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Journal of Research
on Women and Gender
Volume 10, Pages 3-22
© Emmanuel Olorunfemi
Jaiyeola and
Aladegbola Isaac, 2020
Reprints and Permission:
Email jrwg14@txstate.edu
Texas Digital Library:
http://www.tdl.org
Abstract
The battle for women’s suffrage at English Parliament in 1866 marked the earliest recorded
legal battle for equality between men and women. Since then, the issue of gender equality
has grown to become a global concern. While it is generally agreed that human rights apply
to all human beings (men and women included), women’s fundamental rights and freedom
have been limited by patriarchal practices and traditions. The situation is worse in many
African societies where colonial legacies and patriarchal culture assign superior roles to men
and subordinate roles to women. In Nigeria, these practices have reduced the status of
women to be inferior to their male counterparts. This in turn makes it difficult for women to
fully participate in as many social, political, and economic activities as men do. Patriarchal
culture has brought tremendous setbacks for women in Nigeria, which is the focus of this
paper. In addition, stereotyping and stratification of jobs, skills, political offices and
businesses have become so deep-rooted in patriarchy because of the cultures and ideologies
of the society. This began with the traditional gender roles in the pre-colonial era and was
reinforced during the colonial era when women were forced out of commercial farming and
trading to do food-crop farming and petty trading, which both bring in less money.
Presently, this practice keeps women under glass ceilings and in low paying jobs, which
contributes largely to most Nigerian women being in poverty, experiencing poor health, and
suffering from various abuse due to the inequality of social status between genders.
Therefore, this paper critically discusses the historical perspective and analyzes how colonial
legacies and patriarchy are nurturing gender inequality in Nigeria using hegemonic and
Nigerian masculinity as the theoretical frame work of analysis.
Keywords
Patriarchy, gender inequality, Africa, colonialism
Patriarchy and
Colonization: The
"Brooder House" for
Gender Inequality in
Nigeria
Emmanuel Olorunfemi Jaiyeola and Aladegbola Isaac
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 4
Introduction
n its 2014 report, the World Bank
claimed that gender inequality gaps are
gradually closing globally. For example,
in Nigeria in 2006, the percentage of
women’s participation in national
economic activities such as government
and private employment and
entrepreneurship was 56%, but when
measured in 2014, that percentage had
grown to 60%. Also, in Cameroon, a
neighboring country to Nigeria, it was
recorded that in
1999 the elementary enrollment ratio was
85 girls to 100 boys, but in 2008 it had
moved to
91 girls to 100 boys (WEF, 2016). Despite
these noticeable improvements, there are
still many gaps left. In many parts of Africa,
women still suffer complications and death
from childbirth and other reproductive
health issues. The World Bank reported
that 1 out of every 31 women dies of
maternal issues in Africa compared to 1 out
of 4,300 in developed countries (World
Bank, 2015). Moreover, in secondary
education enrollment, girls still lag behind
boys. This is due to many factors, which
include traditional practices that prefer a
boy child above a girl child, early and forced
marriages for girls, and domestic and sexual
violence (Olawoye et al., 2004). For
instance, the abduction of over 250
Chibokk’s girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria
in 2014 was a clear indication of prejudice
against female children (Okebukola, 2014),
which consequently led to reduced
enrollment of girls in schools in Northern
Nigeria. Additionally, women and girls are
subjects of the social construction of
inferiority to boys and men (Nealon &
Giroux 2012; Leon-Guerrero, 2009) that
further places them in an unequal status
with men and boys. Patriarchy manifests in
every area possible, whether in
employment, or access to resources, or
domestic and corporate roles, constraining
both women and girls in a marginalized
lifestyle. Presently, women face challenges
of glass ceilings at workplaces, poor
political representation, no reproductive,
legal or inheritance rights, and limited
access to education (Olawoye, et al., 2004).
Reviewing relevant literatures on this
subject provides succinct background and
theories crucial for understanding the
patriarchal culture, its attendant relations to
colonialism and the concept of gender
inequality in Nigeria. Therefore, this paper
critically discusses gender relations in
Nigeria through the lens of hegemonic and
Nigerian masculinity and the historical
perspectives of the colonial activities;
although, the account does not depict the
chronological order of events, but it shows
the evolution of the present gender
position in Nigeria.
I
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 5
Theoretical Framework
and Contextual
Perspective of Gender
Relations in Africa
Hegemonic Masculinity, Nigerian
masculinity, Gender inequality
Masculinity is a set of attributes,
behaviors, traits and roles connected with
men and boys in varying contexts and
locations, which attests to their quality of
manliness. While these traits are socially
constructed, it also has some biological
and cultural factors (Voices 4Change,
2015). The expressions of these traits and
attributes are accompanied with
patriarchal power between men and
women (Connell, 2005). Nevertheless,
when these traits are passively expressed it
is referred to as subordinate masculinity,
which is devoid of power and does not
meet with social expectations of being the
ideal man (Gurfinkel, 2012).
