CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Historically, inequality exists between men and women. Women have been either historically denied access to or granted unequal access to economic opportunities, power, status and privileges in society. Women experience unequal access to resources and decision making processes, with limited mobility in most countries. Women are under-represented in almost every sphere of social life such as politics, commerce, agriculture, industry, the military, religious and educational institutions. They were not granted equal voting rights, until recently when there s global recognition, and concern about gender discrimination (Amadi, 1982:71, Alemika & Agugua; 2001).
In Nigeria, in spite of the several women’s rights outlined in the 1999 constitution, many women do not enjoy the same freedom as men, particularly in the fields of education, economic empowerment and political participation. There exist a wide range of inequality between men and women in attaining certain positions in Nigeria. The discrimination against women has permeated through the Civil Service and Military ranks where critical appointments are being reserved for only men with women neglected to the background (Alemika & Agugua, 2001).
On a global level, Britain perhaps because of its institution of Monarchy produced Margret Thatcher as her Prime Minister in the 1980s. Otherwise with the exception of Germany no large democracy in Europe has given women the opportunity to lead their country. Ironically, it is the so-called developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Middle East (India, Philippines and Israel etc) that have produced women Heads of State, through election.
The recognition of historical and global discrimination against women prompted the United Nations Organization (UNO) to declare 1975-1985 as “Decade for Women”. This declaration was to raise global awareness on status of women and to mobilize the world community to eliminate discrimination against women so that women may attain equal economic, social, political and legal status with their male counterparts. In 1992, the United Nations Organization produced the convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which adopted General Recommendation 19, which includes violence in the prohibition of gender based discrimination: violence that is directed at a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately (is discrimination). “It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty”. Violence against women is an internationally recognized human rights violation when either a public official or private person commits the violence.
Countries participating in the CEDAW must take all the necessary measures to eliminate gender discrimination including legal sanctions, civil remedies, and preventive measures (such as public information and education campaigns and protective measures such as support services for victims). Further, the fourth World Conference on women held in Beijing, China in September 1995 adopted a platform for Action (PPA) for implementation by member countries. The platform document addressed several issues including discriminatory practices that marginalize women from vital opportunities in society (Alemika & Ogugua, 2001:2).
Also the European Union adopted a political will to protect and promote women’s rights as evident in the guidelines agreed in 2008, addressing discrimination as well as violence against women. The guidelines on violence against women and girls, and combating all forms of discrimination against them, promote gender equality put in place effective, coordinated strategies and address the impunity of those who have perpetrated gender discrimination. The document also prioritizes women’s rights within the EU Human rights policy towards Third World countries, and sets out a strategy for dealing with individual cases of human rights violations (Alemika & Ogugua, 2001:2).
Many writers on feminism use it both as a concept and as a theory. As a concept feminism is a process of reducing gender discrimination, ensuring that women have rights and lifting them out of poverty by getting out of the cycle of early marriage and childbirth and empowering them to be full members of society. It is a process of socio-economic change which include: the changing roles of men and women in the society, change in various components of women’s life including reproduction; allowing women control over pregnancy, reducing motherhood and infant mortality, keeping girls in school for longer period and to make sure that well-paid jobs are available for them when they finish education. The feminist is a group of progressives that provide leadership for the struggle for the attainment of gender equality, economic security, religious tolerance and political freedom, (Banks, 1986). As an approach feminism was developed in 19th and 20th centuries in the years 1960 – 1980 with the aim of overturning gender discrimination and violence against women. It first appeared in France in1864,, Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in 1890s and United States in 1904 (Evans, 1981).
The Feminist theory is one of the major contemporary sociological theories which analyses the status of women and men in the society with the purpose of using that knowledge to better women’s lives (Mason, 1968). It is an approach to gender equality like education, economic opportunity along with women’s rights and equal access to resources and decision making processes. The feminist framework is mostly concerned with giving a voice to women and highlighting the various ways women have contributed to the general development of the society. The argument of feminist theory is that gender discrimination makes woman disillusioned and unable to develop their potentials (Eisenstein, 1991).
