FEMOCRACY AND THE QUEST FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA UNDER THE FOURTH REPUBLIC

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Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences
Volume IX, No IV Quarter IV 2018
ISSN: 2229 – 5313
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FEMOCRACY AND THE QUEST FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND
DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA UNDER THE FOURTH REPUBLIC
Harrison Adewale IDOWU
Postgraduate Student of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
Women involvement in governance- femocracy is rare in Nigeria and Africa in general.
However, a new trend has emerged in femocracy and it becomes pertinent to interrogate this
trend and its effect on the empowerment and development of women in Nigeria. Among
others, the paper therefore assesses the trends of femocracy in Nigeria; and examines the
role of femocracy in women empowerment and development in Nigeria under the Fourth
Republic. Scholarly efforts have been made to highlight the role of women in
politics/governance in Nigeria, however, it still remains to be unravelled the specific effect of
femocracy on the empowerment and development of women. Hence, the study. The paper
relied on secondary data. The paper finds that femocracy, although often politicised, has
contributed immensely to women empowerment and development in Nigeria. It therefore
recommends that femocracy be depoliticised in order to fully harness it for the betterment of
women.
Introduction
Given the prevalence of men in governance in Africa, the clamour for women’s participation
had emerged, and continues to persist. While democracy is government by the people
(irrespective of gender), femocracy is governance by women. However, there is a link
between the two, as Mama (1995) noted that women’s participation in governance determines
the level of democracy in a country. While the trend of women participation in governance
continue to grow in the rest of the globe, such as Croatia, Lithuania, and Malta, etc. (female
presidents); United Kingdom, Norway and Bangladesh etc. (female Prime Ministers); to
mention a few. The same cannot be said of Africa, where this occurrence is scanty, with only
Namibia having a sitting female Prime Minister. Women are rarely given a chance to
participate in governance in Africa. Given this trend therefore, African ladies have often
resorted to the office of the first lady (wife of the president or governor) to contribute their

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quota in governance. Agbalajobi (2010) has attributed the dominance of women by men in
governance in Africa, to factors such as cultural, religious and traditional practices.
Meanwhile, the equal representation of women and men in politics has been established as
strategies for development and poverty alleviation (Ntiwunka, 2013).
With respect to the phenomenon of first ladyship, Mama (1995) traced the historical
evolution and the level of prominence the practice has gotten over the years. According to
her, “The first lady phenomenon…has reached new levels of dominance… The first lady
syndrome was conspicuous in the early days of Kenya’s independence, and following Siyad
Barre’s seizure of power in Somalia. The wives of both Heads of State wielded a great deal of
public influence and amassed vast fortunes for themselves.” (Mama, 1999: 40-41). in Nigeria,
wife of presidents (first ladies) have therefore, capitalized on this privilege to be involved,
one way or the other, in governance during the periods their spouses are presidents. Their role
in such governance opportunities have often been directed towards the empowerment,
development and betterment of their women counterparts.
The concept of femocracy became established in the Nigerian social political structure in
1985, under the Ibrahim Babaginda’s military regime, when the office of the first lady
became exalted by Mariam Babaginda, the president’s wife. Using her privilege as the first
lady therefore, Mariam Babaginda launched the Better Life for Rural Women in 1986. The
programme was aimed at the empowerment, development and betterment of mostly rural
women, via education on hygiene and family planning; importance of good child care and
education of the child; business and Agricultural training, etc. (Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs, 2006; Online Nigeria, 2002). This was followed by the next first lady, Maryam
Abacha, who also launched the Family Support Programme (FSP), and the Family Economic
Advancement Programme (FEAP) with similar aims of her predecessor’s (Federal Ministry
of Women Affairs, 2006; Ajadi, Adebisi, & Alabi, 2010).
Although the idea behind femocracy had been for the betterment of women, it has been
criticized as a “feminine autocracy”, only “advancing the interest of small female elite”
(Mama, 1995: 41). nevertheless, given the various programmes that have been launched for
the betterment of women by various first ladies’ administration, it becomes pertinent to
interrogate how much femocracy has really better the lives of women in Nigeria’s Fourth
Republic. The remaining parts of the paper is structured as follows; the next section takes on

