The call was made in a statement to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day issued earlier today in Abuja and signed by PWYP Nigeria’s National Coordinator, Dr Erisa Danladi.
By TheInvestigator
Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Nigeria, the foremost civil society campaign for transparent and accountable governance of natural resources, has called on the Nigerian government and industry stakeholders to accelerate action towards addressing gender inequalities in the country’s extractive industries.
The call was made in a statement to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day issued earlier today in Abuja and signed by PWYP Nigeria’s National Coordinator, Dr Erisa Danladi. The statement noted that while this year’s theme calls attention to the urgency in taking measurable and swift steps towards gender equality, the rate of achieving desired success remains very slow.
Part of the statement read: “The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day serves as a clarion call for everyone to challenge gender biases and inequalities that persist in all areas of our national life, including in critical industries like oil, gas, and mining, which significantly impact Nigeria’s economy.
“Data from Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) as contained in its 2023 Oil and Gas Audit and the 2023 Solid Minerals Audit indicate that despite the pivotal role these sectors play, women continue to face huge barriers to equal opportunities in employment, participation, and leadership. Other challenges include limited access to education and training for women in technical fields, gender-based violence and harassment, cultural norms inimical to women’s participation in leadership roles, and a lack of awareness of the impacts of extractive projects on women’s lives. Women working in Nigeria’s extractive industries, especially in artisanal and small-scale mining, face significant health and safety risks. Limited access to proper sanitation, healthcare, and protective equipment places them at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts. In addition, company and regulatory efforts to emplace social and environmental safeguards remain weak across the extractive industry value chain, and this impacts women and girls disproportionately, especially at the community level.”
The statement added: “For example, recent directives on the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland have not been preceded with a consultation with Ogoni women who are still grappling with the disproportionate legacy impacts of oil and gas production, even though oil production had ceased in the area several years ago. The sad rate of achieving desired success is the very slow way new oil, gas, and critical mineral projects are resuming elsewhere in the country, especially in Northern Nigeria, without gender-equitable opportunities for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).”
PWYP Nigeria noted that it is poised to continue working for the elimination of these challenges by campaigning for:
• Implementation of comprehensive gender equality policies addressing recruitment, promotion, compensation, work-life balance, and integration of gender considerations into all project planning and decision-making processes.
• Development of training and mentorship programmes to equip women with pre-requisite skills for technical and leadership roles.
• Inclusion of women in various career opportunities in the extractive sector.
• Continuous and meaningful consultation with women in the host communities to understand their needs and concerns regarding extractive projects
• Implementing initiatives that promote women’s empowerment and economic participation
• Utilization of gender-disaggregated data for decision-making and policy adjustment
• Use of transparent reportage based on data on women’s representations
• Collaboration with other CSOs, state actors and corporations to address the unique challenges women face in this sector, to ensure their meaningful participation at all levels.
The statement concluded: “As we celebrate IWD 2025, let’s accelerate action to dismantle the barriers that prevent women from reaching their full potential in Nigeria’s extractive industries.”