Following the declaration of 1975 as the International Women’s Year by the United Nations, the attention accorded to gender issues has been on the increase. This concern climaxed with the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 held in Beijing, China, with the theme “Equality, Development and Peace”, the aim of which was to review and appraise the achievements of the UN Decade for Women from 1975 to 1985 (Akinboye, 2004). The increasing attempt to mainstream gender issues not only into academic discourses, but also advocacy and public policy domains is understandable. For one, women constitute half of the world’s population and have contributed to human development. Their contributions manifest in five key roles, namely, mother, producer, home manager, community organiser and social, cultural and political activists (Anifowose, 2004; Oyekanmi, 2004; Dauda, 2004). By so being, women have been generally seen as positive agents of social change (Olurode, 1990). However, despite the centrality of women to development, given their demographic strength and roles, they are today, as ever, still being treated as the “weaker” sex.
The feminist movements, drawn from across academia, civil society/nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and public policy decision making domains, feed on this discrepancy. The thrust of their talk/advocacy is that there is an unwarranted discrimination in the locations of men and women in the state and society in every facet of life. They place particular emphasis on the oppression and marginalisation of women at all levels, politically, economically, and socio-culturally. Recent studies explore the issues of the feminization of poverty and domestic violence against women (Davies, 1994; Wallace, 1996; World Health Organisation, 1996; Moore, 1979; Therborn, 2004). The rising magnitude of domestic violence against women, or what Tenuche (2003) referred to as “the burden of marital vows”, with its attendant negative implications for the reproductive capacity and mental health of women, among others, represents a crucial dimension of the feminization of violence (Taylor & Stewart, 1991; Tenuche, 2003). These developments have been imputed largely to the door steps of certain cultural practices that relegate women to the background and the low responsiveness of government to these issues.
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 aim of this article is to understand the theory of inequality, the relationship with economic growth synthesis of the various indicators used to measure inequality.
Some four decades ago, the prolific scholar of African history, consummate journalist and current affairs commentator, Basil Davidson, asked the intriguing question, Can Africa survive? It was the title of his contentious book with the sub-title, Arguments against growth without development. 1 Today, the question and the sub-title are still relevant and topical. But the thrust of the contemporary discourse is not whether Africa can survive, that has never been an issue, for Africa can and will survive, as Basil Davidson himself unequivocally admitted. The pertinent question is: What are the prospects for growth and development in Africa in this century? It is the issue of growth and development that has now engaged the attention of the community of leading lights in the academic and policy-making circles.
Over the years, the concept of development has undergone several transformations from its simple definition in the early 1960s to its present broader, all-inclusive, comprehensive meaning involving all aspects of human preoccupation capable of or requiring improvement and transformation. Development was first conceived as the process of emerging from the state of underdevelopment to one of development as typified by the states of Europe and North America. Later, the concept of development was considered from the comparative point of view as between the developed, industrialized societies, with their moral and material superiority, as against the backward and ‘underdeveloped’ societies mainly found in essentially non-Western societies of Asia and Africa. It has also been posited by the dependency theorists that the syndrome of growth without development persists when feudal interaction structures, consisting of asymmetrical relations of highly unequal exchanges and differential beneficial spin-offs dating back to the colonial era, exist in commodity and trade concentration which ties African states (periphery/satellite) in relations of dependence to the developed former colonial centres (metropolis) in particular and the world capitalist system in general. The upshot of this relationship is that the periphery, producers and exporters of primary goods and consumers of manufactured goods from the metropolis, will continue to wallow in underdevelopment, while the metropolitan countries will continue to reap the benefits and enhance their development.
Today, with the emphasis on market value and correct pricing, the consensus of opinion is that development is “a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development and institutional change, are all in harmony, and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.” In its more comprehensive and explicit definition, it is seen as combining “sustainable growth, poverty reduction, human development, environmental protection, institutional transformation, gender equity, and human rights protection.” There is now a decided emphasis on antipoverty strategies fashioned to empower the poor. The post-colonial discourse on development, especially in the Third World countries, has been essentially a story of backwardness, poverty, disease, declining quality of education, political instability, ethnic conflicts, civil wars, insecurity of lives and property, debt crises, environmental degradation, HIV/AIDS pandemic, human rights abuse, infrastructural deficit, social disintegration, corruption, burgeoning terrorist incidents, failed states, sittight syndrome, ineffective and uninspiring leadership, neo-colonialism, marginalization and exploitation. Africa has for long been a victim of all these and more.