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a conceptual discourse, while the section that follows presents the theoretical underpinning of
the study. The next section undertakes the historical evolution of femocracy in Nigeria and
the following section presents the trends and patterns of femocracy in Nigeria. The last two
sections present the findings on the effect of femocracy on women empowerment and
development and the conclusion and recommendations respectively.
Conceptual Discourse
Femocracy simply refers to the participation of women in governance, especially for
advancing the course and interest of women. It is governance that does not exist for all, but
for the women. It is government of the women, by the women and for the women. Hence,
Mama’s (1995) assertion that femocracy is an anti-democratic female structure. This is
because, although it claims to be for the betterment of women, often times, it is unable to do
that because it is a governance made up of a small clique of women who derive their
authority from the status of their husbands being presidents or Heads of State. The concept
has thus come under stiff criticism of disguising to serve the interest of women, while most
times, actually advancing the interest of a few female elite (Mama, 1995: 41). Femocracy has
gained both local and international supports, and donations towards the betterment of women
for whom it exists. The concept can thus, simply be referred to as governance by first ladies
(wife of presidents).
According to the New International Webster Comprehensive Dictionary of English (2013:
477), the term first lady refers to “the wife of the president of the United States, or if he has
no wife, the lady chosen by him to be the hostess of the White House.” Even though this
definition is restricted to the United States, this description of the first lady also applies in
other countries of the globe. First lady refers to the wife of the President of a country, Head
of State, or the wife of a state governor. Hence, the President’s wife becomes the first lady of
the country, while the governor’s wife becomes the first lady of the state. Ajayi (2010: 19)
defines first lady as “the woman who is foremost in position, rank and importance among
other women. The person so designated has precedence over her female counterparts.” In
another development, first lady has been referred to as “the most important lady and
particularly the wife of a President or Head of State” (Simpons & Weiner, 1989: 959).

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Empowerment refers to the act of improving someone or something in terms of quality, worth
and value. The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary defines empowerment as an act “to
give somebody more control over their life or the situation they are in.” for Hashemi, Schuler
& Riley, 1996), empowerment refers to the creation of a social environment that gives room
for individual or collective decision making or choices, in order to achieve social
transformation. For them, it has to do with the acquisition of knowledge, power and
experience, to improve or strengthen inherent ability. As Batliwala (1994) posits,
empowerment has to do with the control over resources (which includes physical, human,
intellectual and financial), and also, control over ideology (which includes believes, values
and attitudes) without any form of restriction. Elsewhere, Rowlands (1997: 14-15) is of the
opinion that empowerment operates within three dimensions, viz: personal (the development
of self-confidence and capacity); rational (the development of negotiation and influential
abilities); and collective (the involvement in political structure).
Figure 1: Three Dimensions of Empowerment
Source: Rowland (1997: 14)

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Taking from the concept of empowerment, women empowerment/development refers to all
the strategies, process and plans put in place to improve women’s capacity and ability.
Women empowerment is “essentially the process of uplifting of economic, social and
political status of women, the traditionally underprivileged ones in the society.” (Dandona,
2015: 36). Women empowerment also means the development of women in terms of mental
and physical capacity, and the power and skills inherent in them, so as to give them greater
social freedom and social recognition, owing to their enhanced social status (Akomolafe,
2009, as cited in Onah, 2011: 132). The concept therefore, has to do generally with the
actions taken to improve on the social status of women.
Theorizing Femocracy and Women empowerment
In order to succinctly provide easy understanding of femocracy and women empowerment in
Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, the paper adopts the theory of Gender and Development (GAD)
and Kabeer’s (1999) women empowerment theory. Gender and Development approach
(GAD), which emerged in the late 1980s, deals with “social, economic, political and cultural
forces that determine how men and women participate in, benefit from, and control project
resources and activities differently” (Ntiwunka, 2013: 5). it focuses on socially determined
relations between men and women, and to ensure that decisions which has to do with
development, be an equal contribution from both men and women in the development process
(Williams, Seed & Mwau, 1994: 7). The approach encourages women’s participation on
equal basis with the men in all ramifications (Tasli, 2007). GAD therefore strays from the
Women in Development (WID) approach which focuses attention only on women in
development. The GAD approach is chosen for this paper because, while femocracy involves
women in governance, the concept cannot operate without the men,by virtue of whom the
women are first ladies, and can operate in that authority. In clear terms, the operation of
femocracy is a function of the male presidents/Heads of State in Nigeria. This theory will
therefore be useful to explain the place of women in enhancing development, especially of
women, which femocracy watches out for.
On the other hand, Kabeer (1999) propounded the theory of women empowerment. For him,
there are three basic dimensions of empowerment through which women empowerment
occurs. These include; resources (preconditions), agency (process) and achievements
(outcomes). with respect to resources, Kabeer averred that they are in theform of material,

