WOMEN IN POLITICS: THE NIGERIAN FACTOR

Abstract

In a typical patriarchal African setting, women are usually relegated to the background. They are seen, not heard in a man’s world. In the religious circle, for instance, women are not expected to preside over men; they are not expected to be ordained as Priests, Pastors, etc. in most church denominations. Politics in Nigeria has always been a turbulent terrain. There is the usual male chauvinism that the male counterparts don’t yield an inch to the opposite sex. The general age-long belief and practice is that men must always lead and the position of the female invariably is in the kitchen. Could that be as a result of the fact that a woman was created out of a man, which smacks of superiority and inferiority syndrome, a weaker vessel as opposed to a stronger vessel? Undoubtedly, as a result of man’s dominance in the political space of our national life, in Nigeria, men have been able, for some-time, to garner economic power which they use to fight or bargain for political power.   This paper identifies and focuses on prominent Nigerian women who have blazed the trail in spite of the hurdles placed on women’s way by the policies and structures of their male-counterparts. The objective of the study is to sensitize the women-folk on the need for leadership positions in the political arena. The main sources of data are the newspapers, journal articles, the internet, the library, interviews and questionnaires from the public.