User:Oogunnaike/Gender inequality in Nigeria

Gender inequality in Nigeria is influenced by different cultures and beliefs. In most parts of Nigeria, women are considered subordinate to their male counterparts, especially in Northern Nigeria. It is generally believed that women are best suited as home keepers.

Global rankings of Nigeria
Different countries' gender inequalities have been ranked by various groups, like the World Economic Forum, in order to show the gap between men and women regarding economic participation, level of education, health and survival, and political empowerment.

'''According to the Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum in 2011, Nigeria was ranked 120 on the Gender Gap Index (GGI) among 135 countries reported. Since then, Nigeria's rankings on the Gender Gap Index have deteriorated to 128 out of 153 in 2020. When broken down into the four components of the GGI (economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, political empowerment), Nigeria does well on economic participation and opportunity at 38/153, but is ranked poorly on everything else.'''

Problems with Global Rankings
'''Many scholars have expressed doubts concerning the accuracy and validity of these World Economic Forum rankings and many others. It has been suggested that while these rankings have provided awareness to the problems of gender inequality, the accuracy of their reports is limited in many areas. For example, a country can be ranked high when both men and women almost equally suffer lack of opportunities and empowerment. This is especially true for many African and Middle Eastern countries where women suffer lack of economic, educational and political empowerment, poor health and survival rates, but are ranked high because men also suffer from these issues. However, it is still widely accepted that Nigeria, as well as many other developing countries have a higher rate of gender inequality than developed countries. '''

Labor Participation and Wages
'''Women's participation rate in the labor force in 2020 was 47 percent. For comparison, the percentage is 57 for men, which is not that much higher, but ultimately speaks to the general problem of unemployment in the country as the total labor force participation rate of the country is 52 percent in 2020. However, the inequality is more obvious in the wage gap between men and women in Nigeria. It is reported that on average, male professionals earn about ₦112,000 to ₦152,000 more than female professionals at the same level. In addition, almost 70 percent of people living below the poverty line in Nigeria are women. '''

Women in Politics
'''In Nigeria, the overall representation of women in government is less than 7 percent, and as of 2015, women made up 7% and 2.5%of the Nigerian House of Senate and House of Representatives, respectively. These numbers have been approximately constant since 1999. The Women Political empowerment office has been set up as an effort to fix the low representation of women in government.'''

Variation by Region
'''Nigeria's 1999 constitution bans gender discrimination, but women's rights are still restricted by religious laws and customs. As a result of Nigeria being a federal republic, the states are allowed to draft their own legislation.'''

Northern Nigeria
'''Most states in Northern Nigeria, where most of the population is Muslim, follow Islamic (Sharia) law, and adherence to this law strengthens customs that are not favorable to women. A popular case study is that of Safiya Hussaini, as it was the first of its kind to have an international influence. Hussaini was a divorced mother whose crime was having a child out of wedlock, with a married man. She was tried for adultery in 2002 and sentenced to death by stoning in a sharia court in Sokoto state. Her case was eventually dismissed after an appeal was made by several human rights activists.'''

South-Eastern Nigeria
Gender equality is not really a reality in South-Eastern Nigeria, which is made of predominantly Nigerian Igbos ''', as the society is governed by traditional gender roles. Many parents believe that a male child is more valuable than a female child, since a male child would ensure the posterity of the family name, and the male child is treated as more important than the female children, who are raised to be dependent and given out in marriage. It is very common in South-Eastern Nigeria for families to face stigmatization for not having a male child, and the blame often falls on the mother. This affects the level of education that the male and female children attain, and their future career aspirations. However, the literacy rates of women in South-Eastern and South-Western Nigeria are still much higher than the Northern region.'''

Laws
'''Nigeria criminal law has a number of provisions relating to sexual and domestic offences that are especially relevant to women’s rights. However different laws, for instance on rape, apply to different parts of the country. In March of 2016, the Nigerian Senate voted down the Gender Parity and Prohibition of Violence Against Women bill, which was intended to grant equal rights to women in marriage, education, and employment, and ultimately end all forms of discrimination against women. This law would have made it so that a widow would automatically become in charge of her husband's property in the event of his death. The bill was denied on the basis that it violated the Nigerian constitution.'''

Education
In 2010, the National Bureau of Statistics published a National Literacy Survey that showed that the adult literacy rate is 50.6% (female adult age 15 and above), compared to 65.1% for men '''. Most Nigeria women are less qualified for high level careers or political positions due to this low level of education.'''

Feminism and Women's Development
Feminism had not appeared in Nigeria until roughly 40 years ago. This has been attributed to Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She was born in Nigeria, and was educated through the British schooling system. She supported and fought for women's rights, as well as for women having a larger impact in the Nigerian government. She was a part of the WIDF (Women's International Democratic Federation), which helped more women to gain government positions, furthering what she wished to accomplish with women in Nigeria. Ransome-Kuti died in 1978. One of Nigeria's well-known newspapers referred to her as "a progressive revolutionary" and "a Pan-African visionary."

Historically, feminist movements have tried to push agendas leading to more gender equality in Nigeria. Among the most known are Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies (FNWS), Women in Nigeria (WIN), Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) and Female in Nigeria (FIN). Still, most of them have failed to bring about significant political, social or economic growth. Though not without protest, new feminist movements and gender awareness are forming in Nigeria. Online, women are using mobile phones for social capital building and empowerment, to access information and to form relationships with communities they would not normally engage with.

Transgender Individuals in Nigeria
'''In Nigeria, there is no law providing any stance on the rights of a transgender person who has undergone gender affirmation surgery, but transgender individuals still face discrimination. There are several advocacy groups that fight for LGBT rights in Nigeria, one of them being the Trans and Intersex People for Human Rights in Nigeria (THRIN)'''