The Social Phenomenon of Women Empowerment in Nigeria: A Theoretical Approach

doi:10.4236/sm.2012.24051

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Sociology Mind

2012. Vol.2, No.4, 388-393

Published Online October 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/sm) DOI:10.4236/sm.2012.24051

The Social Phenomenon of Women Empowerment

in Nigeria: A Theoretical Approach

Eucharia N. Nw a g bara1, Grace R. Etuk1, Michael Baghebo2

1Department of Sociology, University of Calabar, Calaba r, Nigeria

2Department of Economics, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]

Received July 8th, 2012; revised Aug ust 14th, 2012; accepted August 22nd, 2012

Women have continued to make immense contributions to development in Nigeria. These landmark

achievements have not been without challenges, hence the predominance of women issues at local, na-

tional and international seminars, workshops and symposia. Issues such as women’s status, roles, and

needs have been of utmost concern. Efforts to address these issues led to the adoption of various strategies

towards making women relevant in every sphere of life in the society. One strategy that had gained cur-

rency over the years among scholars and practitioners of women and gender studies has been that of

women “empowerment”. The continued persistence of women’s problems in the areas of gender equality,

gender roles, improved social status, etc., raises a number of questions about the empowerment strategies

of governmental and non-governmental agencies. Are the strategies based on faulty theoretical assump-

tions? Is their application in the Nigerian situation faulty? What is the problem of their application in the

Nigerian context? This paper attempts to examine these questions against the background of the tenets of

women empowerment strategies.

Keywords: Empowerment; Women Participation; Gender Issues; Women’s Status; Policy

Introduction

Gender and women’s studies have come a long way in Nige-

ria since the first United Nations world conference on women

held in Mexico City in 1975 (Ogbuagu, 2004; Gabriel, 2000;

Nwagbara et al., 2007; Salihu, 2001; Para-Mallam, 2006;

Ogunleye & Mukhtar, 2009; Afolabi, 2008; Adeleke, 2012).

One common thread that runs through these studies is the af-

firmation of the enormous contributions made by women to

development in the face of socio-cultural, economic and health

constraints.

Women in Nigeria have continued to make immense contri-

bution to national development in their various areas of en-

deavors in addition to domestic responsibilities which are un-

dervalued. In the area of agriculture, rural women in Nigeria,

like their other African counterparts have played key roles in

food production, processing and distribution. As scholars have

observed, rural women in Nigeria like their counterparts in

other African countries have been seen to excel in agricultural

production (Famoriyo, 1988; Adekanye, 1988; Ogbuagu, 2004).

The enormity of their contribution in this sector of the economy

has made Boserup (1980) to proclaim Africa as the region of

female farming. Yet they face the problem of access to credit

facilities, ownership of land, and overwhelming domestic

chores, discrimination and marginalization, among others.

In the modern employment sector, women have shown evi-

dence of efficiency and effectiveness through hard work, hon-

esty, transparency and accountability in their service to the

country even though they are marginalized and discriminated

against. Thus women like Dora Akunyili and Ngozi-Okonjo-

Iweala, to mention but a few, have recently become household

names in Nigeria due to their outstanding contribution to na-

tional development in their respective positions. These are few

privileged ones out of the many women that lack opportunities

due to patriarchal traditional practices that relegate them to

subordinate status in the society. Yet women constitute about

half of the population in Nigeria according to the 2006 popula-

tion census (Rotimi & Agande, 2007). This unfortunate situa-

tion raises some pertinent questions as follows: why is the

status of women generally low in spite of global efforts towards

its upgrading? What is happening to women empowerment in

Nigeria? These and more will guide our discussion in the re-

maining part of the paper. The paper presents a multi-varied

and prismatic view of the problems of women which still re-

main to be solved in the world in general, and particularly in

the Nigeria.

Methodology

This is a theoretical paper in which the authors tried to

stimulate general intellectual curiosity on the persistent prob-

lem of women empowerment in Nigeria, hoping that new and

innovative strategies for attaining gender equality will emerge

at the end. The paper is fundamentally based on library research

enriched with internet resources and government publications.

Conceptualizing Empowerment

The concept of “empowerment” has been diversely used by

scholars and practitioners in the field of gender and develop-

ment studies. According to Crawley (1998), the concept of

empowerment itself is used to “justify development proposi-

tions which are rooted in diverse ideological political positions”

and thus is fraught with mixed reactions among people. This

observation is evident in the contrasting views of Griffen (1989)

and Rowlands (1992) on empowerment. In reacting to Griffen’s

388

E. N. NWAGBARA ET AL.

(1989) description of the term as adding to women’s power,

Rowlands (1992) observes that such definition raises confusion

as the concept of power itself is much disputed.

