A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and founder of Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), Mrs. Funmi Falana, has blamed Nigeria’s prolonged leadership and security crises on decades of male-dominated governance, urging greater inclusion of women in public office as a path toward national recovery.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Sunday, during her annual Christmas visit to the Erelu Angela Adebayo Children’s Home in Iyin Ekiti, Mrs Falana said the marginalisation of women in governance has plunged the country into what she described as a “shameful and embarrassing state.”
“Nigeria has continued to have male presidents, and they have continued to fail Nigerians,” she said. “I am saying women can do better because women have the heart of compassion and will be more honest with government resources.”
The human rights lawyer and wife of Femi Falana, SAN, said Nigeria’s continued leadership failure had reinforced the argument for female inclusion in decision-making, insisting that women-led governance could bring honesty, empathy, and fiscal discipline to the system.
She added that her yearly Christmas outreach was a personal commitment to giving back to society and inspiring others to support vulnerable children.
“I have come to celebrate Christmas with the children of Erelu Adebayo Children’s Home, an orphanage in Ekiti State, and this is what I do every year,” Falana said.
“It is a time to give back to society and to let the children here know that they are as important as their contemporaries elsewhere.
“This is what people of means should be doing. Instead of wasting money on frivolities, resources should be channelled to impact the lives of the less privileged. This is the desire of God for men and women.”
Falana expressed deep concern over the worsening insecurity in the country, lamenting that women and children remain the most vulnerable.
“It is very sad. Even the future is bleak for them. Homes and schools are no longer secure. You see children being picked up by bandits in the northern parts of the country, even from their schools,” she said.
“It is unfortunate that these children, who are not responsible for where they were born, find themselves in this situation. I want to tell Nigerians that these children will not forgive them if our leaders do not stand up to resist this evil and defend Nigerians so that we can have proper security.”
The SAN criticised the government’s perceived helplessness in addressing terrorism, describing the situation as “shameful and embarrassing.”
“Our leaders encouraged this mess and brought us to this level. It is very sad that foreign forces now reportedly launch attacks because our government appears helpless,” she lamented.
Falana, who has been vocal about children’s rights, recently urged President Bola Tinubu to convene an emergency strategy meeting on the welfare and security of Nigerian children.
Citing UNESCO data, she noted that about 18.5 million Nigerian children are out of school , with more than 10 million of them being girls , giving Nigeria the second-highest figure globally.
“As a result, millions of children are forced into early marriage, while others are regularly recruited by terrorist groups, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal gangs,” she said.
Falana blamed the crisis partly on the failure of many state governments to pay counterpart funds needed to access the Universal Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) N135 billion matching grant, saying the neglect continues to deepen poverty and displacement.
“An estimated three million Nigerians are internally displaced due to poverty, terrorist attacks and climate change,” she added.
She reminded leaders that while Children’s Day celebrations on May 27 often attract political fanfare, genuine leadership requires concrete action.
“Beyond celebrations, governments at all levels must urgently address the crises confronting children. Nigeria has the second-highest number of stunted children in the world, with 37 per cent of children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition,” Falana stated.
