Gender, Political Participation and Governance in Nigeria

RUNNING HEAD: POLAC INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN ITIES AND SECURITY STUDIES

MAIDEN EDITION: JANUARY-JUNE, 2015 (Pp 250-269)

A JOURNAL PUBLICATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

NIGERIA POLICE ACADEMYWUDIL, KANO-NIGERIA

Gender, Political Participation and Governance in Nigeria

By

Helen Elizabeth Ovbude

Department of Sociology

Faculty of the Social Sciences

University of Lagos

Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

POLAC INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN ITIES AND SECURITY STUDIES MAIDEN EDITION: JANUARY-JUNE, 2015 (Pp 250-269)

Introduction

Traditionally, in Africa and particularly in Nigerian culture and

history, women have been involved in politics and governance but

the level of political participation is low when compared to the

level of males. Examples of these can be seen historically

through female political leaders such as Queen Amina of Zaria,

Emotan of Benin, Iyalode Efunsetan Aniwura of Ibadan, who became

political leaders and active in state matters. They derived their

fame mainly from their royalty and wealth which is derived from

economic power and are therefore the exceptions rather than the

rule. This phenomenon still persists today as can been seen in

the case of the Akure royal line in Ondo State where the regency

is always a female who ruled for several years before a Deji is

appointed as the paramount ruler. Historically and even in the

modern era, global examples in governance and political

participation at both traditional institutions and in democratic

settings can also been seen in the case of Queen Elizabeth of

England, Queen Catherine, Mrs Golda Meir of Israel as well as

President Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia. However, women have been more

economically rather than politically active. Examples derived

mainly from Nigerian culture shows that the concept of female

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political participation is not alien to Africa even though it was

not in democratic settings. For the males, political

participation have always been a given and a constant and this

have always been known to be the norm globally.

The third Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) aims at promoting

gender, equality and empower women. UN (2000) resolution V11 (27)

states that…..We will support the consolidation of democracy in

Africa and assist Africans in their struggle for lasting peace,

poverty eradication and sustainable development, thereby bringing

Africa into the mainstream of the world economy. 28…..We resolve

therefore: to give full support to the political and

institutional structures of emerging democracies. UNDP (2014)

also report that in 2012, 15 of the 20 countries globally which

made the greatest strides on reaching a number of goals and

targets were in Africa including Benin, Ethiopia, Gambia, Malawi

and Rwanda. What is the gender dimension of political

participation in Nigeria? Why are women under-represented

politically in Nigeria? How are they therefore affected by

governance that is mainly male-dominated and led? What has been

the resultant effect of this male political dominance and gender

inequality? The paper highlights the gender dimension of

political participation in Nigeria and its effects, as well as

factors affecting governance and female political participation

in Nigeria.

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Methodology

Data for the paper was derived from secondary sources namely the

World Bank, UNESCO, Newspapers, meta-analysis of Literature

reviews and Structured Observations. The Gender Equity Theory by

Janet Saltzman Chafetz (1990) was employed as theoretical framework

for the paper.

Theoretical Framework

GENDER EQUITY THEORY

Chafetz (1990) posits that the coercive basis of gender

stratification results from the macro-level division of labour in

society. Division of labour is gendered, that is, work is defined

and distributed based on a person’s sex. Males are restricted

mainly to the public sphere, and this is monetarily rewarded

while the females are restricted largely to work in the private

sphere which is usually unpaid for. Males will therefore receive

more resources from the public sphere than females and this

translate into differences in power between men and women at the

micro level which turn sustains the macro level gendered division

of labour. When men have advantages in the macro-level division

of labour, they are also more likely to be incumbents in those

elite societal positions to which resources accrue. And

distribution of opportunities in both power and work outside the

home will favour men over women. Definitional processes occur and

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manifest through Gender ideology or beliefs, Gender norms and

expectations and Gender stereotypes. If women accept their male

partner’s definitions of reality, they are more likely to defer

to men and to play gender traditional domestic roles that in turn

support the macro-level bias in the division of labour. All these

differences legitimate the distribution of opportunities for men

and women in the division of labour, in positions of power and

authority and in micro encounters between men and women inside

and outside of the home. These interrelated forces will, in turn,

influence what is term engenderment, the processes whereby men

and women, but especially women accept “voluntarily” their

position in the system of gender stratification. The more the

economic division of labour, the distribution of incumbents in

elite positions, and the cultural definitions of a society reveal

a gender bias, the more likely members of the adult generation

are likely to reflect the gender differentiation in their work

and home activities. As a result, adults become both role models

and active socializing agents for engendering the next generation

in their behaviour, expectations for their future and definition

of what is real and appropriate. However, unintentional change

processes takes place to change the gender system itself through

forces such as technological changes, demographic shifts in the

age and composition of the populations, changes in the structure

of the economy and geopolitical forces like war or migration.

