Women
Women’s Participation In The Nigerian Project, 61 Years After
Women constitute an indispensable force in the quest for national development of any nation. In the developed nations, women have been able to play this important role. However, in Nigeria, where women were originally relegated to the background, due largely to some religious and traditional restrictions, women seem now to be evolving in their contribution to national development.
61 years after the declaration of Nigeria, the giant of Africa, as an independent state, one can only fairly assess the participation of women in the Nigerian project by reminiscing on their background, their past, so we can measure their level of involvement in the project called Nigeria
A lot has been said and written about the efforts of the Nigerian woman at grappling with barriers, obstacles to her overall advancement in life. As one found in a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property, the Nigerian woman’s story is distinct as she had to leverage on the only permissible space granted her by her male counterpart to make impact.
Though no less in status to her male counterparts but was found relegated to the second class position orchestrated by tradition and religion which created a glass ceiling, an invisible but strong barrier that stands in the way of women. The result was an obvious lack of educational, economic and political power necessary to actualise their innate potentials.
The “gender status belief” which claimed that men are more competent and intelligent than women, a reason for which they have higher positions in career hierarchy, as well as the allusion that women are inferior and better suited in their biological roles as mothers and spouses, did not help matters. They hindered women’s success and their rights in every aspect. Although gender inequalities affect women disproportionately, the entire society pays a price for them.
Needless to assert that she came from a background of one designed to be seen and not heard, her saving grace were series of interventions especially by the United Nations (UN) and some non-governmental organisations which were highly instrumental in announcing her as one not only with a voice, but one with remarkable impact on the society if given the atmosphere to operate.
Nonetheless, women have worked hard and relentlessly over the years to break those barriers and earned their deserving place in leadership roles. Thus, by improving their status and assisting in total development, women now enjoy integration into the global economy.
At different times in history, some concerned minds took pains to assemble data of women development, especially in the third world countries, Nigeria most importantly. Their finding revealed that though gender inequality still exists in Nigeria, there’s currently a great awareness that women have great potentials, unharnessed for nation building, if given the required enabling environment.
However, the re-introduction of democratic governance has witnessed once again an increase in women political participation both in elective and appointive offices. The extant National Gender Policy (NGP) recommended 35 percent affirmative action instead and sought for a more inclusive representation of women with at least 35 percent of both elective political and appointive public service positions respectively.
This ofcourse, isn’t a bad start for a folk that had been relegated to the background over the years.The Rivers State example where the position of the local government vice chairman is exclusively reserved for women is a demonstration of the confidence of the people in the women’s ability to deliver in leadership mandate. It is also an expression of willingness of the people to experiment their trust in the leadership prowess of the women. And like a student under the tutelage of his master, having served as a vice, can make an ultimate leader.
At 61, Nigeria womcan boast of having produced a state governor in Dame Virginia Ngozi Etiaba, an impressive woman and record breaker, who was the Governor of Anambra State, from November 2006 to February 2007. She is the first female governor in Nigeria’s history. She became governor following the impeachment of the previous governor, Peter Obi, for alleged gross misconduct. Although her tenure was brief, it was quite impactful.
Nigerian women in this dispensation also produced deputy governors for Rivers , Anambra, Enugu, Lagos, Kaduna, These distinguished women, carved a niche for themselves as accomplished grassroots politicians with passion for the emancipation of the womenfolk and youth development, especially girl-child education.
Their passion and determination to render quality public service that will impact the lives of the people, especially vulnerable members of the society, saw some of them being re-elected or appointed into other offices after their first tenure.
As a mother, one of the deputy governors was inspired to sponsor motions and bills that would lift people with special needs. She also played vital roles in seeing that women and youths were empowered in the state. Another interesting motion she moved while in the house was to ensure that drivers undergo driving examinations in order to reduce the high rate of accidents in the state.
For appointive positions, nigerian women have done so well in defence of their appointment. The likes of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, served first as cordinating minister for the economy under Obasanjo, 15 July 2003 – 21 June 2006 minister of foreign affairs, 21 June 2006 – 30 August 2006, Minister of finance 17 August 2011 – 29 May 2015 under Goodluck Jonathan. Her prowess in financial matters endeared her to the Buhari-led administration where she was nominated and subsequently became the director general of the world trade organisation
In the area of health, although Nigeria has the highest number of maternal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and high rates of under-5 child mortality. Female health workers are particularly important in the north of the country because social norms in rural communities can prohibit women from receiving care from male health workers. For this reason, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has trained women to be service providers in six states in northern Nigeria through its Women for Health (W4H) programme.
