For Nigerian women, struggle to close parity still on

After many years on independence, the struggle to close the gap of gender parity still lingers despite efforts to promote same opportunities in educational pursuit as in all other areas for both sexes.

Nigerian women face disparity across many areas of life’s endeavours including political, health, cultural, religious and economical. Women, it is envisaged by many should, going forward, be seen playing key roles in areas hitherto regarded as the exclusive preserve of the menfolk in the economic, political and social lives of the society.

As the years rolled by, the contributions of notable women such as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Margaret Ekpo Abayomi, Queen Amina of Zazzau, and many other Nigerian women who played vital roles in shaping the nation, remain cogent reference points.

In the African setting, women have played the role of peacemakers, the symbol of beauty and major moulder of the character of the children; she is undoubtedly the first teacher. But have Nigerian women been given their place in major decision-making processes of the country, despite the roles they played in the precolonial, to the colonial and the contemporary eras?

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development was created consequent upon the response to the United Nations agreement on the establishment of institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women and women matters. Efforts by stakeholders also led to the establishment, through a Decree in 1989, of the National Commission for Women. This commission was essentially the initiative of the wife of the then military president, the late Mrs Maryam Babangida.

The commission, though recognised as a government institution, its activities were rather ad hoc and with no specific budgetary allocation. The wife of the Head of State further dictated the pace of activities in the commission with the creation of her Better life Programme for Rural Women.

But in 1995, the Commission for Women was upgraded to a full-fledged Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, which meant that Nigeria had achieved one of the critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action, with the vision to help build a Nigerian society that guarantees equal access to social, economic and wealth creation opportunities to all, irrespective of gender. It further places premium on the protection of the child, the aged and persons with disabilities; it focuses the attention of key operators in both private and public sectors on mainstreaming the concerns of these groups of people in national development process.

The ministry was also given a mission to serve as the national vehicle to bring about speedy and healthy development of Nigerian women, children, the socially disadvantaged and physically challenged, and the main-streaming of their rights and privileges in national development process.

However, Nigerian women still struggle with fewer representatives in decision making positions; many even see the women ministry as a place of fun fare rather than where activities that better the