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Introduction
Despite years of policy dialogue and global frameworks, Nigerian women still face formidable hurdles in political inclusion, economic opportunity, and access to education. These gaps are not merely gender issues; they represent fundamental development failures. With women holding only 3.9% of seats in the House of Representatives and 3.1% in the Senate in 2023, coupled with 917 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and a female literacy rate of just 59% compared to 74% for males, the figures speak volumes: Nigeria is not doing enough.
This article explores the historical, legal, economic, and cultural challenges that continue to limit Nigerian women. It then presents actionable reforms, drawing on global best practices and local realities, to genuinely advance gender equality. Ultimately, women’s empowerment is not just a moral imperative; it is a clear path to good governance, sustainable development, and long-term social stability.
Historical and Legal Context
Historically, Nigerian women such as Queen Amina of Zazzau and the Aba women protesters of 1929 exercised significant power in governance and trade. However, British colonial structures erased their agency by excluding women from formal political and economic systems.
This pattern, sadly, persisted post-independence. Nigeria’s 1979 Constitution failed to enshrine gender-specific protections or affirmative action measures. It was not until the 2006 National Gender Policy that a 35% affirmative action quota was formally proposed. Despite this, it remains largely unenforced due to a lack of political will and insufficient legal backing.
Although Nigeria has ratified key international frameworks such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Maputo Protocol, these have not been domesticated. This means they are not legally enforceable in Nigerian courts, effectively rendering them toothless.
Socioeconomic and Institutional Barriers
Political Representation
As of 2023, women held only 4.7% of seats in the National Assembly, a far cry from the global average of 26.5%. While Section 39 of the 1979 Constitution granted all citizens equal political rights, it failed to enforce gender quotas. Section 17(2) of the 1999 Constitution, still in effect, guarantees all citizens equal rights; however, its implementation has been slow and inconsistent.
The National Gender Policy of 2006 attempted to rectify this disparity by advocating a 35% affirmative action target for women in political roles. Unfortunately, the policy has not been effectively enforced, with women’s representation remaining below 10% across all levels of government. The absence of clear legal mandates and sustained political will has significantly hindered progress in this regard.
Currently, women constitute a paltry 3.1% of the Senate and 3.9% of the House of Representatives, placing Nigeria near the bottom of African countries for women’s political representation. Alarmingly, 15 out of Nigeria’s 36 State Houses of Assembly have no female members whatsoever.
In the 2023 elections, 18 political parties fielded 380 female candidates for the National Assembly elections. This includes 92 for the Senate and 288 for the House of Representatives. However, out of the 92 women who contested for the 109 senatorial seats (representing 8.4% of the total), only three were ultimately elected.
Education
While primary school enrolment for girls has improved, many are still withdrawn early due to child marriage (43% of girls are married before 18), teenage pregnancy, and economic pressures. Poverty remains a significant barrier to education for both boys and girls, but it disproportionately affects girls. Families often prioritise boys’ education or are forced to withdraw girls from school due to financial constraints. The female literacy rate stands at 59%, compared to 74% for males.
Health
Nigeria remains one of the most perilous countries in which to give birth, with a maternal mortality ratio of 917 deaths per 100,000 live births, one of the highest globally. Approximately 82,000 women died from pregnancy-related complications in 2020. Contributing factors include the lack of skilled birth attendants, inaccessible rural clinics, and inadequate antenatal care.
Economic Participation
Women predominantly work in Nigeria’s informal sector, yet they often lack access to credit, labour protections, and social security. Female labour force participation stands at 48.5%, with the majority engaged in low-wage, unregulated employment.
Cultural and Religious Dynamics
Cultural and religious beliefs continue to reinforce gender roles that significantly limit women’s access to education, employment, and property rights. Patriarchal norms remain deeply entrenched. In parts of southern Nigeria, customary inheritance laws deny women land ownership, thereby reinforcing economic dependency. Religious and traditional leaders often shape gender norms in ways that discourage women’s autonomy and participation in public life.
Child marriage remains a critical issue, with 44% of girls married before the age of 18, amounting to over 24 million child brides. While recent data suggest a decline in national prevalence, progress has been slow and uneven, particularly among the poorest households, in rural areas, and among girls with little education.
Why Women’s Representation Matters
When women are involved in decision-making, outcomes demonstrably improve. Studies show that peace agreements are 35% more likely to last at least 15 years when women participate in negotiations. In Rwanda, for instance, where women constitute 61% of parliament, progressive legislation has been enacted concerning domestic violence, education, and land rights.
Closer to home, Nigerian women played vital roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, mobilising community health campaigns and distributing relief materials, often in areas overlooked by the government’s broader response.
