IMPACT OF GENDER IMBALANCE ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA BUHARI’S ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

This study was on impact of gender imbalance on socioeconomic development in Buhari’s administration. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the impact of gender imbalance on education, to ascertain the impact of gender imbalance on occupation and to ascertain the  impact of gender imbalance on business. The total population for the study is 75 selected residents in Maitama, Abuja. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1Background of the study

Inequality is a phenomenon that many people have strong views. It is probably a key factor in producing or exacerbating a wide range of social ills such as educational disadvantage, health inequalities, intergenerational immobility, and crime, and may undermine social cohesion. It relates with economic performance but in a much more complex fashion than a simple trade-off between growth and inequality. (Nolan, 2009). Persistent inequality constraints a society’s productivity and ultimately slows its rate of economic growth and the economy pays for this in reduced productivity today and diminished national output tomorrow. (Awoyemi, 2004). Since the early 1980s, rising inequality in earnings and household income has been a focal policy issue (Scholtz, 2010, Bluestone and Harrison, 1982; Dooley and Gottschalk, 1982, 1984; Henle and Ryscavage, 1980). In Nigeria, the inequality level is said to have worsened and many studies using household survey income and consumption concept document this fact. For example Aigbohkan (2000) showed increasing levels of inequality, poverty and polarization using nationwide surveys for 1985/86, 1992/93 and 1996/97. A much earlier study by Canagarajah, et al., (1997) discussed rising inequality situation for Nigeria and reported increased inequality spanning 1980s and 1990s. Despite this recognition in both academic and policy circles, “gender issues are often excluded from the design and planning of empirical research and data collection both at the micro and macro levels. There is also an unbalanced analysis of women’s roles, responsibilities, constraints and opportunities in different activities in relation to those of men.(Ajani, 2008)

Socio economic inequality defines the disparity not just in income but in other dimensions or argument such as education, health, employment and political participation. In much of the literature, inequalities between rural and urban areas are the most visible and widely discussed while that between men and women are less documented. Secondly measures that have been developed to track socio economic gender inequality remain an unfinished business. UNDP‟s gender-related measures suffer from a range of flaws and have not been able to fill this gap. Also other indicators proposed seem to have conceptual or technical drawbacks, mix empowerment and well-being issues, or deal with different issues altogether.(Klasen and Schuler(2009); Beneria and Permanyer (2010)). Yet reducing inequality in relation to bridging gender gaps in human capital, and employment amongst others is a pressing global concern. According to Ajani (2008) women are marginalized in their access to economic, political, and social resources compared to men, rendering them relatively poorer than their male counterparts. Women lag behind men in most indicators of socio-economic development and they constitute the majority of the poor, the unemployed and the socially disadvantaged, and they are the hardest hit by the current economic recession, with about 52 percent of rural women living below the poverty line. Gender inequality in disfavour of women features prominently in access to and control of land, credit facilities, technologies, education and health, and as a result, women are more vulnerable to poverty than men.

The issue in this regard is on how to promote gender equality and empower women in the different spheres of human Endeavour. The Beijing conference of 1995 and the affirmative declaration no doubt served as veritable platforms for ventilation. Through robust media content, these issues can be further illuminated for mainstream acculturation in traditional societies like Nigeria. How the Nigerian mass media, especially the press, has fared in this regard reinforces the premise of this study. According to the 2006 census reports, the population distribution of Nigeria by sex shows that the male gender constitutes 51% of the population while the female gender constitutes about 49% of the population. Ironically, this distribution index does not seem to reflect role assignments in the Nigerian socio-political milieu.

Just recently, precisely four months after the inauguration of the present democratically elected government in Nigeria, the President, Muhammadu Buhari, sent his list of ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation. The list had 21 names out of which 18 were male while 3 were female. The gross gender imbalance in Nigeria becomes even more glaring when viewed against the backdrop of the ideals of the then MDG (3) and now SDG (5). It is however expected that the Nigerian press, in the face of this anomaly, should crusade for truth, fairness, justice, and equity with a view to redressing this gender imbalance. Viewed from a continuum, the press can at least channel content towards advocacy or at worst tilt same towards complacency?

