ABUJA — Nigeria has scored a shocking zero out of 100 on supportive parenthood policies in the 2026 Women, Business and the Law report released by the World Bank Group, exposing deep cracks in the country’s gender equality framework.
The damning assessment underscores a widening gap between legislation and implementation, despite years of policy pronouncements on women’s empowerment.
Mrs Shirley Ewang, Advocacy Lead at Gatefield, disclosed the findings in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, describing the zero score as a stark indictment of Nigeria’s failure to back its gender laws with concrete institutional support.
According to the report, Nigeria scored 50 out of 100 on the adequacy of legal frameworks promoting gender equality.
However, when it came to policies, budgetary provisions and institutional mechanisms required to enforce those laws, the country’s score plunged to 21.7 out of 100, with parenthood support registering an alarming zero.
Globally, only four percent of women live in economies that provide near full legal equality. While the average country scored 67 out of 100 on legal provisions supporting women’s economic participation, performance dropped sharply when enforcement and implementation systems were evaluated.
Ewang said the figures reveal a troubling disconnect.
“The data is clear. Our legal progress is being severely undermined by a lack of institutional support reflected in our zero score on parenthood policies,” she said.
“To scale women in business, management and public service, we must urgently bridge this implementation gap.”
The report found that Nigeria lacks federal laws mandating at least 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave or explicit protections against the dismissal of pregnant workers.
It further highlighted the absence of structured financial support mechanisms and government-backed childcare systems to enable women remain in the workforce.
Of the 190 economies assessed, fewer than half provide financial support for families.
In Nigeria, the absence of tax incentives, childcare subsidies and government-administered childcare support continues to limit women’s labour force participation.
The report also flagged restrictive provisions in the Labour Act, particularly Sections 55, 56 and 57 which bar women from certain industrial jobs and night work, reinforcing structural barriers. It added that the absence of explicit legal guarantees for equal remuneration for work of equal value fuels persistent wage disparities.
Across the federation, gender equality performance varies widely.
States such as Lagos and Oyo were cited as leading in legal reforms, with Lagos operating specialised family courts and providing services for survivors of gender-based violence.
By contrast, states, including Bauchi and Kano were identified as lagging behind, with some northern states scoring as low as 25 out of 100 in legal frameworks affecting women’s marital and inheritance rights.
Despite the enactment of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, supportive systems for women’s safety remain underfunded, limiting effective enforcement nationwide.
Ewang urged policymakers and private sector leaders to move beyond rhetoric and adopt concrete family-friendly policies, including a minimum 16-week fully paid maternity leave, 14-day paid paternity leave and robust childcare infrastructure.
“With one of the world’s largest youth populations entering the workforce over the next decade – 1.2 billion young people, half of them girls — closing Nigeria’s implementation gap is critical,” she warned.
“Without it, empowering women remains an illusion and economic growth will be constrained.”
Analysts say establishing clear institutional mechanisms, reforming parental leave policies and expanding access to affordable childcare will be pivotal if gender equality laws are to translate into measurable economic gains.
Meanwhile, Indermit Gill, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics at the World Bank Group, cautioned that weak enforcement continues to undermine growth prospects worldwide.
“On paper, most countries are doing reasonably well. But when it comes to enforcing the laws, the average score drops significantly. These numbers reflect huge opportunity gaps,” Gill said.
