November 25, 2025

As the world begins the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Nigeria is once again confronted with the harsh reality that violence against women and girls remains a persistent and devastating crisis. For countless Nigerian women, violence is not an occasional headline, it is a daily threat that continues to erode their dignity, safety, and lives.

While many states have domesticated the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP), the protection promised on paper has not translated into safety in real life. Gender-based violence in Nigeria persists not because we lack laws, but because we refuse to enforce them. A law without enforcement is merely symbolic, an empty gesture that does little to shield survivors.

What we are witnessing is a systemic failure:
a failure of policing,
a failure of prosecution,
and a failure of political will.

Lagos State stands as a model, demonstrating what is possible when institutions are empowered and leaders are committed. Tragically, this level of seriousness remains the exception, not the rule.

As former First Lady of Ondo State, I know firsthand that progress requires structure, funding, and continuity. Between 2017 and 2023, we laid a solid foundation by passing the VAPP Act, establishing the Ondo State Agency Against Gender-Based Violence, and investing in community awareness and survivor support.
It is deeply troubling that the agency has since been allowed to grow comatose. Institutions built to protect women should never be casualties of political transitions or administrative neglect.

As we mark this global campaign, I call on governments at all levels to demonstrate real, not performative, accountability. Nigeria must move beyond hashtags, speeches, or symbolic condemnations and implement concrete actions that save lives.

To end gender-based violence, Nigeria must urgently:

Fully enforce the VAPP Act across all states

Fund and strengthen GBV response agencies

Train police, prosecutors, and the judiciary on survivor-centered approaches

Expand community awareness to dismantle harmful social norms

Provide shelters, hotlines, legal aid, and psychosocial support

Protect women and girls from both offline and digital forms of violence

Prioritize the safety of women in rural communities, conflict areas, and IDP settlements


The 2025 global them – “Uniting to End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls”, reminds us that the fight now extends to online spaces where abuse, threats, and harassment have become alarmingly common.

Nigeria cannot afford to treat this crisis lightly. Every unaddressed case fuels the next. Every silenced survivor is an indictment of our collective failure.

As a nation, we must decide that protecting women is not optional, it is fundamental.
A Nigeria that fails to protect its women has failed itself.

Signed:
Dr. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu
Former First Lady of Ondo State (2017-2023)
Founder, BEMORE Empowered Girls Foundation
Founder, Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN)
Founder, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu Foundation (BAAF)
Advocate for Women’s Rights and Social Justice