Changes also takes place through elite males who perceive that

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gender inequality threatens their incumbency as elites or thwarts

their plans for society and also when competing factions of

elites need to recruit women to their side to prevail in a

conflict. Women also mobilized to pursue their interests and this

usually influenced by other forces especially, industrialization,

urbanization and expansion of the middle class. Women might seek

to expand opportunities outside their domestic responsibilities

when they have the resources (material, educational and ideology

to pursue opportunities). If they do so, however, they confront

the existing system of gender stratification, which creates role

dilemmas. As women overcome these dilemmas, they acquire a sense

of efficacy and begin to change their frame of references in ways

counter to the dominant gender definitions. Chafetz’ position is

closely aligned to that of Marx (1956) who posits that the

knowledge people had of society, what they assumed to be an

absolute and universal statement about reality, in fact, reflect

the experience of those who economically and politically ruled

the social world (which of course is the men; those who are the

Bourgeoisie). Thus, gender definitions are from the male

perspective i.e. male definition of what constitutes cultural

reality.

Perceptions and Dilemmas of Female Political Participation

According to Mire (2001) in the process of constituting African

Nationalist/anti-colonial literature, the female body provided a

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power symbolic space through which pristine, pre-colonial African

culture and racial purity can be imagined. In this way, female

body was symbolically represented as passive pristine space acted

on by active men of letters to carry-out the urgent task of

creating national culture. In the process of constituting

national identity based on ethnic purity. The 2nd task of women

as perceived was to produce the sons of the nation and the agents

of the body politic. African nationalist literary and political

narratives are rife with female sexual metaphors, allegories and

images, a natural division of labor in which women were

exclusively identified with their reproductive capacity as

mothers and wives. Consequently, in the nationalist literary and

political imagination, African women were in the most cases, not

thought of as active participants in the struggle against

colonial imposition. As a result African women entered the

nationalist literary and political imagination not as subjects

with political goals of their own but as mothers of the nation’s

children and wives of men who are the real political subjects.

According to Kolawole et al (2014), it was during the 1950s that

three women were appointed into the house of Chiefs (Western

Nigeria House of Chiefs), while Chief (Mrs) Margaret Ekpo and

Janet Muokelu were both appointed into the Eastern Nigeria House

of Chiefs. Women in Southern Nigeria were only given the

franchise in the 1950s. Chief (Mrs) Wuraola Esan from Western

Nigeria became the 1st female member of the Federal Parliament.

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Chief (Mrs) Margaret Ekpo contested elections in Aba Urban North

Constituency under the National Council of Nigeria Citizens

(NCNC) platform and won becoming a member of the Eastern Nigeria

House of Assembly until 1966. Mrs Janet Mokelu and Miss Ekpo A.

Young also contested elections and won and became members of the

Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly. In Northern Nigeria, however,

women were still denied the franchise even after independence. As

a result, prominent female politicians like Hajia Gamba Sawaba in

the North could not vote and be voted for. It was only in 1979

that women in Northern Nigeria were given the franchise following

return to civilian Politics. During the 2nd Republic (1979-1983)

there was no further progress. A few Nigerian women won elections

into the House of Representatives at the National level. Some of

these women were Mrs J.C Eze of the Nigeria People’s Party (NPP)

who represented Uzouwani Constituency in former Anambra State.

Others are Mrs V.O Nnaji of NPP who represented Isu and Mrs

Abiola Babatope of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) who

represented Mushin Central 11 of Lagos State. The 1st quota

system was introduced by the Federal Government during the Buhari

Administration as regards the appointment of women into

Governance (this was before the 1995 Beijing Conference), that at

least one female must be appointed a member of the executive

council in every state. All the states complied with this

directive; some states even had 2 or three female members.

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According to Makoa (1997) political modernization in Lesotho has

bought little or no significant improvement to the social status

of Basotho women. Their freedom continues to be denied or

constrained by a battery of national laws, societal norms,

taboos, traditions, customs, institutions and the ideology of

patriarchy. Despite, a relatively high degree of social

mobilization in Lesotho resulting from nearly 200 years of

exposure to western culture, particularly education and

consumption habits, women status have barely changed.