Since November 2012, W4H increased the number and capacity of female health workers in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara, while at the same time supported women’s empowerment, promoted gender equality, and tackled trauma. It improved women’s access to and use of health services in northern Nigeria and advanced Nigeria’s journey toward universal health coverage.
W4H worked closely with other health and education programs in the states, and took a “building back better” approach in conflict and humanitarian emergency-affected areas of Borno and Yobe states and ensured the sustainability of progress in Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara.
A national team, led by Dr Fatima Adamu, provided technical support to state-level teams, backed by a senior technical advisory group. The programme was led by DAI Global Health in partnership with Save the Children. W4H worked closely with 22 midwifery, nursing, and community health extension worker training institutions and state ministries of health to support the training of female health workers and their deployment to rural health facilities.
The list of their sample activities include; “Improving the capacity of colleges of nursing and midwifery and colleges of health technology to train female health workers, improving the accreditation status and training capacity of health training colleges, and increasing graduation rates.
Improving the recruitment, deployment, and retention of midwives in rural facility while implementing a Foundation Year Training Programme, or access course, for rural women to improve their academic credentials, study skills, and confidence to enter health worker training.
Engaging with community, religious, and training institutions to create a gender-friendly environment for women to pursue health careers, and facilitating locally led scale-up.
Institutionalising short-term courses and modules in the curriculum to prepare health workers for deployment in conflict settings and humanitarian programming.
Recently, the National Centre for Women Development embarked on the collection of a national data on involvement and participation of women in politics in Nigeria, one of the objectives of the data collection is to provide a baseline for the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Hopes are high that the result will show the progress steadily made to achieving the affirmative declaration and determine how the gap that erstwhile existed has been closed as well as measure the variation between where we are and the affirmative action of 35 percent. Also, it will improve evidence-based planning and programming involving women in decision making; increase the support of key stakeholders on measures to increase representation of women in decision-making and further improve awareness of new advocacy tools among stakeholders to support the campaign for increased representation of women in the decision making in Nigeria.
As partaining to education, although Nigeria continues to face struggles getting its young females to enter and remain in school, the nation has made considerable progress in recent years. According to the World Bank’s Education Data, the number of girls enrolled in primary school increased from 79 percent to 92.3 percent between 2008 and 2013.24. The highest literacy rates in Nigeria were registered in the southern regions of the country. In the South West, 89 percent of males and 80.6 percent of females were literate as of 2018.
As more women pursue higher education and enter careers, younger girls will have role models to show them that higher education is attainable for females. Also, these role models will demonstrate that pursuing education opens doors to opportunities otherwise forever unavailable to girls. Many schools in Nigeria hoping to increase female attendance have begun peer mentorship programmes in which older girls connect with younger ones, giving the former an immediate sense of meaning for their education (helping younger kids) and the latter both academic and social role models to hopefully encourage them to keep coming to school.
Women at Nigeria’s Universities. Increased participation of women in the education sector is also visible at the university level — when Nigeria gained independence in 1960, only 7.7 percent of Nigeria’s college students were female. By 2001, that number had skyrocketed to 41.7 percent and it continues to rise. In 2009, 45 percent of all university students in Nigeria were female.
Engineering and computer science have remained heavily male dominated. Only 21% of engineering majors and 19% of computer science majors are women. This is one field women need to be encouraged to explore.
By: Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi
Unfortunately, the widower of the late gospel singer, Mrs Osinachi Nwachukwu, has been sentenced to death by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The husband of the deceased, Mr. Peter Nwachukwu, was sentenced to death by Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme.
The Federal High Court Judge, reports say, found Mr Peter Nwachukwu guilty of culpable homicide leading to the death of his wife, Osinachi, which occurred on April 8, 2022.
The ruling on the death of Mrs Osinachi Nwachukwu, deserves a big clap for the Nigerian Judiciary because of the high rate of domestic violence on women in the society.
This, I believe will serve as a deterrent to others now and in the future.
Lessons learned from her death are numerous, girls and women especially must be able to distinguish between oppression and submission. A woman has to be heard before she dies.
According to reports, Mr. Peter Nwachukwu has been sentenced to death by the Federal High Court in Abuja. How will the children feel? What about the Nwachukwu family?
