Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007.
The Status of the Female Citizens in the Nigerian Socio-Cultural
Environments: Implications for Social Studies Education
Mrs. A. A. Jekayinfa (Ph.D)
Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
Abstract
The 20th century had experienced extra-ordinary scientific and technological discoveries and a
general uplift of material well-being throughout the world. Yet at the beginning of the 21" century,
African women in general and Nigerian women in particular are submerged in extreme poverty,
are still victims of all kinds of abuse, discrimination and exploitation. They, largely illiterate are still
victims of ill-health, underdevelopment, injustice and violence. This is as a result of patriarchy system
which had started thousand years ago in several countries of the world including Nigeria. It is a
system whose values, rules, standards and policies are based on the supposition that women are
naturally inferior as human beings. It is based on the hierarchy of the roles that societies define for
men and women. At the dawn of the 21" century, Nigerian citizens are still living in a world
dominated by the system which enshrines male power and causes violence and exclusion. Patriarchy
makes the vast majority of women to be in position of cultural inferiority, social devaluation,
economic marginalization and invisibility of their existence and marketing and commercialization of
their bodies. These situations must change in the 21" century. This noble goal of changing the status
of the Nigerian female citizens can be achieved through Social studies education and by giving
opportunities to all learners, irrespective of their sex and their target careers." This paper addresses
the level of poverty and illiteracy among the Nigerian women, and how the Nigerian women are being
discriminated against. The paper also highlights the roles which Social studies can play in teaching the
virtues of love and equally so as to guide against discrimination in Nigeria.
Introduction
There is no gainsaying the fact that women make tremendous contributions to the
social,, cultural and economic development of their respective communities. As mothers
and wives, women do exert considerable impact on the productivity of male workers. As
workers, women can be likened to the Biblical rejected-stone, one which has become the
cornerstone of the house. By their sheer psychological, physiological and intellectual
make-up, they do perform more than mere complementary roles in the production
process (Jeminiwa 1995).
s
Koffi Anan, the U.N. Secretary (1998) has the following to say about women:
"Even in the midst of war; women have kept family life going; they have cared
for the sick and wounded; they have fetched water and firewood, grown crops
and tended animals. It is an injustice and outrage that women who are the
most likely to argue for peace, are also the ones most severely punished in
conflicts usually created by men " (Koffi Anah, 1998 pg. 1).
Traditionally, women have greater responsibility for their close relatives, children, the
elderly and the ill. They bear the brunt even more so when there are setbacks in social
programmes, endangering their own health and their jobs. However, much of the work
down by the society goes unrecognized and unvalued. In Nigeria, only a third of
women's work enters the National system of account. The rest remain unrecognized
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
whereas three fourth of men's work are recorded and hence recognized. Awori (1998)
opined that "Although women have always participated in development, their work has not
been fully utilized and their experience has not been taken into account".
According to the African Centre for Women Economic Commission, Women's
unrecorded work time is 75% while men's unrecorded work time is 25%. Nigerian
women spend and average of one to six hours a day collecting water during the dry
season and 30 minutes to seven hours collecting firewood. This work is not reflected in
official statistics. Owing to discriminatory legislation and cultural norms, women in
most parts of Nigeria are excluded from land and property ownership and business
enterprises. This paper therefore, focuses on the level of poverty, illiteracy amongst the
Nigerian women. The paper also discusses some of the discriminating and violence
meted on them and highlights what social studies can do to ameliorate women's conditions.
Research Questions
Specifically, this paper addresses the following questions.
1. What is the level of poverty among the Nigerian women?
2. What is the level of illiteracy among the Nigerian women?
3. How are the Nigerian women being discriminated upon?
4. What kinds of violence do the Nigerian women experience?
5. What implications do all of the above have for social studies
education?
Nigerian Women and Poverty
Inmost countries of the World particularly in Nigeria, the poor form the majority. It is
universally acknowledged that women are poorer than men elsewhere and that this is due
to women's unequal status in the society.
Women predominate among the poor in Nigeria and they are more in the rural areas.
Their number has risen by 50% in the last two decades (Morelli, 1992). Rural women are
getting poorer and further marginalized both in the utilization of available resources and
access to development processes. The UNDP (1980) claimed that agriculture appears to be
the occupation of 70.3% of the Nigerian rural women. Yet it is true that agriculture has the
largest chunk of the poor. Poverty for women is compounded by the fact that only 8% of
women hold title to the land they work on (UNFEA, 1982). Although women represent
about 70% of the food producers in Nigeria, they are denied access to social services andare categorized as poor because of low income earnings.