However, hegemonic masculinity
refers to an ideal masculinity, a normative
masculine identity that all men are either
directly or indirectly taught by individuals
as well as socializing institutions — such
as the media or school, community, and
the cultural value expectations — to
adhere to; however, these traits of the
ideal man is actually never achieved
(Connell, 2005). Hegemonic masculinity
positions men as superior to women, not
allowing for any sort of weakness or
‘feminine’ emotions i.e. nurturing,
sadness, sensitivity, and
caringness/kindness (Uchendu, 2007).
There are central aspects of hegemonic
masculinity by which all males are
measured. However, it must be made clear
that the performance of masculinity
differs by race or class and time
(Gurfinkel, 2012; Omadjohwoefe, 2013).
This concept of hegemonic masculinity is
a model that expresses male dominant
roles over female. Fundamentally,
hegemonic masculinity is mostly attained
through institutions or inclusion into a set
of cultural practices, which exclude or
oppress females (Connell, 2005).
Since the performance of
masculinity differs by race, class and time,
it is certain that there will be a Nigerian
dominant masculinity performance based
on Nigerian culture, race and a particular
period different from any part in the
world. Thus, masculinity is dynamic.
Nigeria is diverse in religion, ethnic culture
and economic class, which may make it
difficult to specify the type of masculinity
in performance (Omadjohwoefe, 2013).
So, the type of masculinity adopted by the
Nigerian male is largely influenced by the
colonialization of more than 250 ethnic
groups by the colonizers with several
tribal affiliations, cultures and religions
(Aransi, 2013). The British colonizers
imposed a form of a dominant, masculine
culture on Nigerian men when they
removed women from public spaces and
denied them access to Western education;
this was later reinforced by patriarchal
culture and a neo-colonization agenda.
This masculine culture prevented the
women from having roles and positions in
society and could not work or earn money.
Women became dependent on men who
were referred to as bread winners.
However, Nigerian masculinity is largely
formed along the tribal origin, but there is
dominant masculinity traits common to
every man. Because there is an expected
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 6
code of masculine conduct reinforced by
the society that is operative virtually
everywhere, each father tries to instill this
code into his young son through
masculine clothing, hair style, types of job
and associations, traditional recreation
types and expected levels of violence that
support masculinity (Adu, 2013). Men feel
it is a form of femininity when others have
different attitudes toward established
masculine conduct. For example, it is
taught to a boy to begin to develop
qualities of a man through bravery, a job
through physical skills with less or no
display of emotion or military enrollment,
a good education, devotion to religion,
ability to control and be strong; these are
regarded as masculine role models
(Uchendu, 2007).
In addition, masculinity in Nigeria
varies slightly from culture to culture in
performance, but it is commonly expressed
at every interaction to limit the role of
women and their benefits during the
development process (Adu, 2013). It is
believed that women are to operate behind
the scenes — not seen in public spaces,
further making men act superior and
isolating women from active roles and
decisions. Men in Nigeria discriminate
against and dominate women because they
live with the neo-colonized masculine
ideologies of the colonizers, treating
women as inferior. Nigerian men enact this
dominant attitude to perpetuate inequality.
One of the resultant effects of this
inequality is a restricted access for women
from opportunities for self-development
and growth (UN Women, 2011), and
formidable barriers are produced that
hinder social, economic and political
development. Consequently, Nigerian
women and the country at large are led into
poverty (Metcalfe & Afanassieva, 2005).
Nigeria is ranked 152 in gender index by the
United Nations report, one of the poorest
nations but with huge resources because of
the high level of gender inequality (UNDP,
2016).
The crux of this discourse on
gender inequality is Nigerian masculinity
which came as a result of the dominant
culture of men. Women suffer beyond
exclusion, and they also bear the impact of
modern conflicts and civil wars which often
include rape, domestic violence,
subordination, trafficking, abductions and
kidnappings, forced marriage, forced labor,
and sexual violence (O’Connell, 2009).
While all these are global concerns and
need to be ultimately eliminated (Wotipka
& Ramirez, 2007), the United Nations
Millennium Development Declaration of
2000 was a timely response which placed
gender equality as a goal for all nations by
year 2015 and by extension to 2030 (UN,
2006; UN, 2015). However, much effort
and many resources have been placed into
this eradication process, which is
commendable, but the outcome has been
minimal due to many reasons. These
reasons include cultural context of gender
inequality, post-colonial legacies and
globalization building up into many cultural
barriers. Although gender inequality is a
global phenomenon (Leon-Guerrero,
2009), it has different meanings in many
regions since it is a social construct (Adu,
2013; Hadebe, 2009). Therefore, it will be
appropriate to contextually define gender
inequality using cultural interpretation and
the roles society assigns to women. Each
society acquires peculiar knowledge based
on the meaning constructed by their society
(Barker, 2012).
