An Ijaw leader and environmental activist, Annkio Briggs, has called for 35 per cent representation for women in political and decision-making positions across the Ijaw Nation, saying women have remained excluded despite their contributions to the Niger Delta struggle.

Briggs made the call at the weekend in Abuja while delivering a paper on “Policy Advocacy for Ijaw Nation” at the 2026 Ijaw Women Connect (IWC) Conference.

She said Ijaw women should be given greater roles in governance, resource management, environmental protection and economic development, stressing that they have been sidelined in critical decisions affecting their communities.
According to her, decades of oil exploration in the Niger Delta have brought environmental degradation, poverty, and underdevelopment to Ijaw communities, while women continue to bear the greatest burden through polluted water sources, loss of livelihoods, and poor living conditions.

Briggs alleged that governments and multinational oil companies had failed to adequately address the environmental and socio-economic challenges facing oil-producing communities.
She also expressed concern over what she described as the exclusion of women from negotiations on community development agreements, environmental remediation, and conflict resolution in Ijaw communities.

Briggs called on the Ijaw National Congress (INC), state governments, and local government councils to reserve at least 35 per cent of leadership and decision-making positions for women.

She also advocated the establishment of digital skills programmes and dedicated education funds for Ijaw girls, financed by oil companies operating in the region, as well as low-interest credit facilities to support women traders, fishmongers and small-scale entrepreneurs.

The activist further demanded that women be included as signatories to Community Development Agreements between host communities and oil companies, saying their participation would strengthen accountability and ensure community interests were protected.

She also called for legal reforms to protect women activists, ensure women’s participation in environmental clean-up programmes, and review customary inheritance laws that discriminate against widows.

The Former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs & Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme Hon Kingsley Kuku in his keynote address called on the leaders of IWCWW to rise up and establish the “Eagle Eyes” political mentorship and mentee network for young, competent Ijaw women.

This would help trained the younger generation in public speaking, policy design, and campaign strategy, as well as establish a dedicated Political Campaign Fund to financially support credible female candidates running for local government chairmanships, state assemblies, and federal seats.

Kuku represented by Lawrence Pepple, also tasked IWCWW on expanding its sensitization programmes across the remote riverine areas, combining basic literacy campaigns with digital skills training, financial literacy, and civic education to empower rural women as independent economic and political actors.

He also called on the leadership of IWCWW to establish an economic development and agribusiness fund to drive micro-investment and cooperative funds targeted at scaling women-led transport services, agricultural value-addition facilities, and communication and security device retail ventures.

Earlier, the Founder and Pioneer President of Ijaw Women Connect Women Worldwide, IWCWW Princess Rosemary John-Oduone, said the conference is to cause a paradigm shift in Ijaw women’s inclusion in the affairs of the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.

“Today marks more than the opening of a conference. It marks the gathering of a movement. Ijaw Women Connect Worldwide was founded over 13 years ago, on one simple, unshakable belief: that when Ijaw women are united, educated, and empowered, the Ijaw Nation rises.

“We are here from Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers State, Port Harcourt, Delta State, Ondo State, London, Houston, Canada, and beyond”, John-Oduone added.