Islam is one of the two largest religions in Nigeria. Nigeria also has the largest Muslim population in Africa. In 2018, the CIA World Factbook estimated that 53.5% of Nigeria's population is Muslim. Islam is predominantly concentrated in the northern half of the country, with a significant Muslim minority existing in the southern region. Most of Northern Nigeria is governed under Sharia law, while the rest of the country is governed under secular law.
Always is an American brand of menstrual hygiene products, including maxi pads, ultra thin pads, pantyliners, disposable underwear for night-time wear, and vaginal wipes. A sister company of Procter & Gamble, it was first invented and introduced in the United States in 1983 by Tom Osborn, a mid-level employee at Procter & Gamble, then nationally in May 1984. By the end of 1984, Always had also been introduced internationally in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Arab world, Pakistan and Africa. Despite the Always' pads runaway international success, Procter & Gamble almost fired Tom Osborn twice in the early 1980s as he was developing this product.
Obiageli "Oby" Ezekwesili is an economic policy expert, an advocate for transparency, accountability, good governance and human capital development, a humanitarian and an activist. She is a former vice president for the World Bank, co-founder and founding director of Transparency International, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement and has served twice as federal Minister in Nigeria. She is also the founder of #FixPolitics Initiative, a research-based citizen-led initiative, the School of Politics Policy and Governance (SPPG), and Human Capital Africa.
Wole Oguntokun was a Nigerian playwright, dramaturge, director and was the artistic director of Theatre Planet Studios and Renegade Theatre as well as a member of the board of Theaturtle, a Canadian theatre company. He was also a theatre administrator and newspaper columnist.
Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017. Trafficked people, particularly women and children, are recruited from within and outside the country's borders – for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, street hawking, domestic servitude, mining, begging etc. Some are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from other West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Europe, especially Italy and Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, are prime destinations for forced prostitution. Nigerians accounted for 21% of the 181,000 migrants that arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean in 2016 and about 21,000 Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked to Italy since 2015.
On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students and also Muslim students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group called Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. Prior to the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in attendance in order to take final exams in physics.
Ese Brume MON is a Nigerian athlete who specializes in the long jump. She is the current commonwealth champion and a three-time African senior champion in the long Jump and holds a personal best of 7.17 m She currently holds the commonwealth games record, African junior record and African record in the event. She's a two-time medalist at the world athletics championship, an Olympic bronze medalist and also a five-time African junior champion in athletics.
Patrick Abba Moro is a Nigerian educational administrator, politician and former Minister of the Federal Ministry Of Interior. He is currently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi. In 2019, he was elected into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria replacing David Mark, a two-term senate president and one of the longest serving Senators in Nigeria.
Esther Ibanga is a Nigerian pastor and founder of the "Women Without Walls Initiative". She won the 32nd Niwano Peace Prize for promoting peace among people of different ethnic groups and religions in Jos, Nigeria.
Uche Pedro is a Nigerian entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of BellaNaija, a media tech brand known for entertainment and lifestyle content. Under her leadership, BellaNaija's social footprint has grown through its collective brands - BellaNaija.com, BellaNaija Weddings and BellaNaija Style - to be the largest on the African continent with more than 200 million impressions each month.
Laila St. Matthew-Daniel is an executive coach, leadership trainer, speaker, author, women's rights activist and writer. She is the founder and President of ACTS Generation GBV, a non-governmental organization which combats domestic violence and child abuse in Nigeria. She has organized various protests for the rights of women and the girl-child, some of which are the Buni Yadi Massacre of February 2014 and part of initiating group who organized first protest against the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping by the Boko Haram sect. She has organized various sensitization seminars and workshops empower women on the issues of self mastery, self awareness, and self actualization.
Centre for Children's Health Education, Orientation and Protection also known as CEE-HOPE is a non-governmental organization that focus on the right and welfare of vulnerable children. It was established by Betty Abah, a Nigerian journalist, author and women and children's right activist. One of CEE-HOPE's major center of operation is Makoko, an urban slum in Nigeria.
Akinbode Oluwafemi is a Nigerian environmental activist, Social justice campaigner, and tobacco control advocate. He was the Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN). He is a recipient of the 2009 Bloomberg Awards for Global Tobacco Control. The award ceremony was held at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health held in Mumbai, India. He is the Executive Director at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) CAPPA, where he has over two decades experience in grassroots organising, policy advocacy and building strong coalitions.
Saudatu Mahdi is a Nigerian women's rights advocate. She is the Secretary General of Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA). She has published over 20 books focusing on violence against women, women’s rights, Shari’a and women and women in education. Mahdi led the team that fought and won the acquittal for a Nigerian woman who was sentenced to death by hanging because she had a child out of wedlock.
Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi is a Nigerian lawyer and civil rights activist. She is the founding Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), a non-governmental maternal and reproductive health advocacy organization which major objective is to promote women's rights, human rights, governance and rule of law.
Stephanie Busari is a Nigerian journalist notable for exclusively obtaining the "proof of life" video for the missing Chibok schoolgirls in the wake of the Bring Back Our Girls advocacy which led to negotiations with Boko Haram that resulted in the release of over 100 of the kidnapped schoolgirls.
Kidnapping is a major problem in Nigeria in the early 21st century. Kidnapping by bandits and insurgents is among the biggest organised or gang crime in Nigeria and is a national security challenge.
Yemi Adamolekun is executive director of Enough is Enough. She campaigns for better governance in Nigeria and is also a senior associate in the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She participates in political discussions and was awarded a Global Citizen Prize in 2022.
Titilope Gbemisola Akosa, popularly known as Titilope Akosa, is a Nigerian environmentalist, climate justice advocate, lawyer, gender and social inclusive expert, and human rights activist. She is the founder and executive director for the non-governmental sustainability organization Centre for 21st Century Issues (C21st). She heads the law firm Titi Akosa & Co Nigeria. In 2015, she was the spokesperson for women and gender non-governmental organizations at the 2015 Paris Climate Treaty on the topic 'Towards a Gender Responsive Green climate fund in Africa'.
Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode is a Nigerian lawyer, entrepreneur, author, activist and philanthropist. She is currently the Group chief executive officer of Asset Management Group Limited and the chief executive officer of Murtala Muhammed Foundation.
