women social-political rights in Nigeria

1. UNCEDAW AND WOMEN SOCIO-POLITICAL RIGHTS IN
NIGERIA: THE SOUTH-SOUTH EXPERIENCE (1999- 2010)
BY
OGBAJI, UDOCHUKWU A.O
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Globally, there has been transformation about the role of women in the society.
Women all over the world suffer from and are faced with many, peculiar and complex
problems. Many of these problems revolve around their rights within their different
societies. This situation is largely as a result of and exacerbated by, the existence of
several discriminatory practices against them. These problems manifest in very different
forms in various societies with extensive implications. Notwithstanding the seeming
differences in the manifestations and dimensions of the problem, there exist substantially
somewhat similarities cross-culturally. Antrobus (1991 as cited in Charles-Granville
2010, 1) corroborates this position when she explains thus:
Although we are divided by race, class, culture and geography,
our hope lies in our commonalities. All women’s unremunerated
household work is exploited we all have conflicts in our multiple
roles, our sexuality is exploited by men, media and the economy,
we struggle for survival and dignity, and rich or poor we are
vulnerable to violence. We share our “otherness” our exclusion
from decision-making at all levels.
Nigeria is indeed no exception in all of these. The lives of a great bulk of Nigerian
women are regulated and influenced by the different customary sub-systems that exist in
the country. Of grave concern includes but not limited to matters in the domain of
ownership of property, marriage and divorce, custodianship of children, inheritance,
harmful traditional practices which are largely governed by customary laws in the
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2. country. There are also statutes, as supporting components of the legal system covering a
wide range of subjects which discriminate against women in matters of employment,
taxation, access to credit and appropriate technology, health care, opportunities for
women to participate in the decision-making arena and in politics. According to the
editorial comment of Women‘s Rights Monitor (1995, 16), the rights, privileges and
opportunities governed by customary laws and statutes are largely inaccessible to women
in real terms. It is pertinent to note that the struggle for the rights of women is a positive
one which recognizes the quality of women‘s contribution in every aspect of the
community.
In pre-colonial Nigeria, many women gained socio-political and economic
prominence either through achievement or as reward as they became more involved in
trade. Opportunity existed for women to take leadership roles in politics, religion, social
and economic life. Awe (1992, 61) cited examples of women leaders of that era like
Queen Amina of Zauzzau, Idia of Benin, Moremi of Ife, Kambasa of Bonny, to mention a
few.
Some Feminists like Jaggar (1983) Young (1989) and Richards (1982) argue that
because of the degree of discrimination and disadvantage women face, true equality for
women must involve a temporary measure of ‗affirmative action‘ whereby-women are
appointed or promoted in advance of equally qualified men, or even of reverse
discrimination‘ whereby women are appointed before more qualified men. Recent efforts
to document the real situation of women world-wide have produced some alarming
statistics on the economic and social gaps between women and men. According to the
League of Democratic Women Publication (1999, 31), women constitute the larger
proportion of the 68% of the population that is illiterate in Nigeria.
Procedures have been evolved at the International, Regional and Domestic levels
as a concrete expression of the concern to bring men and women to an equal footing to
the full protection of individual welfare which is what human rights discourse is all
about. The dominant feature of these standards has been the effort to promote equality
between different groups in the enjoyment of human rights and the articulation of the
norm that no particular group should be accorded less favourable treatment than the
other. This is one of the basic tenets of the United Nations Charter (1945), which lists
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3. among the purposes of the United Nations the promotion and encouragement of respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex,
language or religion.
These norms can also be found in such international documents as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, (United Nations General Assembly, 1948), the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (often referred to as the
Economic Rights Covenant) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(United Nations General Assembly, 1966) (often referred to as the Political Covenant).
The same normative standard is expressed in regional documents such as the African
Charter on Human and People‘s Rights and can be found at the National level in the 1999
Constitution of Nigeria (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999).
This informed women‘s rights advocates to conclude that nothing short of a ―Bill
of Rights for Women‘ was needed if women are to achieve true equality in all spheres of
life. The bill came in 1979 in the form of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW, otherwise known as the
Women‘s Convention is the most comprehensive and prominent international legal
instrument to date dealing with the rights of women, spanning a wide range of issues
directly relating to women‘s role and status. UNCEDAW is in essence an international
bill of rights for women providing the basis for ensuring the equality of women in those
countries that have ratified it.
Okagbue (1996 as cited in Charles Granville 2010, 5) sees the UNCEDAW as a
framework for women‘s participation in the development process which spells out
internationally accepted principles and standards for achieving equality between women
and men. The Convention has been ratified by 184 States as at August 11, 2006 (UN
Division for Advancement of Women, 2006).
Nigeria being a state party to the convention has so far submitted 5 Reports to
CEDAW since its ratification in 1985. Nigeria submitted its Initial Report in 1986. The
2nd and 3rd Reports were combined and submitted in 1998 at its 19th Session (CEDAW
1998, 9), while the 4th and 5th Reports were submitted to the Committee at its 30th
Session in 2004. The 6th Periodic Report was submitted to the Committee at its 41st
Session on Thursday, 3rd July 2008 with schedule and summary records encoded
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4. CEDAW/C/SR.836 and CEDAW/C/SR.837(Charles Granville 2010, 6) also see
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws41.htm. The Reports were sent
through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development. Nigeria‘s
Periodic Reports 1 to 5 are indeed salutary in two ways: one, prompt submission of the
Reports is an important index of compliance with the statutory requirements of the
convention. It is based on the Periodic Reports that the United Nations and the
International Community at large assess progress made by governments in protecting and
promoting women‘s rights, thereby translating to the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women. Two, the Reports are presented in a manner that suggests
progressive good-will towards the Convention by the government, Non-governmental
Organizations and women to the effect that much has been achieved.
Prompt submission of Country Reports per se and the notation of progressive
good-will towards women do not clearly show in practical terms, a qualitative
enhancement in the rights of women in Nigeria, their roles in the development process as
well as the total elimination of discrimination against women. For instance, the language
used in the 4th and 5th Periodic Reports state that in compliance to Article I of CEDAW,
the Constitution of Nigeria (FRN, 1999:Article 1) confers equality on all citizens of
Nigeria irrespective of ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion.
Article (1) of CEDAW defines the term ―discrimination Against Women‖ as:
Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which
has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition,
enjoyment or exercise by women irrespective of their marital status on
a basis of equality of men and women, rights and fundamental
freedoms in the political., economic, social, cultural, civil or any other
field.
Article (2) requires governments to eliminate discrimination against women and
enunciates government‘s obligation to promote equality and ensure full development and
advancement of women through constitutional, legal and other appropriate means. The
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Section 42 confers equality on all
citizens of Nigeria (FRN, 1999:23-24). It states thus:
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5. (1) A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place
of origin, sex, religion or political opinion, shall not by reason only that he
is such a person —
(a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any
law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action of
the government to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria
of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religious or
political opinions are not made subject to; or
(b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of,
any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action,
any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of
other communities, ethnic groups, places of oil gin, sex, religious or
political opinions.
(2) No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or
deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth.
The policy thrust of the National Policy on Women (NPW) supports Nigeria
joining other countries to adopt the UN CEDAW, affirms the alleviation of the numerous
constraints on women‘s full integration into its development process. The policy which
was adopted by the Nigerian government in the year 2000 has been highly commended as
government‘s major way of redirecting public policies to promote gender equality.
Unfortunately, it does not define ―discrimination against women‖ which is a grievous
omission.
On Article 4 which concerns Rural Women, it is reported that successive
governments have taken measures and instituted policies to enhance the living standards
of women in rural areas through The Better Life for Rural Women Programme
(BLRWP), The Family Support Programme (FSP), The Family Economic Advancement
Programme (FEAP) amongst many others. In reality, the above mentioned measures are
yet to benefit the rural Women as little improvement is seen in this area owing to lack of
commitment. Studies have shown for instance, that these programmes are not usually
implemented in the rural communities but in the urban cities.
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6. For instance, Funds allocated to the rural people are often hijacked by the urban
elite who form Cooperative Societies as a ruse to qualify for the loans (Adewole, 2001;
Africa Watch, 1991). Worse still, most of the programmes mentioned above and
discussed in the government Report to the CEDAW Committee are not sustainable. In
Article 15 of CEDAW, Equality before the law, the Nigerian Constitution also guarantees
equality of men and women in its Chapter 14 which deals with fundamental rights. The
truth is that despite the notion of equality as stated in the Constitution, discriminatory
abuses abound in Nigeria.
Socio-cultural factors pose major obstacles to the advancement of women rights.
Customs, culture, tradition and religion have continued to relegate women to an inferior
position. Harmful traditional practices such as Widowhood Rites, Inheritance, Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM) Early and Forced Marriage, and other practices such as Sexual
Harassment, Wife battery, Human Trafficking and several others work against women in
society (Charles Granville 2010, 10). Customary laws have continued to limit the rights
of women in and out of marriage as they have no land rights, right of inheritance and
succession but are subjected to all forms of cultural violence. As recorded by the
International Human Rights Law Group in August 2001, millions of African and
Nigerian women become destitute upon the death of their husbands, particularly if they
are childless, their children are female, or their sons are minor (International Human
Rights Group and Women‘s Aid Collective, 2001).
Also the complex interaction of the multi-tiered legal structure which functions
simultaneously with very significant informal social controls based on gender, ethnicity
and religion affects the status of women. Section 55 of the Northern Penal Code of
Nigeria (PC, 1963) allows for chastisement of the wife by the husband as long as it does
not amount to the infliction of grievous injury. All of the above forms of discrimination
are inimical to the achievement of the rights of women and their advancement in Nigeria.
Sequel to this, this research work therefore intends to establish a link between the impacts
of the UNCEDAW and women socio-political rights in Nigeria with reference to the
South-South region.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
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7. Challenges of women rights in the face of the existing international
convention, the UNCEDAW, that are intended to improve the conditions of women in the
Nigerian society are alarming. Women‘s equal dignity and human rights as full human
beings are enshrined in the basic National, Regional and International instruments to
protect the rights of women. Nigeria is signatory to most of these International Treaties. It
surprises one that despite the widespread movement towards democratization in most
countries of the world, women are largely under-represented at most levels of
government especially ministerial and other executive bodies and have made little
progress in attaining political power in legislative bodies or in achieving the 30 percent
endorsed by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC, 1995), (UN Publication,
1996).
According to the Nigerian Constitution chapter IV section 42, (Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 1999) the basic fundamental human rights of every citizen is guaranteed. In spite
of this effort and the tenets of UNCEDAW which Nigeria ratified, little seems to have
been achieved in Nigeria with regard to women rights. Women are still subjected to
traditional, cultural practices and beliefs harmful to them, including Female Genital
Mutilation (FGM), Child and Early Marriage, widowhood practices, sexual harassment
and Son Preference. Male-favoured traditions and values prevent women from owning
and inheriting landed property. Akande (1979, 66) contends that Nigerian women do not
have full legal capacity in so far as they are unable to independently enter into contracts,
acquire and own property, enter into legal transactions, sue or be sued‖. The Nigerian
legal system today still limits the rights of a woman in marriage under all the functional
legal systems (Statutory, Sharia and Customary Law).
Scholars like Ezeilo (2002), Olufemi (1993), Ofor (1998) as well as Activists
Groups such as Women‘s International Network (WIN), Civil Liberties Organization
(CLO) argue that the ideological reinforcement for structural inequality is provided by
customs, practices and norms within the society. Consequently, the rights as enshrined in
international conventions especially UNCEDAW face these obstacles that are inherent in
society. It has also been argued that one of the major global constraints on the promotion
of women‘s rights has been the depressed economic environment in which many
developing countries find themselves. Welch (1993) and Ekpenyong (1991) are of the
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8. view that the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) embarked upon by many
developing countries have restructured their economies and compelled governments to
cut back spending and significant economic contraction due to privatization of
government-owned business to the detriment of women. This affects the rights of all
Nigerians but women are particularly worse off.
Under colonial rule however, women lost a great deal of authority and the
opportunity to participate in decision-making due to their exclusion from all levels of
administration. The economic system granted men more opportunity than women for
meaningful participation, a legal system was introduced wherein women lost some of the
benefits open to them in pre-colonial societies. A religious system was also imposed
which deprived women of their pre-colonial power and authority. More males than
females had access to the educational system. These elements of institutionalized male
dominance were in no small reason due to the exigencies of colonial administration and
the high ‗protection quotient‘ of the traditional society for females. The Colonial
Administration offered jobs to only those with some knowledge of the English language,
the language of bureaucracy and governance in colonial Nigeria. The traditional society
was somewhat protective of women, preferring to keep them at home rather than have
them test the ―unknown waters‖ of western education (Charles-Granville 2010, 13).
It is interesting to note that government at different times had tried to proffer
some solutions to the problem of rights of women especially the socio-political and
economic rights of women, by introducing women-friendly poverty-alleviation
programmes like Better Life for Rural Women Programme (BLFRWP), Family Support
Programme (FSP), Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP), Adult
Education Programmes and many others. The paradox has been that despite these
programmes, no dramatic changes have taken place to ameliorate the situation of women.
This situation is very much pronounced in the communities within the South- South zone
of the Country where development has been neglected by successive governments. The
environment of the South-South zone has been devastated and degraded by the oil
companies in course of their exploration and gas flaring activities that mostly affect the
means of livelihood of the people and especially that of the women in this area.
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9. From the foregoing, the following pertinent research questions become
imperative:
(a) Does the tenets of UNCEDAW enhance access to education of women in the
South-South zone of Nigeria?
(b) Does the ratification of UNCEDAW improve the involvement of women in
decision making in the South-South zone of Nigeria?
(c) Does the tenets of UNCEDAW make any change on the people towards the