When we put together the various views on the empower-

ment debate, it becomes obvious that the concept goes beyond

the issue of participation. As Crawley (1998) aptly observes, “it

is more than simply widening access to decision-making”. De-

fining the concept, Gajanayake (1993) notes that empowerment

implies “enabling people to understand the reality of their

situation, reflect on the factors shaping that situation and, most

critically, take steps to effect changes to improve it”. This vi ew

was re-echoed by Ake (1994) who sees the term as a process

that enables the ordinary people to effectively participate in

governance. In the view of Garba (1997), women empower-

ment involves enhancing their capacity to influence and par-

ticipate in making decisions which directly or indirectly affect

their lives. Garba further distinguished between static and dy-

namic dimensions of empowerment which was summarized by

Gabriel (2000) thus:

“The static concept defines empowerment of women as

their capacities to participate in making decisions which

directly or indirectly affect their lives and influence deci-

sion. In this regard, women are said to have effective

voice. On the other hand the dynamic concept regards

empowerment as a process of developing the capacity of

individuals… to not only participate effectively in making

decisions that directly or indirectly affect them but also in

implementing such decisions.”

Essentially, empowerment must include the processes that

lead the individual or group to perceive itself as able to occupy

a decision making position. In other words, “an empowerment

focus involves the radical alteration of the structures which

reproduce women’s subordinate position as a gender” (Craw-

ley, 1998).

Women Empowerment in Nigeria:

The Journey so Far

Globally, United Nations organs such as the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Popula-

tion Fund (UNFPA) have continued to play key role in women

empowerment. According to the UNFPA, the empowerment of

women is a sure way to attaining g e n d e r e q u ality

(http://www.unfpa.org/gender/empowerment.htm). As part of

its activities toward the attainment of the Millennium Devel-

opment Goals and sustainable development, the UNDP vigor-

ously initiates programmes and activities aimed at fast-tracking

gender equality and women’s empowerment in many societies

(http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/womene

mpowerment/overview.html).

However, the problem of women empowerment—like the

“global concern about the environment”—has continued to give

rise to more organizations (government and non-government),

treaties, conventions, summits and conferences. The period

opened with a resounding criticism of the whole empowerment

concept and staunch defense of the status quo for women. In the

bid to mainstream women and address their special needs, the

UN declared the year 1975-1985 a decade for women. This

decade which had equality, development and peace as its goals

witnessed two prominent conferences—Mexico 1975, and

Nairobi 1985—addressing women’s issues and the way for-

ward.

At the end of the decade, stock was taken regarding the at-

tainment of its goals. While pockets of achievements were re-

corded, most countries including Nigeria experienced many

obstacles towards the attainment of the goals of the decade.

Among these obstacles are predominant traditional attitudes

towards women; low priority attention by government to

women’s issues, the vulnerability of women to the worsening

world economic situation, increasing maternal mortality, as

well as conflicts in some societies. These constitute major ob-

stacles towards the advancement of women.

The 1995 epoch-making Beijing conference was a follow-up

on the Nairobi 1985 conference, and was aimed at assessing the

extent of compliance of member countries in addressing

women’s issues in certain critical areas including health needs,

discrimination, and access to credit, and so on. Following these

conferences, more than 100 countries of the world launched

new initiatives to improve the status of women (Lopez-Claros

& Zahidi, 2005).

Nigeria is one of those countries that ratified all the UN

Conventions on women. In 1998, a national policy on women

was designed by the Federal Government of Nigeria to protect

women against all forms of discrimination. The policy merely

exists on paper as little or nothing has been achieved since it

came into being (Nwagbara & Ering, 2007).

This policy was as a result of several years of resolutions by

the United Nations, Organization of African Unity (OAU) as

well as non-governmental organizations. Ubanna (2000) gave

an insight on Article 18 (3) of the OAU Charter which Nigeria

ratified in 1983. The charter, following the convention on

Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW) and other conventions, made it obligatory for Afri-

can countries to eliminate all forms of discrimination against

women and ensure the protection of the rights of women and

children (Nwagbara, Ering, Abia, & Osuchukwu, 2007).

Since the Beijing conference in 1995, the Nigerian govern-

ment has formulated policies on women in the areas of health,

education, employment, agriculture, culture and industry. To

ensure that these policies were effectively implemented, it was

enshrined in Chapter 11 Section 17 (2) of the 1999 constitution

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where it was emphasized

that “every citizen shall have equal rights, obligations and op-

portunities before the law”.

