Gender inequality acknowledges that men and women are not equal and that gender affects an individual’s life experience. These differences arise from distinctions in biology, psychology, and cultural norms. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded while others appear to be socially constructed. Studies show the different lived experience of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliations. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures in different perspectives as well.
Gender inequality in Nigeria has become a major challenge because in whatever perspective men are mostly recommended than women thinking that men have higher capacity to withstand and run multiple tasks in terms of service delivery except for advertising purposes to the fact that even in politics women are considered as minors. Consequently, Nigerian women in most cases are denied both presidential and governorship tickets.
In Nigeria, women are just meant for the kitchen and the other room as stated earlier by his President Muhammadu Buhari that there is no office for first lady in his regime. You will also notice that parents always promote education of their male children thereby neglecting girl child education in most cases thinking that the moment when woman get married she will no longer be useful to her parents talk less of taking care of the family members, forgetting that women take care of their parents much better than men. A typical example is whenever parents get sick you will notice that the daughter leaves her husband’s house to come and look after the parents.
Indeed, women’s capabilities, capacity, credibility, and tenacity are far higher than those of some men. For example, in the President Goodluck Johnathan administration, women did better than men. The then Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was a material in global economy just as former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Allison Diezani-Madueke, even though she was accused of corruption. But they contributed positively to developmental issues.
Finally, I urge Nigerians to give equal opportunity to women in all the nation’s affairs. Let’s join hands and promote our mothers to also play vital roles in the development of our society equally as men as that will promote peace, harmony and unity between the two genders.
Abubakar Iliya,
400 Level Student,
Department of Mass Communications,
University of Maiduguri
