Women no doubt are better managers of society. There is always peace and progress in places headed by women. This is in contrast with the men. The men are harsher rather (the general breakdown of law and order. This article examines gender inequalities.
Introduction
The poor management of the economy by the men folk an average Nigerian and the resulting socio-economic problems like armed robbery, youth to prove their worth for the improvement of the lives of the average Nigerian.
The role of women in the agricultural sector in Nigeria cannot be underestimated. It sheds light on gender inequalities.
Women, especially those living in rural areas are engaged in every stage of agricultural production such as planting, weeding and harvesting.
Focus 1
Apart from these, rural women are engaged in activities such as fetching water; firewood, and cooking of food: none for which they are paid. All these functions are performed by women apart from being readers of children and housekeepers.
Another violation of women’s rights is that women are not allowed to own properties such as land or houses. Even the right to inherit their husband’s property is denied them.
In several societies in Nigeria, women are the breadwinners of the family. They are made to farm while men perform lesser duties and mostly drink at home. On top of that, the same women are sexually harassed in the night by their husbands.
Focus 2
Since the majority of women have little or no access to Western education, the majority of them are involved in petty jobs while those with some education are engaged in lowly paid employment as cleaners secretaries, waiters typists etc.
In most cases, it is poverty that pushes some of them into prostitution and this has become a general social problem.
According to Oduyemi (2000:18), in most countries, women work approximately twice the unpaid time of men.
Focus 3
According to him, in 1993, the value of women’s unpaid housework and community work was estimated at between 10-35 per cent of GDP worldwide, amounting to eleven million dollars.
Other factors that cause poverty among women is that they lack access to certain factors of production such as land, as mentioned already, but the most important factor is that banks and other financial institutions do not lend them money because of gender bias.
Gender Issues and Women’s Employment in the Civil Service
In gender inequalities, In the past (and even now), women were discriminated against in the Civil Service, There was a limitation on positions that women could rise to. Immediately, after independence, the bulk of
the Civil Service was dominated by men at the expense of women. Few women were in positions. Today, as a result of concerted efforts of educated women and the International Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 19791999:12).
Focus 1
Educated women have been able to identify social injustice and inequality and demand reforms that might be considered unacceptable to men.
They have also made efforts to eliminate the negative aspects of Nigerian traditions including female circumcision.
Women are now placed in strategic positions, which were hitherto considered to be the exclusive rights of men. Today, there are women permanent secretaries, judges, directors, deputy directors and a host of others.
Focus 2
However, much is still to be done to free women from the shackles of enslavement has been observed that:
Since the 1993 conference on human rights in Vienna, “Women’s rights and human rights” have been a rallying cry for women worldwide.
Every major International human rights treaty explicitly prohibits discrimination against women and statistics show that women are treated as second-class citizens in most areas of life (Daily Sketch March 14,2001:18)
Focus 3
Violence against women, both in and out of the home, has reached epidemic levels worldwide. UNICEF reported that domestic violence against both young and old citizens is present in every country cutting across boundaries of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity and age.
Such violence also includes the trafficking of women and girls which remains a serious problem in many parts of the world, particularly in South East Asia (UNICEF 2000).
If women are not empowered and freed from these hardships, their conditions, status and positions might not improve than what it is now.
Gender Issues and Women’s Employment in the Teaching Profession
In the areas of teaching education, women have made significant progress. People like professors Zulu Sofola, Grace Alele Williams, and Bolanle Awe (to mention a few) have excelled and contributed greatly to the educational upliftment of this great nation.
The record of recent male enrolment in Tertiary Institutions shows that it far exceeds that of their male counterpart.
For example, female enrolment at the Kwara State College of Education, Oro in both the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and Bachelors in Education (B.Ed) degree programmes are higher than males. Similarly, in Kwara State, female teachers in primary schools have progressively soared.
Focus 1
According to UNESCO (1999:35), the number of women teachers in Nigeria grew between 1984 and 1994.
In Primary schools, there were 104,024 female teachers in 1984 while by 1994 their figure was 201,905. In secondary schools in 1984, their number was 29,902 while by 1994 it was 54,494.
This development has helped to cover shortages caused by the desertion of male teachers who opted for better-paid jobs.
This is a good development because female teachers would now serve as models for girls for their empowerment and guide and counsel them towards a quality life.
Focus 2
It is a positive development, as it will bridge the gap between the male and female education professions, at least at the primary school level.
But what happens to the standard of education at this level when female teachers often go on maternity leave and/or run private businesses like selling or hawking goods and foodstuffs within and outside the school?
Many female teachers have risen to the positions of Zonal Inspectors of Education, Headmistresses of primary schools and Principals of secondary schools.
Factors Responsible for the Low Participation of Women in Politics in Nigeria
Most contributions made by women’s organizations or women as individuals have highlighted the underrepresentation of women in politics, government, educational institutions and indeed all spheres of human activities.