Pathways to Empowerment
Legal Reforms
Nigeria must domesticate CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol, and enact federal and state-level laws that mandate gender equality in access to education, healthcare, land ownership, and justice. The 35% affirmative action quota should be codified into electoral law and properly enforced through constitutional amendments.
Political Representation
Mandatory gender quotas should be introduced for all elective and appointive positions, drawing inspiration from Rwanda’s 30% constitutional quota or Senegal’s 50% party-list parity law. Furthermore, the cost of running for office should be significantly reduced, and zero-tolerance policies on gender-based political violence must be strictly enforced.
Education and Skills Development
Conditional cash transfers should be introduced for parents who keep their daughters in school, alongside the provision of free sanitary hygiene products. Sexual and reproductive health education should be integrated into the national curriculum, and structured support for pregnant teenagers and young mothers should be institutionalised to ensure their return to education.
Targeted Investment in Girls’ Education
Existing programmes, such as the World Bank’s Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), which provides safe learning environments and hygiene support, should be significantly scaled up. Furthermore, gender-sensitive teacher training must be integrated, safe school charters implemented, and laws against early marriage strictly enforced
Economic Inclusion
Programmes such as the Bank of Industry’s Women Empowerment Fund (BOI Women in Business) should be expanded. This will ensure that women in the informal sector can access loans, receive financial literacy training, and benefit from formalisation through business registration, tax exemptions, and cooperative credit schemes.
Cultural Shift
Traditional rulers and religious clerics should be engaged through targeted advocacy and national media campaigns that promote positive masculinity and shared leadership. Localised community dialogues can also help dismantle entrenched patriarchal norms.
Domesticate International Treaties
CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol should be enacted into Nigerian law to ensure their enforceability. Furthermore, members of the judiciary and policymakers should be trained on their application and the implications for national gender legislation.
International Comparison
Rwanda offers one of the most compelling examples of what deliberate legal and policy reforms can achieve in advancing women’s empowerment. Following the 1994 genocide, the East African country rebuilt its institutions with gender inclusion at its core. The country implemented a constitutional gender quota system, requiring at least 30% of parliamentary seats be held by women. As a result, Rwanda now boasts the highest percentage of female parliamentarians in the world. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), women currently occupy 61.3% of seats in the lower house and 38.5% in the upper house.
However, Rwanda’s progress is not limited to politics. Through mechanisms such as the Gender Monitoring Office, which oversees the implementation of gender-responsive policies and budgeting across government sectors, women have gained increased access to economic and educational opportunities.
In the business sector, Rwanda has taken deliberate steps to support female entrepreneurs. The Rwanda Development Board reports that over 36% of businesses are owned by women, many of whom benefit from government-backed training and financial inclusion programmes. These efforts are matched by improvements in education and healthcare. Female literacy in Rwanda rose from 57% in 2005 to 71% in 2020, while the maternal mortality rate for 2022 was 234 per 100,000 live births, a 7.87% decline from 2021. This demonstrates that, with strong institutional frameworks and political will, gender equality can drive real transformation across multiple sectors.
Closer to home, Senegal offers a compelling model that Nigeria could realistically adapt to suit its federal structure. In 2010, Senegal, a West African country, passed a Gender Parity Law that mandates all political party candidate lists for elections to contain an equal number of men and women. As a result, women now make up over 43% of Senegal’s National Assembly, a significant leap compared to Nigeria’s 4.7% representation. This law applies not only at the national level, but also across local and regional governments, ensuring more inclusive governance throughout the system. It is supported by civic education campaigns aimed at increasing public awareness and promoting cultural acceptance of female leadership.
What makes Senegal’s model particularly useful for Nigeria is its legal and institutional simplicity. It does not require constitutional amendments; rather, the parity requirement is embedded in the country’s electoral law, making enforcement straightforward. For Nigeria, a similar approach could be adopted by amending the Electoral Act to mandate gender parity in candidate nominations at all levels. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would then be empowered to reject any party list that does not comply, and this should be complemented by national sensitisation campaigns, led by the National Orientation Agency, to shift public perceptions around women’s political participation.
The experiences of Rwanda and Senegal demonstrate that, with the right mix of legal reform and public education, meaningful gender inclusion can be achieved—even in societies with strong patriarchal traditions. By adopting similar models, Nigeria can take practical, homegrown steps toward bridging its gender gap not only in politics, but also across education, healthcare, and the economy.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s current trajectory leaves half of its population behind, thereby limiting the nation’s democracy, economy, and human development potential. The underrepresentation of women is not merely a gender issue; it is a governance challenge, an educational crisis, and a public health emergency.
To build a future in which Nigeria truly thrives, women must be present at the decision-making table—not as tokens, but as leaders. Gender equality must move from policy papers to parliamentary acts, from political slogans to legal mandates, and from campaign promises to concrete, measurable reforms.
Author
Ebube Chukwukaeme
Research Assistant
Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership