Senator Catherine Mumma of therepublic of Kenya delivered a thought-provoking lecture as the guest speaker, whereshe called for deliberate efforts to improve women's representation at everylevel of governance. She demonstrated how deliberate constitutional reforms,affirmative action, judicial enforcement, and sustained political advocacy haveprogressively expanded women's representation to approximately 37% inParliament. She emphasized that meaningful inclusion is not achieved throughconstitutional provisions alone, but through strong institutions, politicalwill, and consistent implementation. Her presentation challenged Nigeria tomove beyond rhetoric by adopting practical institutional reforms capable of translatingconstitutional commitments into measurable representation.
Hon. Dr. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, theChairman/ CEO, NIDCOM who was the conference keynote speaker urged women toknow their grassroots, do their work with excellence, and hold firmly to theirown standards of integrity. The panel session that followed featuring Mrs.Mercy Adelabu (Chairperson, FIDA, Oyo state branch), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa,Mrs. Delayo Lasisi Ori-Ekun (Alternate Chair, NBAWF), and Mr. Fatai Owoseni(Former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State) pushed the discussion further,from mindset change to outright resolve, with Mrs. Ori-Ekun's declaration that"if they don't give us our chairs, we will take our own chairs"capturing the room's mood.
The conference resolved into real commitments for womenrepresentation in government with the following recommendations;
• Political parties should adopt moreinclusive nomination processes.
• Public and private institutionsshould invest in leadership development for women.
• Governments should strengthen legalprotections against electoral violence targeting women.
• Civil society organizations shouldexpand mentorship programmes.