Chief Osita Chidoka, the Chancellor of the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership and Nigeria’s former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace has emphasized the need to address women’s safety and equality as a national top priority.
Chief Chidoka stated this during a webinar organized by the Athena Centre in commemoration of 2025 International Women’s Day with the theme “Safety First, Equality Always: Accelerating Action for Nigerian Women.”
Condemning gender based violence and gender inequality against women, Chief Chidoka said “We cannot build a progressive society while half of our population lives in fear. Women’s safety is not just a women’s issue, it is a societal one. We must all commit to dismantling structures that perpetuate violence and discrimination against women,” he said.
The event which took place on Wednesday, March 12, brought together experts from various fields including the Police to discuss the persistent safety challenges and inequality faced by Nigerian women and the urgent need for change.
Moderated by Mrs. Chidinma Chidoka, a Director at the Athena Centre, the panel discussion featured notable voices advocating for women’s rights and safety in Nigeria.
The panelists included Dame Dr. Ebele Veron Ulasi, JP MNIM (Director of Intelligence, Training and Manpower Development, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP, representing the Director General of NAPTIP), ACP Oluseyi Olabisi Okuwobi (National Coordinator, Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices), Prof. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe (Managing Partner, Health Ethics and Law Consulting), Mrs. Ekene Shogbanmu (representing the President of the Nigerian Air Force Officers Wives Association, Arc Dr. Rakiya Abubakar), and Maryam Ali (representing Omowumi Ogunrotimi, Executive Lead of Gender Mobile Initiative).
Prof. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe emphasised that safety is a fundamental prerequisite for human well-being. She noted that without physical safety, individuals struggle to attain mental and emotional stability.
“You can’t have wellbeing without safety. They are all interconnected. As human beings, physical safety is one of the most important things. If you are not physically safe, there are very low chances of having the mental comfort to live a normal life,” she stated.
Dr. Ebele Veron Ulasi identified gender stereotypes as a major impediment to achieving gender equality and safety for women in Nigeria and beyond. “The most worrying problems are the stereotypes attributed to the female gender. That’s the major problem we have in America and especially Nigeria. If we achieve safety and gender equality, a lot of our socio-economic challenges can be addressed. It affects almost all aspects of our social life,” she remarked.
Similarly, ACP Oluseyi Olabisi Okuwobi stressed that patriarchy remains the biggest factor in the challenges women face in Nigeria, ranging from child marriage to sexual violence.
“We first need to look at who a woman is in Nigeria. We must remember that Nigeria is a highly patriarchal country, and that’s the main factor in most of the challenges women face. From the issue of underage marriage to rape, we need to look at these issues holistically and address them collectively’’
The discussion also highlighted various forms of gender-based violence (GBV), including rape, female genital mutilation, and child marriage.
“It’s often said that Nigeria has the highest number of child marriages in Africa. The figures are really worrying,” Prof. Cheluchi noted.
ACP Okuwobi provided insights into how the Nigeria police force is working to mitigate gender based violence GBV. However, she acknowledged a significant challenge the police face where victims often refuse to pursue justice due to intimidation or financial inducement from their abusers.She added that the Nigerian Police Force has introduced a gender policy to train officers in handling GBV cases and urged Nigerians to report cases to the police .
She said ‘’ The Inspector General of Police IGP Kayode Egbetokun is committed to ensuring that police officers are well trained to handle the issue of gender based violence and part of that commitment is the gender policy of the Nigeria police Force put in place in 2024 . The IGP in showing how committed the Nigeria Police Force is in ensuring that victims get justice ordered the deployment of Assistant Commissioner of Police to head the Gender departments in the commands . Gone are the days when they will tell you to go back home that husband is scarce . The policemen right from the Counter are trained on gender based violence issues so that when the issue is reported, it gets the urgent attention it requires.
ACP Okwuobi explained the challenges the police encounter while handling cases of Gender based violence at the station .