In fact, in the report of the Political Bureau of 1987, some women’s contributions provided data to validate their assertion. One such statistical data provided by a female contributor revealed that women “constitute and they formed only 0.7 per cent.
Federal Legislature in the Second Republic” (P.157)
Another female contributor in the political bureau showed that female enrolment in schools is less than that of males.
She asserted that at the primary level female enrolment is about 50 per cent that of the males, while at the Secondary level. It is less than 50 per cent and only about 10 per cent of University enrolment is women. It should be noted that in the pre-colonial era, women played important political and economic roles.
Focus 1
Typical examples of these were the Iyalodes, the Iyalojas (among the Yoruba), the Omu society among the Igbos and the Jakadiyas among the Hausas.
References could also be made to the legendary Queen Amina of Zaria to buttress the belief that women played a potential role in our history.
The decline of women’s participation in public and economic affairs could also be attributed to contemporary socioeconomic factors other than male chauvinism. The practice of religion in Nigeria has inhibited full women’s participation in public affairs.
Focus 2
In some societies, women removed to accord them equal opportunities as their male counterparts. In Nigeria, a for appointments to public offices on equal terms with men.
But one finds that women participate in female President, or Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives or even(1997:43) puts it simply as “the higher one goes in national hierarchy, the fewer women are
The African socio-cultural traditions tend to assume that women’s public rules are secondary and that their primary role is domestic.
For example, Osemeilchan (1988) argued that, ironically, women who constitute a majority of the world population received only a small share of development opportunities.
Focus 3
They are often excluded from better jobs, education, etc. noted, gender imbalance resulting from a complex contribution of historical, socio-economic, socio-cultural and past policy factors which manifest in the under-representation of women in all institutions and their relative absence in certain fields.
Besides the multiple roles played by men, society has placed a heavy responsibility on women’s role in the preservation of their own culture by protecting them from formal education.
Focus 3
Through this, they can improve the nutritional content of the family meals by a better understanding of dietetics.
Add to the comfort and amenities of the house, improve the family health by better hygiene, show better understanding and contribute to the schooling which their children receive etc. in general to actively participate in civil, political and economic life.
“The type of political system, which is autocratic, also hinders women’s political activities. The party structure and the constitution impede women’s participation in politics.
Focus 5
The majority of the party men and those who make our laws as entrenched in the previous institutions of Nigeria are men and thus make the constitutional provision favour their interest.
Women also on their part view politics as an aggressive, violent and dirty game is tends to deter them from participating in it. Despite this, women have been known to be actively involved in politics when given the desired opportunity.
The entrenchment of capitalist relations of production can be seen as contributing to the line of the role of women in social and public affairs.
Focus 6
It should be noted that the majority offering women are peasants and housewives who have been marginalized in the process of education and distribution by the character of the Nigerian state.
Very few are employed and only a handful occupy policy-making positions. The majority of them fall within the under-
Women are also few in the combatant arm of the military which further reduces the active participation of women in government and under military regime.
A new pace was set during Commissioners: Military Governors were also directed to appoint at least one female Commissioner in the State Executive Councils. These were not enough considering the numerical strength of women in Nigerian society.
Conclusions and Recommendation
Conclusions
From the foregoing analysis, it is obvious that women have not been treated equally with men. Besides, women are still being marginalized, cheated, oppressed and treated as second-class citizens by men.
The root cause of the discrimination could be traced to the education gap between men and women. The educational gap in turn can be traced to socio-cultural factors, which made parents prefer educating males to females.
Focus 1
Education has placed men, in positions of power in the political system and this enabled them to pass discriminatory decisions and policies. They were essentially designed to relegate women to the background In summary, this is the politics of gender issues because the man have the power to do and undo.
Attempts to get women empowered, especially through the efforts of the United Nations and individual countries, proved abortive and difficult because women are still marginalized and are still experiencing high levels of poverty.
However, it has been observed that our effort to develop as a nation without the contribution of womenfolk will prove abortive.
Focus 2
For example, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (UNESCO, 1979:45) has rightly observed that women have a vital role “in environmental management and development; their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development”.
To achieve this, we have to empower our women so that they can be seen and treated as equals to men, Sako(1999) came up with several recommendations on how to get women empowered.
However, their commendations cannot work or be useful in a society where the majority of women are still illiterate. Some of the recommendations require the services of women who are very sound in education before the aims can be achieved.
Recommendations
This will place women in the right positions of decision. The government should place women in positions of responsibility or management. If possible certain percentages should be set aside for the womenfolk, in that regard.
The government needs to review certain laws and national regulations which place women in disadvantaged positions in matters relating to inheritance, property and land ownership.
Focus 1
The government should make women’s education free at all levels from primary to university level.) Efforts should be made to mobilize women’s education by organization of evening lessons for the illiterate ones.
Finally, we should borrow a leaf from South Africa by implementing all the U.N. conventions, treaties and constitutional provisions concerning women’s position. You can read more related posts on our news page of the site.
Editors
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