The underlying cause of female poverty are deep-rooted in inequalities in the control
of assets, pervasive gender discrimination in labour markets and a lack of voice in the
power structures that control resources allocation. The alleviation and eradication of
poverty is a task that must be done in Nigeria in the 21st century so as
to change the poor conditions of the Nigerian women. An important element in the
eradication of poverty among women is empowerment. The process of which involves
entitlement and access to economic resources (Economic empowerment) and access to
decision making (political empowerment). These are two aspects of the same concept,
which are reciprocally interdependent. In other to pursue the empowerment of
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
women as a means and a goal for sustainable development, there must be a change in
the 21st century and this calls for economic and political empowerment.
Nigerian Women and Illiteracy
In spite of the constitutional guarantees of equal access to education for all by the federal
Government of Nigeria, nationwide campaign for the enrolment of all school-age
children and programmes for adult and non-formal education, there are still traditional
obstacles to female education and curricular insensitive to gender and to civil and political
rights.
The Population Reference Bureau (1998) gave the statistics of Nigerian men and
women in primary school in 1990 to be 67% as against 28.5%. It also gave the figure of
Nigerian enrolment in secondary school in 1980 as 25% male and 15% female, in 1995,
35% male, were enrolled in secondary schools and 29% female. According to the
Women's Consortium of Nigeria (2004), the UNESCO rated Nigeria as one of the nine
countries with the highest rate of illiteracy and women constitution the largest
percentage.
The Education system in Nigeria, according to Nnandi & Nnandi (1996) is
characterized by the existence of three important education inequality variables. One of
the variables is the gender differential in education in general and in
Science/Technological disciplines in particular, All the three variables have been
lamented upon as being detrimental to national development in the long run (Nnadi &
Nnandi 1996; Sambo 1996).
According to Sambo (1996) and Umar (1996), educational imbalances against
females is a well-known fact at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The disparities
in education also affects the labour market, Osuala (1984) was of the opinion that some
firms discriminated against women in their employment policy and that female
participation rate in the civil service is much lower than that of the male.
As a result of the imbalance in the education of the male and female citizens of
Nigeria, various measures have been adopted by the government in a bid to redress
the situation. Governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
Community Based Organization (CBOSO, and private initiatives have contributed a
great deal. The private initiatives are part of the informational spill over effect of the
Pan World Feminism. The UNFPA (1993) affirmed that, 46.3% of the female world
wide were illiterate in 1990.
In the 21st century there is the need to uphold the declaration of the United Nations
of 1976-1985 on Equality, Development and Peace. The Common-wealth Association of
Polytechnics in Africa's call for Women in Technical Education (WITED) should also
be upheld in the 21st century. .
Discrimination and Injustice against the Nigerian Women
In many developing countries and particularly in Nigeria, women have few choices in
life outside marriage and child bearing. According to UNFPA (1993), women have large
families because that is expected of them. They are often treated differently and
considered as "weaker sexes". Their rights as individuals are most often denied them
because they are women. The society actually considers them as 'second class'
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
citizens who should not have a say in the decision affecting the family, the society and
the nation which they are integral part.
Government have put in place several policies on equal opportunities for
men and women but these have not been allowed to work in Nigeria. Following the
declaration of the Decade for women by the United Nations, member countries have
taken several decisions on equal opportunities and to facilitate human resources
development in many areas. Some of these decisions include:
1. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW).
2. The Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies of 1985
3. The Abuja Declaration of 1989.
Within the United Nations, the following structures have also been put in place to
facilitate the advancement of women. - The Commission on Status of Women
 The Commission of the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women.
 The Division for the Advancement of Women
 The United Nations development Fund for Women (UNDFEN)
It is gratifying to note that Nigeria, in implementing the United Nations resolutions,
promulgated decree 30 of September 1989 (amended 1992) established the National
Commission for Women which is the national coordinating machinery for women's
development programmes and the subsequent establishment of similar bodies at the
state and local government levels to promote the welfare of women in general. Despite
these initiatives by the Nigerian government, evidences abound that discrimination and
injustices still exist. Some cases in point are the elected positions and appointment made
by the Federal and State governments between May 29th 1999 to November 2006. Below
are some examples in Tables 1, 2, 3.
