1.7 million women held back from employment due to childcare barriers
No fewer than 1.7 million mothers are held back from employment due to childcare barriers, some groups have said. The groups, which include Abuja Global Shapers Community (AGS) and Gatefield,
No fewer than 1.7 million mothers are held back from employment due to childcare barriers, some groups have said.
The groups, which include Abuja Global Shapers Community (AGS) and Gatefield, decried that structural care gaps were pushing women out of the workforce.
Gatefield Chief of Staff, Oiza Alonge, spoke at an intergenerational leadership brunch convened by the AGS in partnership with Gatefield. The theme of the event was, “Bridging generations: Women leading hand in hand.”
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Alonge sought for changes, saying without these, Nigeria risks sustaining a system where women are supported in principle, but structurally excluded in practice.
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Alonge said: “The challenge is often incorrectly framed as an issue of ambition rather than systems design. Nigeria’s leadership pipeline is being undermined by structural gaps, despite rising support for women leaders, structural care gaps are pushing women out of the workforce.
“Even with the growing public support for women in leadership, structural gaps in mentorship, care systems, and access to decision-making spaces continue to slow women’s advancement into senior roles as progress into executive and political decision-making roles is still limited,”.
She pointed to reasons for Intergenerational Mentorship Matters, as discussions are anchored in findings from the 2025 Reykjavik Index for Leadership and Gatefield’s Nigeria Leadership Readiness Brief showing strong public acceptance of women leaders in Nigeria.
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The Index reports that nine in 10 Nigerians are comfortable with a woman serving as CEO of a major company, while 77 per cent believe a woman can lead the country as head of government. Yet, women remain significantly underrepresented in practice, holding less than 12 per cent of CEO
positions in major organisations and fewer than five per cent of seats in the National Assembly.
Aisha Mohammed, ACE 11, noted that exclusion is systemic and shaped by how workplace structures, care responsibilities, and informal networks
interact over time to limit advancement, adding that even when women attain leadership roles, their authority is often questioned or undermined, with gender bias shaping how their decisions are received and executed.
