Nigeria: Struggle for Equality

14/03/2022

Jayantika Rao Tiruvaloor Viavoori

Women’s Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

On 8th March, the day meant to celebrate and honour women, Nigerian women were compelled to take to the streets to protest the discriminatory laws in the country. The protests arose for a second time in the week as the male-dominated Nigerian National Assembly rejected five key bills proposed initially in 2015 to promote gender equality. Owing to the protests, the Nigerian lower legislative chamber was compelled to partially rescind and reconsider three bills that would give women more rights on their citizenship, indigenship and 35% affirmative action (Adetayo and Egbejule, 2022). Many journalists noted, last week’s decision was a complete “volte-face” (Adetayo and Egbejule, 2022). The decision on the 1st of March failed to receive the mandatory two-thirds votes needed to amend the Nigerian constitution.

While the country is a signatory for many international conventions on gender equality and women empowerment, the enduring inequality stems from Nigeria’s societal stereotypes and existing cultural beliefs (Muhammad et al., 2022). The bias against women, especially in politics, has impacted political participation. Moreover, many male senators espouse patriarchal sentiments. In 2016, the Nigerian President stated, “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen…” (Obadare, 2022). While Nigerian women have a long way, the lower legislative’s decision to reconsider the three bills emphasises the impact of targeted pressure on generating political change.

Sources and Further Readings

Adetayo, Ope and Egbejule, Eromo. (2022, 8 March). Nigerian Parliament Rescinds Decision on Gender Equality Bills. AlJazeera. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/8/nigerian-parliament-rescinds-decision-on

Obadare, Ebenezer. (2022, 8 March). Nigeria’s struggle for Gender Equality Gathers Pace Amid Protests. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.cfr.org/blog/nigerias-struggle-gender-equality-gathers-pace-amid-protests

DW News. (2022, 12 March). Nigerian Women Protest Gender Inequality. DW News. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.dw.com/en/nigerian-women-protest-gender-inequality/av-61105381

Muhammad, H. A., Aliyu, I. Y., & Edeasi, F. O. (2022). Media and Women Participation in Politics in Nigeria: A Qualitative Study of Women in Abuja, Nigeria. SAU JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2(2), 153-164.