For decades, women in Nigeria have had less access to social and economic opportunities, capital, productive assets, and favourable workplace conditions than Nigerian men. These gendered gaps and barriers are not just anecdotal; they have real-world consequences and are evident across measure of economic empowerment, power, and agency. For instance, according to the World Bank, women account for 70 percent of Nigeria’s extremely poor, despite only comprising 49.3 percent of the population. In agriculture, women contribute an estimated 70 to 80 percent of labor and output, yet only 10 percent of landowners in Nigeria are women. Women’s insecure land tenure—including where women cannot access any land at all—is reinforced by weak legal and policy frameworks, increased competition for land and natural resources, discriminatory social and cultural norms, and a shrinking civic space that exposes women land rights defenders to gendered threats.

Nigeria’s system of legal pluralism presents both challenges and opportunities for advancing women’s land rights. However, the complex interplay between these two systems has often resulted in the disempowerment and inequality of Nigerian women. To address overlapping challenges such as uncontrolled urban land speculation, gender-equal land access, tenure system fragmentation, and inheritance-related land division, the Federal Government of Nigeria promulgated the Land Use Act of 1978.

The Act seeks to centralize land ownership and control under the state and establish a uniform legal foundation for a national land tenure system. Under the Act, men and women have equal rights to access and own land without any discrimination as provided under the Nigerian Constitution. The Act provides for the grant of Statutory Right of Occupancy in urban lands by the State Government while Customary Right of Occupancy is granted by the local government for rural land. In practice, however, customary and indigenous land systems continue to shape land transfers.

The transfer of land ownership is still largely guided by customary and indigenous practices that discriminate against women, especially due to poor knowledge of statutory laws, weak enforcement of the Land Use Act, and traditional structures that discriminate against women in rural areas.

Since 2020, African Law Foundation (AFRILAW)—through its Nigeria Women Land Rights Advocacy Programme and the Gender Justice Network of International Land Coalition (ILC)—has been advancing promotion and protection of women’s rights to access, use, and control land and land-based resources in Nigeria.

Through the S4HL Nigeria Coalition, AFRILAW and its partners will expand, improve, and deepen national and local action and engagement. This will strengthen participation, mobilization, collaboration, and partnerships with women’s rights and land-focused CSOs, stakeholders, and policymakers. These efforts will promote people-centered land governance and women’s rights to access, use, and control land and land-based resources for sustainable and improved food security, livelihood, and economic empowerment in Nigeria.