Somtochukwu Ugwu is both a lawyer and an activist who has worked for over a decade in Nigeria. He is presently the Program officer of Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP). SIRP is an NGO committed to improving the lives of various vulnerable groups. In 2018, as a volunteer with SIRP, he observed how Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects girls and women. Many girls in Nigeria are cut because of the huge patriarchal mindsets and misconceptions; which runs rampant here in Nigeria. This has invariably led to adverse effects to their health, education and economic lives. He therefore decided to address this issue by designing, fundraising and implementing projects and programs aimed at tackling this issue. These programs include a series of weekly knowledge sharing sessions, storytelling, awareness raising campaigns and various youth friendly activities like soccer games.

This was deployed in various settings such as community centres, public secondary/ high schools, private secondary/ high schools, health care facilities etc in various rural and urban communities in Enugu State, Nigeria. That singular project eventually grew to host a team of 16 volunteers and had reached over 10,000 girls and women by 2024. These activities also helped in no small measure in changing patriarchal mindsets, attitudes and also deconstructing various myths and misconceptions that propagates the practice of FGM. Furthermore, it helped in reducing the practice of FGM by 25% here in Enugu State, Nigeria.