The post-colonial era did not usher in a radical and new form of administration even though indigenous administrators replaced British colonial government. The new government retained the old colonial mentality and system giving male advantage over female. During this period, women in Nigeria witnessed new changes and challenges. These included Nigeria gaining independence from the British government, new administration, rural/urban migration and family relocation (to take up new appointments). Whereas this era unlocked new opportunities and advantages for Nigerian men in the form of political and economic positions, women on the other hand were left to pick up the bits and pieces25 of the colonial leftovers. This was largely because of the gaps which existed between male and female education, because of political participation and because economic advantages. The truth of the matter is, a gap once created becomes a highly sensitive and difficult issue to bridge, especially in Africa. Furthermore, the turn of events in 1960 created a vacuum in the agricultural sector. This was due to the mass exodus of males from this sector. Most of the male farmers left the agricultural sector to take up political or economic posts evacuated by the colonialists. Others joined the armed forces or simply migrated to the urban areas for white-collar jobs.
The number of female participants in this new government was unavoidably minimal due to colonial education and societal prejudice in regard to female development and progress. Women were left with little or no other choice other than to return to subsistence farming and market trading. Subsequently, women took over an increasing portion of the burden of food production, contributing between 50 and 70 per cent of Nigeria’s food requirement (Ezumah 2004). In spite of this, women’s economic activities were undervalued and unrecognised. For example the 1963 and 1991 Nigerian census did not recognise or record these economic activities by women (market hawking, trading at the street corner, home braiding, and one-room- convenience stores run by women) as occupations (Ugo 1994:149). Instead women in these categories of economic activities were coded under the code ‘housewives’.
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With educational and skill superiority (because of the colonial educational system) most men easily took over the posts and positions left by the colonial officials, while women were relegated to domestic duties.
At this juncture, it is imperative to classify the post-colonial era into different administrative arrangements, owing to the fact that Nigeria has undergone multiple political transitions ranging from authoritarian to democratic leadership. Examining these structural shifts provides an insight into how socio-political and sometimes economic structures influence gender and development policies in Nigeria.
2.4.1. The Military Regime
Of the forty-five years of Nigeria as an independent nation, thirty years were under military government. That means over two-thirds of Nigeria’s independent political history has been “militarised”. The implications of the militarization of the Nigerian state includes suspension of the Constitution and Government by military decrees, and policies that were formulated without accurate data. Intrinsically, gender and development programmes during this era were not intended to solve women’s problems, as the subsequent accounts illustrate. As noted in Chapter 1, a frequent recurring phenomenon in the development process in many African countries is the lack of basic sequence implementation (BSI) Longwe (1990:13).
The military, as in the case of Nigeria, have always used the same excuse for over- throwing a legally elected government. According to Mba, a Nigerian educationist, the military have always argued that their intervention was to save the nation from mismanagement, abuses and disorder, and to restore probity, discipline, and the economy’s26 growth (cited in Parpart and Staudt 1989:54). During the first military regime, more schools were built, a good economic atmosphere was experienced (due to the oil boom of 1970s), employment was increased (yet most women were employed in dead-end jobs, cheaply paid and career progressions were lacking), and there was an increase in male rural-urban migration and in the number of rural women in the agricultural sector. The economic growth was short lived, as a result of economic mismanagement and corruption. The subsequent military regime faired no
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Contrarily to these excuses, Nigerians had witnessed a severe deterioration in their daily life, ranging from insecurity, to lack of economic growth. This has had a decisive impact on women, and women’s development in general. For instance, the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is hindered by the absence of the rule of law. The suspension of the Constitution in favour of military decrees, and the concomitant resort to intimidation, coupled with the negative effects that widespread corruption has, deferred any meaningful socio- economic progress. In the absence of rule of law, as obtained in a military regime, the concept of “checks and balances” is derelict and rogues in military uniforms run amok. In such an environment, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
better, dashing the hopes of millions of Nigerian women and condemning them to unprecedented poverty and illiteracy.
In response to the reduction in growth, the Nigerian government, like many African countries, sought relief from creditors and donors such as the Bretton-Woods Institutions (BWI), namely, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Thus, the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the centrepiece of the BWI policy reforms programme was introduced in 1986 to alleviate the economic deterioration at the macro-level, and the resultant economic deprivation at the micro level (Kempe 1999). The implication of this program includes retrenchment of workers without any compensation or even any hope of being absorbed back into the mainstream. Note that the most affected workers were females, and hardest hit were female-headed families and single women with little or no skills and qualifications.