Relationship between men and women remain asymmetrical,

notwithstanding years of secularization and women’s active

involvement in national politics. Women are by laws minors with

limited independence as they are perpetually subordinated to

their husbands, parents and relatives depending on their marital

status. Another, important institution which facilitated

political interaction and free discussion of public matters is

the Khotla. The Khotla performed two critical functions, both of

which were crucial to the development of a male-dominated

political system in Lesotho. By bringing together chiefs and all

adult males daily to take meals and spend part from their free

time away from their families, it helped to marginalized women,

thus relegating them to routine family activities such as

preparing meals, drawing water, gathering wood fuel and caring

for children. Chiefs were invariably men since women are by

customs barred from becoming chiefs or rulers.

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In Southeast Nigeria, traditional powerful women societies which

are still celebrated today exist. In modern parlance the most

popular of all the meetings is called the ‘August meeting’ and

holds annually in all Igbo towns and villages. All women of the

town and village wherever they are/live, are usually expected to

come for the women’s meeting. Though, there is rarely any woman

in the traditional Council of Elders, but they usually have a say

in matters that affect females generally especially through the

Umuada which consist of married women and senior daughters of

families as the case maybe in each village/town. However, women

are generally celebrated, honored and decorated by the Council of

Elders and this is usually related to their reproductive

achievements and such women became titled women. The women

societies deliberate on matters that affect women and also seek

the development of their communities. They approach the council

of elders on issues affecting women and the community and

amicably seek to resolve issues. They have strategies and tactics

of settling stony matters such as open protests, demonstrations,

dance ridicule and all night songs. A good example is the famous

Aba women Riot of 1929 in Calabar, Owerri and smaller towns in

the then Eastern region. Though targeted against the Colonial

government which the Aba (who are mainly market women) women

single handedly organized themselves until the colonial

government rescind the decision of market women paying taxes

along with their husbands. The foregoing analysis, however, shows

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that prime target of the struggle against gender inequality

should be the politics and or ideology that sustain or justify

sex/gender discrimination. By their sheer majority, women should

be able to win not only their struggle but also national

struggles and not be relegated to women affairs only.

There was only one female Presidential Candidate namely Mrs Serah

Jubril of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). She has been

consistently contesting for the presidential ticket even before

1999 when the 4th democratic republic commenced. During the party

(PDP) primaries to elect the Party presidential candidate, she

had only one vote which was the vote she casted for herself.

Where are the pressure groups, civil organizations and Nigeria

vibrant female organizations? Are they not actively involved in

the political System as members of political parties at various

levels? Are all the talks, conferences and campaigns mere

rhetoric? Is it that there is no card carrying female member of

PDP or other political parties in Nigeria among the women

organizations. But we know of several high ranking women in

Nigeria Society who are card carrying members of PDP. Is the

political system so dominated by the male political actors at

various levels that women are not given the opportunity at all to

be members of delegation to National primaries of political

parties? Are they just there to dance and chant praises and not

cast their votes for the political deliverance of women in

Nigeria and Africa. This calls for sober reflection. Political

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parties are playing the role of red caps Village

Elders/gerontocrats by making decision for people who represent

parties at party primaries. It is a well-known fact that an

unknown/known figure not favored by the party leaders can hardly

win primaries. But then the question must be asked-Is Nigeria

political actors who are members of political parties so docile?

Women representation through election in Nigeria is very low with

the males garnering almost 95% of elective posts. It should

however be noted that the total number of women aspirants

compared to the males is small. FMOWASD (2014) reports that in

the 2011 elections, 69 seats were won by the women in the 36

states of the Federation House of Assemblies; 19 seats in the

House of Representatives; 7 seats in the Senate and 3 Deputy

Governorship. The total number of male aspirants is 3,004 and the

females are 302 altogether making a total of 3,306 aspirants. The

males constitute about 90% of aspirants and the females 9.1%.

Below are tables showing female political participation in

Nigeria and selected African countries. Table 1 and 2 shows that

despite the fact that Nigeria is the largest African Country by

population and one of the richest in income and resources

(presently Africa largest economy), the country has one of the

lowest levels of female political participation. This is an

evidence of pervasive gender inequality, patriachical dominance

and low-level of development.

