Economic empowerment is the foundation of women’s freedom, dignity, and protection from abuse in Nigeria, according to Mrs. Funmi Falana, SAN, founder of Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.

The remarks were made during the 2025 graduation ceremony of the WELA Vocational Training College in Lagos, where 17 beneficiaries completed the ninth edition of the organization’s skills acquisition program. The event, held to coincide with International Human Rights Day, was themed “Building Lives, Restoring Hope.”

In her address, Falana highlighted that access to justice alone is insufficient if women lack economic independence.

“Many women suffer oppression and domestic violence because they are economically dependent. Fear of losing financial support keeps them silent,” she said, emphasizing the role of financial empowerment in enabling women to assert their rights.

Sowore criticized the government for failing to provide basic services, noting that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have had to step in to fill the gap. “In a country where government has failed, NGOs are now the ones providing food, water, electricity, and sanitation,” he said, calling efforts to tax NGOs “misplaced and counterproductive.”

Child rights advocate and founder of the CEE-HOPE Foundation, Betty Abah, added that economic empowerment is the most practical response to poverty, abuse, and systemic failure. “Advocacy without empowerment does not change lives,” she said, praising WELA’s vocational program as a real, measurable intervention that equips women with skills for self-reliance.