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 7
Contextual Perspective of
Gender Relations in
Nigeria
Gender inequality is the space and
role that society assigns for each gender and
their expected behaviors (O’Connor, 2016).
Therefore, the space and role that African
patriarchal culture has assigned for women
and girls in African society and the
expected behaviors are imposed on them
and reinforced in their subordinate
positions to men in an African context
(Adu, 2013; Fatile et al., 2017). The
assigned roles of women in Africa are
subordinate to the roles of men. For
instance, under the traditional patrilineal
system which has influenced present
society, women are not allowed to make
decisions at home because Africans mostly
live in homesteads under the authority of a
male family head who makes all decisions
(Adu, 2013). In an African homestead,
which usually comprises of several
households, each household is made up of
the husband, wife (or wives, as polygamy is
allowed in Africa) and children. Several
households constitute a lineage and several
joint lineages form a community, which
makes up a village or township; this is the
arrangement in the traditional social unit.
The community, or the village, is ruled by a
male chosen from a lineage and supported
by other elderly men from other lineages.
From this type of traditional setting,
women do not occupy leadership positions
in any level of the groups and are not given
any decision-making rights on matters
concerning the homestead, family, or the
community. Sometimes women
outnumber men in the community and
townships, but the men who are fewer in
number make decisions for women about
everything including how women should
live their lives (UNDP, 1999; African
Development Bank, 2010). This cultural
practice that bars women from decision
making at home and at the community level
also denies them a choice and voice in
national matters. Again, in Nigeria, women
do not have reproductive rights because it
is culturally acceptable for men to decide
the reproductive agenda of the family. The
man dictates how many children to have
and when to have them, without
considering the interests of the woman
(Olawoye et al., 2004). However, most
women have accepted that such decisions
are a man’s right, and they wait for that to
happen. Culturally, women are not allowed
to use contraceptives or other methods of
protection against sexual diseases caused by
multiple sexual partners in polygamous or
extramarital affairs. Furthermore, only men
can engage in this type of activity (Smith,
2007).
So, in general, gender refers to the
roles and behavior of men and women in
daily social, cultural, economic and political
relationships (Adu, 2013). Thus, gender in
an African context is socio-culturally
constructed, and it socially positions
biological females and males as women and
men, as feminine and masculine. Gender
issues are not just about women but are
everyday societal issues which affect both
men and women in their endeavors (WHO,
2010; Connell, 2005). Thus, gender
relations in African society have been
molded by a combination of common daily
factors which include customs, cultural
practices, education, social economic
status, traditional and modern laws,
patterns of social organization, infiltrations
of cultures and globalization.
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 8
Historical Background to Gender
Inequality in Nigeria
Nigeria is populated by over 250
ethnic groups with three dominant ethnic
groups and two dominant religions. The
dominant ethnic groups are the Hausas
who are the most populous, predominantly
Islamic by religion and occupy the
Northern region. Then, there are the Igbos
who occupy the Eastern region and the
Yorubas who occupy the Western region.
The Igbos and Yorubas are both mostly
Christian (Omadjohwoefe, 2013). The
coming together of these three dominant
ethnic groups and other minor ethnic
groups was a result of the 1914
amalgamation by the British colonial
imperialists for their administrative
convenience as the colonizer. These three
main ethnic groups had previously
constituted different kingdoms, caliphates,
empires, languages and cultures, with
different names. These factors have direct
influence on gender relation in the country.
Remarkably, the name Nigeria, which was
the unifier for all these distinct nations, was
the brainchild of Floral Shaw who was the
wife of Lord Lugard — the colonial
administrator of Nigeria (Federal Republic
of Nigeria, 2017). Presently, Nigeria is
made up of 36 states and a federal capital
city. The population in 2015 stood at 183
million people, of which over 90 million are
females and 92 million are males (NBS,
2015).
