The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) has explained that President Bola Tinubu and governments at all levels must prioritise funding and policy reforms for gender-based violence prevention.
According to the Centre, the federal, state, and local governments in Nigeria need to prioritise funding and reforms to boost gender equality in Nigeria.
Speaking at an event in Abuja on Friday, the Executive Director of Centre LSD, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, said the need to fund reforms has become necessary as part of a collective journey to end gender-based violence, GBV.
According to him, women have been marginalised socially, economically, and politically in nearly all countries.
“One in ten women lives in poverty; women are less likely than men to have access to social protection. Women are more food insecure than men and suffer more from lack of water and sanitation.
“In Nigeria, the situation is more precarious. Men gained voting rights in 1922 through the Clifford Constitution, but women all over Nigeria gained voting rights in 1979 through the 1979 Constitution—a 57-year gap. The early constitutions in Nigeria (1922 Clifford, 1946 Richards, 1951 Macpherson) restricted suffrage to adult males.
“Statistics from the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and reports by the National Bureau of Statistics reveal alarming figures—over 35% of Nigerian women have experienced physical violence, and millions more face emotional, sexual, and economic abuse.
“We also know that patriarchal norms, entrenched in our cultural, social, and even legal systems, fuel these injustices. Too often, men are either direct perpetrators of violence or passive bystanders when harmful practices are carried out.”
Tinubu, governors must prioritise funding for GBV prevention – Centre LSD
