WHY WE NEED WOMEN IN POLITICS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

Introduction

There is growing global recognition that gender equality is paramount to the development of political economy of any society, of which the Nigeria community cannot be an exception, (Obiamaka, 2014 in Ellis, 2004).  Where gender inequality impedes level playground participation for men and women of any society in diverse area of specialization, the resultant effect is that there will be lower competition among all eligible human participants.  Thus, the best may have been denied their contributions in the achievement of optimal results in all areas of political and economic progression.

Emergence of Nigerian Women

Until of recent, there is the general archaic belief in Nigeria’s family circle that women’s place is only in the kitchen and four walls of the household; to tender all occupants of  each necleus family.  This belief lends credence to not allowing the female child to have equal educational opportunity with her male counterparts.  This practice is more pronounced in the northern part of Nigeria; but by the turn of the current political dispensation in Nigeria, thanks to the outspoken posture of the current First Lady of Nigeria and Late Professor Dora Akuyili, one-time Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Control – NAFDAC and erstwhile Minister of Information and Communication, the womenfolk rapidly started to evolve.  It is during the Presidential campaign of  Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that the Nigerian women pushed through the now famous 35% affirmation in the sharing of political appointments.  This effort by our womenfolk ushered in the advent of Nigerian women occupying key Ministerial and economic positions.  It must not be forgotten that before this time, Obasanjo regime showcased two prominent women in the Nigerian political dispensation by giving opportunity to two female Ministers – Oby Ekwensili and former World Bank Director, Ngozi Okwonjo-Iwiela to serve as Ministers of Education and Finance respectively.  The scorecard of these few women that were tested, to be candid, varies by public analysts, but on the whole, it doesn’t appear that the former denial of women participation in the socio-political economy of Nigeria was the best experience we have been subjected to.  On the contrary, the general belief that women are more tighter on table came to the limelight, very prominently when one continues to assess the performances of some of these females in public appointments execution of their duties.

Gender Marginalisation Effect

The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria clearly stipulates gender equality, but customary and religious laws continue to restrict women’s rights.  The disparity between women and men in terms of political, social, educational and economic achievements cannot be separated from some problems which hinder parity between the two groups.  Such problems include low participation of women in politics, limited rights in terms of access to resources; such as land ownership, credit facilities and opportunities in education, training, job placements, especially for the predominantly Muslim Northern women.  There are also more than 250 ethnic groups with various customs, offering many constraints to emancipation of women-folks to take their rightful position in the society, specifically in the economic and political dispensation.

In a 2008 research, Obiamaka et al posited that the total number of women involved in one form of work or the other,  in the economy of this country is 43.1% as opposed to men’s 56.9%.  The picture according to this statistics appears favourable, comparatively to women, but Obiamaka et al assert that the statistics is misleading.  They opined that key leading sectors in the economy by way of income yield or reward have not been favourable to women in terms of participation.  There are the construction industries where women participation is 0.2% relative to men’s 3.2%, transportation and communication business, 0.5% relative to men’s 6.8% and administrative/defence, where women participation is only 2.5% as against men’s 7.0%.  They conclude that a higher participation of women are found in the lower spectrum of public offices.

Case for More Women Participation in Politics

With the foregoing status quo, as highlighted above, it can be clearly ascertained that women has in the past been denied equal participation in Nigerian politics.  With the turn of things very recently, it has been established that given the opportunity, women can contribute their own quota in the political and economic indices of this country.  Therefore, there is a dire need for the Nigerian electorate to articulately screen womenfolks in their communities and present credible women of virture, cool-headedness, hard-working and educationally groomed into positions of authority in this country.  The enumerated examples have shown that there are the matured Nigerian women, who have been tested and proved to be able to tower in their areas of specialization.  Such could be given opportunities to serve in the political dispensation of this country.

 ADEBAYO, Busayo (2015)

Freelance Public Analyst.

adebayobusayo1@gmail.com