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Article History

Received: 21 January 2026

Accepted: 25 July 2026

First Online: 5 August 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical clearance was granted by the National Health Research Ethics Committee of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (NHREC Approval Number NHREC/01/01/2007–16/10/2023). The committee rigorously reviewed the protocol, methodology, and safeguards. This approval confirmed compliance with national and international standards, especially in sensitive areas such as women’s health and advocacy. Social clearance was also obtained from state authorities in Lagos, Kano, and Kaduna prior to conducting fieldwork. This included engagement with State Ministries of Health and other agencies. These steps ensured local acceptance, sensitivity, and alignment with state protocols. The approvals legitimised the study and helped engage stakeholders at the subnational level. Informed consent, written or verbal as preferred, was obtained before each session and interview. Participation was voluntary, and withdrawal was possible at any stage without penalty. All data were stored securely. Quotes in this report are anonymised to protect identities.

Consent for publication: Not applicable. No individual-level personal data are reported in this manuscript, and all information is presented in an anonymised and aggregated form. All authors consented to this publication.

Competing interests: Authors declared none.