The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Directorate of Women Affairs has brought women from Nigeria’s South-South and South-East regions together under the South-South and South-East Women Ensemble, a platform designed to strengthen collaboration, build leadership capacity and promote women’s inclusion in governance.
Speaking at the gathering, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of IPAC’s Directorate of Women Affairs, Rev. Hon. Amb. Tammy Clarizza Abusi, said the coming together of the two regions went beyond a regional meeting. She described it as a commitment by women to organise, collaborate, develop their capacity and engage constructively with those in positions of authority to advance inclusive governance.
Abusi said women from both regions had made significant contributions to families, businesses, institutions and political movements, but needed stronger structures to translate their contributions into greater participation in decision-making.
She stressed that the initiative was not designed to compete with men or create divisions, but to complement leadership, strengthen democracy and contribute to national development. She also called for practical solutions to the barriers limiting women’s participation in governance.
Similarly, the South-East Zonal Coordinator of IPAC’s Directorate of Women Affairs, Chief Mrs Sопuruchi Barry Obinna, said the Ensemble would build lasting structures to promote inclusive governance beyond election cycles and political party affiliations.
Speaking on the theme, Building Formidable Structures for Inclusive Governance, Obinna said the platform would establish cross-party women’s networks at zonal, state, local government and ward levels. She said the structures would also promote shared policy positions on security, economic inclusion, education, healthcare and political violence.
She explained that the initiative would provide women with access to shared data, training, resources and accountability mechanisms to strengthen their participation in leadership and protect those seeking political office.
Obinna said women in the South-East and South-South had contributed significantly to political campaigns, community development and economic activities but remained under-represented in key decision-making positions.
She identified the platform as a means of addressing that gap by bringing women across political parties and the two regions together to demand fairness and wider opportunities for leadership.
She added that the initiative would operate as a non-partisan and inclusive platform, welcoming registered political parties while advocating against barriers to women’s participation.
Obinna said the South-East and South-South shared historical, cultural and economic ties that could support a common movement for greater political inclusion.
The initiative’s slogan, One Voice, Two Regions, One Powerful Women’s Movement, reflects its stated goal of building a united platform through which women can pursue greater representation and contribute to governance across both regions.