Table 1: Gender Desegregated Table of Elective Political Positions 1999/ 2003 in Nigeria
POSITION
MALE
FEMALE
TOTAL
% FEMALE
PRESIDENT
1
-
1
0
VICE-PRESIDENT
1
-
1
0
SPEAKERS
35
1
-
2.7
GOVERNORS
36
0
36
00
DEPUTY GOVERNORS
35
1
36
2.7
L.G.A. CHAIRPERSONS
765
9
747
1.2
COUNCILLORS
8,667
143
8810
1.6
STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBERS
SENATORS
978
106
12
3
990
109
1.2
1.2
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
347
13
360
3.3
Sources: Women's Consortium of Nigeria (2004)
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
The situation in the 2003 general elections only showed slight improvement despite
the fact that Political Parties waived the registration fees for Party nominations, and a
lot more women contested, very few women actually won the elections.
Table 2 shows a comparative analysis of the gender-desegregated analysis of the
results of the election into key positions in 1999 and 2003 general elections.
Table 2: A Gender Desegregated Comparative Table on Elective Political Positions for
1999/2003 and 2003/2007 in Nigeria
S/N
Position
No. of Available
Seats
No. of Women
Elected &% of Total in
1999
1
Presidency
2.
Senate
109
3 2.8%
3 2.8%
3.
House of Representatives
360
0. 0%
0. 0%
4.
Governorship
36
0. 0%
0. 0%
5,
State House of Assembly
12 1.21%
38. 3.8%
1
990
0
0%
No. of Women
Elected &% of total In
2003
0
0%
Source: Women's Consortium of Nigeria (2004)
Equal participation of women is important to guarantee their equality as human beings
and to afford women's participation in decision-making. In spite of civil societies
agitation, the affirmative Action Policy has not been implemented. It must be
noted that the Government improved the number of the women nominees into
government positions and also gave women key position a the Ministry of Finance for the
first time during the Obasanjo's regime of 2003 -2007.
Table 3: Some Appointment made by the Civilian Government at the Federal and State Levels
from May 29" 1999 to 2003
TOTAL
MEN
Federal government appointed permanent
secretaries
35
32
3
2
Federal Executive Council
49
43
3
Ambassadorial Nominees
106
96
4
Senior Special Advisers to the President
14
5
Chairpersons of the 5 Committees set up by the House of
S/N
1
APPOINTMENT
WOMEN
%OF
WOMEN
SOURCE
9
Vanguard June 10" 1999
6
12
Vanguard July 7" 1999
10
9
This Day.August 20* 1999
13
1
7
This Day, June 28" 1999
5
5
-
-
This Day, June 29' 1999
90
89
1
1
This Day, July 16* 1999
Representativf
6
Senate Committee (Chairpersons and Deputies)
7
Contract Review Panel
7
5
2
29
Trie Day, June 5*1999
8
Commissioners to INEC
3
2
1
33
Vanguard August 25* 1999
Probe panel on failed contracts in Buhari, IBB and
Abacha regimes
12
10
2
17
Vanguard Juty 16* 1999
9
10
Ogun State Commissioners (SW)
9
0
-
-
This Day. July 1-1999
11
Lagos State Commissioners (SW)
14
12
2
14
Vanguard 21' 1999
12
Ebonyi State Commissioners (SE)
10
9
1
9
This Day, June 14» 1999
13
Abia State Commissioners (SE)
14
11
3
21
This Day, June 14* 1999
14
Edo State Commissioners (SE)
9
9
-
-
This Day, June 14* 1999
15
Delta State Commissioners (SS)
10
9
1
10
Vanguard June 30* 1999
16
Zamfara State Commissioners (NW)
11
11
-
-
This Day, June 10* 1999
17
Sokoto State Commissioners (NW)
11
10
1
9
This Day, June 18* 1999
18
Plateau State Commissioners (NC)
3
3
-
-
This Day, June 15* 1999
'9
Kwara State Commissioners (NC)
11
9
2
10
This Day, June 30* 1999
-* -»
L^
Enugu State Commissioners (NE)
11
10
1
9
This Day, June 15* 1999
L'
Taraba State Commissioners (NE)
10
9
1
10
Vanguard July 16* 1999
The Table 3 speaks for itself it shows discrimination for the female citizen both at the
Federal and state levels. What can we say of Edo, Ogun. Zamfara and Plateau states
without a single female Commissioner at the beginning of 21st century? Do the
governors want to tell Nigerians that here are not competent and capable women to mount
the position of commissioners? This is pure discrimination and injustice in the highest
order. There are many practices in Nigeria which when summed together cumulative into
injustice on the part of women. For example, in many parts of the country, widows are
forced to marry their late husband's brothers (Imosemi, 1999). In some parts of the
country and specifically among the Benin, Ishan, and Yoruba, customary laws for
instance, forbid women to inherit their husband's property even if most of the properties
were purchased by the wives. In some parts of the country and especially among the
northerners, parents select husbands for their daughters. Young girls in Northern Nigeria
are forced to marry men chosen for them by their fathers without their own consent or
that of their mothers in most cases.
