Patriarchy and “Closed Spaces”: Keeping Nigerian Women in “The Other Room”

Patriarchy And “Closed Spaces”: Keeping Nigerian Women In “The Other Room”

Aituaje Irene Pogoson

Department of Political Science University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Email: [email protected]

Abstract Following the traditional belief that the place of the woman is in the kitchen, women are frequently relegated to the status of second-class citizen in Nigeria. In the Nigerian culture, not only do men have more social, political, and economic power than women, they are also imperceptibly treated differently. This is a consequence of an overriding social setting dominated by a general culture of male power and superiority. In this setting, men are treated with respect, their needs attended to, and their views treasured. What is not apparent however, is that women are not given the same respect as they are oftentimes less valued, ignored, or disregarded. In the public realm, women are not quite visible in positions of authority nor welcomed in certain spaces and situations where men feel absolutely comfortable; while in the private realm, they are subjected to the dictates of men. This trend was recently amplified by President Muhammadu Buhari’s ridiculing remark in Germany that his wife, Aisha Buhari, “belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room”- presumably the bedroom, following some unfavorable remarks she made to BBC Hausa Service about him. The President’s remark underscores the extent to which women’s rights and their value are undermined in the Nigerian patriarchal society. It is a “closed space” where existing stereotypes have reduced an average woman to an inferior citizen. Against this background, this article examines the theoretical and material bases of patriarchy and gender inequality in Nigeria and identifies the extent of gender inequality and discrimination. The article contends that if democracy allows for diversity of opinion and participation of different groups, it cannot be said to exist where women are continually disadvantaged. Real societal change will only ensue if we think differently and work differently to challenge the patriarchal structures that perpetuate all forms of gender discrimination and inequality in the society.

Keywords: Patriarchy, private/public realm, gender, closed spaces

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INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTUAL BASES OF PATRIARCHY

Patriarchy is the leading impediment to the advancement and development of women in most societies. It means the rule of the father or the ‘patriarch’- the power of the father as the head of a household; and its general principle is that men are in control though the character of that control differs. According to Sultana (2011), patriarchy was originally used to describe a specific type of ‘male-dominated family’ – the large household of the patriarch which included women, junior men, children, slaves and domestic servants – all under the rule of the dominant male. The term denotes “the systematic organization of male supremacy and female subordination” (Makama, 2013;116) that characterized post 1960s feminism, apart from the explanation of a dominant father as the head of a household. This same dominant authority is explained as a system that promotes male supremacy of women who “are kept subordinate in a number of ways” (Bhasin, 2006:3) in virtually all spheres of human endeavour.

Two major themes accentuate the scholarly definitions of patriarchy: a subjugation and wanton control of the female gender by the dominant male exerting authority and a contestation of this supremacy. Such scholars as Mitchell (1971) Aristotle (Learner, 1989) support the former position. For Mitchell, patriarchy refers “to kinship systems in which men exchange women” (Mitchell 1971:24), while Aristotle sees males as active and females as passive. To him, a female is a “mutilated male,” someone who does not have a soul. In Aristotle’s assessment, women are made inferior by their biological inferiorities, their capabilities, intelligence and decision-making abilities. On account of man’s superiority, and woman’s inferiority, a man is born to rule while a woman is to be ruled. Aristotle says “the courage of man is shown in commanding of a woman into obeying” (Learner 1989:8-11). Wally’s conceptualization of patriarchy shares the characteristics of the two identified groups because while the scholar sees “patriarchy as an arrangement of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” (Walby 1990:20), he however rejects “the notion that every individual man is always in a dominant position and every woman in a subordinate one” (Walby 1990:20). The latter position is aptly expressed in the contribution of Sultana who contested the argument of a dominant male. The theories of male supremacy have been challenged and it has been proven that there is no historical or scientific evidence for such explanations. Whilst biological differences exist between men and women, these differences do not engender “the basis of a sexual hierarchy in which men are dominant” (Sultana, 2010-2011:4).

