—Seeks stronger laws, accountability against preventable maternal mortality
By Dayo Johnson Akure
Former Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has described preventable Maternal mortality as a violation of woman’s right that requires urgent judicial and activist intervention.
Mimiko, while delivering keynote at the 2025 International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA) Week in Akure, said Nigeria must urgently move from “policies to tangible action” in protecting and empowering women.
He asked FIDA to pursue actions against preventable maternal mortality through judicial and social activism.
Speaking on the theme: “Turning Policy to Action: Advancing Women’s Rights through Law and Governance,” the former governor praised FIDA Ondo state, for its leadership and described the topic as both “urgent and transformative,” especially as the event coincides with the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The former governor while citing the Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) & Ors v Attorney General in Uganda as an example said: “The global trend in many jurisdictions, even those like Nigeria without explicit provisions, is a jurisprudential shift towards justiciability of Economic, Social, and Cultural (ESC) rights, including health.
” The death of our women while trying to bring forth life in childbirth or the outrageous practice of holding them or their newborn babies as ‘collateral’ for unsettled medical bills must be ended.”
Mimiko noted that while Nigeria has ratified some international covenants like CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, they are yet to be domesticated to enable effective legal deployment in the pursuit of women’s rights.
He regreted the fact that even “a law like the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP Act 2015), which contains reasonable provisions to prevent violence and discrimination against women, is yet to be adopted by seven states in Nigeria, due to cultural, religious, and sundry local issues.
While acknowledging some advances like the mainstreaming of gender issues in national discourse, he pointed out “that targeted legislation like the ongoing Reserved Seats for Women bill is very important and must be supported by all who appreciate the true worth of gender equity as a driver of socio-economic development and justice.”
Mimiko said that Nigeria lags far behind global examples like Rwanda, where constitutional reforms have pushed women’s parliamentary representation to 61 percent.
“Nigeria has a lot to learn from Rwanda in terms of constitutional, legislative, and electoral process engineering with sustained political will to close the abysmal gender gap in leadership positions.”
The former governor also expressed alarm over rising sexual and gender-based violence, describing it as “a pandemic within a pandemic,” and called for “timely prosecution, stiffer penalties, compensation for victims, and a publicly accessible sex-offenders register.”
He commended Ekiti and Lagos States as good examples to emulate in this regard.
Mimiko urged FIDA to champion strategic litigation on women’s rights, including SGBV cases and maternal mortality, concluding that “policy must become action, and action must deliver justice and dignity for every woman and girl.”
In her opening remarks, the Chairperson, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, Ondo State Branch, Mrs Bolanle Olafunmiloye said: “for our sake and for the sake of our children, Competent women and women of capacity must step forward to fill the gap, offering our country direction, empathy, courage, strong moral values, discipline and integrity.
“Women must take intentional steps to safeguard our homes, schools, institutions and society at large by confronting the menace of corruption, drug abuse and widespread moral decay.”
She also lent her voice to the “Reserved Seats for Women Bill,” which she called “a bold, almost desperate, measure to encourage increased female participation in politics.”
In her own contribution, Prof. Foluke Dada Lawanson, a long standing FIDA Nigeria member, and former Presidential Aspirant of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), spoke extensively of women lawyers taking up leadership positions in the NBA and globally, highlighting the power of women as builders, excellent managers and committed leaders.
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