Across many communities in Nigeria, cultural norms have long limited women and girls from accessing land and inheriting properties. These practices affect economic security, deepen gender inequality, and place women at a lifelong disadvantage. However, through the Girl-Led Action Project funded by ActionAid Nigeria and ActionAid UK, Teenage Network supported bold, informed and confident girl advocates who are changing these narratives.
Over the past six months, our girl advocates embarked on a series of advocacy visits to community chiefs in the FCT urging them to introduce fair inheritance practices and equal land allocation for women and girls in their communities. The goal was simple; that every girl and woman has the right to own, inherit, and profit from landed properties, just like anyone else.
The advocacy visits were strategic and intentional. At each visit, the advocates shared stories and evidence of how unequal land rights harm girls’ futures. They explained the economic benefits of empowering women through land ownership and encouraged traditional authorities to review long-standing practices that limit women’s and girls’ access to properties.
The advocacy journey reached its high point in a townhall meeting that brought together 20 traditional leaders from across the FCT, creating a shared platform for deeper conversations and collective commitments. Also present was a representative of the Mandate Secretary, FCT Women Affairs Secretariat, whose presence signaled the government’s support in advancing gender equality at the grassroots level. The entire meeting was facilitated by the girls themselves as they led the conversations.
During the meeting, a female representative from a community in the FCT, Tuna Usman, shared her personal experience with inheritance sharing. When her father passed on, he had willed landed properties to his children. However, she and her female siblings were excluded from the inheritance because they believed women should not take part in inheritance. As a result of girls’ community engagement, she was able to speak up and convince her brothers to share the properties equally amongst all the children. A building was allocated to her and right now, she receives rent every year from it. Additionally, the rent she received helped her to pay her daughter’s admission fee. Without the rent, it would have been difficult for her daughter to access tertiary education.
The traditional leaders openly expressed their perspectives on existing inheritance practices andacknowledged the need to adapt customs to support the rights and wellbeing of women and girls. They expressed their commitment to re-examine inheritance customs and support fair land allocation as they join their voices with the girls to request that the government create laws and policies that address this issue and ensure a 50/50 sharing formula.
For the girls, hearing these commitments directly from traditional authorities instilled hope.
The Girl-Led Action project places girls at the centre of solutions in their communities. We are happy to see their growth and to see how they continue to deepen their influence across the country. Teenage Network will continue to support these girls, until equality is achieved.