traditional and entrenched patriarchal attitudes that impedes the rights of women
in the South-South zone of Nigeria?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to examine the impact of UNCEDAW on women socio-
political rights in Nigeria with reference to the South-South zone of Nigeria (1999-2010).
Consequently, the specific objectives of this study are to:
Examine if the tenets of UNCEDAW enhance access to education of women in
the South-South zone of Nigeria.
Ascertain if the ratification of UNCEDAW improve the involvement of women in
decision making in the South-South zone of Nigeria.
Ascertain if the tenets of UNCEDAW made any change on the people towards
the traditional and entrenched patriarchal attitudes that impedes the rights of
women in the South-South zone of Nigeria.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The goal of any research is primarily to find solution to some problems.
Consequently, we hope that our study will contribute substantially in proffering solutions
to the problems of women rights as well as offer suggestions for sustainable women
advancement in Nigeria. The policy relevance of this work is potentially relevant for
Nigeria policy makers. It is a promising source of information for Women Activists, the
media and women themselves in the rural and urban areas of the country.
The research findings will also be of invaluable benefit towards the
developmental efforts in the region. Students of Gender Studies, we hope will also find
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10. the work useful in some ways. At least, it will be very informative and even provide a
basis on which other studies with bearing on the development of women can be anchored.
Finally, by providing the evidence in this area of the country, the study will
provide baseline data for national, regional and international organizations concerned
with the promotion of the rights of women.
1.5 Scope of the Study
Geographically, this study covers the South-South geo-political zone of Nigeria
(1999-2010), comprising Cross River, Akwa -Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo
states. In terms of the content, the study examined the impact of the UNCEDAW on
women socio-political rights in Nigeria with reference to the South-South zone. This is
with regard but not limited to access to education, positions in public sphere and
subjections to discrimination and harmful traditional practices.
1.6 Literature Review
Rights of Women and the Laws that Promote and Protect them
Since 1945, so many treaties and legal instruments have been drafted at the
international regional as well as at national levels specifically to deal with issues of
concern to women in a bid to advance their status in various societies of the world. The
dominant feature of these standards is the effort to promote equality between different
groups in the enjoyment of human rights and to ensure that no particular group is
accorded less favourable treatment than the other. The principle can also be found in such
international documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR -1948),
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR-1966) and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR-1966) which
together make up the International Bill of Rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls for equal rights in marriage. It
stipulates that marriage ―shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the
intending spouses‖. It also calls for equal pay for equal work and for the protection of
motherhood (U.N. 1948). The Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
recognizes the right to work, free choice of employment; fair wages, form and join
unions, social security, adequate standards of living, freedom from hunger, health and
education. (U.N.1948). States that have ratified the Covenant acknowledge their
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11. responsibility to promote better living conditions for their people. The Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights recognizes the right of every human person to life, liberty and
security of person. It prohibits the use of the death sentence on pregnant women, provides
for equality between men and women during marriage and at its dissolution and for the
right to participate in public life without discrimination. It finally declares that equality
before the law and the principle of non-discrimination are enforceable rights (UN.
1948:6-5).
Through the work of the Commission on the Status of Women, a number of other
international treaties devoted to issues affecting specific aspects of women‘s lives were
adopted by the international community. This was in direct recognition of the failure of
human rights law generally to adequately deal with issues of concern to women. These
include: The Convention Concerning the Employment and Occupation of Women,
Convention Against Discrimination in Education, the Equal Remuneration Convention,
the Slavery Conventions, the Convention on the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and
of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of others (lLO, 1958). The Convention on the
Nationality of Married Women, (UNESCO, 1960). The Convention on the Political
Rights of Women, the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in
Emergency and Armed Conflicts as well as the Convention on the Rights of Migrant
Workers and Members of their Families.
In 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), also known as the ‗Women Convention‘ was adopted by the
General Assembly. This is the most comprehensive and prominent international
instrument embracing the special concerns of women. The convention has been described
as an International Bill of Rights for Women and a framework for the participation of
women in the development process.
The Women‘s Convention has moved beyond earlier human rights instruments
which in gender neutral terms require the equal treatment of men and women, to
recognize the particular nature of discrimination against women and to demand for a
redress of the situation of women. It identifies the urgent need to confront the socio-
economic, cultural, political and religious causes of women‘s inequality by addressing
itself to the prohibition of all forms and manifestations of discrimination against women
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12. in the public and private spheres, calling for appropriate measures to guarantee them the
exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of
equality with men.
Despite the far-reaching nature of this Convention, it has been however saddled
with reservations mostly on religious and cultural grounds, which had seriously
weakened the conceptual framework of the Convention and has undermined its object
and purpose. According to Cook (1990, 81), most Muslim and third world countries have
refused to ratify some areas of the Convention. Others for cultural and traditional beliefs
have found it very difficult to implement the Convention in their countries.
Nevertheless, the Women‘s Convention remains a useful statement at principle
accepted by the international community and has made significant in-roads in addressing
the neglect of women‘s concerns in ―mainstream‖ human rights instruments. The same
normative standard is also expressed in regional documents such as the Africa Charter of
Human and People‘s Rights (1981) and at the National level, the 1999 Nigerian
Constitution (FRN, 1999).
The campaign for the advancement of women gathered momentum with the
proclamation of 1975 as International Women‘s Year and the convening, that same year
of the first major conference on the status of women. The conference which held in
Mexico City, helped to mobilize women around the world, expanding the working
relationship between the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations with the
theme-Equality, Development and Peace, which became the basis for the organization‘s
work for women thereafter. The World Plan of Action for the implementation of the
objectives of the International Women Year (IWY) set targets and proposed action at
both national and international levels for the UN decade for women, 1976-1985
(Women‘s International Information and Communication Service, 1983).
A Second World conference was held in 1980 at Copenhagen. Denmark to review
and appraise implementation of targets set in the World Plan of Action (WPA). In
addition to the overall themes of the decade, the document focused especially on
problems of employment, education and health. The Third Conference was held in
Nairobi, Kenya in 1985 to review and appraise achievements over the Decade as a whole,
and to draw up guidelines for the future. Delegates at Nairobi adopted the Nairobi
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13. Forward-looking strategies (FLS) for the advancement of women to the year 2000. An
evaluation of the FLS by the UN Commission on the Status of Women revealed an
increasing world consciousness and sensitivity to issues affecting women but with
implementation problems.
The everyday lives of women all over the world tend to give constant evidence of
women being considered as property, goods, beasts, less than human beings, to the shame
of those perpetuating such inhumane practices. This situation of women was described by
Geraldine Ferraro, an American Lawyer and a former candidate for the United States
Vice-Presidency thus:
When women are casually beaten and killed, as though it didn’t matter,
they are being denied full humanity. When little girls get less food, less
medical care, less education and more work than little boys; when
women can’t travel or marry or leave their homes without some man’s
permission; when rights to vote, to meet, or to speak out are
circumscribed; when children and property belong legally only to men;
when women are denied the right to control their own bodies-how can
women be fully human? (Ferraro, 1993:20).
The slogan, ―Women‘s Rights are Human Rights‖ was used by women‘s groups
before and during the 1993 United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in
Vienna. The conference was a victory for women, a big leap forward in acquisition of
their legitimate status in relation to their human rights. It affirmed women‘s rights as a
central element in the overall global human rights agenda, and stressed the importance of
confronting the specific problem of violence against women (UN World Conference on
Human, 1993). The conference and the determined efforts of several women‘s groups in
the NGO Forum, opened wide the door between the private and public domains which
was tightly closed before.
Another landmark event in the efforts to achieve full equality for women was the
Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995 which set a new global
agenda for achieving gender equality. It was the largest conference in the history of the
United Nations with some 17,000 participants. The Conference unanimously adopted a
new global blueprint for women‘s empowerment, spelt out in a five-year Platform for
Action and a Beijing Declaration. The platform for Action affirms that women‘s human
rights are inalienable, universal, indivisible and interdependent. It put forth the principle
that rights for all must be defended and preserved (UN, 1995). It calls on governments,
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14. organizations and individuals to promote and protect the human rights of women, through
the full implementation of all relevant human rights instruments, especially the
Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW). It also set to work to ensure that equality of the sexes and non-discrimination
based on gender exist both in law and in practice. The Beijing platform identified ―12
critical areas‖ of action needed to empower women and to ensure their human right.
These include Women and poverty, Education and training of women, Women and
Health, Violence against women and Women and armed conflict. Other areas include
Women and the economy, Women in power and decision-making, Institutional
Mechanisms for the advancement of women and Human rights of women. Other areas are
Women and the media, Women and the environment and the girl-child.
Following the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Commission on the
status of Women (CSW) was mandated to regularly review the Platform for Action‘s
Critical Areas of concern and play a catalytic role in follow-up to the Conference. The
―Beijing +5‖ review, entitled ―Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace
for 21st Century‖, took place at the 23rd Special Session of the UN General Assembly on
5-10 June, 2000 in New York. Governments reaffirmed their commitment to the goals of
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In keeping to their promise,
governments, NGOs at the national, regional and international levels and civil society
organizations have continued to work towards the improvement of the rights of women.
Despite the progress made; the objectives of the Convention largely remain to be
achieved. This is the reason for our research, to ascertain the extent to which the goals
have been met in the South region of Nigeria.
―Women‘s Rights are Human Rights‖ was a popular slogan used by women‘s
groups both before and during the United Nation‘s World Conference on Human Rights
which took place in Vienna Austria, June 1993. It is true that women are humans too but
the reality for women is that they are denied their humanity for so long as those rights
recognized as ―human rights‖ are not applied equally to women worldwide.
Women Activists are of the opinion that existing human rights laws often times
do not have a gender perspective since these laws are seen to have disregarded important
and very fundamental issues peculiar to women. Writing on the rights of women, Bunch
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15. (1991, 79) notes that from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the more recent
convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), discrimination against women is explicitly prohibited. The reason women
still visit on their rights is that despite the ratification of these treaties by several countries
who are state parties to these conventions, the female half of humanity remains subject to
distinctive and continuous forms of abuse, injustice and violence as well as an enormous
range of legal disabilities and discrimination simply because they are female. These
practices have been ignored or have not generally been viewed as violations of the human
rights and freedoms of women.
Although global interest in human rights has increased since World War II and
the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provided the framework for
international covenants, the struggle for women‘s rights has been recent and gained
momentum during the last two decades. This has given rise to new organizations, new
laws and new levels of political activism on the part of women, particularly in the legal
area. Women have discovered new means and tools which they are now using to press for
change on behalf of their rights at the international and national levels. These
international conventions and treaties or pacts are legally binding agreements on the
countries which provide standards of conduct for governments to fulfill (Semler, et al,
1998, 106).
These Conventions guarantee a wide range of rights that cover economic, social,
political and cultural rights with laws that protect them. Others address specific rights
such as convention on the nationality of married women and others. By ratifying these
conventions, state parties agree to ensure that all their citizens enjoy the human rights
covered by the conventions. Semler et al record that the major weakness in this system is
that there is no international police force to monitor human rights violations, also there
are no international courts where individuals can place a claim against government the
system therefore relies heavily on political pressure to enforce human rights laws.
Reanda (1981, 116) observed that the main international human rights organs like
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Convention on
the Civil and Political rights do not appear to specifically deal with violations of human
rights of women but rather through the CEDAW Committee. There has therefore been a
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16. gettoization of questions relating to women. Charlesworth (1994) also notes that the
structure for supporting women‘s human rights instruments are more fragile than the
mainstream human rights instruments which do not address specific rights, she argues
that international instruments dealing with women have weaker implementation,
obligations and procedures and the institutions to draft and monitor them are under-
resourced and their roles often circumscribed compared to other human rights bodies.
Although CEDAW‘s separate concepts of women‘s rights were recast in a global women
rights perspective, supervisory machinery was set up with terms of reference similar to
those of existing human rights organs.
Wright (1989, 38) in her work observed that the language of human rights is
resolutely and utterly rude. The rights which are guaranteed are the Rights of Man‖ or
―mankind.‖ This is because at the time the ―Bill of Rights‖ was drafted into the
constitution of France, United States of America and Britain for example, women were
specifically excluded from most market oriented economics and all political institutions.
The claimed gender neutrality of modern international instruments disguises this
background and distracts attention from the marginalization and exclusion of women
through the period when modern political and economic rights were being defined. Some
of the reasons for the non-inclusion of issues affecting women on the ―mainstream‖
human rights are summarized by Wright thus:
The historical construction of modern human rights from norms and
institutions were designed by men to serve men’s interests. The
cultural construction of women’s reproductive role and continuance of
this role within the family. The division of rights into discrete
categories and definitions such as civil, political, economic, social,
cultural and people’s rights do not reflect the reality of women’s lives.
At the regional level, the problem persists, for instance in the African Charter on
Human and People‘s Rights, Welch (1984, 22) observes that although the charter makes
reference to the elimination of discrimination based on sex and specific reference to the
elimination of discrimination against women, Article 7 goes on to provide for the
protection of morals and traditional values recognized by the community apparently
overlooking the fact that some of these traditional values embody practices that are
oppressive to women and impose severe limitation on the rights that women are supposed
16

