Women In Law

"It requires this organization to be held accountable on how they are doing with persons with disabilities, but also it is important that it will provide the support at national levels,"

"We cannot continue to deal with a GA hall that is not accessible for wheelchair users. We cannot continue to not be able to enter bathrooms. There is a lot to do and we are not happy about that, but what I am optimistic about is we now have a framework of action,"

"People out there think prisoners do not have the brains to study law, but I have made it. I am now an alumni of the University of London."

"Many innocent people end up behind bars because they lack legal representation. I am determined to leave prison a learned woman so that I fight for the rights of the underprivileged."

"Hanging a person is not a deterrent since everyone deserves a second chance to live. That is why I petitioned against the death penalty."

"Leadership is tough because of the weight of responsibility and the demand it places on an individual to lay down their life."

"Empowering a woman who nurtures and influences both the boy and girl child is a key component to a better nation."

"A woman that is secure, confident, grounded, economically empowered has the ability to change the direction of a family and in so doing can change the value system of an individual."

"Women have a foundational role to play in building families, institutions and the nation."

"As I mature as a leader, I realize that leadership is about influence as opposed to position."

"I believe that God called me to empower women."

"People will always attack you and your decisions even when they are carried out with integrity and a pure heart."

"I cannot think of anything better than having legislation that whatever part of your body you use on a child while defiling the child, that part should be cut off. If it is your finger, if it is your mouth, if it is your private parts. I think men will take it more seriously when you come up with such LEGISLATION. I hope a man in the House of Reps or Senate sponsors a bill like that."

"Everywhere in the world there is poverty. So, there are people who have need for good education. And the more education we give to people, the more light we bring into our communities."

"Women are the backbone of any family. Therefore, we are the foundation of any society. When we get it right at the level of the family, things will be right with the society. When the society is troubled, then the problem actually started from the family. When we get it right in the family, everything finds its place in the society. My message to mothers is to be supportive of their husbands and every member of the family."

"with this film, many Nigerians particularly young ones who are desirous of going abroad for greener pastures by whatever means will learn a lesson of two. We hope to reach millions of people everyday with the message to that they should be vigilant.We are hoping when schools resume, we will have the opportunity to show this movie to them. Just like what was shared during the panel discussion, you find people trafficked out for cultural purposes, sporting activities underlining the reasons why they are taken out of the country, including for the purpose of organ removal. The trafficking in persons Prohibition and enforcement Act, Section 20 clearly criminalises any form of trafficking"

"NAPTIP shall remain resolute in its mission to combat human trafficking and bring offenders to justice. The agency shall continue to work tirelessly to ensure a safer and better society."

"If a sponsor facilitates your travel, you will be forced to do any job to pay off your sponsor before earning money for yourself."

"I think men will take it more seriously when you come up with such legislation. I hope a man in the House of Reps or Senate sponsors a bill like that."

"I belong to the kitchen, I belong to the living room and I belong to every room created by God. So also other women. We are created by God to do more. In my own case as a judicial officer, I also belong to the courtroom. Other women belong to different rooms, depending on their professional calling."

"We want to ask ourselves hard questions. We want to examine our journey so far because the international arbitration community [once] believed that Africans did not have the intellectual competence to resolve the disputes.But today we are saying that the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators is the fastest-growing branch and we have many people that are qualified to act as counsel and arbitrators. When I began as an arbitrator over 10 years ago, Africans were not welcome. But that has changed. So, what are our prospects for the next 10 years?"

"Often times in Nigeria we say we have a lot of educated graduates but we haven’t looked at the content of these graduates in terms of the know-how. If you go today and say look I’m having a problem with my maize. This year something is eating up the leaves of my maize, caterpillars or worms or something… And you say you’re looking for people who know what to do in Nigeria, it will amaze you that with all the graduates in agriculture you wouldn’t find someone who knows what to do."

"We have a prebendal politics, we reward people producing little based on loyalty which is rewarded , and this produces a dysfunctional system where people for instance in the Civil Service are rewarded not on the bases of work done but it is based on those who you favour and nobody is held responsible for things like leakages because everything goes"

"There are inhibitors which make it difficult for women to come out. The first thing you are told when you come into politics is to go and bring your money, you this prostitute! So the whole engagement with women takes more than ordinary courage to come out and become part of what is happening in governance. It is not an easy journey for women and society is not making it easier. So these bills are attempting to make it easier for women to come out. We are asking the National Assembly to step back, take a deep breath, reflect again on the five clauses that we wanted."

"It is noteworthy that about 21 countries around the world are currently governed by women. Apart from politics and governance, women have also profoundly achieved groundbreaking feats in various fields such as medicine, law, economics, sports, space, technology, media and entertainment. Only recently, our own Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed the Director General of the World Trade Organization, making her the first woman and first African to occupy that position."

"So, when you’re voting, you’re not voting the individual but the party, which will in turn ensure women comprise 35% of the list created for position. In every country where an increase in governance has happened for women, the party list was used. Now, it is left for voters to look at the party list and decide to vote for a party based on their likeness for whoever catches their fancy on the party list. So, the seats won by each party will now be proportionally distributed to candidates, but ensuring by law that 35% of the distribution goes to women."

"Let us all see the issue of human trafficking as our problem. As at today, every state in Nigeria is affected, though trend, patten and the propotionality may differ but everyone is affected. As a Nigerian, if you see something, say something by reporting, educate yourself on issue of human trafficking, and know what the red signs are."