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Central to patriarchy “is a set of symbols and ideas that make up a culture embodied by everything from the content of everyday conversation” (Aggarwal, 2016: 60). As further observed by Aggarwal, “patriarchal culture includes ideas about the nature of things, including men, women and humanity, with manhood and masculinity most closely associated with being human and womanhood and femininity relegated to the marginal position of “other” (Aggarwal, 2016:60). Feminists principally use the term to elucidate the power relationship between men and women and to understand women’s realities. In feminist theory according to Sultana (2010-2011:2), “the concept of patriarchy often includes all the social mechanisms that reproduce and exert male dominance over women”. Feminists characterize feminism as a social construction that can be overcome by exposing and critically assessing its manifestations (Ann, 2001). Radical feminists (Brownmiller, 1976, Firestone, 1974, Jensen, 2017) believe that the subordination of women by men is a result of patriarchy; that a socially just society needs a radical overhaul of the prevailing patriarchal structures and that the ultimate goal of feminism is the end of the patriarchal gender system. “…they [Radical Feminists} do not believe that patriarchy is natural or that it has always existed and will continue to do so” (Saltana, 2011:5). They also affirm that it preceded private property and the original and basic contradiction is not economic classes but between the sexes. Socialist-feminists, because of their commitment to a historical, materialist method as well as of their own observation of variety in the sexual division of labour, do not consider patriarchy to be a universal or unchanging system (Sultana, 2010-2011:5). They regard the struggle between women and men as a historical phenomenon that changes with modes of production (Beechey, 1977) and they “are committed to understanding the system of power derived from capitalist patriarchy” (Eisenstein, 1977:3). The link between patriarchy and capitalism is analyzed by Hartmann (1981) who maintains that irrespective of their class, all men are linked by patriarchy. Hartmann (1979) defines patriarchy 'as a set of social relations between men, which have a material base, and which, though hierarchical, establish or create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women' (Hartmann, 1979:11). She further notes that, 'The material base upon which patriarchy rests lies most fundamentally in men's control over women's labour power. Men maintain this control by excluding women from access to essential productive resources (in capitalist societies, for example, jobs that pay living wages) and by restricting women’s sexuality‟ (Hartmann, 1979: 11). This point is accentuated by Oyekanmi (2005) who describes patriarchy as “a set of social relations with a material base that enables men to dominate women. In other words, patriarchy describes a distribution of power and resources within the family in a manner that men maintain power and control or resources, and women are powerless and dependent on men”.

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Whilst not implying “that women are either totally powerless or totally deprived of rights, influence, and resource” Lerner (1989:239) maintains that “in its wider definition”, patriarchy “means the manifestation and institutionalization of male dominance over women and children in the family and the extension of male dominance over women in society in general. It implies that men hold power in all the important institutions of society and that women are deprived of access to such power” (Lerner, 1986:239). Indeed, it is a system of social stratification and differentiation based on sex; it provides material benefits to males while simultaneously placing harsh constraints on the roles and actions of females (Koenig and Foo, 1985). Not only does it describe the established system of male supremacy, it is seen as a set of social relations between men and women, which has a material base, and which, despite being hierarchical, establishes independence and cohesion among men that empower them to dominate women (Koenig and Foo, 1985). In reality, “the patriarchal system is characterised by power, dominance, hierarchy, oppression, exploitation and competition” (Sultana, 2010;2011:3) and the implication is that “men hold power in all the important institutions of society” whilst “women are deprived of access to such power”.

The patriarchal system operates some social customs, traditions and roles and perpetuates them through the socialisation process aimed at keeping women under men’s control. Sultana notes that, “to preserve the male supremacy, patriarchy created ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ characteristics, private-public realms by gendered socialization process” (Sultana, 2010;2011; 8). Socialization takes place primarily during childhood; boys and girls learn the proper behaviour for their gender. All agents of the socialization process according to Sultana (2010;2011; 9) “are the supports of a patriarchal system and structure. The norms and practices that define women as inferior to men and impose controls on them exist everywhere”. Variations in socialization, rather than genetic and biological factors, account for gender differences and where gender is socially defined, gender stereotypes are perpetuated. “Gender inequalities, traditional gender roles and gender stereotypes persist in all walks of life” particularly at home, “in families, social relations, religions, laws, schools, textbooks, media, factories, offices etc” (The Council of Europe, n.d; 3).

