Empowering women can revitalise our nation

FEMALE empowerment in Nigeria is a fiscal process that involves empowering Nigerian women as a poverty diminution gauge. Empowerment is the development of women in term of politics, social and economic strength in nation development. It is also a way of plummeting women susceptibility and dependency in all sphere of life. It can be noted that the aggregate of educational, political, health and legal empowerment are key to women empowerment in Nigeria. Like many African women, Nigerian women have a subsidiary role to their male counterparts. There are twice as many women below the poverty line than men, and up to 19 times as many men in executive positions than women.

Women on the African continent are on both end of the divide. Given their numerical strength, statistics have it that they are responsible for over 60 per cent of the labor force and family income. And by virtue of their commitment to family issues, women are often worst-hit by economic hardships in these countries. In African countries, Nigeria inclusive, the defenseless conditions of the women-folks are more critical amidst the lingering gender inequalities, domestic violence, and child. The Nigerian woman has proved to be more than a mere bench-warming spectator even in the midst – of the male-dominated congregation. Many examples abound for us to see even here in this state. Women have proved their strength and competence in our societies in all spheres even in male dominated professions but the rise of women to lead several professional male dominated environments gives us hope and their achievement is a pointer to the proficiency of the Nigerian woman.

Apart from testifying to the malleability, fortitude and obdurate “spirit” of women, cast in bold relief two useful and challenging facts. These are firstly, that leadership traits are not genetically acquired and – have nothing to do with gender. Women can effectively participate in policy making and governance, if given the chance. They can hold their own in very difficult and stressful situations and can do as well, if not better, than men. It is only in redressing the obfuscation of centering without empowerment in the various domains involving women that issues intrinsic in the answer to the foregoing questions and the path leading to the emergence of the future Nigerian woman could be addressed. Women must adjust mentality for winning because the frustration of the past led to many of them pegging their aspiration low. They should grant themselves cerebral liberation and cast away coyness while expressing informed and enlightened boldness and confidence. At the core of Nigeria’s social imbalance is a distorted power dynamic in determining family size. This male centered focus points to a critical population problem. Women are eliminated from the decision making process of how many children they are going to have and when they are to have them. There are very few population control guides that targets men to reduce the high fertility rate.

In order for anything to work as far as population control, men and women must both have equal power in the household.  There are imbalances within marriage, religious and government institutions and access to good health program.Women are nearly non-existent on the Nigerian political scene, more so at the federal and state levels. Male domination of decision-making and violence has led to women not feeling free and comfortable enough to engage in political matters. Additionally, successful political advisors are not likely to support female candidates so it could be difficult for them to pave a conduit in politics. There are major differentiations when it comes to starting businesses and getting credit loans for men vs. women in Nigeria. When women in business have fewer employees and shorter longevity than men, this gender gap becomes even wider. At the 64th General Assembly it was reported that “the number of senior female civil servants was judged to be 22.5 per cent, while judicial appointment across the 36 States constituted about 30 per cent. A national action plan on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Nigeria was deposited with the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in July 2009. A chapter was devoted to the rights of women and children.

Nigeria needs to improve the education of girls by recruiting more female teachers, creating skill acquisition programs for girls and women, and providing textbooks at subsidized rates, among other measures. Judges and magistrates were continuously being trained on gender and women’s rights. Health system facilities were being scaled up.

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Report shows that Nigerian women are not favored in the evolution of educational system in the country. In 1965, 37.75% of populations in primary schools are girls while only 9% of undergraduates were female. By 1974, the percentage of female undergraduates increased to 25.5%. The major enrollments from girls were only in teaching and social courses. In absolute terms, there were 138,334 male and 50,652 female students in Nigeria universities during this period. The challenges faced by girls were due to the perception of the society on gender qualities. We need to ameliorate these gender inequalities. To correct these anomalies, suggesting that gender analysis be made a standard tool of economic analysis, and of project design and monitoring. There should also be improvements on women’s access to basic economic resources such as land (as owners), labor-saving machines (such as tractors), food processing machines, financial capital and other agricultural innovations such as improved seedlings, pesticides, herbicides, and  fertilizers. To ensure proper utility of these facilities, technical services as well as market information should be made available to women farmers among others. It boils down to the need for the education of the rural women. Empowering women means empowering the nation which will strengthen the economy and revitalize the society.

Ayoola is an intern with the Nigeria Tribune.