Women are more than
fifty percent of the world’s population. They perform two-third of the world’s
work, yet receive one-tenth of the world’s income and own one-hundredth of the
world’s property. They represent a staggering
seventy percent of the world’s one billion poorest people. This is a stack
development reality for our world.
My country-Nigeria,
has the highest population of any African country. With a population of over
162 million, Nigeria is ranked the world’s seventh most populated country. Of this
magnitude, forty-nine percent are female; some 80.2 million girls and women. Comparatively,
thirty-eight percent of women in Nigeria lack formal education as against
twenty-five for men and only four percent of women have higher education
against the seven percent of their male counterpart. Nigeria
ranks 118 of 134 countries in the Gender Equality Index.
Commenting on the
fore, it is apparent that no appreciable development can be made either at the
local, national or international platform without recognising girls and women
as equal players in the game of life whilst empowering, up-skilling and
investing in them for a better world. “When we empower
women, we empower communities, nations and entire human family” un Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon.
We live in a world
where majority of girls and women face real-time poverty, gross inequality,
molestation and injustice, which could run through from birth to death. From
poor education to poor nutrition to violence and brutalization to vulnerable
and low pay employment, the sequence of discrimination and atrocities a woman
may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common in our
global society.
In her assessment of
gender inequality, Nigerian Ambassador to the UN, Joy Ogwu, rightly noted, “It
is about having half of humanity participate. The progress of women means…the
progress of the world”.
Undoubtedly,
Nigeria and the World at large has in the last decade witnessed an
unprecedented expansion of women’s rights, being one of the most profound
social revolutions the world has ever seen. Couple of decades back, only two
countries allowed women to vote. Today, that right is virtually universal.
Millions of men and women around the world now support the call for gender
equality although there is much to be done especially in developing countries
like Nigeria.
Reviewing the UK
Department for International Development (DFID), 2012 Gender Report in Nigeria,
“Nigeria’s 80.2 million women and girls have significantly worse life chances
than men and also their sisters in comparable societies”. This reveals the
neglect of the Nigerian people and government in tackling the issue of gender
inequality despite calls from various quarters. It also brings to bare our frail understanding
of preparing the girl child for tomorrow’s motherhood, family and societal
challenges.
The report which succinctly stated that “Women
are Nigeria’s hidden resource”, exposed that over 1.5 million Nigeria children
aged 6-14(8.1%) are currently not in school, a situation which has effortlessly
earned Nigeria the world’s largest out of school children country-an
unfortunate achievement of a robust nation. “In eight Northern States,
over 80% of women are unable to read (compared with 54% for men). In Jigawa
State, 94% of women (42% of men) are illiterate”. Apparently, we have failed to realize that just a few investments have as large a payoff as girls’
education.
Some traceable factors to this ill-starred development include
lack of funds resulting from wide-spread poverty, traditional and religious
inclinations which place low priority on educating the girl child,
non-provision of educational facilities by government, poor funding of the
educational sector, weak educational policies, early marriage, early
childbirth, poor sanitation, ignorance amongst others.
“Nigeria has one of the lowest
rates of female entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of women
are concentrated in casual, low-skilled, low paid informal sector employment. Only
15% of women have a bank account”. Educating and empowering the girl child implies
preparing her for future motherhood challenges that will in the nearest future affect
a family and the larger society either positively of negatively.
The huge geographical
and ideological disparities of Nigeria, makes her a unique country with though
global yet slightly peculiar challenges and opportunities, even as it relates
to gender inequality. Human development outcomes for girls and women are worse
in the northern part of the country where poverty levels are sometimes twice as
high as in the south. Nearly half of all children under age five are
malnourished in the North-East, with the figures expected to increase across
the country in the wake of national and international food crises.
On maternal
mortality, the 2012 DFID Gender Report in Nigeria, noted that Nigeria has one
of the highest rate of maternal mortality in the world, a case where in every
ten minutes, one Nigerian women dies in childbirth. With about forty-seven
percent of Nigerian women being mothers before the age of twenty, the report
cautioned that without access to safe childbirth services, adequate and
affordable emergency obstetric care, improved healthcare funding, enormous
political will and civil society pressure, Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate
could double from its current 545 deaths per 100,000 live births. Note, “Every 90 seconds of every day, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth”,
world over.