17. to enjoy. He further states that the African Charter gives little direct attention to women
as a group although its makers were clearly aware of CEDAW and other major
international human rights documents. According to him, some observers have argued
that the African Charter conveys a potentially ambiguous message in its attempt to
recognize both deep-seated African values which include differentiation of roles and
rights based on gender and the emerging global values among which non-discrimination
on the basis of sex features prominently.
At the National level, the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the human rights of its
citizens including women, but Chukwuma (1998, 95) observes that there exist some
deep-rooted socio-cultural norms that greatly impede the emancipation of women. These
manifest in various obnoxious practices against women denying them their fundamental
human rights in every sphere of life and human Endeavour. For African women, human
rights been highly controversial, the reason is the inter-linkage between culture and
human rights. From the viewpoint of Cultural Relativists which strongly oppose the idea :
universality of human rights, some African leaders and politicians (male) have denounced
as ―un-African‖ the norms of women‘s human rights as have been internationally
established claiming that phenomena such as authority and equality for women are alien
to African culture (Jensen and Poulsen 1993, 77).
They claim that the notion of human rights is incompatible with the very essence
of African culture, the conflict being between the individualism of human rights and the
crucial importance of collectivism in African culture. Others are especially skeptical and
dismiss the issue as unimportant. The reason is that these are deeply embedded in our
culture that women cannot and are not expected to stand up for their right. This has made
it obviously difficult for most African and Third World countries to adequately protect
the rights of women within these cultures. Howard (1983) posits that these African
leaders and politicians hide under the guise of culture to subjugate women in their
countries.
Women‘s human rights are most explicitly laid down in International Conventions
especially in CEDAW which has been ratified by most of these countries. Because it
contains some highly controversial articles especially Article 5, many countries have
submitted reservations or have refused to take action on the requirements.
17