To fully understand and appreciate the contemporary predicament of African development, the prevailing global ethos of globalization must be examined from the African perspective in a world of competing national interests defined in political, economic and strategic terms. The result of the competition has produced a troubled international environment engaged in the scramble for global resources, making the world more and more unstable, insecure and inequitable. Globalization can be simply defined as the global structure and processes which increase and deepen interconnectedness, interdependence, and active interaction among global actors at virtually every level of their engagement. The impact, as can be deduced from what it encompasses, is not just economic, it implicates politics, governance, environment, technology, culture, information; it permeates virtually every facet of international contacts, but perhaps more profoundly the economic sphere where the capacity for trade and investment constitutes the sinews of economic growth and development, and therefore the well-being of nations. The open secret therefore is that to reap maximally the benefits of contemporary globalized economic order, it is imperative that a country possesses the institutional capacity in the areas of trade and investment, and technological and financial innovations that can accommodate and appropriate the dynamic opportunities and challenges of the globalized market. In this respect, Africa’s capacity has been greatly vitiated by her history of dependency, backwardness, technological unpreparedness or inadequacies, weak financial and investment portfolio, neo-colonial arrangements, and general lack of or low savvy in global enterprise. As a result, African countries face an arduous task competing with the more advanced industrialized economies of the North and even the emerging Asian global actors.
Admittedly, globalization carries with it certain advantages for the developing economies; for example, it has opened up wider markets and made cheaper sources of finance accessible; it has put in the global pool new products, new technologies and new ideas; it has created a higher degree of specialization, efficiency, and better quality products; it has caused greater competitiveness and increased productivity. It has, nevertheless, contributed to the widening of the gap between the industrialized countries of the North and the developing countries of the South. Thus, while the countries of the North with greater economic capacity reap the benefits of globalization, the poor countries of the South, the Third World, especially in Africa with low trade and investment portfolios, stand at the marginal end. Consequently, the gap between the rich and the poor people and between the rich and the poor nations continues to widen.
The developing countries are prone to catching cold when the developed countries sneeze because of the interlocking global financial flows, weak opportunities for trade and investment and declining economic competence which are crucial for wealth creation and development. In its operation, globalization calls for a diminished role of the state in the economy and increased private participation, good governance, democracy, and respect for human rights. It calls for downsizing of the public service, and puts a noose on public finances; and privatization of public companies, deregulation of social welfare services, and introduction of austerity measures to curtail government spending. These are key aspects of the new economic order promoted by globalization. The impact of this policy of less government on the society would include higher unemployment as a result of the required retrenchment in the public service; reduction in social welfare programmes; inevitable increase in the cost of public utilities; and decline in the standard of living generally and pauperization of the masses.
Another dimension of the African predicament is the heavy external debt burden which has put a damper on development processes in many countries. Indeed, Africa is the “most externally indebted and aiddependent continent.” For example, twenty-eight of the thirty-four countries classified in 2000 as chronically indebted by the World Bank were in Africa. This, again, is a consequence of a combination of developments relating to the nature and operation of the international markets: skewed balance of trade, unequal exchange, collapse of commodity exports, fall in the demand for primary products, marginalization and decidedly neocolonial relationship with the leading trading partners and the global financial and development organizations, brazen corruption, poor leadership, and gross economic indiscipline of the African ruling elite. The imposition of oppressive reform and debt-servicing policies of the World Bank, the IMF and WTO made matters worse for the development aspirations of the developing countries. The politics and diplomacy of the African development environment in international politics is complex; only a determined, altruistic, focussed, nationalistic and purpose-driven national commitment can pull a nation out of its vortex. The Asian development miracles can attest to this.