“Women around the world are dynamic leaders and powerful advocates of
change. But space for their leadership and broader social and political
participation remains constrained. By mid-2011, only 28 countries could claim
that women’s parliamentary representation had reached a critical mass of 30
percent or more. Only 19 women were leading their countries as elected heads of
state or government”.
In Nigeria, only 25
out of the 360 members of the Nigerian House of Representatives being women and
only about 4% of local government councilors are women, confirming that “women
are under-represented in all political decision making bodies and their
representation has not increased since the inception of democratic rule”.
This could perhaps be
an explanation for Nigeria’s low investment in sections that are crucial to
human development outcomes such as health and education.
It is pertinent to note that the quality of our democracy, the strength
of our economies, the health of our societies and the sustainability of peace
—are all undermined when we fail to fully tap half of the world’s talent and
potential. Where women have access to secondary education, good jobs, land and
other assets, national growth and stability are enhanced, and we see lower
maternal mortality, improved child nutrition, greater food security, and less
risk of HIV and AIDS.
In a society like
ours, violence against women and girls cannot be ignored though it is being
ignored. “One in three of all women and girls aged 15-24 have been a victim of
violence. Women who have never married are more likely to have been attacked
than married women. Up to one third of Nigerian women report that they have been
subjected to some form of violence. One in five has experienced physical
violence”.
Rape, sexual insult
and assault, brutalization and molestation, domestic violence on girls and
women have in recent time upsurge in Nigeria, with victims feeling embarrassed
to report such incidence to the right agencies for justice. However, kudos must
be given to some individuals, civil society and media organizations that have continually been campaigning against
violence on the female folk, though, there is more to be done noting that women and girls pay an unjustifiable price for violence and discrimination,
but they do not do so alone.
The United
Nation Women says “Ending violence against women requires know-how”. The
know-how of judicial and health processes. In her words, Karen Valero, Colombia
said “I dream of a world where women are free from domestic violence…Everyone
is equal. We have the same rights in every way”
Curbing and
stopping violence against women requires the creation and passage of laws
regarding such violence, adopting action plans and budgets to implement
legislation, instituting prevention programmes and protection services for
women survivors, and campaigning to raise awareness whilst instilling sound
moral and religious instructions in the girl-child towards a chaste and modest
future.
Achieving gender equality and women’s rights in Nigeria and the world at
large is crucial toestablishing and sustaining developments as specifically
addressed by three Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Gender inequality has a
much greater impact than the explicit MDGs. Gender dynamics underpin all of the
MDGs and to make progress, we need specific gender-sensitive policies and
action across the entire project.
In promoting women’s livelihood, the 2012 DFID Gender Report in Nigeria,
recommends that “Government policy should prioritise agriculture and rural
development, because 54 million of Nigeria’s 80.2 million women live and work
in rural areas where they constitute 60-70% of the rural work force”. It also
advocates the formulation and implementation of laws that will assist the female
gender in actualising her mandate.
On education, the
report advised the creation of incentives for all girls to complete primary and
secondary education, whilst delivering free education to girls and better
funding for the educational sector both at the state and national levels.
This fight for gender
equality can only be successful with YOU and I playing our individual yet
concerted roles towards successful women’s
leadership; strengthening women’s economic empowerment; ending violence against
women; promoting women’s participation in peace and security processes; and
ensuring that public planning and budgeting responds to the needs and rights of
women. Together-we can make it happen!
According to the Executive Director, UN Women, Michelle Bachelet,
“Gender equality must become a lived reality”.
At this juncture, let
me drop my pen in recognition and appreciation of all female: girls and women
across the globe, who despite societal inequality and discrimination have just
like my mother and sisters continued to grow in leaps and bonds…I love, respect
and cherish you all. PEACE!
TAYO ELEGBEDE JET is
a Journalist cum Mediapreneur
Follow me on twitter
via @tayojet1