Ordinary people like us may not be able to judge but the judiciary has finally done justice to late Osinachi’s case.
Time has come when families have to start checking out on their kinsmen concerning marital affairs. Families who give out their daughters and sisters in marriage need to do a follow-up from time to time, to ensure they are comfortable. This does not mean total control in anyway.
Everybody is born of a woman, who is someone’s sister, daughter, wife, daughter-in-law, niece, aunt and so on. Like the saying, “rain does not fall on one person’s roof”.
Women are weaker emotionally, so should be handled softly. No matter how large in size some women may appear, they are very frigile.
Late Osinachi Nwachukwu, was one of Nigeria’s gospel singers that her music was so inspirational. During crusades and religious programmes, the kind of crowds she gathered was something encouraging.
The “Ekwueme” song she featured in, is one of the most inspiring gospel music of our time. Till her death, I never knew she was a contributor to that beautiful music.
The impact of Osinachi’s “Ekwueme” song in the hearts of believers can never be over-emphasised.
Unfortunately, she has gone to be with her creator but will be remembered by all the good lyrics she contributed to produce.
About three years ago, the news of the late gospel singer became viral with so many persons expressing their views on what would have caused her death. So many stories were told but the issue of late Osinachi was that allegedly she sustained injuries from her husband as a result of domestic violence.
According to late Osinachi’s elder sister, who gave account of what happened to her sister, she died of blood clothing in the chest from her husband beating her chest. She said her late sister was exposed to inhuman treatments from her husband before her untimely death and denied her sister dying as a result of cancer. “She did not die of cancer”, she exposed.
Osinachi’s family sources explained that severally before her demise, they had told her to leave her marriage, having seen what she was passing through, but she never accepted the advice.
It was gathered that the family members had advised her to separate from the husband at least, since it was not divorce but she refused.
Osinachi as a believer and gospel singer might have felt that she could pray to overcome the challenges of marriage.
She would have also thought that if she left or separated from her matrimonial home, that would affect her ministry. She might have felt that God is against divorce.
As humans, there are certain things you can never easily agree with. But I think that when it comes to saving life, it is better to adhere to advice.
Of course, two good heads are better one. No one person knows it all. As a believer, she saw separation as a sin and not to save her life and take care of her children. She would tell them to relax while praying for her husband to have a change of attitude towards her.
Let us assume that the husband beat her on the chest, she refused to tell her family but good enough, she told a friend who lives in Ebonyi State that her husband hit her on the chest.
Unfortunately, they refused to tell the doctor that kind of thing occurred, so as to administer the right drugs immediately. She died leaving her children behind and her husband.
When domestic violence continues to occur in the home, what should the woman do as church people? The issue of “For Better, For Worse”, during holy matrimony by the pastors, our spiritual fathers should be looked into and we need to understand in better ways.
Different people have come up with various opinions about whether marriage should continue or ‘separate’ when domestic violence is on the peak.
Some support while others disagree. Should a woman remain in a marriage when danger is looming? We are not unaware that men too suffer domestic violence, but they do not have much challenge since they may claim to own the home. Sometimes they live outside their homes.
The only regret in calling for separation or divorce is about the well-being of the children. But for marriages that have not been blessed, we need more explanation.
It is becoming more worrisome because when marriages break, the children are at more risk as parents will not live together. I think the best way is to nurture and train kids together. The negative effects of separated homes are so much.
A lot of women have left their matrimonial homes to give peace a chance. Is it the best option? The “worse” during solemnisation cannot be relied upon to encourage enduring matrimonial violence or any other manner of one- sided wickedness. It only refers to shared burden.
It should not be interpreted to accommodate one party in a marriage practising wickedness to the other. Marriage was created as a mutual support and comforting institution and not for anti-social behaviour.
One of late Osinachi’s sons according to reports, revealed that his father told them(his children) that beating women was good and in one of the occasions, they witnessed how he pushed their mother out of her car. They also alleged that their father seized their late mother’s two cars.
It is good to be careful while taking certain actions in the presence of children in homes. Whether it is true or false, the children are watching and must have something to say when time comes.
One of the gospel singers of our time, Osinachi, is late with rumours of her husband contributing to the cause of her death. But the husband denied being responsible for the death of his wife.
He said all the allegations levelled against him were false and claimed that his late wife was sick from year 2021 before she died in 2022.