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Table 1: Number of Seat Held in Parliament by Women in Selected African Countries

(1999-2003)

Country Year1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Nigeria - 3 3 3 5Cameroon 6 6 6 9 9Egypt 2 2 2 2 2Mali 12 12 12 10 10South Africa 30 30 30 30 30Tanzania 16 - 22 22 21Swaziland 3 3 3 3 11Sudan - - 10 10 10Source: World Development Indicator (WDI) (Data Bank, World Bank)

Table 2: Number of Seat Held in Parliament by Women in Selected African Countries

(2009-13)

Country Year2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Nigeria 7 7 7 7 7Niger 10 - 13 13 13Morocco 11 11 17 17 17Mali 10 10 10 10 10Cameroon 14 14 14 14 31Ghana 8 8 8 - 11South Africa 45 45 42 42 42Egypt 2 13 2 2 -Uganda 32 31 35 35 35Zimbabwe 15 15 15 15 32Zambia 14 14 12 12 12Tanzania 31 - 36 36 36Swaziland 14 14 14 14 6Sudan 19 26 25 25 25Somalia 7 7 7 14 14Source: World Development Indicator (WDI) (Data Bank, World Bank)

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National Governance Policies and Female Political Participation

in Nigeria

The Federal Government, Civil Society, Non-governmental

organizations (NGOs) and International Organizations have long

recognized the fact that there can be no development especially

economically, politically and socially if females who constitute

about 50% of the population are not empowered educationally and

economically. As a result several measures and steps have been

taken to address these anomalies by governmental and Non-

governmental institutions. According to the Federal Ministry of

Women Affairs and Social Development (FMOWASD, 2014) the Federal

Executive Council approved a National Gender Policy in 2006

though currently under-review. This was complimented by the

Strategic Implementation Framework and Plan (2008) which provides

governments, ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s) with

practical guidance in gender responsive planning and programs. In

addition, more women have become politically active within the

last 8-10 years and have participated at different stages in the

electoral process. Challenges still remains when it comes to

actually scaling through party primaries, there are now more

women consistently involved in the electoral process as party

agents, election monitors and in direct contest for political

office at all levels. Generally, women’s engagement as aspirants

to political office increased from 3.2% in 2003 to 7.5% during

the last elections in 2011, with 500 women actually winning their

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respective party nomination as candidates for the states and

federal legislatives houses. As at 2011, the country exceeded the

30% global threshold for women’s participation for the first time

as Federal ministerial appointees as they make-up 31% of the

Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Furthermore, in providing explanations for the surge in in

women’s political participation, FMOWASD (2014) states that women

increase participation is due to a number of factors such as an

emerging policy framework which reinforces the need for women

access and engagement; high level advocacy and mobilization by

the National Gender Machinery, ongoing advocacy and enlightenment

campaigns and training support by the civil society; partnerships

and collaboration between the national gender machinery, civil

society and International Organizations. In order to sustain and

also build upon the above successes, a number of institutional

and policy mechanism have been put in place. One of these is the

National Gender Policy which provides a 35% minimum threshold for

women’s participation in politics, whether in appointive or

elective positions. A Nigeria ‘Women’s Trust Fund’ has been

established to provide technical and other resources to female

political aspirants. Women’s political empowerment offices have

also been set-up in each of the country six (6) geopolitical

zones for purposes of ongoing interface with and supports to

women politicians in the states and rural areas. One of the key

gender-specific milestones of the period under-review is the

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gradual integration of gender and social inclusion targets in

economic policies, development frameworks and government budgets.

This is a significant departure from the prior

compartmentalization of gender issues as ‘social issues’ only,

without the extremely critical link to economic justice and

empowerment. Examples of government policies include the National

and State Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (NEEDS and SEEDS)

which served as the economic blueprint from 2003-2008. The

National Vision 20:2020 document and the Transformation Agenda

where women, youth and other vulnerable groups have been

identified as a critical cluster in 2013 are also important

policies. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the

‘National Financial Inclusion Framework' which targets the

expansion of access to financial services to previously

marginalized groups by up to 70% by the year 2000. The “Growing

Women and Girl Initiative” (GWIN) was also launched in 2013 as a

mechanism of the government to provide additional budgetary

support to Federal Ministries who are able to show concrete

spending commitments to women and girls per fiscal year. Also

included is the ‘Youth Enterprises with Innovation in Nigeria’

(YOU WIN) initiative which ensure gender and social inclusion as

part of economic planning and creates a platform for young female

entrepreneurs to access technical and financial business support

through a competitive, transparent application process etc.

Factors which have contributed to these developments include

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strengthened inter-sectoral synergy and collaboration: sustained

advocacy by civil society groups and the provision of technical

support by International partners.

Below is Table 3 and 4 showing, the number of Out-of-School

children in Nigeria and selected African countries.

Table 3: Percentage of Out-of School Children of Primary School Age in Selected

African Countries (Females)

Country Year2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Nigeria 5,074,373 4,963,815 - - -Ghana 399,247 - 282,608 342,260 225,495South Africa 171, 333 - - 320,723 -Cameroon - - - 244,125 -Morocco 186,441 107,911 58,802 47,036 24,660Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics Database

Table 1 show figures for both males and females revealing the

educational situation in terms of literacy in Nigeria and this is

the worst country scenario in Africa hence the level of political

participation in the country which is low is not surprising with

the females even having lower levels of political participation

in sharp contrast to the male. This is clearly a demonstration of

economic and educational disadvantages in the country, though

steps are being taken to address this as earlier mentioned. The

rise in Nigeria out-of-school children is however attributable to

the Boko Haram terrorist menace in the Northern part of Nigeria

which have contributed to insecurity in the region.