She said ‘’ under reporting remains a major challenge. Lack of cooperation from victims and survivors who want to withdraw their cases due to fear, family pressure, or stigma. There is the challenge of financial inducement where they want to take money from the abusers. There is also community stigma where victims often face blame and isolation rather than support. Many incidents go unreported due to community stigmatization and fear of backlash making it difficult to take legal action. We have designed strategies to mitigate gender-based violence. Victims find it difficult to report cases. Even when investigations start, we realize that sometimes the perpetrator has offered them money to speak in their favour,” she revealed.
Mrs Maryam Ali, representing the Gender Mobile Initiative spoke about interventions they have embarked upon which include the Campus Safety Initiative which trains whistleblowers to report instances of sexual and financial harassment in universities. She added that gender inequality is embedded in education, healthcare, and politics. In the area of education, many girls are denied schooling due to economic disadvantages, early marriages, and cultural biases. Concerning healthcare, women’s health, especially maternal and reproductive care, is underfunded and under prioritized and in the area of politics, women are systematically excluded from decision making processes, limiting their influence on policies affecting their rights
She said “Students and staff don’t only experience gender-based violence but also sexual harassment. We train some to be whistleblowers so that we can get reports of sexual harassment. But it also includes financial harassment where students are forced to pay a certain favour with either money or their bodies,” she explained.
Mrs. Ekene Shogbanmu on her part explained the economic challenges that women face, stating that financial dependency is a major barrier to empowerment and stigmatization. This economic disparity makes women more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Prof. Onyemelukwe outlined the different types of GBV, including physical violence (domestic Violence) ,emotional and verbal abuse, sexual violence (rape, harassment, trafficking) ,intimate partner violence, harmful cultural practices (FGM, child marriage) . She provided statistics noting that: 31% of girls aged 15-19 have experienced physical abuse, 30% of women aged 15-49 have suffered violence, 35% of women do not seek help, while32% attempt to get assistance, 20% of women have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) wand 23 million girls are forced into child marriage annually.
Speaking on policy interventions and legal framework, Dr.Ulasi said The Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act ,the Criminal Code and Penal Code, the Child Rights Act and the National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Rights are designed to address the issue being discussed however, despite these laws, enforcement remains weak, noting that NAPTIP has made significant progress in protecting victims of trafficking and GBV, rescuing over 4345 victims, of whom 75% were women and girls adding that these victims of trafficking undergo trauma and need specialized care and treatment including empowerment to get them back on their feet. She added that there is a long way to go in addressing violence and inequality against women as Nigeria ranks 123rd out of 156 countries in the Global Gender Equality Index, highlighting the need for stronger intervention measure to urgently accelerate gender equality in the country.
Key findings from the Athena’s Women’s Safety Survey presented during the webinar reveals that 49% of respondents had experienced GBV. 66% of respondents believed law enforcement was ineffective in protecting women. 77% of the respondents had never benefited from gender-based violence support organizations. 72% of the respondents are unaware of emergency helplines or legal aid services. These statistics emphasize the need for greater awareness, better legal enforcement, and stronger private and public including community support systems to protect Nigerian women.
The webinar emphasized the urgent need for action to address gender based violence, economic exclusion, and policy enforcement. Despite existing policies and interventions, many Nigerian women still face violence, oppression, and exclusion. The discussions emphasized that safety is the foundation of empowerment, and without it, gender equality cannot be achieved. While some progress has been made, significant work remains to be done to ensure that Nigerian women can live without fear, discrimination, or systemic barriers.
Some of the recommendations from the webinars emphasized the need to urgently provide better and effective enforcement .Public awareness campaigns should be intensified to educate communities on the importance of women’s rights and safety. Economic empowerment programs should be put in place to provide financial independence initiatives for women. Need to have Gender-sensitive education which should be integrate gender equality topics into school curriculum. Provide mental health support to victims and survivors through counseling and trauma recovery programme for GBV survivors. Expansion of support Services by increasing shelters, help lines, and crisis intervention centres
The webinar concluded with a renewed call to action, urging stakeholders—including the government, law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, and the public—to work collaboratively in tackling gender-based violence , inequality and ensuring a safer society for all Nigerian women.