The Pre-colonial Era
In the pre-colonial era, Nigerians,
like many other people in other African
countries, lived in communities in their
traditional settings and gender roles. In
these communities, both men and women
worked together for the socio-economic
and political development of their families
and the communities, but they had
different roles as assigned by each
community. There was no term like
'housewife' as it is commonly used now
because both men and women participated
actively, taking on different roles as much
as they could to complement each other
(Ako-Nai, 2013). The cultural ideology is
expressed in this common saying in Yoruba
(A Nigeria native language): bi okunrin ri ejo,
ki obinrin pa, ki ejo ti ku ni, meaning literally
that “If a man saw a poisonous snake and a
woman killed it, the important thing is that
the snake was killed.” This statement
means that domestic work or community
services were not gendered; rather, the
important thing was that the task was
accomplished. However, this does not
seem to be the same across other ethnic
groups, especially the Igbos’ culture where
masculinity is expressed like it was
exemplified in Chinua Achebe’s novel
Things Fall Apart (Achebe, 1958). Although
women were not generally relegated to the
background in the pre-colonial era, they
were denied the honor and respect given to
men of the same status or that performed
the same tasks. For example, in the pre-
colonial era, Nigerian society had a good
number of female leaders who ruled over
empires and kingdoms, and there were
women who were warlords and exhibited
great military heroism. Some of the women
who occupied such positions include
BakwaTuruku and her daughter Queen
Amina who both fought wars. Amina
founded the present city of Zaria in the
Kaduna state in northern Nigeria and
started the famous traditional systems of
building walls around cities, which is
common in northern Nigeria to this day
(Udodinma 2013). Other prominent
women include Madam Tinubu of Lagos,
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 9
EfunsetanAniwura, princess Dauranna of
Bayayida, princess Inkpi of Igala, queen
Kambasen of Ijaw, and queen Quari of
Ilesha (Adu 2013). In the southwestern part
of Nigeria where the Yorubas are settled,
women were members of town and village
councils, which is where top decisions were
made. There were reserved political
positions for women, e.g. Iyalode, a high-
ranking chieftain in the community, Iyaloja
(head of all market squares), among a host
of other offices. Women who held these
two positions wielded much political power
and influence that was on par with or
greater than men in some cases in their
communities. Women were appointed as
regents (acting kings) after the demise of
the ruler in the towns, while some were
active kings, like Luwe, a female Oni — the
title for the kings of Ile Ife. They were also
spiritual leaders as they held the offices of
chief priests to some of the goddesses of
the lands and rivers (Udodinma, 2013).
Some of these prominent community
services and family roles were done
according to hierarchy of age, not by
biological sex because the roles were not
absolutely seen as gendered (Udodinma,
2013). Men were considered superior to
women because men were mostly used as
footmen combatants because of their
physical body structures. Patriarchal
society disregards the intellectual prowess
of women and prefers to recognize men’s
superior physical strength. However,
women participated in the strategic
planning and execution of wars. According
to Yoruba history, Moremi Ajasoro — a
queen of Ile Ife in the present Osun state in
southwestern Nigeria — bravely proved
that a woman could win a war through
military tactics. She used her beauty as a
weapon of war. She allowed herself to be
captured and served as a slave to spy on
tormentors. She succeeded and escaped to
her homeland after learning the military
secrets of Ile Ife’s enemies. Though she did
not fight in the war, Moremi Ajasoro
shared those secrets to her people and
brought them permanent victory (Harris,
2012). She was neither made the king nor
the captain, but she remained one of the
wives of the king on her return. Women did
not have full control or the same control as
men in this era; they were marginalized and
oppressed but not to the same degree of the
post-colonial era, as will be discussed
shortly. While women had limited voice,
they could be a part of the community with
an active role in the community’s affairs,
such as Efunsetan Aniwura, the Iyalode of
Ibadan and Tinubu, Iyalode of Egba.
However, there were demarcations and
boundaries which women could not cross
as designed by patriarchal domination.
These limitations became the practice that
has defined gender relations in Nigerian
society (Harris, 2012).
Colonial Incursion
The colonial incursion which came
in 1884 brought many changes to Nigerian
traditions and practices in terms of religion,
political arrangement, education, and
gender relation (Udodinma, 2013). The
incursion of the British colonists had a
significant effect on existing power
relationships. It stripped women of the
roles and power they had before
colonization. The British colonists came
with the practice of isolating women from
socio-economic and political activities. The
women’s protest in the West for suffrage
and political representation is an example
of women fighting against this (Fawcett
Society, 2016). Likewise, the waves of
feminism in the United States of America
and the founding of the feminist
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 10
movement were a result of women’s
marginalization and male dominance in
politics and economic activities
(Udodinma, 2013). In Nigeria and other
African communities, women were
removed from public and political domains
and confined solely to their homes. Men
were given access to Western education for
ease of communication and to assist with
colonial administration; thus, men became
clerks, teachers, mission workers, cooks,
and took other roles in the offices. This
further established class structures as men
became the new working, lower middle
class, but women were still not allowed to
work (Adu 2013; Udodinma, 2013). This
action further reduced the status of women
because men earned money from work
while women could not work and had to
rely on men for financial support. Women
thus began to carry the extra burden of
colonization and inequality due to
marginalization and segregation.
Similarly, the colonists introduced
cadres of trades to Nigeria that were
beneficial and further marginalized women.
During the pre-colonial times, Nigerians
were cash and food crop farmers, and there
was no segregation of farming duties. Both
jobs were done either by women or men
according to individual abilities and access
to resources. Although, more men did the
cash-crop farming while women did more
food-crop farming because of family
feeding concerns. The British colonizers
withdrew women from the farming of cash
crops, such as cocoa, rubber, cotton, and
coffee that were exports to England for
industrialization. Women were left to farm
food crops only to feed the family and got
less cash income because almost no one
bought food then (Ako-Nai, 2013).