18. Rao (1995, 41) has attacked the position of the Cultural Relativists who deny the
legitimacy and relevance of human rights to African women. To her, cultures are not but
dynamic and are not neutral or unitary wholes. She notes that owing to the dynamic
nature of culture, traditional rights and support for women and family in most societies
are changing and so individuals apply different interpretations and strategies depending
on the interests and relative power. Some scholars see human rights as the universally
available moral vernacular that validates the claims of women and children against the
oppression they experience in patriarchal societies (Ignatief, 1998, 68). Referring to
Amnesty International‘s efforts to promote women‘s human rights, Roach (1993, 51)
affirms the need to integrate women‘s issues of concern into the mainstream human
rights mechanism of the United Nations. The aim is to ensure that women‘s voices and
their experience and re-interpretation of women‘s human rights will be done by women
themselves to eliminate discrimination based on sex from the human rights agenda. This
is because women by virtue of their humanity share a fundamental ontological existence;
hence their rights should be recognized as human rights and treated as such.
It is also noted that despite the far-reaching nature of the UNCEDAW, it is
saddled with reservations mostly on religious and cultural grounds which had seriously
weakened the convention‘s conceptual framework and has undermined its object and
purpose. According to Cook (1990, 12), most Muslim and Third World Countries have
refused to ratify some areas of the convention. Others for cultural and traditional beliefs
have found it very difficult to implement the convention in their countries.
At the regional level, Welch (1993, 80) in his study attempted to draw a
comparison protection of the human rights of women under two major treaties at the
regional and international levels, The African Charter and People‘s Rights and the
Women Convention. Questioning the effectiveness of these agreements in ameliorating
the obstacles confronting women in Africa, he regrets that despite the lofty goals of
international conferences and conventions held in various parts of the world (Copenhagen
1980, Nairobi 1985) etc. There is still a wide gap between the lofty ideals and the reality
of daily life especially in most societies south of the Sahara. Although the charter makes
reference to the elimination of discrimination against women, Article 7 goes on to
provide for the protection of morals and traditional values recognized by the community
18

19. apparently overlooking the fact that some of these traditional values embody practices
that are oppressive to women and impose severe limitations on the rights that women are
supposed to enjoy.
He opines however that the weaknesses of these international regimes should not
lead us to overlook their potential significance as one of having means of reducing the
sexual inequalities that characterized Africa and the rest of the world. He observed that
women in Africa especially those in the rural areas suffer most owing to cultural barriers
which interact with low levels of economic development. As a result, their conditions of
life have not improved despite the attention provided through the global treaties. He adds
that since the adoption of UNCEDAW and the African charter on Human and People‘s
Rights, there has been a serious decline in the living standards of women in most of the
African States. This is due to the prevailing poverty which marks more than three
quarters & residents in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of
the treaties, whereas the women‘s convention precisely tackles the issue of concern to
women, the African Charter gives little attention to women as a group although its
drafters were aware of CEDAW and other major international human rights documents.
Under both treaties, the responsibility for enforcement rests with the ratifying states.
Power is therefore exercised by governments and not the treaties, the supervisory bodies,
which is a major weakness for both regimes. Welch is of the opinion that despite these
limitations, progress in achieving women‘s rights in Africa, though slow, can be seen in
the application of the Women‘s Convention and the African Charter on Human and
People s Rights.
Another scholarly work relating to our concern is that of Mayer (1995). On the
issue of women‘s human rights, Mayer notes that there are two basic positions that
people tow i.e. the Universalist and the Cultural relativist. The universalist position
entails that ――all members of the human family‖‖ share the same inalienable rights,
meaning that the international community has the right to judge, by reference to
international standards, the ways states treat their own citizens and that states must
reform their constitutions and laws where necessary to conform with international norms.
According to them all women are entitled to the rights set forth in international covenants
19

20. and conventions such as the 1966 international covenant on civil and political rights and
CEDAW of 1981.
Cultural Relativists on the other hand argue that members of one society are
wrong in condemning the practices of societies with different traditions. Where Western
criticism of the treatment of women of the Middle East are concerned, cultural relativists
object to universalist approaches on the ground that they use criteria that are ostensibly
international but actually reflect the Western values linked to cultural imperialism. Mayer
tries to assess one aspect of the implication of the cultural relativist arguments: appeals to
what might be called ――Islamic particularism‖ to justify the demand of civil and political
rights to Middle Eastern Muslim women. She explains that Middle Eastern governments‘
insistence that cultural particularism requires the international community to tolerate
those governments discrimination against women constitutes a misguided application of
cultural relativism.
On the status of the Muslim women, cultural relativists argue that the reasons for
tolerating deviations from international norms are particularly strong because these
discriminatory features of Middle Eastern laws are directly traceable to religious
precepts. The Sharia or lslamic law being of divine origin they claim, enjoys automatic
and unquestioning obedience from its adherents; accordingly demanding respect for
human rights could be seen as disrespect for divine law and would attract sanctions.
Middle Eastern governments have made deliberate attempts at stifling dissenting women
in countries like Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt (Charles-Granville 2010, 47).
Depending on the country involved, women are compelled to wear concealing
garments in public, excluded from studying certain subjects, deprived of voting rights and
are not even allowed to drive cars amongst many other restrictions. Consequently, many
Muslim countries i.e. Bangladesh, Libya, Tunisia have invoked ‗Islam‖ to justify these
restrictive laws as the reason for making their treaty reservations. Mayer notes that it
would obviously be hard to justify the intention of such discriminatory laws if the
principles of CEDAW are applied. She showed dissatisfaction with the UN stand on the
non-compliance to the tenets of CEDAW by these Muslim states who are tolerated and
are still treated as parties to a convention whose substantive provisions they had
professed their unwillingness to abide by. She laments that of all the human rights
20

