International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 Boki Women and Nigerian Economy Besong, Eric Ndoma Department of Philosophy, Federal University Lafia P.M.B 146, Lafia, Nasarawa State, [email protected]

Abstract: It is quite regrettable that the normal gross tendencies to ignore or undermine the enormous role of women in the economies of nations apply to the Boki women of Central , Nigeria. Yet, studies have proven that African women are generally the engine house of their local economies through several economic activities. Boki women are likewise. Amidst the various challenges faced by these women across the ages, their place in Boki, Cross River and Nigerian economies cannot be underestimated or overemphasized. Therefore, this study rises to bridge this underlying knowledge gap, bringing their enormous contributions to foresight. It has established that Boki women enormously contribute to the economy through cassava processing, palm oil and palm kernel production/marketing, food crop production, firewood production/marketing, vegetable, trade, etc. Proceeds from their economic ventures contribute to national development in several ways including self-assertion, self- reliance, job creation, education sponsorship. However, they are challenged by several factors, political, cultural, logistics, gender issues, low education level, poverty, etc. This paper maintains that Boki women have played a very significant role in Nigeria as a whole, and thus deserve a scholarly appraisal of this kind. It recommends gender balance and bias-less works on and appreciation of these women and others in general. Both primary and secondary sources of data collection were involved in the data collection, which followed the survey descriptive method and the qualitative analysis approach.

Keywords: Boki women, Economy, Development, Agriculture, Entrepreneurship

1. INTRODUCTION Boki is a nation and Local Government Area in the Central geo-political zone of Cross River State. The Boki woman is thus the biblical Eve of Boki land to the Boki Adam, i.e. she is the extension and continuation of the woman God created for man (Robert, 2015; Torkula, 2009:6; Afolayan, 2009; Genesis 2:21-25,3:1-7). Boki has a thriving economy with its women being the key players. Generally, women constitute half of the world’s population and have contributed significantly to the well-being of the human race (UNDP1997:9). It has been established that bulk of rural women in particular are significantly contributing to their national economies, but they are the poorest of the poor, illiterate, ignorant, disease-ridden, occupying low social, economic and political status (UN, 2008:1; Ochelle, 2014:2). The role of women, especially in the rural areas was for a long time regarded as secondary in the socio-economic development of Nigeria. Women, therefore, tended to be ignored (Ihimodu, 1996:1). Legion evidence abounds to corroborate the invaluable, immense contributions of women to development in both many developing and developed economics (nations). It has been established that African women’s population in economic life is deeply rooted everywhere on the continents. For instance, besides carrying out their domestic chores like food production, firewood collection and provision of household water, reproduction and parenting (motherhood), women contribute significantly to the workforce in agriculture and informal sectors. They constitute one-fourth of developing nations’ industrial labour force but still carry the main burden of childcare (parenting) and household chores (see Ochelle, 2009:2). On rural women’s contribution to the economy, Ochelle (2009:2) notes, If the economic contribution of rural women is properly evaluated, it could be seen that they provide about half the family income. In view of these facts, we assume that societal transformation in the developing economies [and even those of developed economies] in general and in most parts of Africa cannot take place without the rural women playing a predominant role. This contribution has not been fully appreciated hitherto. This ugly situation confronts the Boki women too, whose case, like most of their counterparts in Cross River and the so-called minority nations of Nigeria, is blatant, pitiable, regrettable, unfortunate and seemingly unaddressed yet. As Ochelle (2014:5) contends,