The introduction of SAP meant the devaluation of the Nigerian currency by 120%, removal of all subsidies, introduction of user pay policies (in schools, hospitals, and with petroleum products), introduction of value added tax (VAT), roads tax or toll gates27 on all federal government’s roads, and an over 100% increase in fuel price, which directly increased the cost of transportation, food and housing. These measures equally forced families to take similar drastic measures and cut down on family expenses, such as accommodation, food, luxury goods or services, clothing and other primary needs. A high number of girls were either withdrawn or forced to drop out of schools, made to marry or take up trading (becoming market woman), and some even turned to prostitution. Furthermore, the lower spending from 1986 to 1990 as a result of the introduction of SAP, which was first introduced by IMF and later undertaken by the World Bank, finally reduced the country to a “beggar state”. Hence, the classification of Nigeria in 1989 by the World Bank as a low-income country, given the drastic reduction in the GNP per capita per year by 4.8% (currently the country’s GNP per year is merely $230 per capita). This was followed by the World Bank labelling Nigeria “poor enough to be eligible for concessional aid from an affiliate”, the International Development Association (IDA). As the Nigerian economy deteriorated so did every aspect of Nigerian society. Unemployment rose from 4.3% in 1985 to 5.3% in 1986 and even more in 1987 to 7.0% (Office of Statistics 1998-- estimates). Presently it is estimated that 60% of the Nigerian population lives below the poverty line. Most of the unemployment is recorded among city dwellers as
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indicated by urban jobless rates of 8.7% in 1985, 9.1% in 1986 and 9.8% by 1987 (The Nigerian Guardian Newspaper 1999).
With this economic downturn, women bore the brunt of the hardship, given the level of their education, position in the family/society, coupled with their lack of resources and skills. Women were the first to go in the event of retrenchment. In fact, women’s problems were further compounded as family welfare and social security policies were non-existent in Nigeria. Further, the ‘caring society’ as practised among Nigerian societies was neglected as people become self-centred and too poor to care for others. Consequently, the loss of social services and state subsidies created a heavier burden on women as opposed to men. In substantiating the above assertion Maria Alma Espino, recalling a similar occurrence in Latin America, observed that capitalist economic crises and changes often meant women in low-income families were now responsible for the survival of their families as well as for social reproduction (1998:102) (see Chapter 6).
Indeed, colonial policies had created a huge gap between male and female in terms of capital, literacy and political power. The military and colonial regimes both paid little or no attention to the plights of women and always maintained that women’s ‘office’ is in the kitchen. As Mba (cited in Parpart and Staudt 1989) pointed out, similarities exist between colonial and military states in their policies and attitudes toward women, often proclaiming themselves as ‘modernizers’.
Ironically, this era equally witnessed a turning point in the history of women’s developmental process in Nigeria. These incidents and policies will be discussed below.
2.4.2. The Civilian Regime
The first Nigeria National Development Plan (1962-1968) which was enacted during the first civilian administration of 1960 to 1965 had no specific gender development policy. Women’s development programmes were incorporated into the welfare schemes of the state or overlooked, given that each community continued to function as a ‘caring society’. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that this regime encouraged and supported the formation of the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), a non-political body of women’s associations formed in 1959. The
NCWS had little impact on women’s issues, but was used as a front to mobilise urban women and promulgate family planning schemes.
The second civilian administration (1979 to 1983) also had no clear gender development agenda, but witnessed an increase in the number of women’s organisations and pressure groups, which led to the creation of the National Committee on Women and Development (NCWD) in 1981, and an increase in women’s political participation. However, because of rapid population growth, family planning programmes were in the forefront of any gender development programmes initiated then. Paradoxically, this programme merely targeted women.
After a prolonged military administration (seven coups d'état from 1966-1999), Nigeria finally returned to elected government in 1999. The discontent, greed and anarchy that blanketed the country have done so much damage that restoring human dignity and economic empowerment or even economic foresight for women has become an uphill task for the new administration. The lack of experience and of an historical base forced the new administration to adopt or incorporate the military policies and programmes without a prior study of their merits and demerits. Since its inception, therefore, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development is yet to manifest or create any profound changes in the living conditions of women in Nigeria. This seems to mirror Moser’s (1993) notion on grafting. For instance, Moser argued that in ‘grafting’ gender onto an existing planned methodology, the procedures in the planning cycling have changed. She maintains that this does not incorporate new stages that include the negotiation of conflict, or participatory debate. This is because they planners assume that the problem is a technical one, the introduction of additional interventions within the existing framework of procedures is identified as solving the problem.
I argue that for a credible result to be attained, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs would need to be restructured and would need redirect the existing blueprint of the establishment. As Mosse pointed out “the development policy models through which resources and political support are so successfully mobilised are rarely those suited to understanding the social and historical context of women’s development action” (2005:47). Although patriarchal agents have always sought to restrict women’s political and economic growth, women’s organisations often reacted against this
male28 dominance. Below is an illustration of some major gender and development programmes in Nigeria (1985 to 2005).