21. treaties, CEDAW has the greatest number reservations from countries that have refused
to comply with its norms (Charles-Granville 2010, 48).
Other non Muslim countries, for example Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus,
Thailand, and Jamaica etc., also register reservations that undermine the treaty. This may
be because the governmental actors in international fora consist of, for the most part,
men. Mayer also castigates some countries in the West like United States and Soviet
Union who also have anti-feminist policies. She concludes that claims from diverse states
and regions who state that the conventions interfere with their right to culture have the
same consequence of denying women equal rights. Where such reasons are condoned
Mayer opines that these actions are nothing more than disguises for the universality of
male determination to cling to power and privilege.
The work of Charlesworth (1993) focuses on the current international human
rights structure whose norms and laws in her opinion create obstacles to the advancement
of women. She points out that this is so because most of the international law making
institutions are often dominated by men, thereby the international human rights laws are
developed to reflect the experiences of men rather than that of women. Examining the
international legal structure, she observes that at the international levels, the extant power
structures are overwhelmingly dominated by men. Very few governments have women in
significant positions of power and even where they are, the numbers are extremely small.
This trend manifests in the UN secretariat, international organizations and specialized
agencies despite the terms of Article 8 of the UN charter. Charlesworth however notes
that whereas women are grossly under-represented in the UN human rights bodies i.e.
one woman (out of 18 members) on the Committee on The Elimination of Racial
discrimination two women (out of 18 members) on the Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights Committee, three women (out of 18 members) on the Human Rights Committee,
in the Committee on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women, all
the members are women. She laments the situation where men dominate all the major
institutions of the international legal order.
Issues of concern to men are therefore seen as general human concerns and
women‘s concerns in contrast are regarded as a distinct and limited category.
Charlesworth opines that unless women‘s experiences contribute‘ directly to the
21

22. mainstream international legal order, beginning with women‘s equal representation in the
law making fora, international human rights law will lose its claims to universal
applicability and should therefore be characterized as international men‘s rights law. She
further observes that many international human rights principles are inherently biased
against women as these international human rights laws like the national legal systems
operate primarily in the public sphere traditionally associated with men. While the private
sphere traditionally associated with women is regarded as being outside the scope of both
national laws and international human rights laws. She points out that the most pervasive
harm against women tends to be perpetrated in the private realm, within the family. She
also noted that male human rights principles are drawn from each of the so-called
generation of rights where the North typically gives prominence to the first generation of
Civil and Political rights while the South emphasizes the importance of the second and
third generations of rights i.e. the Economic, Social, Cultural and Group rights. One
striking common feature of these three generations of rights is that they exclude the
experiences of women.
Recognizing that most UN work relating to the advancement of women is
centered on the Commission on the Status of Women and CEDAW and that both have
provided a valuable focus for women‘s interests in the international system. She points
out ironically that the creation of a specialized branch of women‘s human rights law has
also allowed its marginalization. She advocates that to make the international legal
system effective, women‘s voices and experiences should be included in the definition of
the human rights norms. Above all the UN should ensure that women‘s experiences are
incorporated into mainstream international law.
In her assessment of the implementation of these conventions in different
countries, Robinson (1998, 113) asserts that although human rights Conventions relevant
to the needs and concerns of women have been fought and won, yet the problem of
implementation still remains. She observes that although the experiences of women differ
from one country to another, that for a vast majority of women, there is still a huge gap
between their human rights entitlements and their actual enjoyment of these rights in their
everyday lives.
22

23. This is widely portrayed by Semler et al (1998, 89) in their record of Human
Rights violation by different countries of the world. They state that women make-up half
the world‘s population but account for only 5 to 10 percent of political leadership
positions worldwide. Women contribute up to 70 percent of their local and national
economies yet receive less than one-tenth of the world‘s income and two-thirds of the
world‘s 960 million illiterates are women. Regardless of the giant strides made by women
in the workplace, women are discriminated against and receive less pay, less protected
and promoted less than men and are made to work under poor working conditions. This is
discovered to be the case especially for women factory workers in Bangladesh, Mexico,
Morocco, Vietnam Indonesia etc, Semler et al concludes.
According to a United Nations report (1995) there is no country in the world
where women‘s average earnings are equal to that of men. Even in countries that report
on non-agricultural wages for men and women, the average wage for women is about 75
percent that of men. Only in four countries (Tanzania, Australia, Vietnam, Sri-Lanka) do
women earn 90 percent of men‘s wages. The report shows that the proportion is less than
60 percent in China, South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh and Russia.
In many societies of the world, under the law marriage is supposed to be a joint
and equal partnership but violence in and outside the home has reached an epidemic
proportion. In countries where the laws protect women‘s rights in marriage, customs
often dictate otherwise. Again, Semler et al (op. cit.) note that in Bangladesh, 72 percent
of girls between 15 and 19 are married compared with only 7.4 percent of boys. In
Nigeria, nearly 25 percent of girls marry before the age of 13.
From the literature we reviewed, Several works have been done on issues of
concern to women and Scholars as well as various governments have expressed concern
about the plight of women. These works cover issues such as Rights of Women; Women
Empowerment and Reproductive Health; Women and environment, Nigerian Women in
Politics, Women and Poverty Alleviation; Women in Nigerian History and several others.
The recognition and extensiveness of these issues show that the issue of the rights of
women is indeed a serious one. However, not much seems to have been done on the
impact of the UNCEDAW, which Nigeria is a signatory to, on the socio-political rights of
women in the South-South Zone of the country. The thrust of this study is therefore
23

24. tailored towards this aspect. It was clear that Socio-cultural factors pose major obstacles
to the advancement of women socio-political rights. Customs, culture, tradition and
religion have continued to relegate women to an inferior position. Harmful traditional
practices such as Widowhood Rites, Inheritance, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Early
and Forced Marriage, and other practices such as Sexual Harassment, Wife battery,
Human Trafficking and several others work against women in society. Customary laws
have also continued to limit the rights of women. We observed that most of our
respondents are ignorant of the existence of international instruments like the
UNCEDAW that has been put in place for the protection of the rights of women. This
culminates into not knowing their rights as humans. It was surprising to us that even
some lawmakers in the Houses of Assembly of the states visited were unaware of the
existence of the UNCEDAW. This is the gap this research thesis seeks to close.
1.7 Research Hypotheses
(a) The tenets of UNCEDAW made a significant impact on women access to
education in the South-South zone of Nigeria.
(b) The ratification of UNCEDAW does not improve the involvement of women in
decision making in the South-South zone of Nigeria.
(c) The tenets of UNCEDAW do not make any significant change on the people
towards the traditional and entrenched patriarchal attitudes that impedes the rights
of women in the South-South zone of Nigeria.
1.8 Theoretical Framework
There are various strands of Feminist Thought with different approaches to
liberate women but we will discuss three major strands of Feminism, namely Radical
Feminism, Socialist Feminism and Liberal Feminism, and thereafter justify our choice for
the study.
1.8.1 Radical Feminism
Radical feminists in Western society assert that their society is a patriarchy in
which men are the primary oppressors of women. Radical feminists seek to abolish
patriarchy. Radical feminism posits the theory that, due to patriarchy, women have come
to be viewed as the "other" to the male norm and as such have been systematically
oppressed and marginalized. They also believe that the way to deal with patriarchy and
24

25. oppression of all kinds is to address the underlying causes of these problems through
revolution. This theory is based on women‘s own experiences and sees no need to
compromise with existing political perspectives. Radical Feminists see the oppression of
Women as the most fundamental and universal form of domination and aims to
understand and end patriarchy (rule of men). The torch bearers of this theory in the late
1970s includes: Andrea Dworkin, Phyllis Chesler, Monique Wittig, Mary Daly, Jill
Johnston, and Robin Morgan.
Millet (1973) argues that in all known societies, that relationship between the sexes
has been based on power, and that they are therefore political. This power takes the form
of male domination over women in all areas of life, including the most intimate, and is
institutionalized through the social structures of family (marriage, motherhood, love and
sexual intercourse) and religion. Firestone (1970) in her work expressed the most
profound insight of Radical feminism when she said that distinction based on gender
structures are present virtually in every aspect of our lives and indeed are so pervasive
that ordinarily they go quite unrecognized. Radical feminists believe that women
oppression will no longer exist, not because its biological determinants are overcome, but
only when the structures that maintain this oppression are terminated by a Feminist
Revolution. For this revolution to take place, a new society has to be constructed that will
free women from childbearing; and other sexual obligations.
They want to create alternative structures in all areas of life - Family, Religion
Women-Run Business and Healthcare. They believe this will enable women, in the short
run to develop their skills to fight their oppressors. In the absence of their oppressors
‗men‘, this tantamount to some form of gender-based organizational separatism.
Even though many Feminists agree that men as a group oppress women in all
areas of life, majority of Feminists reject organizational separatism as a way of life. The
notion of separatism has attracted considerable amount of male hostility in many
countries. The ideas of Radical Feminism are also said to be descriptive rather than
analytic and are unable to explain the origin of male power and therefore unable to
provide adequate strategy for ending it. Some see it as based on a false idea of ―man as
the enemy‖ that leads logically only to separatism that has less appeal to many women.
25