What can anybody do? Osinachi is not alive to narrate what happened. If only a lesson can be learnt where women especially, will be able to speak out when involved in any form of domestic violence, it will be better.
She would have lived to take care of her kids if she had spoken out on time. She might have been sick of other ailments but because of the revelation coming out of her children, relatives and friends, anyone can just conclude that she died as a result of maltreatment from domestic violence.
Domestic violence affects women the more. When it continues to occur, what should the woman do, separation or divorce?
Osinachi was a native of Isuochi in Abia State and married to Peter from Nnewi in Anambra State.
Eunice Choko-Kayode
A Christian teaching mother is one who imparts knowledge to her children and others by adhering strictly to the Christian doctrines and practices .
A real and devoted teaching mother should not ask her children and wards to keep malice.
Mothers should know that the way the teaching mother dresses speaks volumes about her while the children are watching. Teach them to dress decently either in your presence or absence.
It is important to teach the children how to respect constituted authorities, especially teachers in schools, at every educational level. Teaching them how to greet and respect elders in their neighbourhood and society at large. Obedience to parents and other elders can help children attain long life.
According to the Scriptures, “obey your parents so that your days may be long on earth”.
Furthermore, a mother should teach the children how to work hard academically instead of sending money to them to buy results and pay mercenariees in examinations.
A situation where parents go to fight teachers on disciplinary actions against their children should be discouraged.
A good teaching mother should teach what she practises as well as keeping the rules because they are watching. It is dangerous to tell lies before the children and of course, they may point such it out immediately. The mother must lead exemplary lifestyle.
The primary role of mothers is to nurture the children to adolescence because some of them cannot differentiate their left from their right.
Devotion of more time to children is very important no matter how tight the mother’s schedule may be. The mother must work hard to make ends meet since only the man cannot bear the responsibilities of keeping the home but the girl-child needs more attention. The children, especially the females need to be guided so as to avoid unwanted pregnancy, they need to be the mother’s friend.
The boys are not left out of the sight of the mothers so that they do not involve in social vices. The mother ought to monitor the boy-child so that he does not impregnate an underaged girl.
Furthermore, women are solution providers because sometimes, men may be soft with the children. Women should utilise the attributes and skills given to them by God.
Regular teaching without ceasing in the homes, church, school and in the public. The mother can spare the rod and spoil the child. Teaching does not only come from the mother, it is a combined effort with the man who is the head of the home. Even when the mother is the breadwinner, she cannot teach alone.
Regrettably, there are challenges hindering women from teaching good morals.
Moreso, busy schedules and absence of the father can hinder women from effective teaching. Mothers may not be teaching everything they are supposed to teach.
Late teaching when the children’s bad behaviour would have got out of hand is very dangerous, so, women must start early so as to catch them young.
A good teaching mother should not feel that the children should bear their father’s name and so if they turn out to be miscreants in future, their father should be held responsible.
King Solomon actually admonished his son thus, “My son, keep thy father’s commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother”.
Truly women need support when they teach. According to the Scriptures, train up a child in the way of God, so that when he or she grows up, he will not depart from it.
It should be noted that one of the tools for teaching is prayer. Daily devotional and constant fellowship with them where you teach the word of God are vital. Living by example by listening to music and differentiating between earthly music and gospel vibes will go a long way in effective teaching.
It is worrisome to note that peer pressure is one of the challenges affecting effective teaching in both schools and homes nowadays. The society is now having negative impact on the adolescents via social media, celebrities and entertainers just to mention but a few. But is better the children choose the right ways of life and eschew bad attitudes.
Good teaching mothers should not make comparison among the children because that may lead to withdrawal syndrome.
By: Eunice Choko-Kayode
Looking good is some women’s business. Looking beautiful for some persons is more important than food. Some prefer to appear trendy instead of attending to household pressure.
Beauty they say is in the eye of the beholder. Every woman by creature is beautiful but some persons feel that the way they were created is not enough. They feel that perhaps the creator should have added more features to their physic.
Artificial beauty did not start today, it has been there as far as man exists. From time to time, there has been one form of additional make-up or the other that women especially, must add to their natural look.
When you look at some of our elders, especially women, you notice certain drills or symbols (tattoo) on their skins, mostly on their hands and legs, in form of designs with dark prints. That is a form of artificial beauty. These days, some young ones still use such to beautify themselves.
