The Federal Government has vowed to empower 10 million women by 2027 as part of its plans to transform the country into a $1trillion economy by 2030. The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman- Ibrahim, disclosed this at an event to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day (IWD) in Abuja. The minister also observed that despite women’s role in driving the nation’s economy, they are saddled with barriers to having access to financial resources and participating fully in the economy.
These barriers, according to her, include limited access to credit, exclusion from formal financial systems, and susceptibility to fraudulent schemes. Other eminent Nigerians and groups, who spoke at this year’s IWD, also called for women inclusion in critical decision-making positions as well as urgent dismantling of all barriers militating against women’s empowerment.
According to the Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, “women must not only be present in decision-making spaces but must be actively leading in business, politics and governance.”
Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO) used the occasion to honour its female workforce in Nigeria and reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to gender equality and empowerment as essential drivers of health for all. Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, said, “investing in women’s health and empowerment is not only a matter of equity but a fundamental prerequisite for building healthier and more prosperous societies. To all the women leading, innovating, and driving change, we see you, hear you, and stand with you to accelerate action.”
This year’s Women’s Day was celebrated worldwide with the theme, “For all Women and Girls; Right, Equality, Empowerment.” It marked the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In the same vein, the IWD 2025 campaign theme, ‘Accelerate Action’ is hinged on the fact that collectively we can accelerate action for gender equality in the world.
We call on the government to accelerate action to ensure a more inclusive and supportive environment for women in Nigeria to excel in virtually all sectors. We believe that making women realize their aspirations will accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. Restricting women to the domestic front has limited their potential and equally retarded our national development. The major casualty of exclusion of women from critical decision-making spheres is our politics, which is presently dominated by men.
It is time to totally discard stereotypes and narratives that have defined women’s role in Nigeria and limited their contributions to the society. We also believe that if their voices are amplified, they will have the much-needed pedestal to contribute meaningfully to the society.
Sadly, 30 years after the Beijing conference in China, women representation in our politics is abysmally too low. We are yet to achieve the 35% affirmative action in political representation and appointments. Our women, who constitute more than half of the nation’s population, are highly marginalized and underrepresented in politics, political appointments and other critical sectors of the economy.
For instance, out of the 109 senators in the 10th National Assembly, only four are women. Out of the 360 members of the House of Representatives, about 16 are women. The story is the same in the State Assemblies. In the 9th National Assembly, out of the 479 elected members, only 19 are women. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) says that Nigeria currently ranks in the bottom 10 worldwide in women’s representation in national parliaments.
Since 1999 when the present political dispensation was inaugurated, no woman has been elected a governor of a state. At best, some of them have been elected deputy governors, which in our peculiar context is a powerless position. The deputy governor can be dispensed with easily. It is one political position in Nigeria that lacks glamour and prestige.
Despite promises made by our politicians to improve the condition of women at each year’s IWD, Nigerian women are still politically, socially and economically emasculated. We urge the political leaders to cede more powers to women in political appointments and representation. We should move beyond the 1995 35% affirmative action and move towards achieving 50% of women inclusion in politics.
Rwanda and some other African countries have gone beyond 60% in this regard. If we are serious about gender inclusivity in politics, we can reserve 50% of seats in the State Assemblies and National Assembly to women. It is doable. We can also replicate the same in political appointments in federal, state and local governments. Women empowerment and gender inclusion should not be reduced to the annual rituals of mouthing slogans and making lofty speeches that can hardly be achieved.
We cannot achieve so much as a nation if we do not factor women and their concerns in our national development agenda. This is the right time Nigerian leaders should accelerate action towards achieving women empowerment and gender inclusion in all sectors. At the same time, we call on Nigerian women to continue to challenge the narratives and strictures that tend to subjugate and marginalize them. It is by doing so that they can achieve their dreams.