The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) has called for concrete actions to strengthen women’s participation in politics, leadership and governance in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of GJF, Ms Ann Iyonu, made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a high-level policy dialogue to commemorate the 2026 International Women’s Day.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the dialogue, organised under the GJF Women in Politics Series, had the theme: “Democracy and the Voices of Women: From Voice to Power”.
Iyonu said discussions on women’s political participation had continued for years with limited implementation of practical reforms.
She stressed the need to move conversations beyond “talk shows” to meaningful policy influence, leadership opportunities and decision-making roles for women in Nigeria’s democratic system.
According to her, the time has come to dismantle structural and systemic barriers limiting women’s participation in governance.
She said the dialogue brought together civil society organisations, political leaders and lawmakers to deliberate on reforms needed to bridge the gender gap.
“We invited the legislative arm of government to tell us the kind of laws they are enacting to protect women and dismantle existing barriers,” she said.
Also speaking, the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs Anna Westerholm, described gender equality as a cornerstone of democracy.
Represented by the embassy’s Communication and Promotion Officer, Mr Seyifunmi Adebote, Westerholm said women’s voices must translate into real power and decision-making roles.
She said violence against women and girls often silences their voices and undermines democratic values.
Westerholm cited Sweden’s six-month paternity leave policy as an example of challenging harmful gender norms and promoting shared responsibilities.
She also highlighted the embassy’s Girl Child Ambassador initiative, which allows a Nigerian girl symbolically assume the role of Swedish ambassador for a day.
A former Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Ms Ene Obi, said women remained significantly underrepresented in Nigeria’s governance structures.
Obi noted that although women constitute about 49.3 per cent of Nigeria’s population, their representation in the National Assembly remains low.
According to her, women currently hold about four to 4.5 per cent of seats in the 10th National Assembly, placing Nigeria among the lowest in Africa.
She said the imbalance often results in limited attention to issues such as maternal health, girl-child education and gender-based violence.
Obi called for the passage of the Special Seats Bill before the National Assembly to increase women’s representation.
She also identified political violence, high campaign costs and patriarchal party structures as major barriers to women’s political participation.
One of the panelists and National Chairman of the Labour Party, Sen. Nenadi Usman, urged women to actively contest elective offices to strengthen their representation.
“I think we need to give women a more visible chance to be able to say what our issues are and to represent us, and not for men to be talking on our behalf.
“Women please come register. If you are popular, register and come out for election because you cannot be talking from outside.
“You must talk from inside. If there are only four women in the Senate, please tell me what has been done to address that,” the former minister said.
The moderator, Mr Matthew Ayebakuro of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), said the gathering was not because women lacked political voices.
Ayebakuro said history showed women had consistently expressed strong voices, citing the 1929 women’s protests and the activism of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
According to him, the challenge now is how to translate women’s voices into real political power and leadership positions.
