Gender-inclusive peace: Nigeria’s missing piece

By Anthonia F. Ibitoye

PEACE remains one of Nigeria’s most elusive national aspirations and it also serves as a bedrock for development in all ramifications. From the unending insurgency in the North-East to farmer–herder clashes in the Middle Belt, separatist tensions in the South-East, and banditry across the North-West, Nigeria has wriggled to provide sustainable solutions to these lingering insecurities which have claimed millions of lives, coupled with the huge amount of money expended on security operations, regional interventions, and disarmament initiatives. Nevertheless, a critical constituent is still missing in our national technique for peace which is women’s full participation in peacebuilding and this is a major reason why the menace seems insurmountable.

Women essentially bear the brunt of violence, war and civil unrest as they assume the status of widowhood when their husbands are violently murdered, they are forced into displacement while also shouldering the unpaid labor of keeping families alive, and they further experience divergent forms of assaults such as rape, sexual slavery, forced marriages, and pressure to serve as suicide bombers. It is worthy of note that amidst this victimhood, women still act as frontline responders by negotiating and pleading with armed groups for the freedom of hostages and lots more. This places women as a major agent of peacebuilding in Nigeria, but regrettably, negotiation tables for security operations are occupied with men. This is corroborated by Afolabi, (2022) when she says that women have been sidelined when it comes to appointments as heads of fundamental security agencies and other organizations saddled with responsibility of insecurity in Nigeria

These acts of resilience and leadership exhibited by women, though they remain invisible in formal peace processes, has been in history. According to Adelabu&Duyile (2025), they claim that Women in Nigeria have been involved in upholding peace at both formal and informal levels with the notable heroic efforts of Queen Moremi of Ife, Queen Amina of Zazzau, and the women who led the Aba Women’s Riot which culminated to a massive turnaround in the lives of Nigerian women.

The case for gender-inclusive peacebuilding

The proponent for the inclusion of women in peacebuilding is not sentimental but highly strategic. Global evidence consistently shows that peace agreements are more durable and effective when women are meaningfully involved, hence the exclusion of women is not only unjust but also deeply counterproductive because peacebuilding without women is peacebuilding with more than half of the Nigerian population silenced and excluded. Grounded on the 2024 World Happiness Report, the Global Happiness Index, which is based on the citizens’ self-reported levels of happiness, has it that the top three happiest countries, which are: Finland, Denmark and Iceland are led by women, namely: Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Minister Mette Frederiksen and Prime Minister KatrínJakobsdóttir accordingly.

The cost of exclusion

Excluding women from peacebuilding has meted terrible consequences on the country as it narrows the range of solutions because men prioritize territorial control and resource-sharing, while women raise concerns about accountability and better livelihoods which are essential to sustainable peace. Moreover, this exclusion of women from peacebuilding seems to perpetuate patriarchal structures by ensuring that the next generation of women will also be marginalized in matters of security and governance.

Towards gender-inclusive peacebuilding

For gender-inclusive peacebuilding in Nigeria, women need to move from the margins to the centre of peace processes and this requires deliberate action in some areas namely: Policy implementation beyond rhetoric which emphasizes that federal and state governments must make women’s inclusion in peace processes a non-negotiable condition, strengthening women’s grassroots peace networks by granting institutional support through funding, building pathways for women in security institutions through gender reforms to promote women into leadership roles in the military, police, and intelligence agencies andlastly, changing social norms as peacebuilding ultimately requires cultural change.

A call to action

Apparently, the national security challenges of Nigeria are accelerating, and traditional approaches have failed to deliver sustainable peace, which places Nigeria at a crossway. Persistent exclusion of women is not only unjust but dangerously short-sighted. For as long as peace tables remain dominated by men, strategies will remain partial, narrow, and insufficient. Women are not just victims of conflict but they are also mediators, negotiators, community builders, and agents of change, hence their voices, experiences, and leadership are indispensable to building an inclusive and lasting peace. Here is the moment for Nigeria to embrace a bold truth that peace without women is no peace at all. As we look towards the future, Nigeria needs to decide either to remain trapped in cycles of violence or to chart a new path that harnesses the full potential of its people by bringing women to the peace table which is not only a matter of fairness but a missing link that can transform Nigeria’s fragile peace into enduring stability.

•Dr Ibitoye is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Race, Gender and Class at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

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