazine, before she proceeded to work with the Rocky Mountain News, in Denver, Colorado, US, as a fellow of the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships.[6] She is the author of Sound of Broken Chains, Go Tell Our King and Mother of Multitudes.[7][8] Abah worked with Environmental Rights Action; Friends of the Earth Nigeria before establishing CEE-HOPE in December 2013.[5]

Activism

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Abah has been involved in protesting several cases of human rights violations. Some of them include campaigns for the release of the Chibok girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorist in North East Nigeria, campaigns for the environmental rights of Niger Delta women, the case of the torture involving three women in Ejigbo, Lagos by members of a vigilante group, the case of the kidnapping of Ese Oruru among others.[8] In 2019, on the Menstrual Hygiene Day event held at Lagos, Abah advocated for the free distribution of sanitary pads to women and girls, reasoning that since government gives free condoms for sex, sanitary pads should also be made available for the needy women and girls.[9]

Over the years, she has dedicated herself to several social justice causes, notably #BringBackOurGirls, Ese Oruru, #JusticeForEjigbo3, and #JusticeForOchanya. In October 2019, she edited a book documenting the unprecedented campaign surrounding Ochanya. Her work in engaging and developing thousands of young people in informal communities, particularly in Makoko, a well-known fishing community in Lagos, has been featured in numerous local and international media reports and documentaries. Additionally, CEE-HOPE has expanded its operations to Ogun, Plateau, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Benue, and other states.[5]

In an interview with Daily Post in 2015, she was of the opinion that "the Chibok girls’ saga reveals so glaringly the progressive loss of our humanity as a nation and the many lives whose issues have become politicized. The Chibok girls saga remains a timeless indictment on our government, on their complete apathy to children's welfare, rights or safety a stab on the dignity of our women (just as the stunning response to the brutal killing of innocent young boys at the Buni Yadi school and the ensuring dance party)".[10]

Awards, recognitions and fellowships

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Awards received by Betty Abah,[11][12][13]
Year Class Category Awarding body
2001 State honours Community service National Youth Service Corps Nigeria
2003 Reporter of the Year Journalism National Media Merit Awards Nigeria
2006 Fellow internships Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships, USA
2006 Fellow Journalism The Knight Journalism Press Fellowship, USA
2006 Fellow Journalism The Kaiser Family HIV/AIDS Fellowship, USA
2008 Child-Friendly Reporter of the Year Journalism Media Excellence
2010 Participation Leadership Program Global Tobacco Control Leadership Program, Johns Hopkins University,USA.
2012 Honorary mention Poetry Prize Association of Nigerian Authors
2014 Honorary Mention Journalism Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting
2016 Print Journalist of the Year Journalism Nigeria Media Merit Award.[14]
2019 Visiting Fellowship Human Rights Human Rights Defenders Fellowship, University of York, England.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Betty Abah". Front Line Defenders. August 27, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Betty Abah". Front Line Defenders. August 27, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  3. ^ spokepr (May 18, 2018). "Betty Abah". Rise Up. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "Betty Abah". CAPPA – Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa. June 26, 2020. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Betty - Board - CAPPA - Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa". Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Nigerian Women Bear the Curse of Oil". Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  7. ^ "JOURNALIST, BETTY ABAH BRINGS MULTIMEDIA TO POETRY".
  8. ^ a b "A word is enough for the wise! Interview with Betty Abah, Environmental Rights Action – Enanga". Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  9. ^ "'Since govt gives free condoms for sex, why not free pads for girls' – child rights activist". Vanguard News. June 6, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  10. ^ Daily Post Staff (March 11, 2015). "Betty Abah: Alas, the lost women of Chibokland". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  11. ^ Dame Awards. "The Child Friendly Reporting". Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  12. ^ Voice of America. "Three Africans Chosen for U.S. Press Fellowships". Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  13. ^ Tobore Ovuoire (December 11, 2014). "PREMIUM TIMES reporters honoured at Wole Soyinka Journalism Awards". Premium Times. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  14. ^ "Betty Abah". TELL. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  15. ^ Centre for Applied Human Rights. "Human Rights Defenders Fellowshio". University of York. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
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