In the area of education, the educational policy made it man-

datory for women to receive proper education as enshrined in

Chapter 11 Section 17 (2) of the same constitution. According

to Ubanna (2000):

“The highlight of the policy was that the Nigerian woman

should enjoy the full benefits of contemporary living.

They required basic education to contribute meaningfully

to the development of the country. The policy also forbids

through legal sanctions, the withdrawal of girls under 18

from school for marriage.”

There are also policies on health, culture and employment.

The health policy is to ensure, that women are protected from

health problems of high maternal mortality, unsafe abortion,

HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

The national health policy functions to enhance the imple-

mentation of primary health care delivery system to meet the

health need of women and children.

The policy on culture overhauled the nation’s legal system

E. N. NWAGBARA ET AL.

hence permitting women to stand as sureties and also be able to

bail suspects from police custody. It was this policy that pegged

age of marriage at 18. This policy also recognized women as

primary environment managers, extractors and users of envi-

ronmental resources and sought to ensure women’s participa-

tion in national ecosystem management and control of envi-

ronmental degradation (Nwagbara, Ering, Abia, & Osuchukwu,

2007).

On the other hand, the employment policy was to ensure

equal opportunities and equal pay for men and women with

same qualification. In all, these policies, meant for the opening

up of new challenges to Nigerian women are yet to be properly

implemented.

One policy which has engaged the attention of scholars in

Nigeria is the year 2000 policy on women that was enacted by

President Olusegun Obasanjo (Salihu, 2001; Para-Mallam,

2006; Afolabi, 2008; Adeleke, 2012). In a study to evaluate the

impact of the 2000 policy on women farmers in Akungba and

Oka Akoko areas of Ondo State, Adeleke’s (2012) findings

suggest that the policy has not impacted positively on the

women. Of the five (5) key substantive issues in the study—

access to land, labour and water, modern technology, credit and

access to training in agricultural production and utilization—all

the respondents complained of lack of access. Based on the

findings, Adeleke (2012) concluded as follows:

“Despite the implementation strategies that were endorsed

by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000, women

still have limited access to modern, improved techniques

and there have been no much improvement in general

working-conditions of this particular set of women under

study.”

Essentially, the above findings support earlier studies carried

out by scholars such as Damisa and Yohanna (2007) and

Afolabi (2008). On her part, Salihu (2001) lamented that there

has been little qualitative change in the lives of women since

Obasanjo’s regime, arguing that:

“What positive development there has been is not a direct

consequence of the leadership of the regime, but a sys-

temic benefit as can only be engendered by a regime

which comes after a military dictatorship such as Nigeria

experienced. This is why the observable changes them-

selves are peripheral, because they have not challenged

the existing structures of oppression.”

Of all the studies on the national policy on women cited in

this paper, the work of Para-Mallam (2006) is outstanding in its

ability to present a graphic analysis of the policy and its loop-

holes. In a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the national

policy on women and the challenges in mainstreaming gender

issues in Nigeria, Para-Mallam (2006) summarized the prob-

lems within and around the year 2000 policy on women as fol-

lows:

“…awareness of the policy is low among most women.

Consequently, there is no concerted agenda to push for its

implementation. The gender management system put in

place by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to over-

see the mainstreaming of gender is undermined by institu-

tionalised and routinised gender bias and distortions in the

wider policy environment… successful implementation of

policy objectives remains elusive in the absence of com-

prehensive measures to reverse significant gender dispari-

ties in access to socioeconomic resources, opportunities

and benefits.”

Hence, while Nigeria ratified all the international conven-

tions that gave rise to these policies, there is little political will

for their full implementation. Some of them exist just on paper

and the psyche of the formulators. Nigerian women are yet to

reap the full benefits of the policies. A litany of factors, ranging

from cultural and religious practices, to illiteracy and patriarchy

function to compound the problem of Nigerian women’s par-

ticipation in decision-making to influence policies which affect

them (Nwagbara, Ering, A b i a , & O s u c h u k w u , 2007 ) .

An assessment of the extent to which women have attained

equality in the critical areas of economic participation, eco-

nomic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attain-

ment, health and well-being undertaken of 58 countries shows

that no country has managed to eliminate gender gap (Lo-

pez-Claros & Zahidi, 2005). The only African country included

in that survey, Egypt, ranked 58th thus occupying the lowest

rank. Yet Egypt and some other developing countries are per-

forming better than Nigeria as evidenced in development stud-

ies of developing countries (World Bank, 2001; Economist,

2000).