Over the years, global institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization have, at different junctures, decreed policy interventions such as the Import Substitution Industrialization Programme, Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and the Trade Liberalization policy, ostensibly meant to reform and restructure the economy and, by so doing, arrest the declining development efforts in Africa. It is patently clear that SAP, for example, yielded no good fruit considering the deleterious impact on the populace. It caused devaluation of the national currency and brought untold social and economic hardship and pain to many in those countries where it was implemented. Indeed, globalization and the world financial institutions which serve to police its implementation have come under close scrutiny and heavy criticism. According to Sam Aluko, a leading Nigerian economist, globalization has increased the competence gap and reduced the “propensity to perform and innovate on the part of the African stragglers.” Furthermore, “the continent continues to be marginalized or peripheralized as it continues to succumb to the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank, which are controlled and manipulated from the Triad axes,” thereby turning the African countries into “mere appendages and outposts of the more developed economies” of the Euro-American-Asian axes.5 In a similar vein, Bade Onimode believes that “globalization, liberalization and deregulation under the banners of SAP and WTO, are unrelenting in their pursuit of unequal exchange, debt peonage and the thwarting of development in African countries.” The challenge before Africa in this century, as he perceives it, therefore is “how to curtail unequal exchange and its debilitating effects, restore development to the top priority of public policy and regain regional autonomy or control over recovery and development policies.” The extent of the infringement on the sovereign rights of the receiving developing countries is another issue entirely in the litany of adverse effects of globalization. More recently, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in a lecture titled “Neither the Washington nor Beijing Consensus: Developmental Models that fit African Realities and Cultures” at The Royal School of Medicine, London, contended that the defective economic ideologies prescribed by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization contributed to the “development gaps in African economies” in that in spite of the faithful implementation of the policies they prescribed, Africa’s share in the global trade remained unimpressive for years.
He stressed that the neo-liberal ideology of the three international financial and development institutions is reflected in the policies of the Bretton Woods institutions which are encapsulated in the ‘Washington Consensus.’ Sanusi averred that the Washington Consensus has attracted severe criticism because the developing countries that had adopted its doctrine, especially in Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet countries, showed that “it had failed to deliver sustained growth as promised by its promoters.” He concluded that the fact that China’s spectacular growth has been achieved outside the framework of the Washington Consensus has raised “further doubt on the unassailability of its capabilities.” He therefore called for a paradigm shift advocating a timely “radical refocusing on development strategies for African countries to be relevant in the global economy.
In this study, the philosophy of gender discrimination and the question of development in Africa it is important to understand the disparity between women and men is a global phenomenon that needs to be addressed with a high sense of belonging. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been focusing on achieving goals that can enhance human development and it is against this background that annual index is developed. The recent 2015 Human Development Report showcases the gender imbalance in work with men dominating the world’s JGD Vol. 13. Issue 1, January 2017 65-82 63 JGD Vol. 13. Issue 1, January 2017 65-82 paid work and women prevail in the world’s unpaid work (Selim, 2015). However, the vulnerability of gender discrimination is rampant in the Asian and African continents which invariably Nigeria belong to. Although gender inequality is a global issue that affects countries of different continents, it is highly pronounced in Asia and Africa. Despite the fact that average population of Nigeria and other African countries is made up of female, the rate of gender inequality is pronounced in their societies. For instance, the political atmosphere in Malaysia places women representation in the parliament and state assembly to eleven percent (Lynda, 2013), while Nigeria’s 2015 election witnessed less than thirty percent women membership in the elective positions (Akpan, 2015).The disparity however cuts across the major facets of human endeavours. The Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women (CEDAW) by both countries among others is yet to enjoy full manifestation. Though socio-cultural, values, norms and religious are believed to be hindrances in fulfilling CEDAW declaration (Equal Rights Trust, 2012), other factors could have resulted to gender disparity in the two countries. Based on this, it becomes imperative in this paper to explore gender inequality and challenges of human development in the two nations.
Given this, comparing gender inequality in Africa continent vis a vis African development is justified. Also, the similarities and differences between countries would be analysed extensively in due course.