The biological differences between men and women are overstated by an existing patriarchal ideology and this ensures that men have the dominant or masculine roles and women have the subordinate or feminine ones. This ideology is powerful enough for men to obtain the consent of the women they oppress using “institutions such as the academy, the church, and the family, each of which justifies and reinforces women’s subordination to

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 9 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] men” (Millett 1977:35). The crucial elements of patriarchy as noted by Hartmann, (1997) are: heterosexual marriage, female child rearing and house work, and women’s economic reliance on men strengthened by arrangements in the labour market, the state, the numerous institutions based on social relations among men - clubs, sports, unions, professions, universities, churches, corporations and armies.

PATRIARCHY AND CLOSED SPACES

There is a subtle way that patriarchy extends the border of domination over the female to both public and private spaces in the society (Pogoson,2015). As a matter of fact, it implies that the private realm should be the operational area of women while the public sphere is exclusively preserved for men. Theories of patriarchy by Walby (1990) draw attention to the private and public realms of patriarchy. Private patriarchy is practiced at home, which is based on materialism, where a home maker has no power because she does not earn money, despite her domestic and invaluable contribution to the household, in the form of services and emotional support. Public patriarchy on the other hand is practiced at public places, i.e. work place and state where the claws of marginalisation restrict women from attaining their potentials. The understanding of public and private is imbedded within a mix of associational meanings and insinuations which Pomeroy (2004) see as a link to other notions such as nature and culture, male and female. The content, meaning, and range of the public and private spheres therefore vary with the needs of each society's existence (Pomeroy, 2004).

The axiom - "the personal is political,"- a consequence of second- wave feminism (1960’s-1980’s) signifies the first effort to break down the gendered division between the private sphere which has been attributed to women and the public sphere attributed to men. Whilst there is no clear origin of this public/private classification, it seems that, from the earliest stage of social life with its implicit social divisions and category-formation, women have always been associated with the private, and men with the public (Greer, 1999). As Greer suggests, at this time, "while the male-hunter- gatherer strolled along burdened with no more that his spear and a throwing stick, his female mate trudged along after him carrying their infant, their shelter, their food supplies and her digging stick”. Women have been challenging the division between man in the public sphere and woman in the private sphere since the beginning of this first wave feminism (1830’s – early 1900’s) when the focus was on women's suffrage, property rights and political candidacy. Since this era, women have been using politics as a mechanism for contesting and entering the closed, male-dominated public realm. A major goal of the first wave feminism since inception has been to

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 10 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] establish equality between the sexes, both in the public and private spheres of life. While doing so, the gendered spaces of men and women have become obscure and, because of the linkage between public/private and man/woman respectively, the division between what is private, and public has become clearer (Pomeroy, 2004).

By gaining control over and exploitation of areas of women’s lives, men benefit materially from patriarchy and they also derive significant economic gains from women’s subordination. In what Walby (1990) calls the “patriarchal mode of production” (Walby, 1990:24), women’s labour is expropriated by their husbands and others they live with. According to Walby, housewives are the producing class whose back-breaking, endless and repetitive labour is not considered work at all since housewives are seen as dependent on their husbands, while husbands are the expropriating class. Women’s unpaid daily tasks amount to a huge amount of time, energy and resourcefulness that has been historically exploited and unrecognized (Action Aid, 2013). According to the ActionAid report, “every day the majority of women spend time – and often very long hours – cooking, cleaning, and caring for children, the ill and the elderly. Yet, this work is not captured in data, is not discussed in national debates” (Action Aid, 2013;6). The fact that women remain intimately tied to the home (private sphere) based on gender role expectations means women lose out on economic resources, a deficit that exacerbates over time. According to the results of time-use surveys conducted by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), women are the main undertakers of unpaid labour globally (UNSD, Gender Statistics, 2016). This unequal division of unpaid labour within households has consequences for women's involvement in both public and private spheres.