Ultimately, women were a lower rank than
men. With this deliberate disruption of pre-
colonial socio-economic and political
systems in Nigeria, men were positioned
for the leadership roles in politics and in the
economy, as well as in other social and
religious circles. This marginalization soon
became a way of life in Nigeria and in
Africa in general. Men became more
dominant in every institution, including the
home (Adu 2013; Udodinma, 2013).
Most Nigerian daily activities such
as religion, politics, business, recreation,
entertainment, economy, education and
culture are male dominated. The culture
presents males as the most significant and
dominant figures because policies and
discourses are constructed around
masculinity, further encouraging men to
dominate women psychologically,
emotionally, financially and violently (bell
hooks, 2004). Consequently, toughness,
anger and rage became acceptable social
behaviors for men which shaped their lives
and encouraged them to demonstrate
power over women (Johnson, 2005).
Subsequently, this culture entrenches
gender inequality in African society.
Post-colonial Era
The British colonial rule in Nigeria
ended in 1960, but the British have already
passed on their cultural practices to the
communities they left. These African
communities relinquished most of their
original culture and embraced British
colonial culture. Furthermore, the
amalgamation of the three protectorates of
Niger, by the colonizers for administrative
convenience, was a major fracture to these
ethnic groups which were not socially,
culturally and linguistically connected.
Barker (2012) claims that language is
culture; therefore, the imposition of the
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 11
English language upon Nigeria was a
disruption to a host of existing linguistic
practices and brought a change in culture.
Through the teaching of their language, the
British colonizers also taught skills mostly
to men, and thus the men gained more
power. These cultural transfers also
influenced clothing, food, social
interactions, and enforced respect for
educated men. Women began to feel
inferior for not being able to participate in
the ‘new world’ setting. Through this new
language and the learned business skills,
many women could not participate because
of the skill barriers and segregation of trade
classes. Moreover, the Nigerian public
service administrative structure was
patterned after the colonizer’s civil service
systems, which were male dominated with
few females holding public offices. This
adoption of the colonizer’s culture created
a new male elite structure and led to more
gaps within the social and working rank
systems (Adu, 2013).
After the final exit of the British
colonial officers and administrators, they
left behind a class of Nigerian men who had
been educated and served them. These
Nigerian men then assumed their offices.
The men relinquished low-paying jobs to
women who had been attending schools by
then, although not as many as men (Adu,
2013). These low-paying jobs did not
require much formal education and have
been stereotyped as women’s work. This
unfortunate belief permeated the school
systems and led to a segregation of subjects
and roles in sports where girls could
participate. Furthermore, stereotyping has
become one of the tools for entrenching
patriarchy and gender inequality.
Overview of Patriarchy in Nigeria
bell hooks (2004) describes
patriarchy as a social menace and disease
that plagues the life of men in both body
and spirit. It is the dominant character
exhibited by men using the socio-political
systems and institutions to maintain their
supremacy above females. Patriarchy
makes men also consider themselves weak
to the point of being psychologically
terrorized. It is simply a system to exclude
females. This description of the patriarchy
pattern exists in Nigeria, and this
oppressive situation has become the norm.
Patriarchy in Nigeria is associated
with authoritative, domineering masculinity
and characterized by social supremacy that
is generally identifiable in men. It is a social,
psychological, political and emotional
weapon that makes women see themselves
as a weak object of subordination, fear and
victims of hard and high-handedness
(Idowu, 2013). Patriarchy is reproduced in
Nigeria by teaching young males to
understand and demonstrate that they are
in control, while women are taught to
submit to the authority of men. Also, men
learn to assert authority by force, and
violence is an acceptable behavior for them;
in contrast, women must remain calm and
submissive (Adichie, 2012; Idowu, 2013).
Patriarchy is a social system organized
around some societal institutions that are
male dominated, male identified and male
cultured. This system’s construction is used
to demean women and exalt men and
masculinity (Johnson, 2005). After
colonization, the system showed that
Nigeria was purely built for men because it
was redesigned for men’s domination. For
instance, governance in Nigeria was
militarized for more than three decades by
males in the military. The administration,
economy, educational and public
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 12
institutions and councils were so masculine
that women could not work in most
organizations except in primary schools
and a few girls’ secondary schools as
teachers. In some cases, military personnel
were sent to some schools to enforce law
and order on children. Patriarchal culture is
dictatorial (Johnson, 2005). The patriarchal
system has labeled men as the
breadwinners that women must depend on.
Society has stereotyped men to be in the
army, to act as security, or to do
construction and other physically hard jobs.
Recreation and sports are also stereotyped
based on gender in Nigeria, as men
traditionally play soccer, drink alcohol, visit
the bars and drive cars around the streets.
