A thousand women! That is the size of the community one of them has already built.
Long before the world paused to celebrate International Women’s Day, these women were already doing the work: rising in their own spaces and pulling others up with them.
Even the little girl who was helped at the age of 13 now has more than 100 others under her care.
What better way to tell this year’s International Women’s Day theme, "Give to Gain", than with these stories?
These women are not following the familiar script which asks for better access to rights, inclusion in government, and the breaking of age-old biases. They are acting out the transformative philosophy: Give to Gain, pulling an entire ecosystem up with them.
Now, step into the spaces of the women, one after the other.
Betty Abah's Product of Patriotic Investment
Through the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection, CEE-HOPE, Betty Abah runs education programmes, mentorship initiatives and shelters that support girls growing up in difficult circumstances.
Betty Abah
One of those girls was 13-year-old Ireti Ogunderu. She joined CEE-HOPE’s summer classes in 2013, one of many young girls from a community - Makoko - where very few opportunities existed. Abah offered an eight-year scholarship that kept her in school.
In 2026, Ogunderu now works with CEE-HOPE as a project officer, coordinating programmes that reach thousands of children across Makoko and other underserved communities.
“That encounter changed my life,” she says. “It gave me mentorship and exposure that shaped my confidence and purpose. I discovered my voice.
“CEE-HOPE has given me hope, education and a platform,” she says. “In return, I am committed to give back by uplifting others and speaking for those who have no voice.”
She has featured in advocacy films addressing early child marriage and education.
For Abah, this ripple effect is exactly the point, “Women are the gift that keeps giving,” she explains.
“Imagine someone who comes wired to give, wired to help, wired to add value. When you empower such a person with knowledge, skills and resources, she becomes a multiplier. A catalyst.”
It is why she insists investing in girls is not charity but strategy.
“When you gift a girl education, everyone gains. She gains. Her family gains. Her community gains. The nation gains.”
CheChe Smith: Female Creatives Must Also Be Visible
While Betty Abah’s work is transforming lives in community classrooms, another kind of ecosystem is quietly growing inside Nigeria’s creative industry.
The broadcast journalist, Cheche Smith has built a network of more than 1,000 women supporting one another across music and media through a platform she founded called HER Sound.
The initiative connects female creatives who might otherwise remain unseen, creating opportunities for collaboration, mentorship and access to industry resources.
The idea grew from what Smith has observed as a broadcaster.
“Being in the business for that long gives you a front row seat; you see the good, the bad and the ugly,” she says.
What she noticed the most was a gap in visibility.
“It was always the guys reaching out, sending their work, asking for collaboration. So I kept asking: Where are the women? Why are they not coming out?”
Rather than complain about the imbalance, she decided to create space. HER Sound became that space.
“Women needed support. They needed collaboration. They needed someone to hold them by the hand,” she explains. “Her Sound is like the big sister.”
Through shared resources, mentorship and partnerships, the platform has helped female creatives move from the sidelines to the centre stage.
Smith believes empowerment should never stop at individual success.
“One woman’s success is powerful,” she says.
“But it’s not powerful enough to drive all of us."
Smith believes every successful woman should pull up the next woman. "When women open doors for other women, it breaks stereotypes. It builds networks. It builds confidence. It creates solidarity."
The Market Community of Over 85 Women
The ripple continues in the retail space where Juliet Akhakienlen and Awokoh Margaret belong to a network of women entrepreneurs.
Both of them sell kitchen utensils, while other members of their network are into logistics, and the sales of other everyday items like electrical appliances.
They approach business with the same principle of sharing market information, referrals and supplier contacts.
Margaret says there is zero competition and hero collaboration among them.
Conclusion: Give to Gain
The familiar script of International Women’s Day - the calls for rights, justice, and action for all women and girls - is still relevant.
According to the United Nations, no nation has closed the legal gaps between men and women.
The global body states that women have only 64 percent of the legal rights that men hold worldwide.
So, calls for inclusion in government and seats at the high table is not misplaced.
However, as the stories of Betty Abah, Ireti Ogunderu, and Cheche Smith prove, those seats only matter if the women occupying them are committed to pulling an entire ecosystem up with them.
Abah believes that the final gain of the empowerment cycle is power.
“When you put women in positions of power, issues like period poverty and maternal mortality resonate differently,” she explains. “These are lived realities for women.”
Here, the theme for this year's International Women's Day, "Give to Gain," eventually moves from the classrooms and the studios to policy-making rooms. It is here that the investment truly scales.
Abah argues that when we empower women with resources and authority, we aren't just doing a "good deed," we are placing "round pegs in round holes."
This is because when a woman rises, she doesn't just change her own life; she changes the laws, the industries, and the future for everyone.
