NAWOJ, Wikipedia Collaborates To Close Nigeria Gender Gap
The National Chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ Hajiya Aisha Ibrahim-Bura, has disclosed that collaborations with Wikipedia offer a critical pathway to closing the gender gap on the global knowledge platform.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Voice of Nigeria, VON on the sidelines of a one-day WikiGap symposium organised by Wikimedia User Group Nigeria in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden, NAWOJ, the Girls Voices Initiative, and Women Radio in Abuja, she underscored the significance of the initiative.
“It means a lot because it is an opportunity for NAWOJ to collaborate or to partner with Wikipedia to close the gender gap in Wikipedia,” she said.
She added that NAWOJ would mobilise its members to amplify under-represented voices.
“NAWOJ will definitely mobilise its members. We are storytellers. We will leverage our media to ensure that this gap is voiced and brought to light so people understand the importance of Wikipedia and the need to be part of it.”
For scaling the initiative nationally, Ibrahim emphasised deeper institutional collaboration.
“We can escalate it by going into further collaboration with Wikipedia. What we plan to do in NAWOJ is sign an memorandum of understanding with Wikipedia so that we can escalate the initiative. Because just as you said, this thing is only done in Lagos. It will interest you to know that NAWOJ is not even listed on Wikipedia. This situation is alarming. So NAWOJ national will take it up from there and will ensure that we close the gap beginning with our association.”
Delivering a message to women journalists across platforms, she called for collective responsibility toward inclusion.
“We should support issues around inclusion and inclusivity. We should personally take responsibility for this. We should leverage our media-based organisations to use our media to ensure that we give voice. “So that the issues arising within what is happening resonate in all nooks and crannies of this country.”
Meanwhile, some participants at the Abuja symposium urged sustained collaboration, institutional commitment and media amplification as critical to closing the gender gap on Wikipedia.
They described the initiative as a practical step toward expanding women’s representation through content creation and capacity building, noting that scaling from state-level engagements to a national framework would require structured partnerships.
They called for cross-sector collaboration in driving inclusion, particularly by equipping women with the skills and platforms to document their contributions and experiences.
Stakeholders underscored the need to leverage journalism as a tool for visibility, agenda-setting and public awareness, stressing that intentional storytelling can accelerate policy attention to gender gaps in knowledge systems.
Collectively, stakeholders framed the symposium as both a catalyst and a call to action, anchored on partnerships, nationwide expansion, and sustained advocacy to ensure women’s voices are documented, visible, and influential across digital knowledge platforms.
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