The women are culturally required to be
stay-at-home mothers and homecare
providers; they must engage in sex with
their partners at any time, be friendly and
gentle and never be firm or rigid. A woman
must not express her sexual desires and
must see men as superior (Adu, 2013). In
Nigerian patriarchal society, men who
show signs of weakness or are not
aggressive are ridiculed for behaving like a
woman because the culture sees a woman
as weak. Having socially constructed
women in this manner, Nigerian culture
believes that it is unacceptable to see a
woman as being agile, exhibiting high
physical strength and having outstanding
intellectual capabilities. This belief is
because patriarchy in Nigeria always
regards women’s reasoning as non-
constructive compared to men’s (Adu,
2013; Johnson, 2005). However, Adichie
(2012) argued that women should show
their ambitions and display their skills and
talents. The world is no longer about
physical strength but rather intelligence,
which women also possess. This statement
argues against traditional and cultural
beliefs that are still popular but not relevant
to this age. Unfortunately, African women
also reinforce patriarchy by culturally
reproducing the elevation of men and
inferiority of women in young women.
Older women teach the girls to respect
gender traditions that make them inferior
and promote the boys’ power (Bvuktwa,
2014). These traditions reinforce
masculinity. Nigerian society prefers male
children to female children, so women
desire to bear male children. Therefore,
female children see themselves as inferior,
while males see themselves as a better and
higher form of a human. African society
gives more recognition to women who bear
male children and mocks those who do not.
Thus far, hegemonic masculinity positions
men as superior to women and explains the
Nigerian masculinity present that promotes
patriarchal dominance. Hegemonic
masculinity serves as a theoretical
expression for the consistent and historical
societal preference for male children in
Nigeria.
Patriarchy in Politics and Governance
The colonial administration brought
Nigeria a new political structure which
favored men. Women had been removed
from public spheres during the colonial
regime; therefore, women had a double
burden of marginalization and colonization
from British colonialists and Nigerian men
(Oni & Iyanda, 2013). During the first
Nigerian republic in the early 1960s, no
woman was appointed to the parliament
and none sat in the federal cabinet; they had
no place in the political order of the day.
This is contrary to what happened in the
pre-colonial era before colonization, when
a few women still had a place in the
community. The first post-colonial national
government was overthrown by the
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 13
military in 1966 (Nigeria, 2017) who were
in control of the country until 1979 when
the second republic was inaugurated. The
military government had no woman in any
of its cabinets and leadership offices. This
was also the case in the second republic,
where there were no women in political
leadership cadre. The three decades of
military rule were male dominated. This
pattern had continued for too long for
upcoming generations to remember that
women and men had led the community
together in the pre-colonial era. However,
it was only in 1999 in the fourth republic
that 13% of women were appointed into
the country’s leadership capacities in the
parliament of Nigeria. In 2007, a woman
speaker was elected for a few months, but
she was later removed to be replaced by a
man in what was essentially a conspiracy
plot; This was because Nigerian masculinity
and ego could not bear a woman leading a
majority of men (Oni & Iyanda, 2013). The
political outlook, policies, and practices are
masculine in structure and even the few
women in government were perceived
doing something that was not approved, as
the society is biased against women in
power. There are constructed roles for
women in the society but not in power or
leadership (Napikoski, 2017). Nigerian
society is shaped for male dominance. But
feminists fight against these ideologies and
agitate for change in society to end male
dominance and give women the same
recognition for tasks accomplished and
authority like men (Lewis, 2017). The
national government in Nigeria, which was
elected in May 2015, is no better than the
previous — it has males as the president
and the vice-president, and only 7 out of
the 109 senators across the nation are
women. In the lower house there are 15
women out of the 360 members. There are
6 states with female deputy governors out
of 36 states, and not a single female
governor (Nigeria, 2017; The Scoop, 2016).
Again, this section has explained how
dominant Nigerian masculinity and
colonial legacy had reposition women to act
behind the scenes and mostly put women
out of decision-making offices and roles. In
the patriarchal Nigerian culture, woman’s
place is said to be in the kitchen. Feminism
therefore has become a global advocacy
where gender inequality and women
marginalization are discussed
Patriarchy in Marriage Contract,
Childbearing and Home Responsibilities
Nigerian traditional marriages are
contracted between the families of the man
and woman. The woman does not have the
power to decide who and when to marry.
