Nigerian artist takes fight for prison decongestion to the UN as over 40,000 inmates await trial

It is not all about making money and being popular for many celebrities and musicians as social media might make it look like. For many musicians, using their voice as a mouthpiece is equally as important and several of them have used their status and influence to discuss issues such as rape, gender inequality, injustice and several other issues affecting the black community.

In recent times, Rihanna has used her influence to call President Trump out on the injustice meted out on immigrants and most recently the ongoing crisis in Sudan.

In June 2019, Nigerian musician Lamboginny Lawson took to social media to share an image of himself dressed as an inmate with a placard around his neck. The placard read: 49,875 prison inmates are awaiting trial for years in Nigerian Prisons.

The image went viral with several fans praising the singer for his bold step of using himself as a tool for change in the best way ever. Taking a stance for inmates in Nigeria, the singer can be compared to African-American rapper turned activist, Meek Mill, who is on a similar campaign following his experience with law and injustice in the USA.

The Nigerian Reggae artist campaigned while at the United Nations headquarters attending the International Human Rights Summit on July 1, 2019, where he spoke on Nigeria’s poor judiciary systems calling on the government to take action and fix the crisis.

This is not the first time he has organised positive campaigns supporting prisoners.

In 2017, the singer toured several prisons in his country and performed his music to prisoners after speaking with them on social and political issues they knew little about.

He also took his prison tour to other parts of Africa and the United Kingdom visiting inmates and encouraging them.

The singer has also made several donations to inmates to support them in one way or the other.