For Women, a New Day?

Appreciation

Before I proceed, first, I must express my deep appreciation to the Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of This Day & Arise Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, CON, and Arise Global Media Ltd, for counting me worthy to be selected as one of the 100 Women of Impact in Africa for the year ending March 2026. I thank you.

Felicitation

Happy 2026 International Women’s Day and Month. This year, the theme is, ‘Give to Gain’; but, I prefer to focus on the theme being used in some regions such as Australia, ‘Balance the Scales’, which, in this context, simply means, tipping the measuring scale from the higher side, which is the side of the men, in order to raise the lower side of the women, thereby making the two sides of the scale equal, that is, to achieve gender equality and fairness.

Narrative of Male Superiority from the Beginning of Time

The religious accounts of the beginning of mankind, the creation of Adam and Eve, the fact that woman was formed from the ribs of Adam, has lent credence to the questionable claim that men are superior to women – see Genesis 1:27; 2:21-22; Quran Surah Az-Zumar 39:6.

And, even in most societies or cultures that had their own beliefs before the advent of Christianity and Islam, the concept of male superiority was also established, as a result of qualities such as the greater physical strength of man; division of labour, where based on the men being physically stronger, they were assigned tasks that were synonymous with governing and taking responsibility, such as warrior, protector, and hunter. The fact that a man could impregnate several women at a time on a daily basis, while a woman could only give birth at 9 month intervals, would also add to this narrative of male superiority.

However, we have, and have had, many women who are stronger than men, such as Queen Amina of Zazzau (now Zaria) who ruled for over 30 years in the 16th century.

But, today, physical strength is relevant in areas like sports. In politics, governance, workplace and education, intellect, capacity and such qualities are required, not brute force, and these qualities are possessed by both female and male. So, why are we still discussing gender discrimination in 2026?

The Apple and the Tree

1)My Mother

This apple didn’t fall far from the tree, as my Mother, Dame Priscilla Kuye is the first and only female President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) so far, a Bar Association that is recognised as the largest in Africa. 35 years later, the NBA is yet to produce another female President.

2)My Grandmother

My grandmother (Mother’s Mother), Chief Mrs Elizabeth Adeyemi Adekogbe (Grandma), who died in 1968 at the age of 52, was a trailblazer; an Educationist, a Journalist who wrote for newspapers such as the Nigerian Tribune, to advocate for women’s rights; a Politician and Nationalist. In 1952, along with 12 others, Grandma co-founded of Women’s Movement of Nigeria which later metamorphosed into National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS). Grandma started her political journey in Action Group, where she was the Financial Secretary of the Western Region Women’s Wing. She served as the Councillor in the Ijebu Eastern District Council, for many years. But, possibly because of her Nationalist leanings, she ended up as the Women’s Leader of National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).

Grandma and others such as Margaret Ekpo, were some of those who worked assiduously for universal suffrage, for the Nigerian woman to be able to vote; and in 1951, in the Western and Eastern Regions, their efforts yielded fruit for tax paying women. In 1954, with the deletion of the tax paying proviso, all women gained the right to vote from the age of 21. Possibly due to cultural constraints, women in the North weren’t able to vote till 1979. See Sections 3 & 5 & Schedules 3, 4 & 5 of the Constitution of the Federation of Nigeria 1960 (Independence Constitution) that is, the Regional Constitutions of the Northern, Western and Eastern Regions respectively. Also see Section 14 of the Western Region Constitution on voting rights. As Women’s Leader of NCNC, Grandma mobilised the women to support Nigeria’s independence.  Grandma also advocated for education for females, as she believed that education would empower women.

At a time when people in Europe and USA still believed that Africans swung from trees, lived in caves and dressed in animal skins, Grandma was busy being the first Nigerian woman to represent the country at an international Women’s Rights Conference, International Council for Women in Helsinki, Finland in 1954, and also Montreal, Canada, also visiting USA in 1957 under the US Foreign Leaders’ Project to observe the role of women in public affairs.

Would Grandma and the Other Female Pioneers Feel that the Gender Scale has been Balanced?

How far have Nigerian women fared, over 70 years after the Pioneers’ notable interventions? Would the Pioneers feel that Nigerian women have made satisfactory progress, and their efforts have been well built upon and crowned with resounding success?

1) Education

As far as female education is concerned, I think not. Though more women are educated today, we have certainly not reached the Promised Land. I saw a Polaris Bank advertisement on Arise TV, which declares that there are 7.2 million girls out-of-school in Nigeria, which accounts for well over half of the out-of-school children population, meaning that there are more girls out-of-school than boys. The advertisement goes on to state that, only a paltry 9% of underprivileged girls attend Secondary School. This is a breach of the educational objectives set out in Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution).

2) Politics and Elective Positions

But, what would Politicians like Grandma and Iyalode of Ibadan, Senator Wuraola Esan (Mother of late Prof Jadesola Akande, OFR), the first Nigerian woman to be a Senator, representing Ibadan West in 1960, think about how women have fared in politics? Would they be happy with the status of women in politics and governance today? Would they believe that the scales have been balanced? No, sadly, they would not, because the scales are not balanced at all – far from it. For one, since the days of Grandma, it seems that it’s only Women’s Leader that is reserved for women in the leadership positions within the political parties, for obvious reasons.

I think the Pioneers would be unhappy, seeing as their efforts, instead of yielding more fruit, haven’t really developed and didn’t become as well grounded as they would have hoped for. The focus and strength of the Pioneers are obvious, as they were able to make notable impact at a time when the world was still quite conservative, and much less permissive. Ironically, starting from Ibadan, Senator Esan has been the only female Senator from there, almost 66 years on! The outing of Nigerian women in politics which appeared promising during the Pioneers’ time, has been rather poor.

