WISCAR 2025: Turning Gender Policy Into Power
By BUNMI BUSOLA
AS Nigeria grapples with political uncertainty, economic strain, and a widening trust gap in governance, one reality remains irrefutable: the country cannot afford to sideline half its population and still hope to progress. This is the context in which the 2025 WISCAR Leadership and Mentoring Conference arrives—not as another talk shop, but as a necessary intervention at a moment of national reckoning.
On November 29, leaders from government, business and civil society will gather in Lagos under the theme “Claiming Our Future: Women in Leadership and Policy Transformation.” The choice of theme is deliberate. For years, Nigeria has drafted forward-looking gender policies—the National Gender Policy, the Women’s Economic Empowerment Policy, and several reform frameworks. Yet, these commitments often exist only on paper, eclipsed by structural inequalities and political inertia.
Amina Oyagbola, WISCAR’s Founder and Chairperson, captures the urgency succinctly: this conference is not designed for rhetoric, but for accountability. It seeks to force the long overdue shift from policy to implementation—from aspiration to measurable results.
And the numbers justify the alarm. Women make up just 16.7% of Nigeria’s federal cabinet and less than 10% of elected positions nationwide. Only two states—Kwara and Kaduna—have gender-balanced executive councils. At the local government level, women chair just 3.7% of councils, a shocking drop from earlier years. These statistics expose a governance architecture that remains stubbornly exclusionary.
Yet, Nigeria has also seen pockets of progress—proof that change is possible when intent meets enforcement. In the corporate sector, women now hold 31.1% of board seats in the NGX30, the highest in six years. Every top-30 company now has at least one woman on its board. Five are led by female CEOs—an unprecedented milestone. These gains underscore a crucial truth: gender inclusion is not charity; it is smart governance and sound economics.
WISCAR’s 2025 conference is set to demonstrate exactly that. A highlight will be the graduation of 105 mentees from the Women in Law Mentoring Programme (WILMP), an initiative backed by the Gates Foundation. More than a ceremonial milestone, WILMP represents the kind of long-term, structured mentorship that strengthens institutions and seeds future leadership. Scaling this model across engineering, finance, media and other sectors could reshape Nigeria’s talent pipeline for years to come.
The conference’s speaker lineup reflects its ambition: Professor Folasade Ogunsola as keynote speaker; goodwill messages from leading policymakers and advocates including Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Dr. Kemi Dasilva-Ibru and Dr. Tayo Aduloju. Together with WISCAR’s partners in the Women in Leadership Coalition—including WIMBIZ, WILAN and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum—the focus is clear: deliver reforms that are both actionable and enforceable.
These include expanded maternity and paternity leave, a 35% female representation threshold in leadership, and gender-responsive governance across all tiers. These are not “women’s issues.” They are governance issues—fundamental to national productivity, stability and equity.
For 17 years, WISCAR has built women with the courage, competence and clarity to lead. But as Oyagbola insists, leadership is no longer enough. Nigeria must now move from empowerment to structural reform, from inspiration to institutional accountability. The future will not be handed to women—they must claim it, and the country must finally make room for that claim.
If Nigeria is serious about sustainable development, then the question is no longer whether women should lead; it is whether the nation is willing to implement the systems that allow them to. The WISCAR 2025 conference challenges Nigeria to finally move from policy promises to real, measurable progress.