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Table 4: Percentage of Out-of School Children of Primary School Age in Selected

African Countries (Males)

Country

Year2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Nigeria 3,779,297 3,745,428 - - -Cameroon - - - 50,688 -Ghana 416,653 - 299,628 310,258 241,046South Africa 191,408 - - 335,764 -Morocco 163,126 90,066 49,800 40,211 18,560Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics Database

According to UNESCO (2012) globally Nigeria has the largest

number of out-of-school children. As a result almost a quarter of

young people in the country did not complete primary school and

lack the basic skills to work and this is equivalent to over 7

million 15-24 year olds with almost double the number of young

women being affected by this crisis than young men. According to

Isaksson et al (2012) to understand the gender gap in African

political participation, there is need to go beyond individual

determinants of participation and consider the contribution of

contextual influences. Commonly suggested determinants of

political participations include individual resources relevant

for meeting the costs of participating norms and access to

political recruitment networks. In line with these general

determinants, a lack of individual resources, low levels of

female employment (in turn affecting women’s endowments,

participatory norms and access to recruitment networks and the

role of religion (especially Islam) as a carrier of traditional

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gender roles have all been put forward as important factors

explaining lower political participation among women.

Furthermore, it was found that women’s voting tended to be

positively correlated with women’s regional labor force

participation, but negatively correlated with the labor force

participation of men, while men’s probability to vote seemed

unaffected by the regional labor markets. This indicates that

female voting may be negatively affected by a larger gender gap

in employment, presumably pointing to the impact of community

gender norms. Similar results are found for education in inter-

electoral participation. Hence, the gender inequality observed in

Africa political participation in inter-electoral participation

is quite substantial, can seemingly not be explained simply by

differing characteristics such as women being less educated or

participating less in the labor market. According to Agbalajobi

(2010) the sexual division of labor in the political system is

often traced to the onset of colonization in Nigeria. The western

cultural notion of male superiority reflected in the relations

with Nigerians. The 1922 Sir Clifford Constitution

disenfranchised women and limited the participation of adult male

to the wealthy. The increase of votes cast by women in elections

from 10 to 40% of total votes cast in 8 years signifies a form of

increase in participation. But the number of women holding public

offices compared to men is very low showing under-representation.

Following conferences in Copenhagen, Nairobi, Vienna, Cairo and

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Beijing, women participation on development has become a

recurrent issue as women access to decision making and full

participation in public affairs is now recognized as a

fundamental condition for democracy and for attaining sustainable

development. True democracy is characterized by full and

equitable participation of women in both formulations and

implementation of decisions in all spheres of public life. And no

state can claim democracy if half of its population are excluded

from decision making processes.

Political Violence and Security in Nigeria

Post-elections violence erupts in several states in Nigeria after

the 2011 general elections when President Goodluck Jonathan was

declared winner and General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) a Northerner

lost the presidential elections. Several houses were burnt and

businesses and organizations were closed down to avoid further

damage and loss of lives. A Classical saga of political violence

in Nigeria political history is the ‘Operation Wet tie’ of 1962

in the former Western Region now known as South-West, which was

started by the supporters of Chief Obafemi Awolowo against Chief

S.L Akintola and his supporters when the latter won the election.

It led to a state of Emergency in the then Western region as

wanton destruction of lives and properties was unleashed. Another

well-known case of political violence in the country is the

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assassination in 2006 of Lagos politician Chief Funso Williams, a

PDP gubernatorial candidate for the 2007 election (This Day live,

2014). According to the Leadership Newspaper (2014) a

philanthropists in Katsina State, Alhaji Umar Tata doled out

N29.1 million to 104 victims of the 2011 post-election violence

in Malufamshi Local Government Area of the State. The News Agency

of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the beneficiaries include Yorubas,

Igbos, Hausa Christians and few Muslims who lost property after

the April 2011 general elections. The beneficiaries lost shops,

houses and vehicles and each of them got between N250, 000 and

N350, 000.

