Women don’t need a ministry named after them. They need a country that works, where they die less at childbirth and their babies live well beyond their fifth birthdays.
By Ogochukwu Ikeje
It is hard to justify the creation of the Ministry of Women Affairs. Never mind the nice turn of phrase in their documents, which claim to “promote the development of women with equal rights and corresponding responsibilities,” and “stimulate action to promote civil, political, social, and economic participation of women…” Nonsense.
Since its creation in 1999 with Aisha Ismail as its first minister, how much has it bridged the gender inequality gap? And how has it, in concrete terms, “stimulated action to promote civil, political, social, and economic participation of women?
To the men, who created the ministry, women are still essentially meant for the bed, to churn out babies and get the kitchen chemistry right. Beyond this, and some sweaty backbreaking activities, there is pretty little sweetness in their lives compared to the men’s. Out of 20 people in executive positions, for instance, 19 are men, according to a report, and you will find at least two women living below the poverty line before you find one man there.
In many parts of Nigeria, the woman is kept out of the decision-making process of how many kids she will bear. The man just keeps firing. On the political stage, the woman is intimidated and bullied off her dreams. If she hangs in long enough she might get a consolatory appointment into, say, the women’s ministry or poverty alleviation, and the like. In parts of the country, women can’t inherit property, while the widows are made to endure some unimaginable cultural practices. A 2022 report ranked Nigeria 181 in gender equality out of 193 countries surveyed.
The Child Rights Act, adopted in 2003, falls directly under the women’s ministry, proclaiming the child’s entitlement to protection, survival, family life, dignity, recreation, health services and education. But it took years to pass at the National Assembly, and 13 more for only 24 states to make it law in their domain. Eleven states, Kebbi, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Borno, and Adamawa, have not adopted the Act. Out of the 11 ministers the ministry has had, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye being the current one, six hail from these non-consenting states. The federal government has watched helplessly as these states refused to ratify the Act even though their daughters were in charge of the ministry. Pity. How irrelevant or counterproductive can a government and its agency be!
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Even in those states that have adopted the Act, implementation is low, a report said. Some 7.6 million girls are out of school, 3.9 at primary, and 3.7 at junior secondary levels. The problem is more prevalent in the northwest and northeast but it is by no means restricted to the two zones. Poverty, social and gender norms are to blame for some of these problems, but so are long distances which children have to trek to school. So too is insecurity as schools are attacked by terrorists, who abduct and kill schoolchildren.
One in 13 new babies dies before age one, while one in every eight children doesn’t make it to their fifth birthday, according to a UNICEF report. Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is also one of the highest in the world.
The reason for this is, again, the poverty of the people, inadequate health facilities, and an acute shortfall of medical personnel, worsened by medics on the japa train.
Where is government in all this?
Affirmative Action recommends that they reserve at least 35 percent cabinet positions for women. Former President Muhammadu Buhari shunned this recommendation. President Bola Tinubu also does not care about it. He has only about eight women in his cabinet.
This sums up how they view women’s welfare. They create a ministry for women but lack the heart to follow through and give women what they need. It seems obvious that women themselves do not care for the ministry. They crave better life, and hate being shoved aside. They want to be alive to have their babies and watch them grow. They want affordable schools and medical services. They want a better country, not a ministry in their name but doesn’t care about them.
