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Effective Involvement Of Women In Governance As A Panacea To Nigeria Socio-political And Economic Problems
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1.2. Statement of the Problem
The issue of women’s participation in
governance in Nigeria gained significant attention, following the
country’s return to democracy in 1999. The transfer of power from the
military regime to a democratic administration should have brought about
women representation in democratic dispensation. However, the result is
contrary to expectation, with the percentage increase of 2%, 4% and 6%
in women participation in democracy. The country witnessed 6.3%, 8.8%
and 7.3% of women representation in the national parliament in 1999,
2003 and 2007 elections respectively. It is obvious that the perception
that democracy would automatically boost women’s participation in
governancehas not been validated after about fifteen years of return to
democratic dispensation in Nigeria (Okocha, 2007; Akioyede-Afolabi,
2003).
While Nigeria has not been able to produce a female elected
governor since the return of democracy in the 1999, few states have
produced female deputy-governor out of the 36 states in the country. As
states like Lagos, Ebonyi, Osun, Imo, Plateau, Rivers, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom
and Anambra States, out of the 36 deputy-governors in the country. The
percentages of women in the States’ Houses of Assembly across the
country were 1.21%, 3.84% and 5.5% in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections
respectively. In the 2007 elections, Ebonyi State produced only 1 women
out of the 22-member State House of Assembly. Though from the foregoing,
it will be seen that very, very few women have had the opportunity in a
leadership position, yet in every one or single case of women, there
are several hundreds of the male counterparts.
Sexism has become a
major problem in Nigerian governance. Women have been politically
considered endangered species and their low participation in Nigerian
government and governanceis often associated with culture, religious,
economic constraint and male chauvinism. The African society in general
and Nigerian society in particular has placed most of the leadership
roles on the men folk, thereby championing the course of gender
inequality.
Economically, some feminist perceive women’s marginality
in the conduct and management of the public affairs as arising from
their entrenchment of the globalized capitalists relations of
production. The traditional society did not recognize the contributions
of women in any decision making process. The women are carefully ignored
in any important meeting of the family, community and even in
government establishments. Till today, community development meetings
are always held at night thereby making it impossible for most women to
attend.
A relationship, which ensures that majority of Nigerian women
are peasants and home makers. Nonetheless, feminists have failed to
fundamentally unravel in their explanatory analysis to the feminine
gender self-emulating attitudes. Feminine gender-self-destructive
factors is the decline of women participation in government and it is
often lay in exist analysis, for instance, the 1991 population census
put the number of Nigerian women at about 44 million which is almost
50%, and by implication, half of the Nigerian electorates (National
Population Census Commission). This electoral power has not been
converted to assertive feminine electoral and political advantages over
the years (NNCC Report, 1991).
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