According to Collier and Vincente (2012) intimidation may indeed

be used by the incumbent when he cannot buy votes and when the

challenger also has limitations in the ability to under-take

vote-buying. In Kenya, a series of unfortunate events started

just after Election Day, 27th December, 2007. The pay-off to

vote-buying was very limited as a result of ethnic identity-

voting; there are relatively few swing voters (i.e. Soft support

Voters). In any events, the incumbent was not in a particularly

strong financial position to embark upon mass vote-buying. Unlike

the case in Nigeria in 2007 and Angola, Kenya does not have

access to natural resource revenues and the scale of

misappropriation of public funds had been greatly reduced by

domestic and international scrutiny. However when the electoral

commission declared Kibaki the winner later that day giving him a

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lead of about 232,000 votes over Odinga. Within minutes of the

commission’s declaration, tribe-based rioting broke out across

much of Kenya, partly directed by Odinga Supporters against

Kikuyus with violence particularly concentrated in the rift

valley province where Kalenjin Supporters of Odinga dominated. By

the end of February the ethnic violence death toll had claimed

10,000 victims with up to 600, 000 people estimated to have been

displaced. Opposition victory can emerge only when ruling parties

cannot resort to vote-buying or ballot fraud, this was

empirically evident in recent African electoral contests where an

electoral victory by the opposition is a relatively rare event.

It happened in Kenya in 2002, Sierra Leone in 2007 and Ghana in

2008 and among cases in which the conduct of the election had

sufficient integrity in that the opposition was able to win.

According to Diamond et al (2014) the recent transitions are more

like those of the first wave, which began with the French

revolution and continued up until the victory of universals

suffrage in most of Europe. Unlike the late twentieth century

transitions in Latin America and Eastern Europe, which were

primarily elite-driven, top-down affairs, the transitions in 19th

century Europe were driven by popular mobilization, especially

the pressures created the ground for the expansion of the

franchise throughout Europe in the succeeding decades. Adam

Przeworski shows clearly in his article that the bulk of

transitions in the first wave were conquered rather than granted.

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But the Eastern European and the Latin American transitions of

the third wave all took place in a country that had prior

experience of democracy, and in a sense the imposition of either

military rule or communism was seen by a lot of those populations

as an aberration from what should have been their normal path of

development. Therefore there was much more elite willingness to

negotiate their way out of that particular form of

authoritarianism; that is why there is pact-making, because the

big problem is how do you get these elites to agree with one

another and come to some peaceful path toward democracy? In some

cases such as Romania and the Czech Republic, there was popular

mobilization once it gets going. But the initial impetus came

from Gobachev and from within the elite. Similarly, the

militaries in Latin America got tired of ruling, so they were

willing to give power back to civilians. The Arab spring was

different and so were the color’s revolution because those were

all based on popular mobilizations. There can be no democracy

unless you have the political mobilizations of important social

groups. This has happened throughout the Arab world,

contradicting all the cultural stereotypes about Arab

passitivity. The transitions in Libya, in Egypt and in Tunisia

didn’t begin with cracks in the elites. They were really the

result of very, very heavy pressure from people in the street and

that happened not only in Latin America or Europe.

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Furthermore, according to Collier and Vincente (2012) Robert

Mugabe having lost the power of vote buying as a result of the

collapse of the Zimbabwean economy in 2008 resorted to series of

violent actions targeted en masse at opposition supporters

increasingly as the 2nd round of the elections approached. The

violence succeeded both in forcing the MDC which is the party of

the opposition to withdraw from the 2nd round and in securing an

incumbent-biased power-sharing deal, Mugabe paid a huge price

internationally due to the visibility of repression. Opposition

parties also can use post-election violence to protest the result

as a response to flagrant fraud; Violence them becomes

legitimized in the eyes of their supporters. In two recent

examples of serious post-election violence, Democratic Republic

of Congo (DRC) in 2000 and Kenya in 2007, the violence was

opposition led. Following the doubtful incumbent victory in the

Kenya elections of 2007, opposition supporters attacked

government supporters, identified by their ethnicity. The

violence ended with some members of the opposition being given

positions in government. In DRC Congo, balloting had been

condemned by opposition engaged in a shoot-out with government

forces.

According to Hannan (2004) sustainable peace and security cannot

be achieved without women’s empowerment and full involvement.

