By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has called for renewed national commitment to women’s leadership and political participation, thirty years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. She made the call at the 2025 National Conference of the League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOWV) held in Abuja, themed “The Power of Women’s Voices and Votes: A Critical Tool for Electoral Victory.”
The Minister said inclusive governance and gender equality are not optional aspirations but essential for peace, prosperity, and sustainable development. She noted that Nigeria established the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs after the 1995 Beijing Conference as the national mechanism for gender equality and social inclusion, coordinating policies to protect women, children, and vulnerable groups.
Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, she said the Ministry is consolidating key frameworks, including the National Gender Policy (2021–2026), the National Women’s Economic Empowerment Policy (2023), and the upcoming Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. These policies, she added, aim to strengthen the inclusion of women and families in Nigeria’s development agenda.
She highlighted the Renewed Hope Social Impact Interventions–774, a programme operating across all 774 local government areas, integrating nine development pillars to drive women-centred, family-focused transformation nationwide. “The interventions are not just changing lives; they are restoring dignity and faith in governance, one community at a time,” she said.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim also reaffirmed support for the Reserved Seats for Women Bill before the National Assembly, commending Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu for championing the legislation. She described women’s inclusion as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s democratic and economic strength, not an act of charity.
The Minister disclosed that Nigeria faces a $1.2 billion funding gap to achieve its gender equality and social inclusion goals over the next five years. She said the Ministry is mobilizing blended finance, private-sector partnerships, and impact investments to sustain programmes that directly benefit women and children. “Thirty years after Beijing, we must renew our resolve to make women’s leadership indispensable and their voices decisive in shaping Nigeria’s future,” she concluded.
