With women representing about 40 percent of all lawyers in Nigeria, significant gender disparity persists at senior levels, where they hold only about 33 percent of judiciary positions, with only four percent achieving the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
To this end and focused on its mandate to advance women’s leadership across business, management, and public service, Women in Management, Business, and Public Service (WIMBIZ) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos State Branch (NBA Lagos).
The partnership is aimed at strengthening leadership capacity and expanding opportunities for women across the diverse leadership pathways within the legal profession.
This builds on the momentum of the Women in Law Mentorship Programme, hosted by WIMBIZ in partnership with the Gates Foundation, which recorded participation from over 3,000 women in the legal sector.
The programme was designed to address the under-representation of women in leadership positions within the legal profession and culminated in the development of a practical journal to guide women lawyers on pathways to leadership. Putting into cognisance that out of the 129 NBA Branches, only five are led by women.
Executive Director, WIMBIZ, Omowunmi Akingbohungbe, described the partnership as a powerful demonstration of both organisations’ shared commitment to advancing gender parity across sectors.
She noted that the mentorship programme is specifically tailored to the realities of legal practice and is designed to build capacity, expand professional networks, and accelerate the career progression of women lawyers.
Akingbohungbe further emphasised the critical role of collaboration in driving sustainable impact, stating that the partnership would play a pivotal role in shaping the future of women’s leadership within the legal sector.
Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos State Branch, Uchenna Akingbade confirmed that NBA Lagos Branch initiated the strategic partnership with WIMBIZ to jointly deliver a structured five-month Women in Law Mentorship Programme.
The programme will leverage WIMBIZ’s established mentorship framework alongside NBA Lagos’ extensive network of women lawyers to deliver targeted leadership development support.
Akingbade noted that earlier, the Mentorship Committee of NBA Lagos had identified a critical gap in structured, long-term support for women in legal practice.
Given WIMBIZ’s proven track record in delivering impactful mentorship and leadership development programmes for women across sectors, the partnership was conceived as a strategic response to addressing this gap.
