Joe Okei-odumakin’s  Gallantry

She has been detained 17 times, all for her resolve to be the voice of the voiceless. Like a dynamite that comes in small packages, she is slim-built, but her heart is that of a gallant soldier.

Okei-Odumakin, through her initiative, Women Arise for Change,  has been involved in over 3000 disregarded rights cases.

Joe-Odumakin, also the Executive Director, Institute of Human Rights & Democratic Studies and Spokesperson for the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria, is recognised as a courageous fighter whose consistent challenge against human rights abuses has  exposed her to harrowing experiences under the most repressive regimes Nigeria has ever witnessed.

 She cut her teeth in activism as the Secretary of Women in Nigeria (WIN), Kwara State from 1988 – 1991 and the Coordinator of Women in Nigeria (WIN), Kwara State branch 1991 – 1996.

Okei-Odumakin traverses courageously where men fear to tread. She remains consistent without minding the hazards to her person in a society where critical voices are loathed by unjust system and in a society that rewards the crook and punishes the just.