Nkoyo Toyo: Co-Founder and 1st Executive Director

Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo was the first Executive Director of Gender and Development Action, an organisation she co-founded with Dr. Eka Williams and Ms. Barbara Riley.
A lawyer and Development Consultant, Nkoyo Toyo studied at Ahmadu Bello University from 1975-1979, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree (LL.B) with honours in Law. She was called to the bar in 1980; she obtained a Master’s degree also in law (LL.M) in 1993.
Driven by her passion for human rights and gender equity in Development, she decided to apply her legal knowledge to development work. In her effort to equip herself for the challenge she sought and earned a Chevenning scholarship to study Governance and Development at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) University of Sussex from 2000-2001
She is an activist and intellectual. She has participated actively in most discourses on gender and related issues within and outside Nigeria and has contributed immensely to the development of various concepts in gender and development. She believes that development must have a direct bearing on the people’s quality of life.
Nkoyo has a long standing interest in the participation of women in politics and review of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria. She has delivered papers, both published and unpublished on various issues such as: Women’s participation in public and decision making, Fourth World Conference on Women, Women in oil producing areas, AIDS Prevention and Control: the NGO Perspective, Empowerment of Women, Women’s Mobilisation for Action, Christian Women and Politics etc.
Her experience is wide and ranging. She was coordinator Nigeria Youth AIDS Programme from 1993-1996, a member of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA) Association for Women in Development (AWID), Women in Nigeria (WIN), she was as well a delegate to the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) in 2005.
Nkoyo is currently on leave of absence because of her recent appointment as Nigeria's Ambassador to Ethiopia.

Ada Agina-Ude: Executive Director

Ada is an author, media practitioner, publisher and women’s rights activist whose experience spans over three decades. She holds a combined Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Journalism from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (1973), a Master of Science in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos, and a Certificate in Publications and Design from the Central Office of Information, London, United Kingdom. She became a Director in Gender and Development Action in 1998, having retired voluntarily from the Federal Public Service as an Acting Assistant Chief Information Officer in 1990, to publish Nigeria’s first Feminist magazine, the Pan African Ms.  Although now deeply entrenched in women’s rights activism, Ada has not totally abandoned her profession.   In 2002, she was selected by the British Council DFID as one of the 90 African women journalists to write for the prestigious internet-based newspaper, AfricaWoman on a part-time basis. She did it so well that one of her stories entitled, The First Lady Syndrome caught global attention and got her an award in 2003.
Since joining the NGO world in1998 Ada has had capacity building in various aspects of gender and development work to equip her for the challenges. She has undergone training in Alternative Dispute Resolution, the Concept of Gender, Gender Budgeting, Gender Mainstreaming, Gender Management System, Project Management, and Social Mobilization.
Ada has also attended many national and international conferences on numerous themes including CEDAW, HIV/AIDS, Education, Gender and Livelihoods, Gender and Socio- Economic Rights, Gender and the 1999 Constitution, Human Trafficking, Women’s Rights, Women in Politics,  Women in Public Life, and Social Welfare. A widely traveled lady she has visited countries such as France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and United States of America both for holidays and in the course of her work.
Owing to her expertise and wealth of experience she has done consultancy for the British Council (DFID), CIDA, CEDPA, UNESCO, UNIFEM, NIGERIANET, Action Aid International Nigeria, some State Governments, and many national organisations.
The Director who is the strength behind GADA publications was a member of the pioneer Board of the Nigerian Press Council as a representative of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in which she held various executive posts from1988 to 1998. She was also a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and still a member of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG), and a Past President of Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolitan.
Her advocacy on gender issues and promotion of women’s rights  have earned her some accolades such as the African Woman International Award in Recognition of Outstanding Service in Projecting African Womanhood (1994), and the Rare Gem Award for Meeting Challenges and Creating Change (2006). The Governing Board of Editors of the American Biographical Institute for which she was Consulting Editor, nominated her for the title of Woman of the year in 2004, and the Institute’s International Board of Research nominated her for Woman of Achievement Award 2005.