26. 1.8.2 Socialist Feminism
Socialist feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses upon both the public and
private spheres of a woman's life and argues that liberation can only be achieved by
working to end both the economic and cultural sources of women's oppression. Socialist
feminism is a two-pronged theory that broadens Marxist feminism's argument for the role
of capitalism in the oppression of women and radical feminism's theory of the role of
gender and the patriarchy. Socialist feminists reject radical feminism‘s main claim that
patriarchy the only or primary source of oppression of women. Rather, socialist feminists
assert that women are unable to be free due to their financial dependence on males in
society. Women are subjects to the male rulers in capitalism due to an uneven balance in
wealth. They see economic dependence as the driving force of women‘s subjugation to
men. Further, socialist feminists see women‘s liberation as a necessary part of larger
quest for social, economic and political justice. Socialist feminism draws upon many
concepts found in Marxism; such as a historical materialist point of view, which means
that they relate their ideas to the material and historical conditions of people‘s lives.
Socialist feminists thus consider how the sexism and gendered division of labor of each
historical era is determined by the economic system of the time. Those conditions are
largely expressed through capitalist and patriarchal relations.
The exponent of socialist feminism was the Chicago Women's Liberation Union in
their publication "Socialist Feminism, in 1972: A Strategy for the Women's Movement,"
which is believed to be the first to use the term "socialist feminism," in publication. It has
its roots in Marxist Political and Economic Thought and its basic tenet is that the class
system in society is essentially responsible for the oppression of women (Mitchell, 1971).
Historically, women did not occupy an inferior place in the society until when the
primitive-communal society broke down into classes and the introduction of private
property and the family. The function of the woman, since then has been essentially that
of breeding children while being the private possession of her husband. Socialists say that
in the Capitalist Economy, women suffer double oppression, in the work place, as an
exploited worker, and in the family as a subordinated person with little status. They
believe that a socialist revolution is required to end women oppression, implying that the
26

27. very structures that nourish oppression such as private property and class division must
completely be abolished.
Women must continue to fight not only for free and equal entry into the
productive sector of the society, but for the socialization of housework, that housework
must not remain the responsibility of the women alone. Women should struggle for equal
pay for work, equal opportunity in education and employment, free abortion on demand,
and free community-controlled child-care centers. They also believe in practicing
alternatives in their lives through communal living, egalitarian marriages, all-women
households and the rest (Rubin, 1975) etc. Thus, women must sustain their struggle for
liberation alongside men who suffer equal forms of oppression like them. Finally,
Socialist Feminists expect their society to be politically and economically democratic
where the means of production would be collectively owned, output of production will be
equitably distributed. Sex and race will no longer play any role in the determination of an
individual‘s status in society and the oppression of the bourgeois family will cease to
exist. Although Socialist Feminism makes an explicit commitment to the abolition of
both class and gender it does not say how the abolition can be achieved outside a
Socialist framework. Furthermore, with the collapse of the former Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR) there is no guaranteed route to the overthrow of male
dominance and Capitalism.
1.8.3 Liberal Feminism
The theoretical framework that we have adopted in this study is Liberal Feminism.
Mary Wollstonecraft is a founding mother of feminism in her most famous work, A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Some of the torchbearers of liberal feminism
were Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Harriet Tubman, John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor
and Eleanor Roosevelt. Liberal Feminism is a syncretism of two major ideas: Liberalism
and Feminism. The basic tenets of Liberal feminism are equality, justice, freedom and
liberty. These values are not fundamentally different from the values of Liberalism;
rather Liberal Feminism goes a step further to use a pro-active approach. The pro-active
approach of Liberal Feminism ensures that these values of Liberalism are actually
enthroned and defended in contemporary society regardless of sex and within both the
public and private spheres.
27

28. Liberalism generically prefers to judge the extent of social justice from the
perspective of the individual rather than the society. This is largely determined by the
extent of freedom allowed the individual in order to demonstrate his particular virtues
and capabilities. Liberalism in general terms believes in and makes for a good society.
Bryson (1972) asserts that Liberalism sees a good society as one which promotes the
basic values of individual dignity, equality, autonomy and self-fulfillment. It accepts the
ideal of creating a society which maximizes the individual autonomy and in which all
individuals have an equal opportunity to pursue their own interests as they perceive them.
It recognizes the worth and dignity of every individual, justice and liberty which are
upheld by the associated legal system and ascribes rights to persons on the basis of their
capacity to reason. Earlier Political theorists like Voltaire, Montesquieu, Hume, Kant,
Hegel and Rousseau among others doubted that women were fully rational (Rendal,
1985; Schapiro, 1978). They saw women as essentially creatures of emotion and passion
that have an important role to play as wives and mothers but biologically unsuited for the
public sphere.
Others examined the relationship in the family and to some extent fell back on
arguments of social convenience and men‘s superior strength to justify the continued
subordination of women. While they saw men as independent and rational individuals
capable of perceiving and pursuing their own self-interest, men were seen as weak
creatures, unable to reason, and must be bound tightly to the family and therefore had no
political rights. In real terms, liberal rationality condones discrimination by reason. This
is a serious shortcoming because man is a social being and is made up not only by the
intellectual aspects of his being, but also important are his physical, emotional and
spiritual aspects. Moreover, the ingredients for reasoning are socially determined and
women already sequestrated to the domestic sphere cannot be expected to display
reasoning prowess in the public sphere. Consequently, liberalism in its generic form is
incapable of supporting our analytical lasers especially as it pertains to this research on
women discrimination and empowerment.
Feminism on its part is commonly used to refer to all ideas which seek grounds no
matter how, to end women‘s subordination. Early Feminists seriously challenged the
liberal ideas on reason as a preserve for men. They tried to prove that women were as
28

29. capable of reason as men. Wollstonecraft (1672) in Korsmeyer (1973) in ―A Vindication
of the Rights of Women‖ argued forcefully that women had the potential for full
rationality and so were as capable as men of complete moral responsibility. The fact that
women did not always realize this potentiality was due to the fact that they were deprived
of education and confined to the domestic sphere. In his, ―On the Subjection of Women‖,
Mill (1970) emphasized the same point that if women‘s intellectual attainment were
inferior to those of men, the most likely explanation was that women had been afforded
less opportunity to develop their minds.
Liberalism per se treats women as part and parcel of citizens of a particular
country and there is no special attention to the unique rights of women, in other words,
sex is not a significant factor in liberal theory. However, it is a fact that in the larger
society there is not one block of citizens, there are certain forms of discrimination based
on religion, race and sex amongst others. Consequently, Liberal Feminists argue
pointedly for the recognition of the status, rights and privileges of women who by the
very fact of their gender are exposed to inherent discriminatory practices in the society.
The over-bearing index in this matter is that women are confined to the private
sphere. In this private sphere, they are looked upon as accessories to men in the public
sphere. Thus they are not exposed to the cross currents of leadership, education,
employment, entrepreneurship and even religion. This non-exposure of women to the
public sphere is looked upon superficially as being protective of women-the weaker sex.
But under the guise of this protectionism, is a total disregard of the rights and feelings of
women as an important segment of society. This has placed women in disadvantage when
seeking for any position of relevance in the public sphere. Consequently there is a clear
tilt in the balance on the scale of rights, privileges, hopes and aspirations in favour of
men.
Observing this disadvantage women are immersed in, Liberal Feminists adopt a
proactive approach to ensure that the liberal principles are actually enthroned and
defended in contemporary society regardless of sex and within both the public and
private spheres. Despite the availability of a liberal legal system and its entrenchment of
liberal values in National Constitutions, Liberal Feminists like Jagger argue that
provisions by law do not automatically confer on women equal status with men. They
29

30. believe that there exists a lot of discrimination against women which are not mandated by
the legal system but are rather informed or based on custom. This starts from the nursery,
where male and female infants are perceived and handled differently, and continues in the
educational system, where boys are encouraged to train for prestigious or well-paying
occupations while girls are channeled into preparing for the lower-paying occupations.
The above conditions cause women to be relegated to specific kinds of work that are
menial and degrading. Women also suffer discrimination in obtaining credit to buy a
house or to start a business. They may have more difficulty than men in renting
accommodation.
Liberal Feminists view all these sorts of discrimination as unjust because they
deprive women of equal opportunities for pursuing their own self-interest as they define
it. Consequently, women are paid so little that they figure disproportionately among the
poor and poverty makes it difficult for them to exercise their formal legal right. Since
―the worth of liberty is less for poor people,‘ (Rawls, 1971: 204). Liberal Feminists
complain that poverty makes most women unequal to most men. Mill also supports this
view, stating that ‗the power of earning is essential to the dignity of a woman, if she has
independent property‖ Betty Friedan (1974: 370) adds:
For women to have full identity and freedom, they must have economic
independence.... Equality and human dignity are not possible for women
if they are not able to earn…only economic independence can free a
woman to marry for love, not for status or financial support, or to leave
a loveless, intolerable, humiliating marriage, or to eat, dress, rest and
move if she plans to marry.
Consequently, Liberal Feminists are inspired to identify their rights, discriminatory
practices and actively seek ways to regain those where they are lost, hold the rights, enjoy
them, defend them and equally ensure a future of equal rights (Awe, 1992).
They are to combat discrimination against women and occasion women
empowerment through the instrumentality of ―affirmative action or reverse
discrimination‖. This to them, will no doubt enable women to catch up with men (Gross,
1977; Cohen, Nagel and Scanlon, 1976).
30