Rather, at an appointed time, the man’s
family would bring the specified bride’s
token, according to the tribal culture, which
includes some amount of money as decided
by the customs in the family. This suggests
that women are taken as an exchange for
the gifts and appreciation to the bride’s
family for their gesture; hence the man
owns the woman and she is a property of
the family, and they see her as a commodity
(Adu, 2013). Although this process is
gradually changing in this post-colonial age,
oppression and domination is still in
practice. Men violently abuse women and
leave them to fend for themselves and
children. In the polygamous family setting,
the first wife, who is the senior, coordinates
and manages other wives; she makes the
younger co-wives take on the daily
household chores while the senior wife
handles the financial responsibilities for the
family. This places much burden on
women as homemakers and keepers and as
a possession of the man who denies her
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 14
right to pursue her career goals (Adu,
2013). Andrea Dworkin wrote that women
have been robbed by men of the potential
for human choice, thereby women have
been forced to conform in body, behavior,
and values to become object of men’s
desire. She further states that there is no
room for women to make variety of choices
for themselves since they are not free
(Lewis, 2017). This is true of African
women. Unfortunately, the society sees a
woman as a child bearer, and she is held
responsible for that failure to have one. She
is further oppressed if she does not bear a
male child. In African society, the more
children a woman has, the more respected
she is, and she is given even more respect
for having male children. (Opara, 2005).
Because of this cultural intimidation, every
married woman desires to have male
children. Although these cultural practices
are declining in some urban areas, there is
still considerable humiliation and
derogatory treatment given to both urban
and rural women who do not bear children;
culturally, they are labelled and most times
forced out of marriage (Adu, 2013).
Similarly, gender stereotyping begins as
soon as the sex of a child is identified. The
female children become affiliated to the
mother and her several traditional gender
roles in the house, such as fetching water
and wood, cooking, cleaning, doing
laundry, and completing other domestic
chores. The male children are expected to
do chores like farming, gardening, and
completing other related jobs called 'boys’
jobs' and are encouraged to take after a
man's way of life. Oftentimes, boys take
after their father’s professional careers,
while girls are left to take on any of the
stereotyped ‘jobs for women,’ thus
perpetuating this aspect of patriarchal
society (Ako-Nai, 2013). Moreover, in
many homes, the male child is given
preferred nutrition while the girl child is
less catered for and may be subjected to
hard domestic chores. The girl child
sometimes is sent to a wealthy home as a
house helper in exchange for money for the
family or to pay school fees of the male
child (Adu, 2013).
Furthermore, it is the belief of men
that a woman’s place is in the kitchen,
whatever her status. Unfortunately, this
patriarchal tradition has become a norm for
women (Adu, 2013). This makes men not
invest too much on the girl child on
training or education, while they keep the
boys away from the kitchen. An example of
this is found in a social response to a
woman who contested for a governorship
seat of a state in Nigeria in 2015 April, as
stated below (Vanguard Newspaper
Nigeria, November 11, 2015):
However, not everyone supports Ms.
Aisha Al-Hassan as some people believe
that a woman’s place is in the kitchen and
it would be a disaster to have а female
governor. . . [according to] comments about
Ms. Al-Hassan circling around social
media.
This is typical of the social inequalities
entrenched in a patriarchal society which
portrays males as the dominant figure in all
areas. Women are denied leadership
positions and denied decision-making
powers in all spaces of society (HDR, 1999;
ADB, 2010). Thereby, women have limited
say in matters that affect their lives such as
marriages, career, education and thus are
victims of masculine dominated policies
emanating from culture and colonial
legacies which have stereotyped and
reduced women to a subordinate role of
homemakers, child bearers and voiceless
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 15
citizens (UN women, 2011). The patrilineal
culture disallows a woman the right of
inheritance to the family assets in the
occurrence of the death of her husband or
father in a homestead, usually referred to as
the family head. Instead, the eldest son
takes over no matter his age and position in
the family. If there is no male child, a male
relative of the deceased man takes over the
household. In some cultures, the male
relative also inherits the wife (Adu, 2013).
This section shows how hegemonic
masculinity is passed down directly and
indirectly through the institution of
marriage and homes. Gender socialization
towards cultural expectations of boys and
girls are built into the acceptable norms and
practices in a society, corporate offices and
in religious places. These practices have
become the Nigerian masculine cultures
which every man wants to attain to oppress
women.
Patriarchy in Education/Academia
Historically in Nigeria, formal
education was introduced by the British
colonizers and missionaries, but the access
was given mostly to men who benefited
greatly from that ahead of women (Adu,
2013; Fagunwa, 2014). This is a major
factor responsible for women’s low
participation in the nation’s development
activities. In 2006, the percentage of
women’s participation in national
economic activities, such as government,
private employment, and
entrepreneurships, was 61.2% of the
population. A national report from Nigeria
shows that 40% of men that are literate are
employed in the educational sector
compared to 13% of women, and this is the
trend across all sectors of occupation in
Nigeria (Acha, 2014). This also establishes
the huge gap between men and women in
academic positions in Nigerian universities.
From the table shown below (Ukertor, n.d.),
only a few women compared to a much
higher number of men rise to top academic
positions such as dean, provost, president,
or
serve in the council. The data was taken
from random sampling of male and female
academia in five universities chosen in the
North Western universities for five years.
This shows the masculine culture
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
HODS
30
02
40
05
45
08
50
10
52
15
DEANS
25
03
28
05
35
07
40
10
45
12
SENATE
130
08
158
13
175
20
200
22
222
27
COUNCIL
40
05
43
05
50
10
61
10
65
15
President
5
0
5
0
5
0
5
0
5
0
Table 1: University Governance Structure
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 16
manifesting in university system jobs.