Okenwa Chidinma Bertha: Programme Officer

Chidinma is a graduate of Sociology/Anthropology from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. She is multi-talented and combines both programming and Information Technology skills.
She has attended and contributed to national conferences and trainings such as Transformative Leadership Training, Constitution Reform Forum, and Women in politics.
Her responsibility includes organizing workshops, trainings, seminars, keeping track of GADA’s financial records and as well as monitoring the development of projects.

Nsikan George
Programme Manager (Abuja office)

Nsikan holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State.  She is managing the Gender, Environmental Studies and Intervention desk in the Abuja office. With her background in Chemistry and Environmental Management and her experience in GADA she is building a career in Sustainable Development and Climate Change.  
She has participated in workshops and conferences on gender mainstreaming, budgeting, girl-child education etc.

Susan Bassey Duke
Programme Manager (Port Harcourt Office)

Susan holds a B.Sc. degree in Communication Arts and a P.G.D in Management Studies from the University of Uyo and University of Calabar respectively. Susan joined GADA, Lagos in 2001 and has since networked with several civil society groups to secure the rights of women within a clear framework of international standards. Some of Susan’s engagements and activities include: Debates on Politicization of Constitutional Reforms from a Gender Perspective, African Women & the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, (NEPAD), Regional Conference for African Parliamentarians on the recent Strategic Development initiatives in Africa, Affirmative Action and Quotas for Women in Political Parties
Susan has worked in the external relations function of SPDC as a Government Relations Adviser for Bayelsa state, Rivers state, and Akwa Ibom state, she had a stint with the Media and Community relations activities of SPDC. Susan has a broad knowledge and workings of activities of key stakeholders in the Niger Delta and has demonstrated skill in mobilizing and empowering women in the areas of Information, networking and training. She has strong programme management.
Susan is currently involved in Advocacy efforts with policy makers on a gender responsive budget and accountability in Rivers State.

Deborah Effiong
Programmes Coordinator (Port Harcourt office)

Deborah holds an LL.B and B.L degrees in law from the University of Calabar and the Nigerian Law School, respectively. She joined GADA in 2001 and has since demonstrated great experience in women’s human rights. She has been engaged in series of programmes and platforms that provide insight into Women’s Experiences, notable amongst them are: The National Coalition on Affirmative Action, Gender Coalition on Constitutional Reforms, The Feminist Movement in Nigeria (FEMIN), The Nigerian Gender Budget Network (NGBN), NDI- Research on Women’s Electoral Experiences, National Campaign on Violence against Women, Challenging Patriarchy Project etc.
Deborah is also a civic educator and has partner with FIDA, IFES and RSIEC in providing civic education training for Women politician, Election monitoring, youth based groups, CSOs, CBOs and the public in general.
A trained peace advocate in conflict Management and Peace building by IDASA and IFESH Deborah heads the Legal Aid Unit of GADA and has participated in trainings and conferences on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Financing Gender Equality for Development and Democracy of the Commonwealth Foundation in Uganda has also facilitated in conflict management training workshop /FGD for women in Okirika, River state, Biseni women in Bayelsa State and Ijaw/Itsekiri women in Delta State.

Patience Ekong
Programme /Accounts Officer (Port Harcourt)

Patience holds a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Port Harcourt. She joined GADA (Port Harcourt) in 2007 and has since been involved in Project Management and Implementation.  She also keeps the accounts unit of the Port Harcourt office given her educational background in statistics. She has actively engaged in forums which include; Movement against Corruption (MAC), Budget monitoring processes in both the local and state Government levels, Civic education trainings and Elections Monitoring.

Phillip Madu       
Project/Field Office (Port Harcourt)

Phillip is currently pursuing a degree in information technology (I.T). He is a full time volunteer staff for GADA (Port Harcourt), he is involved in Research and Documentation, Field Mapping exercises, Report Writings and Trainings.

Sarah Briggs
Office Assistant (Port Harcourt)

Sarah is the office assistant for GADA in Port-Harcourt office and she also has secretarial skills.