by JBY JIDE OJO
As it is in sports, so it is in the socio-economic and political life of our dear motherland. Women are perennially relegated to the background. Hitherto, they battle a lot of socio-cultural barriers in their homes and families. In the northern part of Nigeria, there is still an issue with girl child education as some parents do not deem it fit to send their daughters to school. How then can Nigeria achieve universal primary education which is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals? Another MDG goal is the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment, how have we fared here as well? The 2007 National Gender Policy stipulates 35 percent appointive and elective positions for women by 2015. Nigeria is still lagging behind in the attainment of this goal. Since 1985 when Nigeria ratified the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), our parliamentarians are yet to domesticate it thus paving way for all sorts of discriminatory practices against women to go unpunished. Nigeria was actively part of the Beijing Platform of Action in 1995, 15 years down the line; progress is still painfully slow on the attainment of all the resolutions. It is true that Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution in section 42 espoused the right to freedom from discrimination, however, in practice; it is an open secret that women are being discriminated against. Patriarchy still holds sway while male chauvinism is in full display.
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