Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi, Executive Chair of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, has called for Nigeria to move beyond symbolic inclusion and fully trust, include, and empower women in leadership positions.
Dr Afolabi made the call while delivering a keynote address titled “Step Up and Lead” at the 39th Annual Conference and Rally of the National Governing Body of Inner Wheel Clubs in Nigeria.
“Nigeria does not suffer from a lack of brilliant women. Nigeria suffers from a refusal to fully trust, include, and empower them,” Dr Afolabi said while emphasizing that the issue is not women’s readiness to lead but the structural, cultural, political, and psychological barriers that continue to constrain women’s leadership and participation.
Dr Afolabi highlighted the achievements of Nigerian women leaders including Ibukun Awosika, the first female Chair of First Bank of Nigeria; Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education and World Bank Vice President for Africa; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization; Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General; and Justice Aloma Mukhtar, Nigeria’s first female Chief Justice.
“But let us be honest with ourselves: Why do we keep celebrating the same few women? Because for every woman who breaks through, thousands are held back by culture, violence, poverty, and silence,” she noted.
The WARDC executive chair noted that Nigeria is responsible for nearly 20 percent of global maternal deaths, with an estimated 512 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the World Health Organization.
She also highlighted gender disparities in academia, noting that out of approximately 240 law professors in Nigeria, only 44 are women.
Dr Afolabi drew attention to the education crisis affecting girls, stating that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, with about 10.5 million children out of school and more than 60 percent being girls.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 45.7 percent of girls in Northern Nigeria are married before the age of 18, often ending their formal education.
“These are not just statistics. They are futures interrupted,” Afolabi said.
She addressed the desperation driving young Nigerian women to risk their lives through irregular migration, stating that it is not because they lack ambition but because opportunity is unequal and leadership spaces are closed.
She also presented data showing that women constitute nearly half of Nigeria’s population yet remain severely underrepresented in political leadership and decision-making.
In the 10th National Assembly, only 21 of 469 seats are held by women, representing just 4.5 percent, including four senators and seventeen members of the House of Representatives.
The federal cabinet reflects a similar imbalance, with 8 of 48 ministers being women, alongside 10 of 34 presidential advisers, falling short of the 35 percent benchmark set by Nigeria’s National Gender Policy.
At the state level, women hold just 49 of 988 seats in the Houses of Assembly nationwide, less than five percent overall.
At the grassroots level, out of 811 Local Government Chairperson positions nationwide, only 41 are occupied by women, representing just five percent.
Of 8,773 councillors profiled, only 604 are women, representing less than seven percent.
Dr Afolabi identified major challenges facing women in leadership: patriarchal political structures, economic and financial barriers, violence and political harassment, discriminatory legal and institutional practices, cultural and social norms, and internalized suppression and self-doubt.
She explained that women’s exclusion persists because external barriers are reinforced by internal suppression, with systems telling women they do not belong, and over time, women beginning to question themselves.
“The most effective way to confront external barriers is to first confront internal suppression. When women develop internal confidence, political consciousness, and leadership identity, they are better equipped to challenge exclusionary systems,” Afolabi said.
She noted that these barriers result in low political ambition among young women, tokenism instead of meaningful inclusion, burnout among women leaders, and loss of competent leadership for Nigeria.
The nation loses diverse perspectives, inclusive policies, and sustainable development outcomes when women are excluded from leadership, according to Afolabi.