It is not only women that are involved in artificial beauty, some young men also have likeness for it. It is common nowadays to see younger male folks spend money to pierce their ears to wear earrings. They also style their hairs in various forms to appear like women so as to look more handsome. This no doubt costs them more money than being in their natural look.
Every generation grows with it’s own new systems, items, styles of artificial beauty. Before now, African women generally and Nigeria in particular had their hair in natural form.
As civilisation and westernisation continued, Nigerian women started copying, for instance, perming of their hair to look like the White women. They started using western-produced chemicals (relaxers) to make their hairs look sleepy and smoother.
Nigerian women used to plate their hair with black thread or go with their hair well cut at low level. In terms of weaving, it was without attachment. The issue of women weaving hair with attachment came with civilisation. That is also a form of make-up.
The quest for extra beauty aside the way women were created has been from one generation to another.
Two or three decades ago, ladies used mascaras to darken and thicken their eyelashes. But in this 21st century, another system has evolved. Fixing of artificial eyelashes has become the order of the day.
In that case, it becomes difficult for them to scratch their eyes Incase of any itches. Some of their eyes turn reddish because of the touch.
There was a lady who was fixing her eyelashes in a salon, unfortunately, she got a phone call that her mother was late, as she started crying, it was difficult for her to clean the tears that were flowing down her cheeks.
The reason was for fear of the eye lashes falling off while cleaning the tears off her eyes.
One funny thing about fixing of artificial eyelashes is that some persons cannot close their eyes properly. The beauty they have in mind before fixing is not really achieved as their look become something anybody cannot behold. Both the shape of their eyes and facial outlook automatically change. One begins to wonder if that is the beauty they are looking for. Instead of looking beautiful, the reverse becomes the case.
As years go by, artificial beauty becomes more sophisticated in the society. The price and cost for looking more beautiful than women were created naturally becomes higher than their natural look.
The cosmetic industry becomes one of the most viable industries worldwide because some women desire artificial beauty. Some engage in cosmetic surgery to alter any part of their body which does not give them pleasure especially the fatty parts. Some go for surgery to make their slacked breasts to return to their original shapes as well as those with big tummies.
It is interesting to note that currently, Nigerian ladies have started to give preference to their natural hair and this is attracting a lot of admiration for them. Many prefer that natural look with low cuts. With that, the cost of maintaining the hair by ladies is reduced.
I think this is commendable as it will save the women from the negative effect of chemical used in manufacturing hair relaxers.
It is also common to see ladies on low cut hairs that are either light complexion, red and other funny colours.
People have been addicted to artificial beauty to the extent that they insert certain substances into their bodies to make them become more robust and attractive to their admirers.
I don’t understand why we should be crazy about adding more to our natural look. Every woman wants to look attractive in a packaged manner without recognising the implications of artificial beauty and make-up.
In fact, women’s quest for beauty has taken different dimension as they tend to appear trendy at home, in offices and as they go about their businesses. That is just to feel belonged and achieve self-esteem.
I recall a few years back, my pastor who trained as an Engineer advised women against the use of lipstick. He said that one of the chemical components of lipstick is lead and that it is dangerous to humans. Many women may not understand the reality of what he said until it manifests.
I think those who are naturally beautiful should not go for artificial make-ups. They should be satisfied with the work of their creator. Women should not continue to paint their faces to look like masquerades and should not lose value due to artificial beauty.
It may interest you to know that persons who apply make-ups excessively are mocked instead of being admired. Make-ups can be applied lightly.
Fixing of nails is another business. After fixing nails, some women find it difficult to perform house cores. Washing their personal belongings becomes a problem. The artificial nails become so long and sophisticated to the extent that the bearer cannot handle objects properly. Those in that habit also find it difficult to eat food with the fingers.
There are people who feel they should have been born in certain colour but when the reverse is the case, they seek artificial make-up. Use of skin-toning cream and soap becomes the option for artificial beauty. This happens to the extent that the users start having dark spots on the skin. Blisters occur on their faces and legs.
Unfortunately, this is an era when there are different kinds of cancer affecting women especially. It becomes difficult to identify the kind of make-up that can be cancerous.
It is high time people had stopped following trend to the detriment of their health.
Ladies should not present themselves as laughing stock with unnecessary make-up as they can still be cherished in their natural outlook.
Eunice Choko – Kayode