1.2 Statement of the problem

The fact that participants in the feminist movement could face critique and challenge while still remaining wholeheartedly committed to a vision of justice, of liberation, is a testament to the movement’s strength and power. It shows us that no matter how misguided feminist thinkers have been in the past, the will to change, the will to create the context for struggle and liberation remains stronger than the need to hold on to wrong beliefs and assumptions (p.58). Arthur (2003) cited in Boyles (2008) notes that:

In the British context for example, debates at the National Women’s Liberation Movement Conferences repeatedly for grounded women’s different positions of privilege in relation to regional, class, and sexual identities. At the regional and local levels, groups organized around single issues including reproductive rights, wages for housework and violence against women (p.175).

Interestingly, O’Shaughnessy and Stadler (2011) uphold that the social constructionist ideology sees “gender characteristics as constructed by external social forces such as the media, family, education, religion, and expectations of community members” (p.361).

They (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2011; p. 368) further note that earlier feminist concerns and struggles produced many social changes that are now part of the media landscape that feature in contemporary life for women.

1. Equal rights in terms of pay and job opportunities
2. Acceptance that women can enter any field of work
3. Acceptance that having children does not preclude full participation in the paid workforce.

It will be recalled however that the president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, on 30^th September, 2015 submitted a list of 21 ministerial nominees to the National Assembly for screening and confirmation. Of that list, 18 were male while 3 were female. In line with MDG3 (SDG5) it will be very much expected that media content should gravitate towards enshrining best practices in terms of gender equality and women empowerment.

Udoudo and Neku (2011) posit in a study that “if the press can set agenda for the discussion of the imbalance noticed in gender representation in Nigeria, the press can prove an aspect of being instruments that engender development in the society”(p.390). How the press has fared five years after in this regard becomes a yawning gap. Interestingly, the crux of this study is premised on the need to appraise how news content, especially that of Nigerian newspapers and magazines, provided illumination on President Buhari’s overt gender imbalance in ministerial appointments as well as the underlying disposition of the press, towards these issues, as inferred from content and distilled in the context of advocacy and complacency. The problem of this study is therefore preconceived in the foregoing. Based on this background the researcher wants to investigate the impact of gender imbalance on socioeconomic development in Nigeria Buhari’s administration

1.3 Objective of the study

The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of gender imbalance on socioeconomic development in Nigeria Buhari’s administration. The specific objectives are;

1. To ascertain the impact of gender imbalance on education
2. To ascertain the impact of gender imbalance on occupation
3. To ascertain the  impact of gender imbalance on business

1.5 Research Question

The following research questions are formulated;

1. What is the impact of gender imbalance on education?
2. What is the impact of gender imbalance on occupation?
3. What is the impact of gender imbalance on business?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following null research hypotheses are formulated to guide the study;

H1: There is no significant impact of gender imbalance on education

H2: There is no significant impact of gender imbalance on occupation

H3: There is no significant impact of gender imbalance on business

1.6 Significance of the study

The study will give a clear insight on the impact of gender imbalance on socioeconomic development in Buhari’s administration. The study will be beneficial to students, lecturers, federal government of Nigeria and the policy makers. The study will educate the general public on the advantage and disadvantage of gender imbalance in the present administration. The study will also serve as a reference to other researchers that will embark on the related topic

1.7 Scope of the study

The scope of the study covers impact of gender imbalance on socioeconomic development in Buhari’s administration. The study will be limited to selected residents in Maitama, Abuja

1.8 Limitation of the study

Limitations/constraints are inevitable in carrying out a research work of this nature. However, in the course of this research, the following constraints were encountered thus:

1. Non-availability of enough resources (finance): A work of this nature is very tasking financially, money had to be spent at various stages of the research such resources which may aid proper carrying out of the study were not adequately available.

Time factor: The time used in carrying out the research work is relatively not enough to bring the best information out of it. However, I hope that the little that is contained in this study will go a long way in solving many greater problems.

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