Gender inequality in our society today, is among the most prevalent forms of social inequality which exists all over the world, with different effects in different regions. These differences are primarily due to cultural legacies, historical development, geographical location and religious norms which pre-dominate the society. Religion plays a vital role in the cultural life of different spaces. It is deeply rooted in peoples’ experiences and influences the socio-economic and political direction of the society. The status of women in the society is an outcome of the interpretation of religious text and the cultural and the institutional set-up of religious communities. The role of religion is obviously complex and it varies across time and space. However it is pertinent for societal development that gender equality and the emancipation of women should be considered as important factors for the economic, social and democratic progress of Nigerian women.
This process can be influenced by institutional norms, as well as culture and tradition, which are both determined by religion. As the relationship between religion and society is reciprocal, religious system in Nigeria are expected to advocate for women liberation and freedom. It is apparently, that the status of the study of women in religion also reflects the status of women in the society as a whole, while considering this fact; this study will x-ray the social status of women in Nigeria, feminism and women development, gender inequality in Nigeria under socio impacts and the under development of women. It went further to view the committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and how religion is remedying the situation.
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Gender imbalance and discrimination permeates every facet of Nigerian society and Africa at large. It comes in several forms and seen in every facet of societal socio-economic development. For instance at work places, Gender discrimination turns the employees emotionally brittle, simple peace loving employees transform into paranoid and suspicious, fearful and angry individuals with this such an organisation can’t achieve its set goals and objectives and as of course will affect the country at large. The elimination of Gender Discrimination is crucial for the satisfaction, motivation, commitment, enthusiasm and less stress of the employees.
In Africa as a whole, gender discrimination has caused backwardness in the growth and development of the continent. It is seen in all sectors of the continents that a particular gender(female) are not given equal opportunity to Participate in formulating policies that will improve or impact in the growth and development of Africa.
In view of this, the study will give a critical analysis on the philosophy of gender discrimination and the question of development in Africa as a further research as many researchers only based their research on the philosophy of gender discrimination leaving out how gender discrimination can lead to the question of development in Africa.
- AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim and objective of this research is philosophy of gender discrimination and the question of development in Africa. Other objectives of this study include:
1. to determine the relationship between gender discrimination and the question of development in Africa.
2. to examine the effects of gender discrimination on National Developoment.
3. to examine gender discrimination and economic growth of Africa.
4. to identify ways of eliminating gender discrimination.
- RESEARCH QUESTION
1. What is the relationship between gender discrimination and the question of development in Africa?
2. What are the effects of gender discrimination on National Development?
3. What effects has gender discrimination on the economic growth of Africa?
4. What are the ways of eliminating gender discrimination?
- STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1. H0: philosophy of gender discrimination has no significant on the question of development of Africa.
2. H1: philosophy of gender discrimination has significant on the question of development of Africa.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study will give a clear comprehension of what gender discrimination is to all and sundry. It will enlighten the gender that feels discriminated on their rights and privileges and also pave way for them to participate in the day to day running of the Nations affair as well as formulate effective and constructive policies to the growth and development of the Nation and Africa continent at large.
Secondly, Africa will understand the impacts women can make if given the chance to participate in all facet of the continents socio-economic growth and development if inculcated.
The development of Africa is not gender based as believed by many. All gender has equal rights to make their contributions in every matter as concerns the Nation and Africa as a continent. This study will proof that.
Furthermore, the study will serve as enlightenment to all in the society and Africa that every man and woman has equal rights and should be treated as such and accorded all due respect.
Moreso, this study will expose the philosophy of gender discrimination and rise to the question of development in Africa.
Lastly, it will serve as a research tool to be used by researchers for further study and research on the topic.
- SCOPE OF STUDY
The study will cover philosophy of gender discrimination and the question of development of Africa.
- LIMITATION OF STUDY
1. Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
2. Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
- DEFINITION OF TERMS
Philosophy: the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.
Gender: either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.
Discrimination: the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.
Development: the process of developing or being developed. Development means “improvement in country's economic and social conditions”. More specially, it refers to improvements in way of managing an area's natural and human resources. In order to create wealth and improve people's lives.
Africa: The second-largest continent, connected to Asia by the Isthmus of Suez and lying between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
