GOVERNANCE AND GENDER IN NIGERIA: WOMEN ON THE EDGE

¹Beetseh Kwaghga and ²Gaavson Terkula

¹Library Department, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi  

²Department of Political Science, Benue State University, Makurdi

E-mail: beetsekwaghga@yahoo.com and gaavsonterkula@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Ordinarily, discussing gender issues should not be equated with discussing women and their placement in the governance process of the society. However, in developing countries such as Nigeria, the rates of skewness of traditional, social and cultural attitude against women have made gender issues become synonymous with attempts to understanding the place, role, problems and importance of women in men dominated society. This discourse essentially examines the involvements of women in Nigeria’s democratic process in the Fourth Republic. The paper argues that, women have not been given equal roles in this process as a result of socio-cultural and traditional limits placed on them by society. This has    interrogate this disempowerment and recommends among other strategic options the need for strict compliance and practical implementation of the United Nation’s Convention on the elimination of all discriminations against women (CEDAW), and other relevant laws as well as participatory democracy that will ensure gender balancing in Nigeria’s governance process