By Martha Agas
The Nigerian Indigenous Women in Mining and Natural Resources Organisation (NIWIMNRO) has received an award for advancing women’s participation and leadership in Nigeria’s extractive sector.
The recognition from EnergyNet Ltd. was presented to NIWIMNRO on Thursday in Abuja.
Speaking while receiving the award, NIWIMNRO’s Executive Director, Ms Felicia Dairo, said it represented more than just institutional recognition.
Dairo said it was an acknowledgement of years of advocacy, community engagement and efforts to ensure that women were not excluded from opportunities within the mining and natural resources sectors.
She described the recognition as a validation of the organisation’s commitment to empowering women and transforming mining communities across Nigeria.
“This recognition is not just about our organisation; it is about the women who continue to break barriers in a sector that has traditionally been dominated by men.
“It is a celebration of their resilience, determination and contributions to the growth of the mining industry,” she said.
She said the organisation was established to address gender disparities in the extractive sector by empowering women across the mining value chain through advocacy, training, policy engagement, research and community-based initiatives.
According to her, NIWIMNRO has increasingly become a voice for gender-responsive mining governance, advocating for policies and programmes that improve women’s access to opportunities, decision-making spaces and resources within the sector.
“Over the last year, NIWIMNRO has expanded its community interventions to improve livelihoods and well-being in mining communities.
“More than 200 women artisanal miners across six Nigerian states have received training to strengthen their technical knowledge, enhance safety practices, and improve their economic opportunities in the sector.
“Recognising the health and safety challenges faced by women miners, we also provided medical support and distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) to women working in mining communities,” she said.
She said beyond capacity building, the organisation had invested in addressing critical community needs and installed two solar-powered boreholes in two states, providing clean water to underserved communities.
She said that plans were underway to construct two additional boreholes, and reinforced the need for continued investment in women-led initiatives within the sector.
“Africa is richly endowed with both natural and human resources.
“However, unlocking the full potential of these resources requires intentional efforts to ensure that women are included, empowered and supported to lead.
“When women thrive, communities prosper and industries become more resilient,” she said.
She thanked the EnergyNet team for believing in NIWIMNRO’s vision, saying the feat marked another milestone in its journey to build a more inclusive extractive sector.
The sector, she said, should be one where women are not merely participants but key drivers of transformation and sustainable development.
According to her, NIWIMNRO remains committed to expanding opportunities for women artisanal miners, strengthening mining communities and advocating for policies that promote equity, safety and sustainable growth across Nigeria’s natural resources sector.
In her remarks, Ms Charlotte Lamb, Editorial and Content Manager of EnergyNet, commended NIWIMNRO for training women miners on their rights, safety and financial management.
Lamb said the organisation had also organised women into cooperatives capable of holding licences and entering formal commercial arrangements within the mining sector.
She also commended its efforts to establish aggregation hubs where lithium, gold and tin could be collected, graded and properly integrated into the value chain.
