Women Canvass Competency As Necessary For Leadership Roles

At the WODDI Inspiring Women Summit (WIWS) 2025, Nigerian women were encouraged to take bold steps and acquire the necessary competencies to achieve their desired future.

While the past two conferences focused on inspiring women to discover themselves and the power of inspiration, WIWS 2025 urged women to make a shift to create a meaningful impact in their personal and professional lives and society.

In Nigeria, women make up only five per cent of the legislative arm of government, while 20 per cent are chief executive officers (CEOs) in private sector enterprises.

Reasons for the poor participation in politics and entrepreneurism are largely attributed to centuries of living and being conditioned by a patriarchal society, where women are discouraged from such pursuits or made to believe leadership roles in political and entrepreneurial spaces are tailored to men.

At WIWS, women were disabused of such notions and rather encouraged to take small but bold steps to achieve meaningful impact.

Speaking at the event, former Minister of Women Affairs Eyom Josephine Anenih said the call for bold steps is not limited to underprivileged women or those living in rural areas, but also to those in privileged positions.

“Women are women everywhere. Many women may be Ph.D. holders, but because they are Nigerian women and have been socialised in a certain way, they are not bold. A lot of these good-looking women we see are putting on masks. This summit is calling us to take off those masks. To discover ourselves. To not fear the unknown. To have the courage to step out – be it out of an abusive relationship, or toxic and slavish work environments,” said Anenih.

As part of bold moves to step into leadership roles in governance, National President of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) Princess Edna Didi Zura urged women to lobby male legislators to help secure the 35 percent affirmative action quota for women in the National Assembly while also building their capacities in their profession, disciplines, or line of work.

“Build capacity in the spaces you operate in. If you build your capacity to a certain level, those same men who don’t want to give you space will come looking for you.”

She continued, “We would love to lobby the men to give us space so that women will occupy opportunities meant for women. That is why women are taking about 74 special seats in the parliament. This should be enshrined in our constitution, as that will help meet the 35% affirmative action quota. The world has gone past 35 percent, and is shooting for 50 percent female representation in governance, Nigeria shouldn’t be left behind.”

However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The private sector industry appears to be more receptive to women in leadership positions, with 20 percent of women as CEOs.

UNWomen country director Beatrice Eyong attributed the result to mainstreaming the agency’s Women Empowerment Principles (WEP) with about 200 private organisations. WEP factors in the recruitment process, working conditions, growth opportunities for women in organisations, and the organisation’s outreach.

“The private sector is very important for women empowerment, and is showing good example in terms of leadership because we have about 20 to 22 percent of CEOs who are women. We have not achieved the 30 per cent goal, but we are moving towards that in the private sector,” said Eyom.

Speaking on the success of the summit after its maiden edition in 2023, Zinaria Nkechi Okorocha, founder of Women Of Divine Destiny Inspiration (WODDI), said testimonies of participants at the previous summits at the state level (Imo State) indicate they are moving in the right direction.

“These testimonies motivate WODDI to continue the summit.”

Okorocha further noted that WODDI is willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Women Affairs to ensure an even greater impact.

“I know we can do a lot with the Ministry of Women Affairs. Knowing that the Hon minister is someone eager for change is part of the bold step we are talking about.”