"“Unfortunately, the majority of Nigerians, especially the youths who fought with patriotism to reset their country through the ballot box, are now wondering if elections have not become the tool for legitimizing the corrupt takeover of Nigeria. This dark cloud of angst arising from a terribly mismanaged 2023 general elections has jolted the confidence and hope of many Nigerians, thus propelling us as Citizens of Conscience to take the bold step of beginning to resist and mitigate the intended and unintended crisis looming over our dear country.Therefore, we condemn the outright manipulation of the electoral process and abdication of responsibility by INEC as it has not only destroyed trust in the democratic process, but has rewarded wrongdoing, making it possible for persons of stupendous wealth, who lack legitimacy, to become the real beneficiaries of our electoral process."

"She has worked in many different sectors of the Nigerian government during the past 10 years. She was appointed as the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development in 2008 and went on to become the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in 2010"

"I am a member of the National Assembly inclined to make changes happen in the National Assembly but I will not succeed, I know it, I regret it, I sympathise with myself that I will not succeed. Why? Because I do not form a critical mass.I will remain an obedient participant without necessarily doing what they are doing. That is the reality. In politics you have to belong somewhere and that is why you have to stand on the platform of the party, you don’t (stand) outside of it and you have to represent it somehow."

"The number of poor people have rather increased. Nigerians should run away from APC because they have compounded the socio-economic woes of Nigerians. Vote them out of power"

"There is no wholesome condemnation or commendation because there is no society that is wholly good or wholly bad, If you want to change that situation, you have to come in there and change it, If we do not have a dominant counter force in the system, the system will continue to support its own, it will continue to define itself in the way it is defined. The beneficiaries of the system will continue to benefit from the system."

"What this means is people are speaking up now. What use to be a norm in the past? What we think is a thing of culture; people don’t take it anymore. We see children falling out on their own parents. The scariest part of it all is that, initially we see these perpetrators trying to justify their actions. To them, it is part of parenthood that needs to imbibe certain ways of upbringing. So apart from humans having a tendency to just be evil, the reality is that parents need to be highly educated on parenting especially single mothers/ single parenting needs programmes; sustainable programmes"

"For decades, women and ethnic minorities have faced discrimination and disadvantage in arbitrator appointments, on the narrative that there is a dearth of qualified Arbitrators in Africa. I am happy to state that, the narrative certainly does not hold water today, as even this hall is filled with highly qualified Arbitrators of African descent"

"We are not just here to promote but also to facilitate and if we succeed, Nigeria will succeed. I am too old to japa and I can’t go anywhere."

"The other reason you can read into things like this is some level of hostility over something. I am not suggesting I know of any problem between both countries but it’s not unusual for countries to harden their stance towards each other, to draw attention to something that is probably hurting one party at another level. I think we may have to look beyond the surface."

"I owe a lot to my upbringing, education, experience and family support system. I was brought up in a conservative Northern Muslim home, where both my parents were accomplished professionals. From a young age, my parents encouraged all their children (male and female) to seek knowledge and supported us in whatever career choices we made. Education and hard work were emphasized as the key to success."

"I am not here to reinvent the wheel. The wheel is there. We just have to make it work. We have to oil it. We have to grease it. We have to put everything we can to make this machine work. Because like I said earlier, if we succeed, Nigeria succeeds, and we will all be part of this success story."

"All countries in Africa are busy trying to attract foreign investments. You will agree with me that without international arbitration, there cannot be foreign investors. In any jurisdiction, arbitration is one of the viable components for attracting foreign investors."

"The future of international arbitration in Africa looks incredibly promising. With the increasing legislative changes, the growing importance of third-party funding and investment arbitration, there are exciting opportunities and positive developments in the use of arbitration as a dispute settlement mechanism in Africa."

"When a woman is giving birth, she is helping to build the nation. She is contributing to national development. A woman should not pay the price with her life because she’s giving birth.”"

"As I join the Board of Trustees for the next three years, I envisage an exciting future for the Fund as we seek to broaden and deepen its support and assistance to victims of trafficking all over the world in view of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on this vulnerable segment of our society"

"As the Executive Chairman of Roost Foundation, I am saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that the Foundation keeps up with its mandate of offering financial, humanitarian and legal support to victims of human trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence. Roost Foundation also has a skill acquisition centre, guidance and counselling unit, etc and alongside other members of the board of trustees, it is my duty to ensure that we provide a safe haven for victims of human trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence."

"Growing up, I was passionate about helping the less privileged in the society. This led me to founding the Julie Donli Kidney Foundation. Through this Foundation we have helped hundreds of women and children with kidney issues get treatment."

"The Ministry of Justice has already designated a gender desk officer who will prepare all legal documents for legal action for victims. Also, all the officials that will work at the centre have already been trained with support from the Department For International Development (DFID)."

"I thought that it’s apt because each time a woman gives birth she puts her life on the line. Giving birth is a service to the nation and contribution to national development; so we don’t want a situation where a woman puts her life on the line because she wants to contribute to nation building and that’s why we are adopting this labour ward and FIDA is contributing in ensuring that every woman who gives birth as much as possible, the incidents of death arising from giving birth and other maternity issues are reduced."

"There is a strong nexus between trafficking and sports and we know that young people are involved in sporting activities, this was why we thought it was important to dwell on sports to create this awareness. We are collaborating with other partners, agencies to carry out this sports sensitisation, not just to sensitise the young people but also sensitise their parents for them to be able to recognise the red flag."

"The fact remains, while technology has come as a great relief and a major boost in the way of life of people, the same has left much to be concerned about because human traffickers have also caught on to this digital transformation. There is a shift from physical recruitment to virtual recruitment through virtual assessment of victims and proxy negotiations."

"Always encourage your daughters to open up whenever they face harassment. Sometimes, women will just carry their children to their neighbors house and travel to the market."

"Many people are very ignorant of things that are going on. Most of the victims are taken from the rural areas, where they do not have access to the internet, if they had they would have seen or heard of the horrors of taking such journeys. Even their parents do not have access to the internet. This is partly responsible for the continuous illegal migration."