Nigerian megastar, Yemi Alade, is among the top delegates gracing the 10th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights (ACSHR) in Freetown as the main performer of the conference.

Apart from attending the conference as the main performer, Alade said she is also here to learn, amplify the message against sexual and gender based violence, and also to see the actions that will be taken at the end of it all. She hopes there will be certain ideas put forward that even the guys can buy. Alade was speaking to the press at Radisson Blu Hotel.

Responding to a question from Concord Times on her rating on the fight against SGBV in Africa and whether the continent is making progress, she said “we have a long way to go.”

“A lot of us are online, but there are a huge number of us that are not online,” she added.

Alade said there is still a long way to go in the fight against SGBV in Africa because there is still a culture to strike a woman, as is sign of dominance, a sign of strength among men as they still feel the harder you hit a woman, the stronger they appear to be.

“With this culture, we have a very long way to go. I will still score us one-over-ten. It’s still one-over-ten but it a whole count because it means we are moving forward,” she said, saying that as long the message continued to be spread across, then progress is made.

Yemi Alade is a Nigerian Afropop singer,songwriter who has been on the music scene for many years. Her hit song, ‘Johnny’ from her album King of Queens brought her international prominence in 2014. Since then, Alade has enjoyed fantastic success with four more studio releases, and her collaboration with the Beninese music icon Angelique Kidjo, on the Mother Nature album, won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album.

Arriving in Freetown she said: “I felt very welcome the moment I arrived. Africa is welcoming. I’m very proud of my route.”