- Veteran actor Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) has been officially inaugurated as an ambassador for the Male Feminists Network (MFN) to champion the national fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
- Speaking at his inauguration in Abuja, RMD advocated for greater female inclusion in government, asserting that women bring unmatched execution, transparency, and reliability to leadership.
- The initiative, spearheaded by Centre LSD, has successfully mobilized over 11,000 participants across Nigeria, training local community leaders, transport workers, and students to actively dismantle harmful social norms.
Veteran Nollywood actor, writer, and film producer Richard Evans Mofe-Damijo (RMD) has been appointed as an ambassador for the Male Feminists Network (MFN) in a major national push to eliminate Gender-Based Violence (GBV) across Nigeria.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the high-profile inauguration, hosted on Friday in Abuja by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), places the 65-year-old creative icon at the head of a strategic campaign leveraging male leaders to dismantle deeply rooted patriarchal biases.
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Speaking immediately after his decoration, RMD made a passionate appeal for systemic change, urging Nigerian men to discard outdated cultural constructs that treat women as second-class citizens.
He stressed that respecting women, treating them with dignity, and ending domestic violence starts with daily personal choices inside the home.
The legendary actor also made a compelling case for increasing female participation in public governance, noting that women are exceptionally capable administrators who deliver reliable results when placed in key positions.
Dismissing narratives that attempt to equate occasional acts of female-on-male violence with the systemic oppression of women in Nigeria, RMD emphasized that the scale of abuse women face is incomparable.
He lauded Centre LSD for focusing its advocacy on grassroots populations, including transport workers, mechanics, commercial motorcyclists, and university students, noting that transforming the mindsets of daily laborers and youth is key to reducing violence.
Supporting this view, the Founding Executive Director of Centre LSD and MFN Project Director, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, highlighted the growing role of traditional and religious leaders in reforming local customs.
He pointed to successful advocacy in Cross River and Benue states, where community dialogues led to the abolishment of harmful widowhood rites and discriminatory inheritance laws.
Presenting the performance metrics of the project, titled Core Support for Building a Network of Male Feminists to Prevent Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria, the Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, Dr. Victoria Oseyande Udoh, revealed that the initiative has grown into a formidable national movement.
Since its launch in April 2025, the campaign has expanded across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, directly reaching 11,721 participants.
According to Dr. Udoh, 52 master trainers successfully educated more than 500 community leaders and traditional rulers, while partner organizations trained 3,169 boys and men.
Additionally, the network’s digital outreach portal attracted 8,552 participants, with 3,200 Nigerians completing the curriculum to become certified male allies.
The project’s hybrid approach of on-the-ground activism and digital sensitization has established one of West Africa’s largest organized male coalitions against domestic and gender-based violence.
