The Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, in collaboration with key legal institutions, has unveiled a multi-year research initiative aimed at addressing systemic barriers hindering the career progression of female law academics in Nigeria.
A statement by WARDC on Monday said the project, which brings together 12 faculties of law across the six geopolitical zones, alongside the Nigerian Law School and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, was formally flagged off at an inception meeting hosted by the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of NIALS, Abdulkadir Abikan, said the initiative was necessitated by longstanding structural challenges confronting women in legal academia.
“It has been discovered over the years that women in academics, particularly in law, face a lot of challenges that form stumbling blocks to their career progression.
“While they go through the same advancement procedures as their male counterparts, they also contend with peculiar realities such as marriage, childbirth and childcare, which existing policies do not adequately recognise,” Abikan said.
He warned that without deliberate reforms, the sector risks discouraging women from pursuing academic careers in law.
“To avoid a situation where we no longer have women in academia, there is a need to create a more enabling environment that allows them to progress while managing these realities.
“We are looking at reducing workload during critical periods and ensuring those periods are factored into performance assessments,” he added.
Abikan noted that NIALS, as Nigeria’s foremost legal research institute, would provide institutional and research support to ensure the project produces data-driven outcomes.
Also speaking, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Abiola Sanni (SAN), described the initiative as a “multi-stage intervention” designed to rethink career advancement frameworks in legal academia.
“What we had was to sensitise faculty members to this research opportunity because we are dealing with life issues that are new and daunting.
“The project aims to model a new framework that will break barriers facing women in career advancement,” Sanni said.
Highlighting the disparity between male and female career trajectories, he said, “You may have two people admitted at the same time—one male, one female—and you see the male rising to the top. The question is: what is holding the female back, even when she has equal or better qualifications?”
Sanni added that although the University of Lagos has made some progress due to its cosmopolitan nature, more structured interventions are needed.
“We are working towards practical solutions such as establishing a crèche and addressing housing challenges, especially for younger female academics,” he said.
In his remarks, the President of the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers, John Akinsanya, said the association fully supports the initiative, noting that female academics face unique physiological and social realities.
“Childbirth is a physiological experience essential to societal growth, but we must ensure it does not become a barrier to career advancement.
“We now have more female law students graduating with excellent results, and we must ensure that they are not only recruited into academia but also rise alongside their male counterparts,” he said.
Akinsanya stressed the need for tailored solutions across institutions, noting disparities in gender representation among faculties.
“In some universities, we have multiple female deans and a strong presence of female lecturers, while in others, the numbers are very low or non-existent.
“We must design solutions that reflect these peculiarities, including mentorship structures and childcare support systems,” he said.
Participants at the meeting emphasised that beyond advocacy, the initiative seeks to deliver measurable reforms that will transform gender inclusion in legal education across Nigeria.
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