There is thus a material basis for patriarchy. “Most property and other productive resources are controlled by men and they pass from one man to another, usually from father to son” (Sultana, 2010-2011:9). Women are disadvantaged in all cases and in societies “where women have the legal right to inherit such assets, an assortment of customary practices, emotional pressures, social sanctions and sometimes, plain violence, prevent them from acquitting actual control over them” (Saltana, ibid). In other cases, personal laws limit women’s rights, rather than enhance them. Personal law regimes affect the roles, rights and burdens of women. It is important to note that “The most prominent instances have been personal law regimes in the areas of family law (marriage, divorce, adoption, maintenance), intergenerational transfer of property (succession, inheritance, wills), and religious establishments (offices, premises, and endowments)” (Krishnan and Galanter, 2002:105). The material base of patriarchy rests on all the social structures that enable men to control women’s labour in both the private and

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 11 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] public spaces. The subordination of women to men is generally fashioned by a variety of societal and institutional practices embedded in the private and public spheres. In Nigeria and other patriarchal societies, these practices provide the basic elements of the system of patriarchy.

PATRIARCHAL STRUCTURES IN NIGERIA

Discrimination against women takes the form of the subordination and dependency of women on men and a violation of their (women’s) basic human rights. As feminism has successfully demonstrated over the years, the balance of power in many societies of the world tilts in favour of males. Feminists blame this situation on patriarchy, thus, strength, protection, provision, decision-making/judgement, vision, stability, etc. are all associated with the males in the society, while tenderness, pliability, procreation, nurture, and home-making are erected as the forte of females (Hooks, 2000; Dale, 1990; Mies, 2014). Although all the qualities stated above are essential to a stable and progressive society, patriarchy foregrounds the roles of the males through such structures as religion, education, philosophy, literature, law and other elements embodying the social organism.

As noted above, most of the reasons given for women’s oppression relate to patriarchy in one way or the other. For instance, the materialist belief is that capitalism and patriarchy reinforce each other. Similarly, radical feminists locate patriarchy in men’s control of women’s sexuality and procreative functions (Brownmiller 1976, Firestone 1974, Jensen, 2017, McDonough& Harrison, 1978). Also, culture and the construction of language and words are strongly influenced by male domination which necessitate that efforts to tackle issues that affect women must first interrogate patriarchy (Igbuzor, 2000).

Women constitute about half of the population of Nigeria. In many societies, they are mothers, producers, home managers, community organizers, and socio-cultural and political activists with great responsibilities attached (Agbalajobi, 2010). This notwithstanding, what women contribute to national development is taken as negligible, a case that explains the difficulty in seeing women as major contributors to national development drives. This marginalization and or near-zero recognition is captured by Bayeh (201; 38) and the United Nations (2014) as “Gender inequalities across economic, social and environmental dimensions remain which widespread and persistent”. Compared to that of men and on account of their dual roles in the productive and reproductive spheres, “female’s half of the world’s human capital is undervalued and underutilized the world

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 12 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] over. As a group, women – and their potential contributions to economic advances, social progress and environmental protection – have been marginalized” (OECD, 2008). Moreover, their participation in formal and informal structures and processes where decisions regarding the use of societal resources generated by both men and women are made and their right to have the power to control their own lives both within and outside the home, remain insignificant (UN, 2001; Makama, 2013).