31. This is a problem however because men would naturally resist efforts by women
to achieve political equality. But this problem is surmountable for we have seen many
concessions made to women in Europe, United States and even in some parts of Africa
where reforms in family, employment and educational provisions as well as for suffrage
have gradually been met even though the citadels of power are jealously guarded by men
(Lovenduski, 1986; Iweriebo 1992). The United Nations has been at the forefront of these
achievements for women the world over.
In sum, the ultimate goal of Liberal Feminism is to incorporate women fully into
the mainstream of contemporary society. They seek to eliminate sex-biased
discrimination in all areas of life and to guarantee women equal opportunities with men
to define and pursue their interests. These are also the tenets of CEDAW, to ultimately
promote issues of concern to women. The values of Liberal Feminism being in line with
the ideals of CEDAW bring women into focus through legal reforms to ensure equal
opportunities for women. CEDAW is against laws that subordinate women in various
countries. The Convention therefore prohibits discrimination against women and argues
for women‘s eligibility and equal opportunity in employment, credit, training, and
education amongst others. The foregoing is clearly why liberal feminism has been chosen
as our theoretical framework in this work. Liberal Feminism it is, that is capable of
constructively using the high points of Liberalism and Feminism, yet transcending the
limitations of both in analysis and social action to eliminate discrimination against
women and of necessity engenders women empowerment.
1.9 Research Methodology
This deal with the methods employed in our study and highlights our research
design, samples, research tools, data collection techniques and the method of data
analysis discussed below.
Research Design
The research design used for this study is survey design. This design was used so
as to capture the entire domain of the study.
Area of Study
The South-South zone, our focus of study comprises of the states of Akwa-Ibom,
Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers. These states came under one umbrella in
31

32. 1994 at the end of constitutional conference set up by late Sani Abacha government to
discuss among other issues; the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections which
was said to have been won by the late M.K.O Abiola, marginalization of minority groups,
revenue allocations, power sharing procedure for the restoration of positions and political
appointments in the country (Ndoh, 1977). The area was chosen for the reason of
convenience in terms of time and finance at the disposal of the researcher.
The South-South zone is geographically located in the Niger Delta region of
Nigeria. The Niger Delta, the Delta of the Niger River is described as one of the world‘s
largest wetlands and Africa‘s largest delta covering over 70,000 square kilometers with
nearly three quarters of the region covered by water and has the third largest world
mangrove forest (World Bank Report, 1995). The ethnic groups in the region include the
Itshekiri, Ilaje, Urhobo, Isoko, Ibibio, Annang, Efik, Ijaw, Ogoni, Ekpeye, Ikwerre etc
(Alagoa, 1972). The primary occupations of the people are fishing, farming, trading salt
making, canoe carving etc.
According to Willinks Commission Report (1957), the region lies within the Igbo,
plateau and Cross River valley, a geographical entity which covers the present Akwa-
Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers States, also known as the core Niger
Delta said to cover the former British Colonial divisions of Ahoada, Brass, Degema,
Opobo,Ogoni, Western Ijaw and Warri (Okaba, 2005). The widespread view in the
country however equates the Niger Delta region to the South-South geopolitical zone
made up of six States. By adopting the NDDC Act of 2001, the area has recently been
expanded to include all oil producing States in Nigeria such as Abia, Imo and Ondo.
Population of Study
The target population of the study is made up of the 6,700 officials of government
and non-governmental organizations involved in women rights issues in the six states that
make up the zone. The government and non-governmental organizations include the
Ministry of Women Affairs (MWA), Ministry of Sports, Youth and Culture (MSYC),
Ministry of Social Development and Tourism (MSDT), Ministry of Health, Ministry of
Justice, Market Women Organizations (MWOs), Community Based Women
Organizations (CBWOs), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Nigeria
Association Of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), and Women In Nigeria (WIN).
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33. We however, need to strike a balance between the need to cover as many officials
as possible and the danger inherent in abandoning the central problems we set out to
investigate. As Ibeanu (1992) in Agu (2008) noted, this could be a problem to a study of
this nature. There is always the danger of derailing from the population of study if the
population is quite large. To guard against this, we decided to select and administer
questionnaire on 10 percent of the entire population. This is in line with the assertions of
Ball and Gall in (Uzoagulu, 1999 cited in Biereenu-Nnabugwu, 2006), that for population
up to 1000, 5000 and 10,000; 20%, 10% and 5% respectively as the requisite sample size
could be employed. Since the total workforce of the government and non-governmental
organizations is 6,700 translated quantitatively, are 670 officials. The 670 officials
therefore constitute the sample population size.
Sample and Sampling techniques
To generate manageable data as well as make meaningful deductions, it is
imperative to use a sample of the population. According to Biereenu-Nnabugwu, the idea
and need for sample hinges on the realization that the population is large and that it is
possible to make choice from an array of possibilities.
The study adopted the multi-stage sampling method which involves sampling in
successive stages such that at each stage selection is made using any of the known
probability sampling methods (Biereenu-Nnabugwu, 2006). This was done to help us
save time and cost. In the first stage, the study adopted the stratified sampling technique
to get respondents from the ranks and files of the ten government and non-governmental
organizations involved in women rights issues in the six states that make up the zone.
This was to ensure a fair representation of all shades of opinion and interests in the zone.
This could have been lost to the chance factor (Obasi, 1999). In using the stratified
sampling technique, the study further adopted the disproportional stratified sampling
technique in the sense that the numerical strength of the cadres/ranks was not considered
in the representation into the sample (Biereenu-Nnabugwu, 2006). Thus, in the
distribution, the ten ministries and organizations that make up the government and non-
governmental organizations got sixty-seven (67) respectively. Probability sampling, no
matter the demerits, involves a good degree of judgmental decisions in the final analysis
unlike in the non-probability sampling where the likelihood or assurance or every
33

34. member of the target population being included in the sample is not known (Obasi,
2000).
Sources of Data Collection
There were two major sources of data in this study. They are the primary and the
secondary. The primary sources are those which the researcher generated directly through
investigation and survey (i.e. instrument administration and interviews), while secondary
sources are essentially print and electronic in nature. They include websites, official
reports, books, journals, magazines, newspapers, conference papers and unpublished
research materials, as well as both published and unpublished secondary data of
organizations and institutions with bearing on the study.
Instruments for Data Collection
Data for the research work were collected using structured questionnaire and oral
interview. The additional use of oral interview is to elicit information from illiterate
respondents especially women in rural areas.
Consequently, questions were couched around the above areas that actually gave
meaning to women‘s socio-political rights, giving a 10-item structured questionnaire and
a 10-item interview schedule. The respondents were requested to either tick on: Strongly
Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D), Strongly Disagree (SD), for each statement and
each respondent was expected to respond with a tick ( ) to each of the statement.
Documentary instrument, in-depth interview, and participant observation were also
instruments used for data collection.
Validity of the instrument
Both instruments were properly validated by the research supervisor and other
experts in the Department of Political Science of Anambra State University, Igbariam
Campus. The comments and observations made by these experts were used to improve on
the instrument to ensure their validity.
Reliability of the instrument
The reliability of our instruments was assured by our consistency in our question
and interview models. In this exercise, the purpose was to know if the questionnaire
would be reliable after measuring with an object at different periods of time and receiving
34

35. the same or similar result. In testing the reliability of the instruments, we employed test-
retest technique to determine the reliability of the research instruments.
Thus the constructed questionnaire was distributed to a group of ten people
different from the pilot sample group of the sample group of the main study but which
has the same characteristics with the pilot sample group and the main sample group of the
study. The researcher then gave each individual element number from one to ten to
enable her to identify them. Moreover, the instruments administered to the respondents
were also numbered one to ten. Later, the researcher collected the questionnaire scored
by the respondents. After three days of collection of the scored questionnaire, the
researcher shared the same instrument to the same group as she did in the first place by
numbering the questionnaire one to ten. Thus, number one respondent received the copy
of questionnaire marked one. This was done accordingly until number ten respondent
was given number ten copy of the questionnaire.
Questionnaire was collected for the second time from the respondents. The
researcher then compared the first scored questionnaire collected with the second scored
questionnaire on each of the sample respondent one after the other. This comparison was
repeated until all the ten-paired instruments were exhausted. On the completion, the
researcher discovered that the responses for the two sets of questionnaire given out have a
high consistency correlation of 0.72. Therefore, the reliability of the questionnaire had a
0.72 Cronbach‘s alpha coefficient. According to Nunnally (1978) a questionnaire with a
Cronbach alpha coefficient of at least 0.72 should be accepted. Therefore the internal
consistency of the questionnaire used in this study was reliable.
We ensured reliability of the instruments by ensuring that the questions we posed
in both questionnaire and personal interview are in simple, good, precise and
understandable form to the respondents.
We further ensured reliability through the use of internal consistency method
whereby cross-checking questions are built into the questionnaire and oral interview. We
also cross-checked our information against many sources to ensure that facts and figures
collected from various sources earlier stated shall not only be accurate and authentic but
would remain same if the collection is repeated again and again.
Methods of Data Analysis
35

