3.8.1. Women and children

3.8.1. Women and children

Nigeria’s NBS household survey indicated that 22.3 % of households are headed by females – a 3.7 % increase from the previous survey of 2019.1220 The region with most households headed by females is the South-East (34.4 % of households), followed by South-South (30.8 %), and South-West (29.7 %).1221

Despite legal commitments, Nigerian women have continued to face widespread discrimination in both law and practice.1222 Discriminatory elements can be found in various legal sources, including the Labour Act, customary law, sharia law, and even within the Constitution.1223 Some of these legal provisions discriminate women with regards to nationality, citizenship, health, education, marital and parental rights, employment,1224 inheritance and property rights.1225 For more information see 2.3. Women and girls. The 2025 Global Gender Gap Report indicated that women in Nigeria have ‘near equal-rights’ as men in terms of access to financial services, and land and no-land assets, but they have ‘unequal rights’ compared to men in terms of inheritance rights for widows and daughters.1226 The USDOS country report indicated that while there are no laws that prohibit women from owning land, ‘customary land tenure systems allowed only men to own land, with women gaining access to land only via marriage or family. Many customary practices did not recognise a woman’s right to inherit property, and many widows became destitute when their in-laws claimed the deceased husband’s property’.1227

Information on support services for females’ heads of households relevant for the reference period of this report, could not be found among all sources consulted within the time constraints of this report. A 2021 report by Canada’s IRB on female heads of households indicated that, according to academics who have researched social issues in Nigeria, there are no social support services or programmes for females heads of households.1228 When asked about the availability of public services, including health, education, public transportation, childcare services and social assistance for females heads of households in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt or Abuja, sources consulted by the IRB indicated that there is no public subsidy to cover these costs and that these services are not free.1229 For more information see 2.3.2. Situation of unmarried, widowed, divorced women and women without support network.

Sources indicated that there are about 17.5 million orphans and vulnerable children nationwide,1230 the world’s second highest after India, with 30 million orphans.1231 Christianity Today indicated that Nigeria has about 278 listed orphanages, and that the main causes of orphanhood are Nigeria’s high mortality rate, violence and armed conflicts, teenage pregnancies, and the ‘broken system’ of adoption in Nigeria which, despite the low cost for Nigerian citizens (932 US dollars), it is underutilised and marred with cultural and bureaucratic barriers.1232 See also 2.4 Children .