In over 65 years of independence and four Republics, Nigeria has had only one Female Governor, Dame Virgy Etiaba, CON, who governed Anambra State for about 3 months when Peter Obi, CON was impeached. Presently, there are about 8 female Deputy Governors, and I don’t believe that any one of them is being tipped as a likely successor to take over from their Principals as Governor. There has also never been a female Vice President, let alone President. But, even USA which Nigeria models her governance system after, only had her first female Vice President, Kamala Harris in 2020, almost 250 years post-independence. Since Independence, Nigeria also doesn’t appear to have had up to 20 Female Senators in total, as opposed to almost 1,000 Male Senators (a paltry 2%). Presently, there are only 4 Female Senators out of 109! In politics, the scales aren’t balanced, but tipped against the women instead. So much so that, the Reserve Seats for Women Bill (RSWB) is currently being considered.

As for the Federal cabinet appointments, it is unfortunate that most of those selected are usually put in Junior Minister roles. This time around, out of a total of 48 Ministers, only 7 are female (14.58% of the cabinet). There are 3 substantive female Ministers (one for Women’s Affairs), while the 3 others are Ministers of State. This is grossly inadequate. The imbalance in the scale, is glaring. In 2021, under Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq, the Kwara State Political Offices (Gender Composition) Bill was passed, ensuring that at least 35% of cabinet positions go to women. Ekiti State under Governor Fayemi, followed suit. Today, in Kwara, gender composition in the cabinet is 50%-50%. The Federal Government should take a cue from Kwara.

Reserve Seats for Women Bill

What are the reasons for the scales being tilted against women? Is it that today’s women are not as forceful as the Pioneers? Is it cultural? Is it financial? Or is there active discrimination against women, contrary to Section 42(1)(a) of the Constitution? See Lafia Local Government v Government of Nasarawa State & Ors (2012) LPELR-20602(SC) on the importance of upholding fundamental rights, and the guarantee to every citizen, freedom from discrimination. 0r is it a combination of the foregoing? Some are of the view that child bearing and rearing, are also responsible for gender disparity; that while a man can impregnate 100 women and continue as if nothing has happened, one pregnancy and looking after a young child may make a woman lose momentum, and if she decides to have even more children, more momentum is lost in family responsibilities. A woman’s career need not suffer, because of this.

Whatever the reasons, one of the most effective ways to narrow the gap of gender inequality, whether in elective positions or appointments, or in the workplace generally, is by enacting legislation to specifically address this issue. Countries like Rwanda and South Africa enacted such laws, years ago. Presently, Nigeria has the RSWB in the pipeline.

This Bill proposes a constitutional amendment, to add seats reserved for women, in the National and State Houses of Assembly, on account of female under-representation in the Legislature, despite being the larger bloc in the voting population. 37 seats each are proposed for the Senate and House of Representatives, one per State plus the FCT, and a total of 108 in the State Houses of Assembly, that is, 3 seats per State. I guess that, aside from the other available seats to contest for, women can also contest amongst themselves for the women only seats.

Discrimination Against Women in Other Areas

1) Inheritance

Many native laws and customs, are skewed against women. For example, the barbaric and repugnant custom in some parts of Nigeria, where a widow is forced to drink the water used to bathe her husband’s corpse to prove to her in-laws that she had no hand in his death. Or the widow is forced to shave her hair, get remarried to her husband’s brother or sleep in the same room with her husband’s corpse. These awful traditions, don’t appear to apply to widowers. Some States have however, enacted laws to prohibit these inhumane practices, such as the Enugu State Prohibition of Infringement of a Widow’s and Widower’s Fundamental Rights Law 2001.

Over the years, there has been movement in the Supreme Court decisions from cases such as Subaru v Sunmonu (1957) 12 F.S.C. Page 33 & Mojekwu v Iwuchukwu (2004) 11 N.W.L.R. Part 883 Page 196 which appeared to uphold inheritance customs that were discriminatory against women, to Anekwe & Anor v Nweze (2014) LPELR-22697(SC) which declared discriminatory, a custom which barred women who had no male children for their husbands, or that which barred female children from inheritance, unconstitutional, unjust, and inhuman.

2) Forced Marriage for the Girl Child

The Child Rights Act 2003 which has been domesticated in practically every State in Nigeria, in Section 21 provides that any individual under the age of 18 is a child, and strictly prohibits child betrothal and marriage. The girl child is the one who has suffered   mainly from this, being forced into early marriage, resulting in some of them having  Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) from having to engage in sexual intercourse before they are fully developed and having children too.

3) Unequal Pay

Though Section 17(3)(e) of the Constitution directs State policy to ensure that there’s equal pay for equal work “without discrimination on account of sex”, in reality, pay gaps occur, and women sometimes earn less than men, for doing the same job. To curtail this, there must be pay transparency, legislation with punishments for those who continue to discriminate against women as far as pay is concerned.

Conclusion

Though we have had women such as Indira Ghandi, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nancy Pelosi, Amina Mohammed, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Sanaa Takaichi, who have certainly made giant strides in politics and governance, there is still so much more to achieve with women in politics and governance in Nigeria; the scales, are still rather unbalanced, particularly when it comes to elective positions.

Aside from legislation specifically to narrow the gap of gender inequality, Nigerian political parties themselves must also reserve leadership roles other than the obvious Women’s Leader, for women. Like Grandma believed, education for females is non-negotiable, it is imperative. Education creates awareness. Females must have equal access to opportunities, be it education, job training or career development. Mentorship programmes for women, are also crucial. These measures, will go a long way to bridge the gender disparity gap.