There are more men than women holding
top academic positions, and this is
common all around the country. Men were
positioned for dominance with colonial
legacy and they kept the structure and
policy in leadership and all decision-making
positions. This is not an indication that
women are incapable of performing these
roles efficiently, but men’s ego denies
women access to power because of
patriarchal culture (bell hooks, 2004),
which also assigns the traditional socially
constructed stereotyped low paid jobs for
women, such as nursing, day care, and
elementary school teachers (Ukertor, n.d)
Here, Hegemonic masculine explains the
social structure in Nigeria, its culture of
women exclusion and gives reasons why
men are in every place of power, authority,
and places of work, including the
academics.
Conclusion
So far, this study has opened up
masculinity, African feminism and gender
inequality as frameworks of analysis.
Masculinity is used to explain the social
construct in Africa imbued with men’s
patriarchal power, expressed as a behavior
of social superiority over women. In Africa
generally and in Nigeria specifically, this
culture has resulted to hegemonic
masculinity of being ‘manly’ where men are
seen to be superior to women. Often,
women are rendered as exhibitors of the
emotional features of sadness, sensitivity
and caringness. This perception explains
the male dominant roles present in African
role analysis. This work has explained
gender inequality via the framework of
masculinity. Historically, Africa’s and
Nigeria’s patriarchal culture were
reinforced by a colonization agenda.
Culturally, to date, roles and positions in
the society are differentiated by the
stereotyped characteristics of gender. In
this regard, women are expected to operate
behind the scenes where they are isolated
from active roles of decision making. In the
analysis, African feminism has become a
strong response to this societally imposed
discrimination and is more of an advocacy
to challenge male dominance in patriarchal
Africa. This situation has received global
awareness and attention championed to
correct women’s marginalization and male
dominance. Arising from these
frameworks, the history of gender
inequality in relation to Africa from the pre-
colonial era is reinforced by colonization
and sadly has a strong impact on African
documented history.
The imbalance in the social
structure in Africa has a negative effect on
national development, because the
patriarchal ideology entrenched in Nigerian
society creates a divide that keeps women
at home, in the role of a mother and wife
or in low-paying jobs which impoverish
them and their families. They live with low
morale which inhibits them from aspiring
to reach their potentials or professional
career goals, as in the case of academia
shown above. This structure that reinforces
gender roles destroys potentials and
capabilities, which results in a loss for the
nation’s economic, social, and political
development, among other area.
Moreover, the patriarchal society does not
expect women to have life ambitions and
aspirations for greater roles and positions
as men do in all areas of their lives,
including careers, sports, politics, and
leadership roles. Similarly, the long-
standing African tradition that brought in
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 17
popular African feminism proponents of
Nego feminism — a strand of popular
African feminism — argues that African
women are expected to be satisfied and
settle with positions and titles that are of
collateral status to their husband’s
professional or social attainment. In other
words, women should earn their social
statuses by their husband’s title, such as
first lady, wife of president or the wife of
the chief, among others (Fagunwa, 2014;
Udodinma, 2013). This practice reduces
women to the shadows of men and does
not make women aspire to reach their
goals. To attain gender equality, this paper
recommends that men should engage in the
struggle for equality. Hopefully, this will
lead to a social reform that changes the
patriarchal structures that view women as
subordinates into structures that promote
women’s rights (Freedman & Jacobson,
2012). Gender inequality will quickly
disappear if men who benefit from the
inequality stand up and advocate for a
transformation, while encouraging fellow
men and boys to engage in the process of
change and challenge the dominant
practices of masculinity (Connell, 2005).
This study advocates that policies and
structures should be deliberate to remove
traditional gender roles and other barriers
that keep women from career paths and
spaces that inhibit them from attaining
their goals and aspirations. For example,
there should be a paternal commitment to
childbearing, equal to the maternal
commitment, as part of employment and a
labor policy for men. So, men could take
turns and commit to the same length of
time out of work to allow their wives to stay
at their job. In addition, Molara Ogundipe’s
Stiwanism, an intellectual strand of African
feminism, advocates for women’s inclusion
in social transformation. Thus, women’s
voices and choices should be part of social,
economic and political development in the
society (Ogundipe, 1994). This means that
women should not be relegated or
marginalized, but rather they should be
actively involved in all forms of decision
making towards overall development.
Involving women in the decision-making
process would disrupt the brooding of
gender inequality when the system of
masculinity collapses.
Address correspondence to:
Emmanuel Olorunfemi Jaiyeola, Washington State University
Email: emmanuel.jaiyeola@wsu.edu
Aladegbola Isaac, Ekti State University
Email: stainlessade2004@yahoo.com
Journal of Research on Women and Gender 18
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