Waje Deep Into Philanthropy, African Women Issues, Music

Waje is arguably Nigeria’s celebrity queen of charity, as she supports and leads many humanitarian causes

Waje

across the country. Two years and she has been at the front of ONE campaign effort to urge the government to first, delve into Agriculture, and help eradicate sexist poverty which plagues African women. Her position was laid bare in a television interview recently.

“I could connect with the message and what they are trying to do,” Waje said. “I feel that very artiste is a messenger, and it’s most important that we use our brands to say pr preach the things that we believe in. And adding value to society is one of the things that we should believe in, in different ways that we can.”

Much like its inaugural edition, the second edition of the ONE campaign, featured founder and U2 frontman, Bono, and a host of celebrities including D’banj. Waje was right at the thick of things, starring in two music videos to spread the message. She shares on the gains of the collective effort of African stars, and how that has affected her.

“Personally, the gain was more about knowledge for me. Before ONE, I have always know that I was very passionate about women, the girl child, and the welfare of every individual. Because of the campaign, I had to do researches, I had to be more informed, so I know how to speak and tackle the things that we were trying to work on.

“We had a petition, and the whole message aside from education, health, and all these things was asking policy makers to make policies that would help us achieve our goals, but also making them understand that we will hold them accountable when these things are not achieved.”

In African societies, women experience many forms of discrimination in the cultural, legal, political, economic, religious, and social spheres. Waje is concerned about this, stating that poverty has sexist facets. “It would shock you that in the sub-Saharan part of Africa, only probably 18% of the girl-child get to primary school. Culture has a lot to do with it,” the 'Onye' crooner revealed.

Waje’s journey into the world of philanthropy culminated in her starting off her foundation in 2012 named Waje Safe House. In 2015 the singer launched a worldwide campaign for gender equality and opportunity.

The United Nations/ONE and Purple ambassador launched #AfricanWoman a campaign she utilizes to this day to empower and enable African women and girls to have a qualitative education through her foundation.