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human and social forms, and they increase the ability to exercise choice and make decisions.
Agency could either be active or passive (Kabeer, 1999). Passive agency refers to a situation
where actions are taken with only few options available. On the other hand, active agency
refers to ‘purposeful behaviour’ (Kabee, 1999). The theory further differentiates between
effective agency and transformative agency. Accordingly, while effective agency provides
women with greater efficiency in carrying out their roles, transformative agency gives
women the ability and vigour to challenge the restrictive nature of their roles. Lastly,
achievements, also referred to as ‘outcomes’, depicts the extent to which one’s capabilities, in
terms of resources and agency, are realized (Kabeer, 2001; 2005).
Figure 2: Diagram Illustrating Kabeer’s Dimensions of Empowerment
Source: Culled from Kabeer (1999: 442-448)
Kabeer’s theory of women empowerment will also be useful in the study. It will help explain
the various dimensions of women empowerment/development in Nigeria,viathe
instrumentality of femocracy. This will help unravel the preconditions (resources), process
(agency) and the outcomes (achievements) of the various programmes/projects put in place
under the auspices of femocracy, towards the empowerment of women in Nigeria’s Fourth
Republic.
Historical Evolution of Femocracy in Nigeria
The office of the first lady in Nigeria came into prominence with the rise to power of
President Babaginda in 1985, when his wife, Mariam Babaginda created the office for herself
as the first lady, being the president’s wife. Previous wives of Heads of State before Mariam
Babaginda had existed merely as the wife of the Head of State and had not operated in any

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capacity or office (Mama, 1995; Iheanacho, 2016). Although, the position of the first lady has
grown with much popularity and continue to gain prominence over the years, the office is not
recognized by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For as argued by
Iheanacho (2016: 135), and rightly so, the office of the first lady in Nigeria, as it were, “lacks
constitutional backing Act of National Assembly or Decree. What obtains is welfare services
to the first lady through the executive arm of government at the federal or state levels.”
Fatima Abubakar, wife of President Abdulsalami Abubakar, had also reaffirmed the
unconstitutionality of the office of the first lady in Nigeria (Abiyamo, 2013).
The passiveness of the office of the first lady was turned around by Mariam Babaginda, wife
of President Ibrahim Babaginda. This, she majorly achieved via the launch of the Better Life
Programme for Rural Women (BLPRW) on 13-16, September 1987. The programme
involved a lots of pet projects across the country and gave prominence to the office of the
first lady, and also became recognized as a crucial contributor to the country’s political
economy (Iheanacho, 2016). The BLPRW was targeted at the transformation, empowerment
and development of the vulnerable women in the country, especially those in the rural areas.
By November 19993, when the administration of President Babaginda came to an end, the
BLPRW had succeeded in establishing 9,492 Co-operative Societies for women to have
access to finance, and sundry resources; 1,435 cottage industries; 1,784 farms and gardens;
495 shops and markets; 1,094 multipurpose women centres for skills acquisition; and 135 fish
and livestock farms (Iheanacho, 2016: 138, 140). given this development, with each president
who comes to office, the number of first ladies in Nigeria’s history has continue to
risetremendously, and the office has become even more popular and officially recognized in
the structure of political leadership in the country.
Following the foregoing, and Mariam Babaginda’s strides with the BLPRW of 1985-1993,
the Crusade of Family Support Programme (FSP), and later Family Advancement and
Empowerment Programme (FAEP) of 1993-1998 was launched Maryam Abacha. Also, Fatai
Abubakar set up the Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) of
1998-1999; Stella Obasanjo’s Child Care Trust (CCT) of 1999-2007; Turai Yar’Adua’s
Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF) of 2007-2010. Furthermore, was
the Dame Patience Jonathan’s Women for Change Initiative (WCI) of 2010-2015 (Iheanacho,
2016: 140); and currently, the Aisha Buhari’s Future Assured of 2015 to date. The next

