By Michael Egiethua, Abuja.
The Nigeria Economic Summit Group, (NESG) held its’ 2022 edition of the PIC Gender and Inclusion Summit on Wednesday, 16th November 2022 at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, riding on the theme: Connecting the Dots for a gender-inclusive Society.
In his opening remark at the auspicious occasion, NESG Chairman, Mr. Niyi Yusuf explained to attendees that “the theme of this summit speaks trueness to types by drawing our attention to the fact that we have a conversation we have left unattended to as a nation. It’s time we gather the pieces of this conversation to begin a journey toward our shared prosperity. It reminds us that only when we achieve parity between the genders in decision-making when there is equal access to resources and opportunities, and when gender-sensitive policies are tailored to the needs of all can we say for sure that we live in an equal society”.
Similarly, Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu, Deputy Director of the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC), an initiative of the NESG stated that the summit was in line with its efforts to promote and encourage respect for human rights as advocated by the United Nations charter. According to Dr. Osasuyi, the theme; connecting the dots was strategically chosen as it implies cultivating a worldview that helps to expose the interconnections between issues, information and trends which may be unrelated on the surface. She further stated that “the intention of the PIC is to use the summit as a means of breaking down the ‘siloed’ approach to viewing gender in the society and assist stakeholders in understanding that everyone irrespective of their gender, culture, ethnic group, social class or disabilities can meaningfully foster a gender inclusive society”.
Chief Executive Officer of the NESG Mr. Laoye Jaiyeola had noted at a pre-summit media parley that women are disappropriately affected by unequal treatment on the basis of gender and expressed worry that Nigeria ranks 139 out of 149 countries on the global gender index rankings, stressing the need for urgent joint efforts towards abating gender inequality and inclusion related losses. According to Jaiyeola, “Nigeria remains one of the largest economies in Africa, gender inequality gaps exists across all facets of the economy. Current data shows that on a per capita basis, gender inequality in earnings could lead to a wealth loss of $23,620 per person globally with an estimated global loss of about $160.2 trillion in human capital wealth with $26 billion of this recovered only if Nigeria is able to close her existing gender inequality gap”.
The summit which featured various sessions, brought together cutting edge research and practice related to gender and the policy process providing an opportunity for attendees to share perspectives, exchange ideas, learn from gender experts and expand their works for future policy and programmatic work whilst also co-creating actionable strategies for addressing gaps in gender responsive governance, policy and programming in Nigeria.
Discussants and panelists were drawn from the private, public and development sectors. Notable panelists included the likes of Tolulope Babajide a Gender Network Manager at Financial Sector Deepening Africa, Kenya. Oyinkasola Odidi, Secretariat Anchor at NESG/Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Economic Roundtable, a partnership between NESG and the NGF. Mike Imafidor, a PPP Professional and Adedotun Esan, a Mental Health Advocate and Support Provider and Aishat Hussain-Oyebanji an international development expert with a background in law and founder of Moonstone Initiative for Development and Growth.
Other respected panelists included Mr. Faisal Naru, Executive Director, PIC, Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu, Deputy Director, PIC, Ms. Catriona Laing CB, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Sybil Chidiac, Senior Programme Officer, Gender Equality Division, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA, Mary Beth Leonard, United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Yewande Gbole Awopetu, Head SGBV Response Unit, Ministry of Justice and others.
The discussants who spoke from their various professional perspectives and personal experiences were all agreeable on the fact that there is a pressing need for African countries, especially countries like Nigeria with varying social development needs and different dichotomies, the North/South, Urban/Rural, Young/Old dichotomies, to build an inclusive society that enables social growth.
Tolulope Babajide in her presentation before the assembly of experts emphasized on the importance of uncovering the social development needs of Nigeria’s youth as the first step towards effectively addressing the challenges at hand. According Babajide, “there are four critical social development needs that every youth in Nigeria has, regardless of their gender. These are nutrition, quality and affordable healthcare, quality education and descent jobs. Social development needs vary based on our gender, age, location and social experiences. Because of that, it is very important for us to identify what the social development needs are and act on them with the commitment and urgency it deserves”.