The deplorable status of women is universal and not a recent

phenomenon. Fu Hsuan, a 3rd century scholar had observed

this of women in his era. Fu Hsuan in Bullough (1971) cited in

Tischler, Whitten and Hunter (1986) observes:

“Bitter indeed it is to be born a woman; it is difficult to

image anything so low! Boys can stand openly at the front

gate, they are treated like god as soon as they are born…

but a girl is reared without joy or love, and no one in her

family really cares for her; grown up she has to hide in the

inner rooms; cover her head, be afraid to look others in

the face, and no one sheds a tear when she is married

off…”

In the contemporary time, women encounter worse preju-

dices and discrimination, albeit, subtly. These social vices

against women have been condemned by Montagu (1982) who

states:

“We need to catch up to the social changes which have

occurred during the last fifty years, to adjust our ideas and

practices to those changes which, on the whole have been

liberating and beneficial. Because so many of us still live

by beliefs which belong to an outmoded way of life, we

tend to become confused and upset when confronted with

the living realities of our time, and to commit the sort of

follies that those who believe in stupidities will always

commit.”

Women in Nigeria contribute to national development

through their multiple roles which were accorded little recogni-

tion. Women work longer hours and have less rest compared to

their male counterparts. Rural women have restricted access to

productive resources and have minimal access to credit facili-

ties in relation to their male counterparts (Ezumah, 1988). In

this era of modern technology and globalization, prevailing

circumstances and trends such as conflicts, economic setback,

illiteracy, unemployment, environmental degradation and dis-

eases such as HIV/AIDS have contributed to deepening social

inequality within the country context (Ogbuagu, 2004).

390

E. N. NWAGBARA ET AL.

As James and James (1995) noted, women who are the cor-

nerstone and foundation of all societies are generally underrep-

resented and devalued. Montagu (1982) described the prevail-

ing scenario of gender based inequality more succinctly:

“…If women have passed through the period of the aboli-

tion of discriminations against them, they have not yet

successfully weathered the period of emancipation. For

millennia women have been treated as the “inferior race”

of the masculine world.”

Thus traditional beliefs based on gender differentiation has

been a root cause of the yawning gap of social inequality be-

tween the male and female sexes and by implication a major

obstacle to women empowerment in Nigeria. To redress this

situation, one would expect that the principle of equity or social

justice would be the watch word of agencies charged with em-

powering women in Nigeria through legislations and formula-

tion of policies and programmes that are gender sensitive. The

principle of social justice requires that everyone be provided

with equal opportunities for self development and self actuali-

zation irrespective of sex, class, religion, ethnic background,

HIV status or disability.

Looking Forward: Some Critical Reflections

One contribution to the empowerment debate that has served

as a useful tool of reference is the model provided by Mullen-

der and Ward (1991). These scholars’ model of empowerment

is based “explicitly on an anti-oppressive perspective and sug-

gests three simple questions to be addressed by those concerned

that participatory approaches achieve their empowerment po-

tential” (Crawley, 1998). The questions are as follows:

1. What are the problems to be tackled?

2. Why do the problems exist? And,

3. How can we bring about change?

These questions are vital and those concerned with policies

to redress the present imbalance in the status of women in Ni-

geria do not seem to be guided by them given the little

achievement i n this regard. Highlights of women’s problems in

Nigeria which have been fairly identified by government and

non-government agencies are:

 Subordinate status reinforced by gender roles and patriar-

chy,

 High level of illiteracy,

 Lack of access to resources—technology, credit, informa-

tion, etc.,

 Harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutila-

tion/cutting, widowhood rites, and male-child preference,

 Lack of access to decision-making through effective politi-

cal participation,

 Double burden/oppression through domestic activities,

 Vulnerability to conflicts and diseases and infections such

as malaria and HIV/AIDS.

Scholars have continued to lament about the little result at-

tained by the various efforts at women empowerment in Nigeria

and Africa in general (Mwangola, 2006; Madunagu, 2007).

Their worry is best understood against the background of

Mullender and Ward’s (1991) second question as to why the

problems exist in the first instance. Mill (1865) has since pro-

vided an explanation that “custom; grounded either in a preju-

dice, or in the present constitution of society, which, making

almost every woman, socially speaking, an appendage of some

man, enables men to take systematically the lion’s share of

what belongs to both”. Re-echoing the view of Mill, Gardiner

(1997) notes that the “legal subordination of women with mar-

riage was the basis of women’s subjection in the political and

economic spheres”.

