About Us

Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo (NNII) is an organization founded by a lawyer, socio-cultural historian, women leader, gender/civil rights activist and former Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih. Founded on the 26th of August, 2020 as a platform for women to return to the much-valued Igbo RoundTable Conversations, rooted in the idea that conversations from the family unit, kindred up to the larger community signpost the integrative means of getting everyone to contribute ideas, energy and resources to the development of society. Membership is open to all women of Igbo ancestry and/or marriage willing to join forces for the development of the region and indeed, the Nigerian nation as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers.

The group aspires to return the society to the pristine times when both genders complemented each other politically, economically, socio-culturally and even spiritually, in ways that saw women share the burden of leadership with the men for better and more accelerated development. NNII wants to tap into both the historical and global trends that have seen women excel in their traditional, leadership and professional duties. We want to galvanize our varied ideas and strength to complement the efforts of the men to develop the region and indeed the whole country.

History, both oral and written, documents for us the contributions of women in leadership in precolonial times when women’s contributions validated the plural vision of development in the society. Women had always been visible and contributed to development in ways that confirmed their natural roles as nurturers and builders. Realizing that the mono leadership of our men has become both burdensome for them as well as arrested development, NNII as a body is inspired to return our society to the good old days of shared leadership—seeing that women feel more the impact of underdevelopment in a world ruled by ideas and technology, both of which are not gender sensitive. Our women are ready to sit at the table to contribute their quota.

Our motto is Partnering for Development. In these three words lie the soul of Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo (NNII). We the women will no longer be satisfied ‘observers’ of the colonial legacy of mono-governance given the history and present realities in leadership in Africa. We realize the value of Nkata in Igbo cosmic history: Nkata is semantically a metaphor for communal roundtable discussion which is very inclusive and not gender sensitive but progressively beneficial. We are willing to partner, not compete, with our men. Partnership naturally comes with unobtrusive shared responsibility that is as productive as it is mutually beneficial.

We, as a group, are willing and able to partner—beyond our men—with any individual, group, corporate organization or agencies in Nigeria or in the diaspora that would assist us to serve our people in a world that thrives on the shared value of our humanity. As women, we know our capacity and the impact of underdevelopment on women and children. We want to work together as a bloc that feels more the impact of the political, economic, sociocultural and even spiritual inequities, injustice and the resultant underdevelopment. On a global scale, women and girls have been battling a myriad of challenges and we at NNII wear the shoes and know where it pinches; we are well positioned through private and professional experiences to begin this hopefully unending and valued partnership with all people of goodwill around the world.

We want to tap into the core values that unite our common humanity through the simple but effective tools of conversations, dialogue and community organising. NNII is all-embracing as we believe in the Igbo social mantra of ‘Igwe bu ike’—in unity lies strength. We are not an elitist group as we believe that leadership and development come when every individual input is galvanised and redirected for progress and development. We equally want to reintegrate the old socio-economic values of female mentorship of the younger girls through advocacies and actual involvement in education and training for skill acquisition through the world-renowned Igbo apprenticeship scheme, where values of diligence and industry are imparted through both formal and informal ways.