Mr. Alexandre Borges-Gomes, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria also lent his voice to the gender inclusiveness advocacy. According to Borges-Gomes, “there is a great deal of stereotypes and harmful practices disguised as culture across the world and also in Europe, that hold women and girls back and that this is something that is a bit more insidious that we should keep an eye out for. Not only is it fair if we create a fair society, but just by allowing girls and women to fulfill their potentials, indeed is in the interest of the two halves of the population, it’s something that we must strive for”.
The Ministerial session of the summit was one of the major highlights of the summit as participants brought to the fore, the multi sectorial interventions being implemented to empower women economically as well as other gender outcomes. Mrs. Makanjuola who moderated the session stated that “the high level participants present would by the end of the summit be able to bring out details on what is doable and achievable whilst also enlightening all stakeholders on what had to be done as a people because we cannot leave almost half of the population behind because of gender exclusion”. She further reassured the gathering that the session would create the environment whereby some of the issues that have been raised by the discussants could be actualized.
Answering questions on the current initiatives of her office in fostering an enabling environment for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in Nigeria, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed stated that, she had worked on a number of initiatives with the Ministry of Women Affairs, World Bank and UN Women. According to her, the first thing they did when they had the COVID pandemic was that they designed an economic sustainability plan centered on creating jobs with a conscious decision that 50 percent of the jobs openings would be for women. According to the Minister, the UN Women monitored the project and their report indicated that the programme met its target.
Other panel discussions included issues centered on gender based violence with the subtheme: “Battered in Silence: Rethinking Faith, Culture and the Legal Eco-System around Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria”, the panelist included, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, Mr. Tunde Onakoya, Margaret Ochalla, Dr. Nkiru Balonwu, Mr. Bamidele Osibo and Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu who served as moderator.
“Together Yet Divided: Exploring a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Agenda Beyond 2023”, was yet another well- articulated topic for panel discussion which was moderated by Ms. Dolapo Agbede, Founder and CEO, Will Way Paradigm. Panelists included, Ms. Ivana Osagie, Dr. Charles Usie, Ms. Ekaete Umoh, Professor Olu Ogunsakin, Mr. Jake Epelle and Mrs. Loise Maina. The other panel of discussion was titled, “Expanding Financial Inclusion for Nigerian Women; Complementary Roles and Coordination, Challenges of Providers, Consumers, Enablers and Supporters”.
The summit also featured a segment for competitive Research Presentations in which speakers were given three minutes each to make their presentations. At the end of the event winners were announced with Nchelem Kokoma Ichegbo coming first and winning a Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N250, 000) Scholarship to the next Gender and Development Course in April 2023. The second position was won by Dr. Yetunde Fatogun who got a 75% Scholarship to the Gender and Development Course in 2023 and third position with a 50% Scholarship was won by Mercy Anthony for the same programme in April, 2023.
In all, the Gender and Inclusion Summit 2022 with the theme, was a marathon discussion of Gender and Inclusion issues which featured a range of events and presentations, panels’ discussions, research presentations, abstracts and debates which all gave insights into the challenges of gender inclusion in Nigeria and the solutions that will bring about gender equality and economic development.
All presenters, panelists, and participants agreed that such opportunities to brainstorm on different issues hindering development in Nigeria was commendable and capable of creating solutions that can be converted from theory to praxis in our collective efforts to have a better country in terms of global development indicators.
There is no doubt that the PIC/NESG have set the ball rolling in the right direction. It is expected that the Federal Government, all relevant stakeholders and indeed all Nigerians will key into the fallouts of the summit and begin to imbibe a new and more proactive approach towards ensuring a better deal for Nigeria’s teeming female population.