36. Data obtained through observation and interviews were used for the analysis using
simple percentages.
CHAPTER TWO
PREAMBLE
This chapter gives the documentary analysis of our research question one which
seeks to know if the tenets of UNCEDAW enhance access to education of women in the
South-South zone of Nigeria.
2.1 Access to Education of Women in the South-South Zone of Nigeria
Education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of
equality, development and peace. Kabeer (1999, 19) describes education as an agent of
empowerment. Many scholars believe that it enhances both the economic and social
status of women as well as their ability to make positive decisions affecting their lives
and those of their families in several ways.
Writing about women and education in the Nigerian Context, scholars such as
Ijere (1991), Uchendu (1993) and Anikpo (1998) observed that women‘s education have
faced several setbacks right from the inception of formal education. According to
Uchendu, this was a result of the Colonial Government‘s concept of women which was
quite different from normal Nigerian women‘s way of life. This concept had the
mentality that emphasized women‘s seclusion from public life. The system overprotected
women and their capabilities, which made them completely subservient to their husbands
and limited their opportunities. Uchendu notes that this colonial heritage forbade British
women from participating in certain fields of study thereby preventing their public
affairs. He states further that the idea emanated from the medieval period in Europe
which was supported by the British education setup which trained women only for
domestic services confining them to the home.
36

37. However, this system was extended to the colonies including the Nigerian
educational system. Consequently, many women were denied education during this
period. Those who had the opportunity to be educated, were limited to areas that will give
them the domestic skills to make them better wives and mothers; also to acquire skills for
Teaching and Nursing Professions. It is believed that this loss of power was frequently
associated with diminished access to land and labour power. At the same time, female
children were discriminated against, preference was given to the males who became an
important source of colonial labour supply and were producers of Nigeria‘s cash crops.
While the males were trained for jobs in the Industry, Commerce and Civil Service,
women were trained for domesticity. Thus the foundations of educational inequality
between males and females were laid in Nigeria. This was depicted by Kathleen Staudt
thus:
Most African women consistently lagged behind in education and
thus failed to acquire the skills needed to participate in the modern
economy. When they received training, it usually emphasized
domestic skills and preparation to become “better wives and
mothers”, few women became qualified for wage labour and even
fewer for professional positions. Employed women usually
performed low- paying, unskilled jobs connected to the domestic
areas. Thus as these regulations took force, the status and
potential prosperity of men and women increasingly
diverged”(Stuadt, 1984: 6, 9).
Other factors that militated against the education of the female child at this time
according to Alele-Williams (1986) include the socio-cultural beliefs that women who
broke the mould and stepped beyond their traditional domain were seen as women of
easy virtue. The notion that the educated woman could not make a good wife and home
keeper, which will discourage suitors for the female child, made most parents reluctant in
allowing the female child to aspire for higher education. Owing to some changes in
society, this trend was reversed. Educated men now seek equally educated women as life
partners and are now seen as assets. In recent times, educated men marry educated
women who are gainfully employed so as to help cater for the needs of the family.
According to Ogundipe (1976), the advent of all boys/all girls‘ schools in the 1960s
helped to increase the number of educated females in Nigeria. This trend has continued to
37

38. the point that in many states, especially those of the former East-Central State of Nigeria,
the enrolment of female children in Primary schools has increased to the point of
outstripping those of the males as observed by the Education Ministries of these states.
According to Nwosu (1998), the reason for this trend include the ―larger-than-life‘
premium placed on money in the value system of the country, unemployment of, or poor
prospects for the educated, poor conditions of service of the few who are employed, the
high significance commerce has assumed in. a dependent economy and the emergence of
wrong role models in the society. Education therefore has become irrelevant to wealth
acquisition. The state of affairs can be attributed to the changes in the value system of
most people in this part of the country since after the Nigerian Civil War.
Although women‘s access to education globally has increased since the Women‘s
Decade (1975-1985); UNDP 1995 report indicates of the 960million adults in the world
.who cannot read, two-thirds are women. Seventy percent (70%) of the 130miIlon
children who are not enrolled in school are girls and that the dropout rates are over three
times greater for girls than boys. The report also shows that in the event of a financial
crisis in the family, the girl child is usually the first to be forced out of school.
According to (Ashword 1981; Nwosu 1998), there are some factors if lacking,
hamper women‘s empowerment. They are of the opinion that the education and training
opportunities for women in Nigeria do not automatically improve the position of women
in society or guarantee their equal participation in development because actual
empowerment depends on the social order as provided under the auspices of the State.
This means that the historical origin of the state must be understood in order to appreciate
the social order and the prospects for women in that order. Thus the state and its
Institutions which act as mechanism of domination are not different from the men who
are the property owners and ruling class. Therefore the struggle for domination among
the propertied class leaves no opening for women.
It is also clear that inequality in education is a constraint on women‘s progress in
both rural and urban areas. Generally, women who are educated improve their status
within the family, community and the nation. As recorded by Gupta (1987) studies in
Northern India as well as elsewhere in the world show that education enhances women‘s
autonomy and increases their effectiveness even in their traditional roles which are
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39. assigned to them in their homes. In support of the above stance, (Kinder-Vatter, 1979)
also recognized that in recent decades, non-formal education has been recommended as a
process that is capable of bringing social changes, especially redistribution of power and
reversal of gender equity. Since most rural women do not have access to formal
education, non-formal education can be used to extend relevant education to a large
population of women to enable them improve their life condition.
2.2 Results from Interviews and Documentary Evidence
Education and Women
Right from the Colonial days, attendance in schools was the preserve of boys.
Only later were girls permitted to attend and that initial advantage has given the males an
undeniable position of leadership in decision-making and governance. In the Third World
many more boys than girls are enrolled in schools in spite of government‘s effort in the
last two decades to improve the situation. Nigeria was rated as one of the nine countries
with the highest number of illiterate population in the world. Women constitute the larger
percentage of the illiterate community. The National Demographic and Health Survey
stated that 40% of Nigerians have never attended school.
Article 10 of CEDAW invites state parties to take all appropriate measures to
eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure their equal rights with men in
the field of education. Although there are no clear legal measures to ensure equal access
to education for men and women, Section 18 of the 1999 constitution provides for equal
educational opportunities at all levels for every citizen. It provides for the free,
compulsory and universal primary education free secondary education, free university
education and free adult literacy programmes. The constitutional provision shows that
basic education is non-discriminatory but has no justifiable backing for any male or
female that is denied.
In line with the constitution and to encourage the girl child‘s education, some
states in the North, for example, Borno, Gombe, Kano and Bauchi have passed laws on
retention of girls in school and prohibition of withdrawal of the girl child from school for
marriage. The National Policy on Women provides that women require basic education to
enjoy the full benefits of contemporary living and to contribute meaningfully to the
39

40. development of the country. The National Policy on Education contains government‘s
commitment to increase girls and women‘s participation in education.
Consequently, government has established Federal Government Girls‘ Colleges
and lowered the cut off marks for the enrolment of girls in these colleges. There is also a
persistent policy attention to improve the capabilities in science and science-oriented
subjects in the universities and Universities of Technology. Below are some statistics on
the reality in the educational sector.
Table 2.1: Total Primary, Junior and Secondary Educational Enrolment 1999-2003
Levels Gender 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Primary school enrolment (thousand) Male 8,274 8,931 9,056 8,729 7,702
Female 6,532 6,940 7135 7,012 6,376
Total 14,806 15,871 16,191 15,741 14,078
Secondary school enrolment (thousand) Male 1,229 1,371 1,520 1,441 1,293
JS1-JS2 Female 1,008 1,177 1,272 1286 1,157
Total 2,237 2,548 2,792 2,727 2,450
Secondary school enrolment Male 739 828 906 911 936
(thousand) SS1-SS3 Female 613 694 760 807 815
Total 1,352 1,522 1,666 1,718 1,751
Source: SAA Report 2004 Comprehensive Education Analysis. FGN/UNICEF/UNESCO & UNDP.
Table 2.2
Net Primary Enrolment Ratio by Sector Zone and Sex 2004
Sex
Male Female Total
Urban 88.97 86.14 87.56
Rural 75.45 74.21 74.83
Zone South South 96.31 95.51 95.91
South East 96.85 94.62 95.74
South West 96.56 95.51 96.04
North Central 82.61 79.97 81.29
North East 61.91 61.66 61.78
40