Nigerian women leaders and gender advocates have called for systemic reforms to boost women’s representation in formal leadership roles across the country.

The call was made during a virtual media conversation convened by Gatefield, a public strategy and advocacy organisation.

Citing the 2024–2025 McKinsey Women in the Workplace report, the group noted that, although Nigeria’s high female labour force participation rate of 95.6 per cent, women account for only 33 per cent of entry-level jobs in the formal private sector.

The report further revealed a sharp decline in female representation along the leadership pipeline, with many women moving laterally within roles and very few progressing to senior positions.

Earlier, Aishah Ahmad, member of the board of trustees at Women in Management, Business, and Public Service, attributed the underrepresentation of women in leadership to systemic design flaws rather than a lack of talent.

“We must stop admiring the problem and start dismantling it,” said Ms Ahmad, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Other speakers, including Ms Blessing Adesiyan, founder of Caring Africa, and Ms Hauwa Haliru, CEO of the Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum Secretariat, emphasised the need for care infrastructure and greater recognition of women’s leadership capabilities.

The group urged the media to play an active role in shaping public perception by reporting on leadership outcomes rather than optics.

It further stated that the Women in Leadership cohort is advocating for institutional commitment, deliberate pipelining of women into leadership roles, and the implementation of gender-responsive policies.

According to the group, such reforms are necessary to ensure inclusive governance and equitable representation across all sectors of Nigerian society.

(NAN)