It was observed by Kaita (1969) that there were instances when young girls of
between 12 years and 14 years were withdrawn from schools to be married to men as old
as their fathers or even older. All these injustices and discriminatory attitudes against
women must be redressed in the 21" century.
Violence Against Women in Nigeria
"Violence against women" means any act of gender-biased violence that results in
physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women including threats of such
acts, cohesion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private
life as systematic rape. This is the fate of thousands of women in Nigeria. Violence against
women is a consequence of the historically unequal power relations between men and
women. It is contrary to the women's human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is a
national reality existing in all societies regardless of income, class and culture. All women
are affected. It is not certain if there is a woman who at one time or another in her life,
had not been afraid merely because she is a woman. Simply working in the street after
dark or working at night may represent serious personal safety problems for women. It is
no more an inevitable part of life than poverty. It arises from the patriarchal system, which
since time immemorial has exerted control over women's lives.
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
Violence against women affects all women and girls. Those who are particularly
vulnerable are women who live in extremely precarious conditions or who are
discriminated against on the basis of race, language, ethnic group. Religion handicap or
membership of a minority groups, indigenous women and women who are displaced of
women. For example, in many parts of the country, widows are forced to marry their
late husband's brothers (Imosemi, 1999). In some parts of the country and specifically
among the Benin, Ishan, and Yoruba, customary laws for instance, forbid women to
inherit their husband's property even if most of the properties were purchased by the wives.
In some parts of the country and especially among the northerners, parents select husbands
for their daughters. Young girls in Northern Nigeria are forced to marry men chosen for
them by their fathers without their own consent or that of their mothers in most cases.
It was observed by Kaita (1969) that there were instances when young girls of
between 12 years and 14 years were withdrawn from schools to be married to men as old
as their fathers or even older. All these injustices and discriminatory attitudes against
women must be redressed in the 21st century.
Physical, sexual and psychological violence against women between a couple and
in the family consists of battery, marital rape, dowry-related violence, incest or spousal
violence e.g. a son's violence against his mother. Violence occurring within the community
includes: sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, and intimidation at work, forced
treatment, abusive medication, the exploitation and the commercialization of women's
bodies. Violence against women also includes contraception imposed by constraint, forced
sterilization or abortions, selective abortion of female fetuses and female infanticide.
Domestic violence on women has been on the increase in Nigeria. Examples abound on
pages of news papers of such violence. As reported by the daily newspapers and Fadeiye
and Adenegan (1999), Charity Agbaruku's boy friend poured acid on her in 1992, in 1995,
Rashidat Kuti was attacked by her cousin over a minor quarrel. The same year, Deborah
Odeyemi's husband poured acid on her. Oyibo (1999) also reported an incidence where
the late Ego Osadebe died as a result of the acid poured on her by her husband in 1998.
Ah1 these nefarious acts meted on the female citizens of Nigeria should change in the 21"
century.
Challenges for Social Studies Education
Social studies has been introduced into the educational system of Nigeria as a problem
solving technique. Being and integrated discipline which derives its curriculum
contents from many educational curricula, Social studies has the capabilities and
potentialities of solving the problems of inequality, injustice, disparity, discrimination which
are causing segregation between men and women in every sphere of development in
Nigeria. The basics and rudiments of human rights, fair play, justice, and honesty are
learnt in social studies right from the primary school level. Concepts of freedom, human
rights liberation, which can assist in the attainment of parity between men and women,
are taught in Social studies. If properly taught by the teacher through appropriate teaching
method with the use of relevant teaching aids, and adequately internalized by the pupils
in their behavior Social studies education will go a long way to putting an end to
inequality, gender discrimination, social and political apartheid between men and women
in Nigeria.
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
Conclusion and Recommendations
Nigerian government should through legal instruments adopt a change of stand to
enhance rapid growth and development by curbing communities who still keep to the old
customs and traditions of representing women. Equal opportunities should be given to
both boys and girls. Disparity in educational opportunities between boys and girls should
be totally eradicated.
Social studies with curriculum offerings that can solve the problems of inequality
in the status of men and women should be introduced at the Senior Secondary School
level where it is at present not being offered. This will enable the pupils to have a total
organized integrative experience which Social studies is out to give.
Nigerian Journal of Social Studies, Vol. X (1 & 2) 2007
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