Patriarchy is an embodiment that defines Nigeria as a traditional society (Aina, 1998) where “womanhood is reduced to a mere infidel and a second-class citizen, hence, there is the commonality of general belief system that the best place for women is in the ‘Kitchen’. This trend has brought about a tremendous misrepresentation of women right from the level of the family to the circular society” (Makama, 2013; 115). By “condoning gender- differential terms in inheritance rights and legal adulthood and implicitly ignoring domestic and sexual violence and sanctioning differential wages for equal or comparable work” (Makama, 2013; 116), indeed, the patriarchal society sets the limits for women’s structurally imbalanced status in the society.

Patriarchy justifies the marginalization of women in education, economy, labour market, politics, business, family, human rights, domestic matters and inheritance (Salaam, 2003; Sultana, 2010-2011). Patriarchal norms accept domestic violence and do not stand in a vacuum; they are embedded in a culture-defined pattern of discipline (Meier, 1997). Violence against women is quite common in Nigeria. Over a decade now, violence, at the home front and the larger society, has become a trend since “On a daily basis in the Nigerian society, there is shocking news of domestic violence everywhere” (Ishola, 2016:3). In Nigeria, 28 per cent of all women, almost a third of all women in the country, have experienced physical violence since age 15 (National Population Commission and ICF International, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 2013:304). Violence in private and public life, including spousal battery, forceful ejection from home, forced financial dependence or economic abuse, harmful widowhood practices, female circumcision or genital mutilation, harmful traditional practices, substance attacks such as acid baths, political violence and violence by state actors (Anarado, 2015; Humbe, 2015) are widespread in Nigeria. Despite these, Makama (2013:125) says “Unfortunately, it is only extreme cases of women’s rights violation which results in death or permanent disability that earns media attention and Police interests”. The widespread culture of silence and stigmatization of victims of domestic violence discourages public acknowledgment of the problem (Ishola, 2016:3) because “Erroneously, wife beating is considered a “private affair” of the home. Wife battering is

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“culturally” acceptable; it is considered as a “normal way of life” and even as a “sign of love” (Nwankwo, 2003:5) Moreover, various traditional cultures and religious beliefs in Nigeria as a typical patriarchal society see the wife as a property of her husband and the husband has moral control over the wife and the right to beat her as penalty for insubordination and or perceived wrong doing. In the case of rape, women consider it a social stigma if their ordeal becomes a public knowledge. According to Makama (2013), an ex- Minister for Women and Social Developments, Mrs. Hajo Sani at the 19th United Nations Session in New York in 1998, described the condition of women who are victims of violence in Nigeria. She said, "there is no record of the prevalence of violence against women especially within the home. This is because women hardly report violence to the police for fear of reprisal from both the husband and wider family” according to her, “in addition, the law enforcement agents do not readily entertain complaints of domestic violence. They treat such complaints as a minor offence of ‘two people fighting’ or laugh it off as ‘husband and wife problem…’ (cited in Makama, 2013:125). Limited access to education has been a strong noticeable impediment to female participation in the formal sector. The social pressures like sex stereotyping and early marriages of the girl child, as well as consideration of female education as secondary to that of boys and some offensive religious practices in some parts of Nigeria are some critical causes of high rate of illiteracy amongst women. Usually, girls’ educational opportunities tend to be restricted by patriarchal viewpoints about gender roles, which result in some parents attaching greater importance to the education of boys than girls. “This is always the likelihood when the parents lack resources to enrol all children in schools. In some families, investing in girls’ education is regarded as investing for the benefit of the family she will eventually marry into”, unlike in the case of boys (Ogunniyi & Dosunmu, 2014:188). This line of reasoning holds specifically “for higher education, which requires greater expenditure and is seen to be less necessary for female” (Ogunniyi & Dosunmu, ibid), whose main role will be home keeping and child-raising. Therefore, most girls have to contend with lack of educational opportunities since their parents consider education as a primary necessity for the boy-child.

