Stakeholders have called for greater inclusion of women in leadership, governance and security, stressing the need to create more opportunities for women to contribute meaningfully to national development.
The call was made on Friday in Abuja at the ITeach Africa Initiative Summit 2026, held at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the theme: “Advancing Women’s Leadership and Inclusive Governance and Security.”
In her welcome remarks, the Convener and Director-General of ITeach Africa Initiative and Empower Her for Governance Initiative, Alaibe-Elezieanya Ebimoboere, decried persistent insecurity in the country.
According to her, kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, violent attacks and organised crime have negatively impacted communities, particularly vulnerable women.
She emphasised the need to include women in decision-making on national security as a means of strengthening early warning mechanisms to contain insecurity.
“A nation is safest when its people feel they have a stake in its peace, have a voice in its future and play a role in ensuring its survival,” she said.
The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd), highlighted the need to advance women’s inclusion in governance to enhance nation-building.
Musa, who was represented by the Gender Adviser in the ministry, Lt.-Col. Nneka Olimma, lauded the initiative, saying it is imperative for women to play a key role in tackling security challenges.
According to him, terrorism, banditry, violent extremism, kidnapping and cybercrime, among others, require a holistic approach to ensure lasting solutions.
He stressed the need for women to contribute their quota to tackling complex security challenges, adding that women should be projected as partners in finding solutions to insecurity, rather than as victims of its consequences.
“Women are not only affected by insecurity, women are also part of the solution,” he said.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Esther Walson-Jack, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Nkiruka Jones-Nebo, said women’s participation in governance would strengthen national growth.
She added that women’s participation is key to creating opportunities for more women to progress through mentorship, leadership training and creation of safe spaces.
She said governance institutions should move beyond celebrating a few successful women and instead establish structures that will enable more women to rise through the ranks and lead organisations.
Speaking as Father of the Day, the founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Dr Otive Igbuzor, said Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable stability without inclusive governance and transformational leadership, warning that excluding women and other marginalised groups poses a threat to national security.
Igbuzor said inclusive governance, transformational leadership and national security are deeply interconnected, stressing that greater participation of women is essential to building a stable, democratic and prosperous Nigeria.
Presenting his paper, Igbuzor explained that inclusion should not be viewed merely as political correctness, but as a critical requirement for Nigeria’s development and stability.
“Inclusion is a development imperative, a democratic necessity and a national security strategy,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria’s future stability depends largely on its ability to reform leadership recruitment processes, strengthen institutions, deepen democracy, tackle poverty and inequality, manage diversity and increase women’s participation in governance.
Also presenting a paper titled “Inclusion as Security: The Niger Delta Model and its Imperative for Empowering Nigerian Women,” former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Father of the Host, Dr Timi Alaibe, said Nigeria’s experience in the region showed that sustainable national security requires more than military operations.
Alaibe argued that communities are more likely to protect systems in which they have a meaningful stake, stressing that addressing the underlying causes of insecurity is essential to achieving lasting peace.
“The most important lesson is this: people are more likely to protect a system in which they have a meaningful stake,” he said.
According to him, inclusion is no longer just a social policy, but a national security policy.
“Inclusion is not merely a social policy. Inclusion is a national security policy,” he said.
Alaibe noted that while soldiers, police, intelligence agencies and other security institutions remain necessary, sustainable security is about creating conditions that make violence less attractive.
He identified justice, opportunity and belonging as three critical conditions, explaining that citizens must feel fairly treated, have access to jobs and livelihoods, and see themselves as participants rather than spectators in national development.
He cited initiatives including the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Nigerian Content framework, Petroleum Industry Act and community-based pipeline surveillance as efforts to move communities from the margins into Nigeria’s economic and security architecture.
However, he said one major weakness of the Niger Delta peace process was the inadequate inclusion of women.
“We define peace too narrowly around those who carry the weapons, rather than those who carry the consequences of the conflict,” he said.
He urged Nigeria to recognise women’s participation as a matter of national capacity, democratic legitimacy and national security, noting that women often identify early warning signs of insecurity within communities.
Similarly, the Director-General of the Plateau State Peace Building Agency, Julie Sanda, called for greater inclusion of women and young people in peacebuilding, governance and national security, stressing that lasting peace cannot be achieved when critical segments of the population are excluded from decision-making.
“Whatever you’re doing for the communities has to resemble the community. Is there any community in Nigeria that does not have women? No. Is there any community that does not have young people? No. So you must include women and young persons,” she said.
Sanda urged political leaders to make concrete commitments to women and youth inclusion ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly in formal peacebuilding and security structures.
She also called for dedicated funding to implement Nigeria’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and the Youth, Peace and Security agenda at federal, state and local levels.
In his goodwill message, Ambassador Godknows Igali applauded the organisers, adding that Nigeria must leverage its young and female population to drive change.
Quoting former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he said the only tool for development is the empowerment of the people, adding that women should hold 50 per cent of leadership positions.
“We must have direct, targeted programmes and activities to include women in all spectra of the nation, particularly in the area of security,” he said.
The summit brought together government officials, diplomats, women in politics, policymakers, NGOs and young people.