There has been a radical change in discussions on women, peace

and security with a shift from viewing women as primarily or

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solely as victims to understanding the diverse roles women play

in conflict and post-conflict situations. Many women organize

locally and regionally for conflict resolutions and peacemaking

as well as disarmament activities. At grassroots level women’s

groups and networks have provided examples of the types of

innovative and flexible strategies required for effective

conflict preventions and resolutions. Special tribute is paid to

the Mano River Women’s Peace Network represented on the panel by

Ms Nana Pratt which recently won the prestigious United Nations

prize in the field of human rights for 2003. Although, women in

many conflict prone areas have been widely involved in informal

peace processes, they are unfortunately still usually left out

when formal peace negotiations begin and cannot make their voices

heard. Women’s participation is not systematic or assured and

there is a need for affirmative action in this area. The presence

of women in peace processes or other activities is not in itself

a guarantee that gender equality issues will be placed on the

peace and security agenda. All sectors in peace and security

activities-male or female must have the awareness and capacity to

bring attention to the concerns of both women and men. Efforts to

increase the representation and participations of women must be

complemented with gender mainstreaming. As of March 2004, of the

total of 4,653 Civilian Police contributed by 65 countries only

188 (4.4%) were women. This should be compared with the figures

for 2003 (May) when there were 211 women police (4.08%) of 5, 175

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total police in peacekeeping missions. The top 5 female police

contributing countries-Germany, United States, Ghana, Zambia and

Zimbabwe-provided 44.6% of all women police officers.

United Nations (2006) states that violence against women and

girls are one of the most systematic and widespread human rights

violations. It is rooted in gendered social structures rather

than individual and random act; it cuts across age, socio-

economic, educational and geographical boundaries, affects all

societies and is a major obstacle to ending gender inequality and

discrimination globally. The United Nations defines violence

against women as any act of gendered-based violence that results

in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological

harm or suffering to women, including physical threats of such

acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether

occurring in public or in private life (General Assembly 481; 104

Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 1993).

In addition, according to the UN women (2013) the term gender-

based violence refers to violence directed against a person

because of his /her gender and expectations of his/her role in a

society or culture. Gender based violence highlights the gender

dimension of these types of acts. In other words, the

relationship between females subordinates status in society and

their increased vulnerability to violence. It is important to

note, however, that men and boys may also be victims of gender-

based violence. Sexual violence against women manifests itself as

26


physical and sexual violence. The most universally common forms

include domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence

(including rape), sexual harassment and emotional/psychological

violence. UN (2006) also reports that perpetrator of violence may

include the state and its agents, family members (including

husbands), friends, intimate partners or other familiar member’s

individuals and strangers. Violence against women and girls is

related to their lack of power and control, as well as to the

social norms that prescribe men and women’ sex roles in society

and condone abuse. Inequalities between men and women cut across

public and private spheres of life and across social, economic,

cultural and political rights and are manifested in restrictions

and limitations on women’s freedoms, choices and opportunities.

One of the identified forms of violence is political violence

directed at women during elections, vying for public offices or

in level decision making positions. According to the Council of

Europe (2006) women and girls are at risk of different forms of

violence at all ages, from pre-natal sex selection before they

are born through abuse of widows and elderly women. While sexual

violence effects women of all ages, the changing nature of women

and girls relationships (with family members, peers, authorities

etc.) in which they spend time expose women and girls to specific

forms of violence during each phase of their life.

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Affirmative Action

As can be seen from Table 1 and 2, the number of Nigeria women

winning in election s is very small. The 35% affirmative action

in the National Gender Policy was achieved basically through

ministerial appointments; with the Goodluck led Administration

already having 31% female representation in the cabinet.

Affirmative actions is not new in Nigeria, has these have been

initially introduced through the Educational quota system for

admissions into Nigeria Higher Institutions. This is known as the

Educational Less Disadvantage Areas (ELDS) quota system. Most of

the beneficiaries are from the Northern Part of Nigeria which is

educationally disadvantaged compared to other part of Nigeria.

However, these gains are gradually being eroded by the Boko Haram

terrorist menace which has again fuelled the number of out of

school children in Nigeria. The fact that this is affecting and

targeted mostly at females is not hidden in the kidnap of over

200 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state in the North-

eastern part of the country. The insurgency which is already

affecting the educational sector will also have future effect in

political participation by females if not speedily checked.

According to UNESCO (2012) Nigeria now has the highest number

(10.8million) of out of school children in the world.

Kurtulus (2012) in her review of affirmative actions and the

occupational advancement of minorities and women during 1973-2003

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showed that the effect of affirmative action in advancing black,

Hispanic and white people into management, professional and

technical occupations, occurred primarily during the 1970s and

early 1980s. During this period contractors grew their shares of

these groups more rapidly than non-contractors because of the

implementation of affirmative action. But the positive effect of

affirmative action vanished entirely in late 1980s, which is due

to the slow-down into advanced occupations for women and

minorities because of the political shift of affirmative action

that was started by President Reagan in this respect. Becoming a

federal contractor increased white women women’s share of

professional occupations by 0.183 percentage points or 7.3 % on

average during these three decades and increased black women’s

share by 0.052 percentage points (or by 3.9%). Becoming a federal

contractor also increased Hispanic women’s and black men’s share

of technical occupations on average by 0.058%. These represent a

substantial contribution of affirmative action to overall trend

in the occupational advancements of women and minorities over the

three decades under study. Izraeli (2003) in her study of gender

politics in Israel showed that the paradox of affirmative action

for women’s directors is that legitimizing the legislation of

their inclusions on boards’ also resulted in the exclusion of

women’s interests as a legitimate issue on the board’s agenda.