The relationship between men and women have been dictated by tradition, culture and religion for centuries. The dominant narratives of religion in both colonial and post-colonial Nigerian society privileges men at the detriment of women, even in educational accessibility. As such, our society remains entrapped in ‘history of analogy’ whereby it is either exoticised, or simply represented as part of European history (Mamdani

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1996). Similarly, at all stages of leadership, male domination has been embedded into the structure of key social institutions such as family, religion, government, politics, marriage, education, and the economy. Besides, there is usually a preference for new born male children than female as family members and husbands tend to subjugate and demoralize a woman when she gives birth to only girls. Most religions and traditions intractably embrace the conviction that women should not hold leadership positions in the society.

In terms of labour and the economy, household work burden is mostly on the women and young girls (Covert, 2014). Such work has no recognition in Nigeria and similar patriarchal societies. By virtue of Nigeria’s population, the expected female labour force is 50% but the actual value is 31%. The proportion of women in the formal sector is very negligible and this is evident in the private industries and the civil service. Available data reveal that in the Nigerian Federal Civil Service, which is the highest employer of labour, women are generally found in the junior categories (Ajir, 2002) and those found in personal businesses are mainly involved in petty trading, selling wares in the market and street hawking in urban areas. According to Makama (2013), “78 % of women are mostly engaged in the informal sector, which are farming and petty trading. Despite this, the rewards for their contributions are not financially proportionate. “The women’s unpaid labour is twice that of men, and its economic value is estimated to be up to 30% of the nation’s Gross National Product (GNP)” (Makama, 2013:122). Nigerian women, like other women in similar patriarchal societies, contend with a lot of discrimination which restricts their ability to develop their full potential on the basis of equality with men. Due mainly to their domestic burden, low level of educational attainment, poverty and prejudices against women’s employment in certain branches of the economy or types of work and discriminatory salary practices, they do not enjoy equal rights in the labour market (Makama, 2013). In some institutions, women are not permitted to get married or pregnant in other not to reduce their productivity. In what Salaam (2003) calls “corporate prostitution”, some young women are only employed as long as they are willing “to use their bodies to court clients for the business organization” (Salaam, 2003, n.p.).

In the political realm, women are battling established domination by men in a sphere meant for both genders participate. While successive Nigerian constitutions have explicitly guaranteed the rights of women to participate in active politics, since the return to democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999 (a development expected to grant opportunities for women’s participation in politics), the reality is that the place of women in elective and appointive positions has remained low (Pogoson, 2014). “Over the years, there has been an inherently pronounced level of under-representation of

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 15 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] women in politics when compared with their male counterparts” Agbalajobi , 2010:77). It is important to note that the present regime of President Buhari has the lowest representation of women in public office since 1999. In the Nigerian parliament (as constituted in 2015), women represent a dismal 5.6% in the House of Representatives and 6.5% in the Senate. Far from the 35 percent Affirmative Action provided for in the National Gender Policy, women make up roughly 8 percent of the overall membership of the legislature, and only 7 percent of ministers currently serving in the cabinet are women (IRI, 2015:36). This is against the 31% representation of women in the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan whose implementation of Gender Policy resulted in an increase in women’s representation in government, from 10% in 2011, to over 33% in 2013, with the appointment of 13 female ministers out of 42, representing 31% and 4 Special Advisers out of 18, representing 23% (Calebs, 2014). Possibly, the poor representation of women in governance in the Buhari administration might have a direct link to his personal opinion of women and their role in the society. The dismal role of women in decision-making positions in this administration is especially discomforting. The predicament of Nigerian women was further exacerbated by the rejection of the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOP) by members of Nigeria’s Senate on Tuesday 15th March, 2016 (Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF), Mar 17, 2016). The proposed Gender and Equal Opportunities bill amongst others sought to guarantee appropriate measures against gender discrimination in political and public life (Real News, 2016). The passing of the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill would have signalled that Nigeria was ready to empower women through gender equality and equal opportunities: the rejection of the bill by a male dominated legislature lends credence to the necessity of having more women in decision making positions in Nigeria.

