The commandant of the National Defence College (NDC), Olumuyiwa Olotu, has called for holistic efforts to eliminate barriers to women’s leadership in the security sector and institutions.

Mr Olotu made the call on Monday in Abuja at the opening of a one-week leadership and mentoring course for senior female officers in Nigerian security sector institutions.

The NDC Centre for Strategic Research and Studies organised the course in collaboration with the UN Women and the German government.

The commandant explained that the course represented a critical step in building the future of the security institution, enhancing leadership across all levels of command, and institutionalising and providing the highest level of professional military education.

”We cannot afford to ignore the critical roles that women play in shaping our security forces in these modern times.

”In spite of the progress made towards gender inclusivity, there are still persistent barriers that limit women from ascending to the highest levels of command and leadership.

”Thus, addressing these gaps holistically has the potential to strengthen our institutions and improve our collective capacity to meet contemporary security challenges,” he said.

Mr Olotu also explained that the course was in alignment with the principles of the UN Security Council of 1325, which emphasised the importance of women’s participation in strategic decision-making processes and peacekeeping efforts.

The UN Women County Representative, Beatrice Eyong, thanked the German government for being supportive in ensuring that gender was being mainstreamed in Nigeria’s security sector.

Ms Eyong, represented by the deputy programme manager for the Women Peace and Security, Peter Mansha, said the support for Nigeria started in 2020 when it initiated the first phase of the Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue.

She said the project was initiated based on the fact that UN Women assessed some of Nigeria’s security institutions and discovered a huge gender gap in its security institutions.

Ms Eyong, however, said the Nigerian Army, police and NSCDC had adopted gender policies and strategies to ensure full operationalisation of the gender policy.

The German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annette Gunther, represented by the Deputy Defence Attache, Lt.-Col. Michael Gerstenecher said peace would not be possible without women.

”In spite of the gains and challenges to the inclusion of women in peace and security efforts, under-representation, gender bias, sexual harassment, and a complex work-life balance make life in the security forces difficult for women.

”In many countries, including my own, Germany, women are still largely under-represented in the security forces,” she said.

The provost of NDC CSRS, Adam Ahmed, said UN Security Council Resolution 1325 stated that women must be part of administration, decision-making, peace, and enunciation and be involved in all strata.

He said women required capacity and knowledge to be properly sophisticated to take up leadership roles in the security sector.

(NAN)