Addressing the problems squarely will no doubt amount to

liberating women from their relegation to the background and

mainstreaming them into key decision-making spheres of the

society. Lenin (1972) cited in Madunagu (2007) noted that the

task of liberating women from their oppressed status is an ar-

duous one which cannot be accomplished by mere exhortation.

Commenting further on this, Lenin observed that the struggle to

uplift the status of women through their liberation will “be a

long one, and it demands radical reconstruction both of the

social technique and of morals”.

The traditional perspective of women’s subjugation to do-

mestic activities, while men occupy super-ordinate status be-

cause they earn a living working outside the home, has been

used by functionalist theorists to explain women’s low status in

the society and persistence of gender-role socialization. Thus,

rather than serving to uplift the status of women in the contem-

porary times, the increasing globalization and advancement in

technology and information have continued to widen the

yawning gap of social inequality between men and women as

the men control key economic and social resources while the

women continue to be hemmed and chained at home by patri-

archy. Commenting on this negative attitude of male-domi-

nance against women, Montagu (1982) observes:

“… Contemporary men are, for the most part, still living

in a Victorian world of their own. That world is out of

harmony with that in which women live and most men

haven’t yet awakened to that fact… To live by the nine-

teenth-century standards in a twentieth-century world is

an anachronism.”

Men who instituted the oppression of women in society

would want to perpetuate it as long as it functions in their

favour. Thus, efforts at improving women’s status to that of

equality with men would have not yielded any meaningful

result. Concerning this issue, Mill (1970) observes: “I believe

that their disabilities elsewhere are only clung to in order to

maintain their subordination in domestic life; because the gen-

erality of the male sex cannot yet tolerate the idea of living with

an equal”. In a similar vein, Barrett (1982) observes of the

British society:

“Many popular remedies to improve women’s economic

status paradoxically reinforce gender-based economic roles:

the welfare system reinforces the expectation of female

dependency; comparable worth pay admits gender dis-

tinctions; equal pay keeps women out of high-status jobs;

wages for housework, part-time, flexi-time, all reinforce

traditional stereotypes while facilitating flexibility for

women as homemakers, thereby reducing stress in tradi-

tional families and accommodating gender-role distinc-

tions.”

Hence, the traditional and functionalist perspectives make it

clear that while the problems of women are obvious, the forces

of patriarchal society which perpetuate them, make it difficult,

if not impossible, to empower women to the tune of elevating

their social status to that of equality with men.

E. N. NWAGBARA ET AL.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The concern about gender issues and the disadvantaged

status of women and their special needs is indeed a global one,

giving rise to series of workshops, seminars, conferences and

forums at the local, national, and international levels. The Ni-

gerian government has indeed demonstrated superficial com-

mitment to women empowerment through policies and pro-

grammes designed for women that have no t yielded the desire d

impacts due to absence of concerted agenda to push for their

implementation. As such, women’s status remains deplorably

low in Nigeria and their special economic, social and other

needs are not met. The major constraints in realizing gender

equality and women empowerment in Nigeria are: an unsup-

portive legal environment, inadequate resources and the mind-

set that is not open to new approaches in addressing the needs

of women (Madunagu, 2007).

Past and current policies and programmes of government ba-

sically serve to consolidate existing patterns of gender inequal-

ity. For a proper empowerment strategy that will take into ac-

count the questions of what are the problems to be tackled?

Why are the problems in existence? And how the problems

could be solved, it is therefore recommended as follows:

1) Existing and potential policies and programmes of govern-

ment should be designed to open up equality possibilities

for men and women rather than widening the yawning gap

of social inequality between both sexes.

2) Existing and potential policies should be reviewed to ex-

amine whether or not they serve as enforcement mecha-

nisms of existing gender roles.

3) Policy-makers in Nigeria should abide by the principle of

social justice and practice it by equally involving men and

women in making policies that concern their welfare.

4) Policy makers should be more innovative such that new and

existing policy options can blend especially where such ap-

proach will be beneficial to both men and women equitably.

5) Reform in the laws affecting the status of women generally

is an essential first step in achieving gender equality. The

fundamental human rights of women should be protected by

the laws of the land.

6) Educational reforms should not only ensure that equity in

school enrolment is monitored, loopholes that encourage

girl-child drop out should be sealed and monitored effec-

tively.

7) Discriminatory traditional practices against women should

be stopped forthwith and future perpetrators should be

made to face squarely the wrought of the law.

8) Adequate sensitization of men and women on the gains of

women empowerment should be carried out by government

and non-government agencies in every community.

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