The Commandant of the National Defence College (NDC), Rear Admiral Olumuyiwa Olotu, has called for deliberate efforts towards eliminating barriers to women’s leadership in the security sector and institutions.
Olotu made the call on Monday, October 14, at the opening of a one-week Leadership and Mentoring Course for Senior Female Officers in the Nigerian Security Sector Institutions, in Abuja
The course was organized by the NDC Centre for Strategic Research and Studies in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) Women and the German government.
He said the course represented a critical step in building the future of the security institution, enhancing leadership across all levels of command, and institutionalizing and providing the highest level of professional military education.
Olotu said the focus of the course was to provide an essential requirement and supportive network for women leadership as well as mentorship within security institutions, which according to him, is a vital component of national security and development.
He said: “We cannot afford to ignore the critical roles that women play in shaping our security forces in these modern times.
“Despite the progress made towards gender inclusivity, there are still persistent barriers that limit women from ascending to the highest levels of command and leadership.
“Thus, addressing these gaps holistically has the potential to strengthen our institutions and improve our collective capacity to meet contemporary security challenges.”
The commandant said the course was in alignment with the principles of the UN Security Council of 1325, which emphasises the importance of women’s participation in strategic decision-making processes and peacekeeping efforts.
He encouraged all institutions to consider the possibility of entrenching and sustaining the platform by implementing sustainable practices to ensure a brighter future for everyone.
He also urged participants to engage fully not only in acquiring the knowledge shared but also in contributing to the creation of a sustainable mentoring framework that would continue to impact institutions.
The UN Women’s Country Representative, Ms Beatrice Eyong, commended the college for convening the course and thanked the government of Germany for being supportive in ensuring that gender was being mainstreamed in the security sector of Nigeria.
Eyong, represented by the Deputy Program Manager for Women Peace and Security, Peter Mansha, said the support for Nigeria started in 2020 when it initiated the first phase of the Enhancing Gender-Responsive Security Operations and Community Dialogue.
She said the project was initiated based on the fact that UN Women conducted an assessment in some of Nigeria’s security institutions, and discovered that there was a huge gender gap in its security institution.
She said that the Nigerian army, Police and NSCDS had adopted gender policies and strategies to ensure full operationalisation of the gender policy.
According to her, they are beginning to see women taking leadership positions in these institutions and see gender responsiveness in their operations.
“The second component of the program has to do with capacity building and institutional strengthening.
“We know that security institutions cannot be gender-responsive if they don’t have the capacity,” she said.
The German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annette Gunther, represented by the Deputy Defence Attache, Lt.-Col. Michael Gerstenecher said that peace would not be possible without women.
Gunther said that the growing presence of women in the security sector was not just about reinforcing gender equality but also about reinforcing the quality and effectiveness of security institutions.
The Provost of NDC CSRS, Prof. Adam Ahmed, said the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 stated that women must be part of administration, decision-making, peace, and enunciation, and be involved in all strata.