To a large extent, traditional social structures have offered limited incentives for amending the existing distribution of power between men and women in Nigeria. As observed by Nmadu (2000), the Nigerian society (pre- modern and contemporary) has been expressively spotted with cultural practices such as early/forced marriage, wife-inheritance and widowhood practices that are potently unfavourable to women. Moreover, to Bhavani et al (2003), such unequal social and gender relations needs to be transformed in order to take women out of want and poverty.

Most of the patriarchal practices experienced by Nigerian women are visibly patronising and repressive. These practices are apparent in forms of subjugation, abuse, exploitation, sexism, chauvinism, political injustice, girl- child marriage, domestic violence, women trafficking and kidnapping (cases

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 16 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] in hand are the Chibok girls narratives1), rape, deprivation of various rights and many more. These are some of the discriminatory and disparaging practices that are often seen in the Nigerian society and which are most of the times cloaked in the ‘holy’ custom of tradition.

KEEPING NIGERIAN WOMEN IN “THE OTHER ROOM”

While some degree of progress has been made in many areas, women still contend with discrimination and are subjected to the influence of men both at the private and public spheres. On account of this, women movements, over time, have made the rights of women a major focus of their campaign. For example, feminist movements have canvassed and continued to canvass for women’s rights (National Women’s History Project, n.d.), including the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to receive education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights within marriage, and to have maternity leave. (Lockwood, 2006). These demands formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the nineteenth century and feminist movement of the 20th century. The rights are entrenched or upheld by law, local custom, and actions in some countries while in others, they are disregarded and suppressed. Feminists have also worked to promote bodily autonomy and integrity, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment, and domestic violence (Echols, 1989). Nonetheless, there is still a long way to go especially for Nigerian women who continue to seek equality of the sexes and confront the glass-ceiling barriers to their goals. Against this backdrop, remarks by President Muhammad Buhari on October 14, 2016 in response to his wife’s interview on Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), that his wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, ‘belongs to my kitchen and the other room’ generated public criticisms, debates and comments in Nigeria. It began when the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari gave an interview with BBC Hausa Service (BBC, 2016) in which she stated that her husband’s “government had been hijacked by only a "few people", who were behind presidential appointments”. Mrs. Buhari said: "The president does not know 45 out of 50 of the people he appointed, and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years”. She retorted that if things did not change, she would not be campaigning for him in 2019.

1 276 school girls were abducted from their school in the town of Chibok in north east Nigeria on April 14, 2014, by the militant Islamist group- Boko Haram. 100 girls are still missing. Boko Haram targeted the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok because of its opposition to so-called western education and a secular curriculum.

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While in Germany, reporters questioned President Buhari about his wife’s comments, and he responded: “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but uh, she belongs to my kitchen, and my living room, and the other room” (BBC, 2016). The President said that “having run for president three times and having succeeded the fourth, he could ‘claim superior knowledge over her’".

President Buhari’s “faux pas in Germany represents the dilemma of the feminist movements” in Nigeria (Olupohunda, 2016). The long-standing patriarchal narrative that “women’s places are in the kitchen” and that women “should be seen and not heard” has strengthened the narrative of Nigerian women being submissive and subservient to men. President Buhari’s comments exude reminiscences of historical patriarchal oppression and subjugation of Nigerian women with no meaningful access to compete equally with their male counterparts both in public and private’s spaces. In his response to his wife’s criticism, President Buhari, in the presence of an international audience and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had smiled humorously and made a statement that might negatively label his presidency in the future. In spite of the defense put up by his spokesperson, President Buhari’s remark is suggestive of the patriarchal structure and culture of the Nigerian society; his condescending statement breaches the right to dignity of every woman, recognized in section 34 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

Discourses of women’s rights and their subordinate position have always been a national struggle even before the President’s faux pas. The President’s statement was excused by his spokesman as a joke; however, such a statement touching on the issue of a woman’s place in modern times is hardly a joke. More so in a subsequent interview, the President reiterated his stance saying that his wife’s most important duty was to “look after” him and the home “even if she’s working” (BBC, 2016). In reality, his statements reflect widely held beliefs in a patriarchal society and serves to validate the widespread perception in Nigerian society that women exist simply to make men’s lives easier.