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section takes an analysis of these various elements of femocracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
and how they have contributed or otherwise to women’s empowerment, development and
empowerment.
Trends and Patterns of Femocracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
The section presents the various patterns which femocracy has taken in Nigeria’s Fourth
Republic since 1999 in the forms of pet projects put in place by various first ladies for the
empowerment/development of women. Femocracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic started with
Stella Obasanjo’s Child Care Trust (CCT) of 1999-2007; followed by Turai Yar’Adua’s
Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF) of 2007-2010; Dame Patience
Jonathan’s Women for Change Initiative (WCI) of 2010-2015; and Aisha Buhari’s Future
Assured of 2015-date. The table below presents the trends of femocracy in Nigeria’s Fourth
Republic.
Table 1: Trends of Femocracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
S/N
First Lady Programme Year
1. Mrs. Stella Obasanjo Child Care Trust (CCT) 1999-2007
2. Hajia Turai Musa Yar’Adua Women and Youth Empowerment
Foundation (WAYEF)
2007-2010
3. Dame Patience Jonathan Women for Change Initiative (WCI) 2010-2015
4. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari Future Assured 2015-date
Source: Iheanacho (2016: 138); and updated by the Author
Child Care Trust (CCT) (1999-2007)
The Child Care Trust was initiated and launched by Stella Obasanjo, wife of President
Olusegun Obasanjo and first lady of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. the pet project was targeted
at children, especially the less privileged and disabled, and orphans (Ntieunka, 2013;
Iheanacho, 2016). On assumption of office as the first lady of the country in May 1999, Stella

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Obasanjo established the CCT in November 1999. According to Punch report of January 15,
2001, the programme was established to tackle the problems of poverty, unemployment,
nutrition, health and education, mostly as they affect children who are the only hope of
women. The programme witnessed some giant strides through the provision of succor to
many disadvantaged children, by offering then scholarships, medical services and
accommodation (Arum, 2010: 276-277). The pet project of Stella Obasanjo later
metamorphosed into the Special for Children with Special Needs, Abuja (Iheanacho, 2016),
and the Stella Obasanjo Hospital in Benin City.
Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF) (2007-2010)
On assumption to office as the first lady of Nigeria in 2007, Turai Yar’Adua initiated several
programmes mostly directed at women empowerment and betterment. Prominent among
these programmes was her pet project; the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation
(WAYEF). The project had the primary objective to enhance and promote the living
conditions of Nigerian women and children (Vanguard 17th, February, 2009). Iheanacho
(2016: 141-142) posits that the WAYEF made impacts in at least five different aspects of
need and services to the vulnerable. Viz: provision of eye services for cataract and child
blindness; health improvement for maternal and new born; screening programme for breast
and cervical cancer; HIV/AIDS and STD intervention programmes; and diabetes awareness
and education programmes. The project also saw the refurbishment of the Suleja Prison
Workshop and equipped it with tools to empower inmates for self-reliance and economic
viability after serving their jail terms (Iheanacho, 2016). the effectiveness and prominence of
the WAYEF pet project had earned the first lady, Turai Yar’Adua an honourary award of
National Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH).
Furthermore, in order to improve the welfare of the less privileged and disadvantaged,
especially with respect to the health of women, the first lady signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston Texas (Daily Triumph, August
28th, 2008, as cited in Arum, 2010: 277). The Centre helped women suffering from cancer.
Also, through Turai Yar’Adua’s efforts, Arum (2010) averred that the Federal Government
developed an Integrated Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (IMNCH). This was directed
towards women and new born babies.

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Women for Change Initiative (WCI) (2010-2015)
When she came into office in 2015, the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience
Jonathan initiated the Women for Change Initiative. Like its predecessors, the programme
was primarily targeted at women’s empowerment/development. The project empowered
women mostly through the distribution of items such as sewing machines, cash, outboard
marine engine boats, hair dressing and catering equipment, barbing kits, computers, grinding
machines and motorcycles (Iheanacho, 2016). The programme functioned in collaboration
with and supported by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on MDG. The
programme also strived to push for the repositioning of Nigerian women and lift them from
the low esteem of low level of political involvement and representation, to increased level of
participation and representation. This feat recorded significant achievement.
Future Assured (2015-Date)
Following the trend of her predecessors, Aisha Buhari, on assumption of office as the first
lady in 2015, when her husband, Muhammadu Buhari became the president of Nigeria, also
launched the Future Assured pet project for women empowerment/development. The project
is a social investment project, aimed at ameliorating poverty particularly among youths and
women in the country. According to Aisha Buhari, the Future Assured programme is out to
address five major goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include;
poverty, no hunger, gender equality, good jobs and economic growth (Aisha Buhari, as cited
in Vanguard, November 24th, 2016). The project has seen the training of over 2,200 women
on skill acquisition in Lagos State. The various trainings include cosmetology, beads
stringing, interior decoration, event management, gele tying, and make up, shoe and bag
production. This was also followed by the distribution of 5000 maternity kits to expectant
mother, with basic needs for women at child birth and the immediate needs of a new born
baby Future Assured, 2018).
Findings and Discussion: Effect of Femocracy on Women Empowerment and
Development in Nigeria
As earlier established in a previous section of the paper, femocracy exists specifically for the
empowerment, development and betterment of women. Although femocracy has come under

