A disturbing trend has emerged in Nigeria’s observance of International Women’s Day (IWD), with most organisations preparing for events using a theme set by a London-based marketing company, rather than the United Nations, according to Oluwatosin Areo, Team Lead of Africa Rural Educational Outreach (AREO) at the African Child’s Education and Development Network (ACEDEN).
ACEDEN is a non-governmental organisation working across African countries to advance education and child development in alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Areo, who is also Co-Founder of Nesta Coworkspace and a marketing and communications leader with cross-sector experience in technology, institutional strategy, and social impact, expressed concern over the trend.
The disconnect centres on two competing IWD themes: UN Women’s “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” and (link unavailable)’s “Give to Gain”, operated by Aurora Ventures, a private London marketing firm. While UN Women’s theme focuses on global policy and the Sustainable Development Goals, the commercial website’s theme is geared towards driving merchandise sales.
UN Women has publicly distanced itself from the commercial website, and experts warn that Nigerian organisations are unknowingly choosing between a framework for systems change and one for profit. “One framework is designed to drive systems change, and the other is designed to drive merchandise sales. Organisations are choosing between them without knowing there is a choice to make,” Areo said.
Nigeria’s gender equity indicators give context to the stakes. The country ranks 124th out of 148 nations on the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Index, and last in Sub-Saharan Africa for women’s parliamentary representation, with women holding just 4.3% of legislative seats. The country also has 7.6 million out-of-school girls, and women’s ministerial representation fell from 17.6% to 8.8% between 2024 and 2025.
ACEDEN calls on Nigerian organisations to verify IWD theme sources and align with UN Women’s framework, accompanied by internal accountability and transparent reporting on women’s representation and pay equity. The organisation also urges organisations to go beyond symbolic celebrations and implement meaningful policies and initiatives to address Nigeria’s significant gender gaps.
The World Economic Forum projects the global gender gap will take 123 years to close at the current rate of progress, making it imperative for Nigerian organisations to take concrete actions to support gender balance and equality.