At a time when millions of Nigerian women are critically confronting the patriarchal system and breaking away from the fetters of sexism and male domination, the President’s statement makes a mockery of the feminist movement in Nigeria. If a woman with the prominence of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is defined by three rooms in her husband's home, how should other Nigerian women be classified? The President’s statement in Germany has drawn criticisms, but his remarks are not anything new. While it was disappointing that such a depiction of women

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 18 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] was expressed by Nigeria’s first citizen, the statement largely represents the mind-set of some Nigerian men who still consider women as inferior to them. Some men even justify their treatment of women with a biblical injunction that admonishes women to submit to their husbands. One Nigerian (Yoruba) proverb even proclaimed, “a man as the crown on a woman’s head”. Nigeria portrays an extremely sexist nation where some men treat their wives the way it pleases them. An average man in Nigeria sees his wife as a piece of furniture instead of his equal and partner. There are signs to prove that a man in Nigeria believes that once you pay the bride price, you can do anything to your wife; the woman's dreams and ambitions are relegated while her husband rules over the household as he pleases. Millions of Nigerian women have had their voices stifled because of tradition and their ambitions and dreams crushed because they must be in the kitchen and cook for the family. You can judge a country on how it treats not only its young people but also its girls and women. If Nigeria’s First Lady is relegated to functions in the kitchen, the living room and the other room in her husband's house, what can be said about gender relations in the Nigerian state? Unfortunate as these narratives that portray women as chattels may seem, President Buhari’s statement offers *an opportunity to expand the boundaries of the debate on women’s rights in Nigeria.

CONCLUSION

Correcting Gender Inequality

Patriarchy is a major impediment to women’s advancement and development. Despite existing variations in the levels of domination, the general principles remain the same, i.e. men are in control. Because the nature of this control may differ, there is the need for a proper understanding of the system that keeps women dominated and subordinate, and to find answers to its workings in order to systematically advance for women’s development.

In order to rectify the manifestations of gender inequality in Nigeria, there is the need to question the influences of patriarchy and promote women’s rights in the private and public spheres. The United Nations’ General Assembly reaffirms this in its Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which makes it compulsory for all states to adopt its cardinal objectives and employ harsher sanctions for violating the provisions of the convention. Additionally, the rights of women are also declared the relevant clauses of the Beijing Platform for Action which aims at eliminating all the impediments to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life, by

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[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, Jun., 2018, 7 ] 19 [© 2014-2018 Ibadan Journal of Sociology] pledging that women would be accorded full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making processes.

In essence, the conceptualization of power in an ideal human milieu which fosters gender equality is that men and women exercise some authority, influence or control over their environment in the socio-political and economic spheres of life. The modern reality, however, contradicts this ideal. As feminism has successfully demonstrated over the years, the balance of power in many societies of the world tilts in favour of males. Feminists blame this untoward situation on patriarchy, a system of societal valuation of gender activities which celebrates the roles played by males and relegates those played by females. Thus, strength, protection, provision, decision- making/judgement, vision, stability, etc. are all correlated with the males in the society, while tenderness, pliability, procreation, nurture, home-making are erected as the specialty of females. Although all the qualities stated above are sine qua non to a stable and progressive society, patriarchy foregrounds the roles of the males through such structures as religion, education, philosophy, literature, law and other elements embodying the social organism.

There is an urgent need to re-examine the patriarchal structures holding women down in the Nigerian milieu. The fact that such female subordination exists many years after independence, as apparently exemplified by President Buhari’s comments about his wife, is evident of the continuing male-female divide in Nigeria, and the attendant disadvantaged position of the latter. The solution is not only in ensuring access to education for both the male and the female, but also in re-educating the males and some categories of women to acknowledge the female gender as an equal partner to the male counterpart in the tasks of family and nation-building.

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