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criticism of not been able to fulfil this primary aim, on the grounds that it has largely been
hijacked by a small clique of women, who advance the interest of a few female elite, rather
than the majority of women (Mama, 1995), it has however contributed some positives, one
way or the other, towards the empowerment of women in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. As has
been revealed in the paper, the various pet projects put in place by the various first ladies
have contributed in no small measure to the empowerment of women. The practice of
femocracy in Nigeria, has seen to the establishment of two micro-credit schemes to assist
women. These include the Women Fund for Economic Empowerment (WOFEE), and the
Business Development Fund for Women (BUDFOW) (Idike, 2014: 160), with the primary
motive of assisting women with facilities with an interest rate of 10 percent. The activities of
femocracy has also led to the construction and equipment of 77 kills acquisition centres
across the country, in order to increase income generation, through job creation for women,
especially those at the grassroots (Idike, 2014: 60).
With respect to empowering women for political representation and participation in
governance, femocracy has made significant impacts, especially under the first ladyship of
Dame Patience Jonathan. This had seen the increase in women’s representation in
government from 10 percent in 2011 to over 33 percent in 2013; with 13 female ministers out
of 42, representing 31 percent, and 4 female Special Advisers out of 18, representing 23
percent (Calebs, 2014). The activities of femocracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic have seen
the drastic upscaling of the number of women representation in government. Some of which
include: the appointment of a female Chief Justice of Nigeria since independence; the
appointment of a female Petroleum Minister in the country’s political history, to mention but
few (Ajah, 2014).
From the foregoing, some of the contribution of femocracy towards the empowerment and
development of women are identified below:
1. The training of women in skills to become self-reliant;
2. Provision of health care facilities to address basic health problems confronting women;
3. Provision of physical, mental and educational care for vulnerable children who are the only
hope of the woman;
4. Distribution of items to women to meet their basic needs;

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5. Provision of low interest rate credit and loan facilities to women to grow their
medium/small scale businesses;
6. Fighting for the voiceless women in the society; and
7. Increase in political representation and participation of women
Conclusion and Recommendations
From the revelations made in the paper, there is therefore no gainsaying whatsoever, that
femocracy plays tangible and very colossal role in the empowerment, development and
betterment of women. Since the inception of the concept in Nigeria in 1985 by the Mariam
Babaginda’s first ladyship, femocracy has, through various pet programmes put in place by
the various first ladies, empowered mostly women across the country. However, it is
pertinent to note that as Mama (1995) has rightly observed, femocracy has been hijacked for
the benefit of a few in Nigeria. Femocracy is still largely politicized, and used mostly for
electioneering campaigns, rather than for genuine empowerment, development and
betterment of women. There is therefore the need to completely depoliticize the practice of
femocracy in Nigeria to enhance better women empowerment in the country. Although
politicized, femocracy, to a large extent, still contribute immensely to women empowerment
and development. Femocracy will therefore achieve greater heights and reach out to larger
population of women in the country when it is taken out of the realms of politics and given
more Federal Government, NGOs and international support.
From the findings of the paper, the following recommendations are made:
- there is the need for politicians and their spouses to completely depoliticize femocracy
in Nigeria to better empower and develop women;
- both the Legislative and executive arms of government should work towards the
constitutionalizing femocracy to better empower the concept for enhanced
performance and operations;
- the concept of femocracy must be expanded by the law legitimizing it, to include
more women, rather than just a clique of women; and
- Nigerian first ladies, even though the office is not yet given a constitutional backing,
must however, make more frantic and sincere efforts to use their privileges and
opportunities to better the lives of their fellow women.

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