International Women’s Day: The long road to equal opportunities

ADEOLA OTEMADE reports that women have always been disadvantaged due to age-long biases, but recent happenings are showing that things are gradually looking up for them as more womenfolk are making inroad into new frontiers.

Every year on the 8th of March, the world celebrates the International Women’s Day, This year’s celebration is of significance not just for its theme, Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,  it is going to celebrate the efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, after standing in the frontline as health care workers, care givers, innovators, community organisers and as some of the most exemplary and national leaders in combating the pandemic.

Also, just before this year’s celebration, former Nigerian Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala assumed office as the head of the World Trade Organisation. She is the first woman and first African to hold the position, a feat that shows that women in leadership continue to push the frontiers and breaking the glass ceiling in all areas of human endeavour.

The woman and the society are two entities that cannot be separated from each other as the society will not be complete without the place of the woman. Often times, the society places restrictions and limitations on how the woman should function, thereby making her place appear insignificant in the society.

However, the persistent pre-existing social discrimination, gender-based favouritism, constant exposure to domestic violence, unpaid care duties, unemployment, poverty, being underutilised and the systemic limitations to women’s participation and leadership, are often cited by gender experts to be some of the challenges to the female folks.

A Vienna-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), World Data Lab, through The World Poverty Clock, a tool which monitors progress against poverty globally claims in a 2020 report that women makes up slightly less than 50 per cent of Nigeria’s population, but account for more than 70 per cent of those in extreme poverty.

In Nigeria, the gender bias system is not only keeping women down, but also limiting the country from achieving its massive potentials. A BBC report state that 40 per cent of Nigerian women are entrepreneurs, which is the highest ratio of female business owners in the world.

Even the girl-child is not free from social problems facing the country. Recently, about 317 girls were abducted by gunmen in the North-West state of Zamfara. While quite a number have been released, a significant number have also not been accounted for, just like several of the Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls.

Ironically, while a few Nigerian women are making waves nationally and internationally, the reality with the majority, according to investigations made by Sunday Tribune, is that women are still at a disadvantage on the socio-economic front, among other indices.

For Omolara Awofiranye, the woman has been made to assume the role of the man in a most subtle way that was unknown to the society, due to cases of absentee husbands and those who are not living up to their responsibilities.

“I lost my job during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. I used to work in a bank; as of that time, my husband had travelled out of the country leaving me with three kids to raise all by myself. It has not been easy having to raise three kids alone and not having a side business as the banking job won’t allow one have time for your family. I work round the clock from Sunday to Sunday. Life became tense when I lost my job; I resorted to selling petty things at home such as foodstuffs, soft drinks, sweet, biscuit, and what have you.

“My husband had to travel out of the country to pursue his PhD, while I was left to cater for the family. Having to pay school fees, running the home, paying bills can be really draining mentally. I can emphatically say that the role of the woman in the society is one that cannot be disregarded,” she narrated.

Similarly, Yemisi Odebode had shouldered most of her family’s responsibilities alone. With the benefit of a hind-sight, she told Sunday Tribune that it would take only a strong woman to shoulder the burden of the home, and still submit herself to the pleasures of her husband.

“Most men believe that as the heads of their homes, they have privileges to enjoy even when they fail to cater for their families. The society in a way breeds men who believe women are meant for sexual gratification. I had to step in the moment I realised the future of my children were at stake if I continued to depend on my husband. This made me to work harder,” she explained.

 

Evolving through the barriers

According to Banke Ilori, a lawyer and executive director of Raising New Voices Initiative, an NGO, the society has not been equitable to women in many ways, particularly with respect to providing the necessary structures for them to impact the society with their abilities.

“Apart from the fact that several business organisations do not have structures to support working mothers, the division of gender roles in our society over the years is a huge challenge.

“Research shows that women all over the world do 76 per cent of the unpaid work. This caused them to suffer a loss of $10.9 trillion just in 2018 alone.

“If we can address this, more women will be financially empowered to the betterment of the society. At this point, especially because it’s International Women’s Day, I think we should shift the conversation from what women can do, to what everyone can do to support women in attaining their full potentials.

“Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because without the full participation of women in all aspects of our society, Nigeria’s development will continue to be severely hindered.

“Our women, despite all odds are currently the most entrepreneurial in the world, almost 3000 of them also made it to the ballot in the 2019 elections, asking to serve the Nigerian people but only few were elected.

“This shows that our women are trying to break free, but they are being limited by several harmful socio-cultural and economic barriers such as female genital mutilation, child marriages, and discriminatory practices, among others. Fixing this situation will require the collaborative efforts of everyone in the society, not just the women.

“The government has a major role to play, in a wide variety of areas. They should comply with the provisions of the National Gender Policy which makes salient recommendations for empowering women, particularly the provision which stipulates a minimum of 35 per cent affirmative action for women to appointive positions.

“An amendment to the Electoral Act to reflect this for political parties should also be done. The domestication and adequate implementation of existing laws aimed at creating a safer society for our women is also paramount,” she added.

Roseline Adewuyi, a gender advocate, also maintained that the age-long perception of women as inferior members of the society should change.

“Treating women as second class citizens often stems from age-long perceptions of people. A good number of these wrong mindsets come from some of the negative aspects of our cultural norms and practices.

“Many old or archaic customs project women as weak and fragile. More than that, these societal constructs often portray women as beings incapable of reason, logic and decision making.

“Hence, in some places, they are excluded from meetings or discussions – even on issues relating to women. With these kinds of perceptions lurking in the minds of many people (sadly, even among the educated), you would find that people may tend to pass over women when they want to appoint people in leadership positions.

“Some people may also tend to assume that men are more qualified for certain technical roles than their female counterparts.

“To break free, women need to rise above societal constructs and stereotypes. They need to be inspired by others who have gone ahead of them, collaborate with other women who are moving in the same direction, and of course, have some male allies who would spur them on and support them,” she stated.

However, Adewuyi believes that in spite of these shortcomings, women have come a long way in these recent years. She noted that with more awareness and people realising that women can be achievers, more women are choosing to break free and attain their full potentials.

“When one thinks about women like Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, one would realise that there is no need to shrink or be small. Beyond the continent there are women like Kamala Harris, first female and black vice president of the United States. Think about countries like Estonia, Norway, Germany, Croatia and so on, they have women leaders.

“I believe that the government has a big role to play in showing how much women can contribute to the society. First, the government can create a quota of up to 50 per cent of women representation in board rooms and in places of power and decision-making.  Then, they should encourage women participation in politics.

“By women participation, I don’t just mean recruiting women as mass voters or praise singers. Women should be encouraged to run for political offices at the federal, state and grass-roots levels. More women should also be given ministerial appointments. More women should be appointed as DG of federal parastatals, Chief Medical Directors of hospitals and so on. I believe that this will go a long way in normalising female leadership because it will show people that women are humans too and have the capacity to lead and make great decisions,” Adewuyi added.

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