Suffering, Not Smiling: A Review of Dataphyte’s Gender in Nigeria 2025 Report

A few days ago, Dataphyte released a document titled “Gender in Nigeria 2025.” Given the recent occurrences around sexual and gender-based violence, with men chopping off their wives’ hands or setting their wives on fire after dousing them with petrol or depressed women jumping into the lagoon from the 3rd Mainland Bridge, getting to understand the drivers of the unabating inequity is of importance. It’s more pertinent now with the sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio who presides over an institution that boasts four women against 105 men. So what are the merits and demerits of this new publication? That’s what this review from AkweyaTV tries to accomplish.

The Gender in Nigeria 2025 Report is a comprehensive analysis of gender disparities, drawing on robust data from the 2023/24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), the 2022 Statistics Report on Women and Men in Nigeria, and the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The report declares that it employed a comparative approach, analysing trends over time (2018–2023) to highlight persisting inequalities. This longitudinal perspective is valuable as it reveals progress and stagnation in key gender indicators.

The methodology is sound in its reliance on nationally representative datasets, ensuring statistical rigour. It has thematic coverage spanning education, economic participation, gender-based violence, and reproductive health, which we consider well-structured and policy-relevant. By presenting disaggregated data on issues such as female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, and trafficking, the report effectively illustrates the multi-dimensional challenges facing Nigerian women.

The report includes comparative statistics between men and women on various indicators (e.g., literacy, labour force participation, and media exposure), which enhances its analytical depth. For instance, it says the percentage of Nigerian women who have ever used a computer is nearly half that of men. Of course, it’s bad that only 21.8% of men have ever used a computer, but it’s unacceptable that for women it is only 13.4%! There is an emphasis on intersectionality—examining disparities based on region, wealth, and education level—that adds to the report’s credibility.

While the report provides a valuable snapshot of gender dynamics in Nigeria, we observe that several emerging factors that shape gender inequalities today might not have been frontally addressed.

The first of such emerging factors not captured is the pervasive use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies. The report touches on media literacy and access to computers but does not explore the gendered impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, employment, or healthcare. AI-driven hiring tools, the much-talked-about biases in the algorithms, and digital literacy gaps disproportionately affect women, yet these are not analysed. Of course, this gap is implicit in the data sets as they predate the sudden and meteoric rise of AI. Nonetheless, the report, being produced in 2025, could have highlighted this shortcoming as areas where further data and studies are needed.

As Nigeria increasingly adopts AI in governance and service delivery, women’s limited digital skills may widen existing inequalities in access to economic and political opportunities. The report mentions the use of digital tools, computers, and mobile phones, particularly in the context of media literacy and access to technology. Future reports, perhaps by other organisations, should complement Dataphyte’s efforts by considering how AI impacts gender equity, especially in areas like digital employment, healthcare diagnostics, and automated decision-making in financial and hiring processes.

The second area not captured is Nigeria’s economic deterioration and its gendered impacts. It’s common knowledge that since 2023, Nigeria’s economic challenges—rising inflation, naira depreciation, and subsidy removals—have worsened living conditions, particularly for women in the informal sector. The report does not fully capture how economic shocks disproportionately affect women’s financial stability, access to healthcare, or decision-making autonomy.

Women’s labour force participation is analysed, but the impact of recent economic policies on female-headed households, wage gaps, and informal employment remains underexplored. Again, this lapse might be due to the age of the data sets, but the report ought to have highlighted the gap.

A third factor is the diminishing political representation of women, as the ignominious Buhari-era stat still fares better than today’s. The report covers women’s economic participation, but it lacks an in-depth analysis of political representation. Nigeria has seen a decline in female political leadership, with fewer women holding key government positions despite advocacy efforts.

The absence of this discussion limits the report’s policy utility, as women’s representation in decision-making structures is crucial for advancing gender-responsive policies.

The Gender in Nigeria 2025 Report is a strong evidence-based document that sheds light on critical gender issues. However, to enhance its relevance and policy impact, further studies should integrate AI and digital transformation analysis, assessing how new technologies impact gender equality. This one study can examine the specific effects of Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions on women’s livelihoods. It should (or could) analyse trends in women’s political representation and barriers to leadership. If, through digital means, women are better able to participate in governance, make more money online, and be represented politically without being confined to the same space with too many men, perhaps gender equity won’t be too far away.