The new culture of the men’s club is seductive, token women are

under pressure to become social males and prove their competence

29


as directors, meaning they are not significantly different from

men. In the negotiation status as worthy peers emphasizing gender

signals that women are impostor, someone who does not rightfully

belong in the position she is claiming to fill. Once affirmative

actions for women are fulfilled, it shows the element of group

equality discourse, making it easier for other groups to claim

for a fair share of resources. This suggests that affirmative

action can have applications for different groups in Israel. Dr

Thomas Sowell identified some negative results of race-based

affirmative action in his book” Affirmative Action around the

World: An Empirical Study’ (2004). Sowell wrote that affirmative

action policies encourage non-preferred groups to designate

themselves as members of preferred groups(i.e. primary

beneficiaries of affirmative action) to take advantage of group

preference policies to the detriment of the least fortunate among

the non-preferred group e.g. poor whites or Asians). The policies

also reduce incentive by both preferred and non-preferred to

perform at their best. The former because doing so is unnecessary

and the latter because it can prove fatal- thereby resulting in

net losses for society as a whole and that they also increase

animosity toward the preferred groups.

Conclusions

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The event of PDP primaries of 2011 is a form of psychological

violence not only against the only female gubernatorial candidate

but also against the generality of Nigerian women. And the fact

remains that the embarrassment could not be so easily forgotten.

This was perpetuated both by the organized male and female wings

of the political party. The first Nigeria female Presidential

Contestant Mrs Serah Jubril first, contested on the platform of

SDP (Social Democratic Party) and later with the PDP (People

Democratic Party). She is highly educated, an achiever and an

activist even with the Nigeria Council of Women Society (NCWS).

This scenario seems to be an indirect warning to Nigerian women

not to aspire beyond certain undefined limits. Though, she was

later appointed a Special Assistant to the President on Social

Development in 2011 and later Special Assistant on Ethics and

Values. However, her acceptance of the Special Assistantship in

the Presidency shows she bears no ill-will to her political

party. As seen from Chafetz theory of Gender Equity and analysis

from presentations and arguments in the paper it is obvious that

the Nigerian Society is highly engendered to favor the male’s

traditional patriarchal dominance and continued advantageous

position than the females politically and economically. However,

several policies have been made by the government to ensure

gender equality, to sustain development and prevent a governance

crisis which may arise from under-development if half of the

population continues to live in oppression and exclusion from

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economic and political resources to the detriment of nation-

building and development. There were visible interventions by the

government through governance machineries in the country to

change the status-quo and erase gender inequality and ensure full

female political and economic participation. Nigeria as a country

has met all the identified factors in history that was identified

by Chafetz in her theory as changing the gender inequality system

that have limited women. In addition, concrete effort was also

made using government and international policies as well as

funding. However, patriarchal system has remained a formidable

problem in addition to required economic resources as identified

by various government and international policies. Appointment

through affirmative actions is commendable, but it cannot be

proud of as a strategy because it is obvious that the main

problem causing political apathy among females and Nigerians

generally have not been removed or effectively addressed.

Importantly, appointments are basically from the ruling party to

mainly their party members and not from the people, so it cannot

be a semblance of democracy. The positions were not achieved

through election though some got it through merit. The greatest

obstacle to full female political participation is not security

neither is it bad governance but patriarchy stemming from

tradition and culture. However, security must continue to remain

on the top agenda as witnessed in the recent peaceful Ekiti and

Osun States gubernatorial elections which held this year.

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Recommendation

There should be full and speedy implementation of policies that

have been formulated to ensure high female political

participation and economic empowerment. The ensuing result for so

much government and non-governmental efforts have been very poor

as seen from the number of elective positions held by women. It

is therefore necessary to engage in public enlightenment not only

to the public or the masses but also those in government and

political parties for the need to shun patriarchal tendencies

which pull women down, reduce government efforts in ensuring

female political participation and ensuring and sustaining

development. The females also should be continually educated and

encouraged to engage in politics for the development of the

nation and also as their basic fundamental human rights.

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Gender, Political Participation and Governance in Nigeria

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