By Olayinka Oyegbile
DJ Switch (Obianuju Catherine Udeh), the disc jockey who was at the centre of shooting the controversial shooting of peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in October 2020, has been awarded the prestigious Reagan-Fascell Fellowship for Democracy.
The Fellowship named after former America President Ronald Reagan is awarded to pro-democracy activists around the world.
DJ Switch is to spend Spring 2021 at the National Endowment for Democracy. In a statement on its website, DJ Switch was described as “a Nigerian disk jockey, musician, and creative producer who has utilized her platform to increase public awareness of violence against peaceful protesters in the #EndSARS movement. In June 2020, she launched the social media campaign #RenovateNigeria on Instagram to call attention to the National Assembly’s misplaced budget priorities and corrupt practices. Most recently, she was named “Culture Icon” of the year 2020 by Nigerian website YNaija, and was featured in Time magazine for her participation in the #EndSARS movement in Nigeria. She intends to use the fellowship to develop creative social media content to engage citizens in advocating for human rights and democracy in Nigeria, and to build an organization around #RenovateNigeria to hold trainings on democracy and human rights at the grassroots level.”