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 The study of the place of Nigerian women in history is perhaps the most neglected theme in its past. The need to study the place of women has been made valid and necessary not by the present day problems faced by women in these societies but also by the lip service paid to the need for women to get into the realm of the social, political, economic and cultural development of Nigeria. The above is factual and applies to our case too. The Boki women with their enormous economic, socio-cultural, political, educational and developmental contributions are grossly neglected. The Boki women, like their fellows, play pivotal role and contribution to both Boki and Nigerian economies. They play an indispensable role of enhancing agriculture, rural development, improving food security, eradicating rural poverty, job creation, entrepreneurship pursuit, growth and development, self-assertion/reliance (economic independence), education sponsorship, etc. (see Ihimodu, 1996:2; Ochelle, 2014:3). In what gives credence to the foregoing, Robert (2015:1-2) observes, The woman, like most of her contemporaries of some other cultures [like Boki], in almost all spheres, has a significant place in societal phenomena but only for gender-based allied forces against her across ages… The enormous contribution of this woman to her society seems to gain little or no recognition, especially formal, since she is a mere woman, a weaker vessel and so on, as women in general are narrowly and fallaciously perceived by classical and sexist men, whose orientation is shaped by the functionalist gender theory based on bio-sociological role and status of men and women. The above reflects our case under study, as the aforementioned are obtained about Boki women too. These women contribute greatly to Boki, Cross River and Nigeria economies, including the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) but seem to gain little or no recognition, especially formal, since they are perceived with contempt, bias and prejudice. Again, Ayodele (2015:1) lends credence to our position thus: An attempt to situate the place of the traditional African woman accurately could not be found in Western cast of mind. An outsider’s summation on the true position of a people’s way of life is most often preposterous or pigeon- holed. Notwithstanding the universal chauvinistic disposition, the Yoruba traditional society gives a pride of place to women in all spheres of existence… In the same vein, an attempt to situate the place of the Boki women in societal phenomena is perceived with Western mind cast and racial-ethnocentric bias black scholarship of ethnic dichotomy and superiority tendencies. The universal chauvinistic dispositions against women are very obvious, extreme and nearly unchanging in Boki. The Boki traditional society, unlike Yoruba and the like, gives no place to women in almost all spheres except parenting and domestic roles, as a patriarchal society. Furthermore, with over 88.5 million and a growth of 2.7 (National Population Census, 1991), Nigeria is the most populous nation in Sub Saharan Africa. The women constitute 49.6% of the total and are responsible for 60-80% of food production besides reproductive and management roles, but are ignored in the development process (Adu, 2004:132). Scholars have noted with dismay that: …the fact of women’s participation in agriculture… has had to be proven in almost every country. In Nigeria with increasing data being made available, this should change, and women’s role in agriculture development be perceived for what it is, vital to the process of improving productivity and living conditions (Charthon, 1984). The above captures our submission regarding the Boki women’s enormous contribution to Nigerian economy via agriculture, manufacturing/processing, trade, commerce and entrepreneurship (see Awe, 1992; Ochelle, 2014:5). Of course, if Boki women (and other rural women) are given the opportunities, they could contribute to their own well- being and more to the whole society. If they are particularly asserted from various negative constraints like limited access to education, healthcare, information technology, credit, market, cultural restriction, patriarchy, etc., they would do wonders, some that men have not and may not think about doing. They would become self- reliant/dependent, asserted, transformed, productive and fully participating in all that they need to be part of in their society, Boki, thus dropping patriarchy, male preponderance, subservience, relegation, gender bias/prejudice and monopoly (see Robert, 2015:14). The challenges thus are how to incorporate women more effectively into formal development activities as recommended during the UN Decade for Women (1975-1985). Women make essential contributions to the agricultural and rural economies in all developing countries. Their roles vary considerably between and within regions and are changing rapidly in many parts of the world, where economic and social forces are transforming the agricultural sector. Rural women often manage complex households and

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 pursue multiple livelihood strategies. Their activities typically include producing agricultural crops, rearing animals, processing and preparing food, working for wages in agricultural or other rural enterprises, collecting fuel and water, engaging in trade and marketing, caring for family members and maintaining their homes. Many of these activities are not defined as economically active employment in national accounts but they are essential to the well-being of rural households (Charthon, 1984; Awe, 1992; Adu, 2004; Ochelle, 2014; Robert, 2015). The Boki women, as rural women, do likewise, if not more. They venture into all of these and lot more. It must also be mentioned that some of their roles vary, while others are the same with those of other societies in both Cross River and the globe at large. Generally, women, undoubtedly, make important contributions to the agricultural and rural economies of all regions of the world, though the exact contribution both in terms of magnitude and of its nature is often difficult to assess and shows a high degree of variation across countries and regions. Boki women, from time being, have been contributing enormously to both agricultural and rural economies of Boki, Cross River and Nigeria in general. Their contributions are often militated against by various challenges and made seemingly insignificant, just like their counterparts of Bekwarra, Yala, , and elsewhere. Such challenges include non-appreciation of their contributions to the society, their relegation, gender and cultural issues, low education, poverty and lack of infrastructural problems and emerging contemporary trends. Therefore, there is dire need for a work of this kind on Boki women emancipation, empowerment and appreciation.

2. THE BOKI OF CENTRAL CROSS RIVER, NIGERIA Boki is one of the nations and Local Government Areas of (present day) Central Cross River State, Nigeria. As a nation, Boki has a rich history and inherent characteristics, though until recently almost everything about Boki, like most other developing civilizations in Cross River, Nigeria, Africa and beyond, was orally told and transmitted across ages. However, ‘to have the thinking that larger political units are ‘more advanced’ than small ones could be misleading’ (Isichie (1976:21). In the same vein, Alogoa (1993:8) warns against the tendency of Nigerian scholarship to suggest that non-centralised groups of Nigeria are without history. Boki, a small [minor] nation state, possesses nationhood core characteristics, some of which are inherent and distinct to her (see Robert, 2015). It has not been definitely known about the central stock of which all Boki are descendants or are of origin, beyond the confine of their present habitat. In most cases, each native claims to be autochthonous in one place or another within the habitat (Abua, 2008:188). Frequent small scale migrations were largely responsible for the difficulty of discovering the true affinity of many Boki sub-groups or villages. Abua (2008:188) further notes that regarding the recent history of Boki, two general tendencies may be noted: (i) the Boki were unsettled and migratory people; (ii) ancient customs among Boki, as among their Bette and neighbours, were premised on building their villages for safety sake on or near the summit, of somewhat inaccessible hills. For this people, oral sources and a few written ones have maintained that the causes of their movement were basically: i. Aggression from hostile neighbours; ii. Several epidemics; iii. Other mythical and folktale events, interpreted by diviners. Prime and most popular among several tales and myths is that in which it is held that the whole Boki people were said to have hurried away and dispersed from their original home, Orem-Ekpang, when an unnatural event occurred. The story of the event has it that a girl with yaws and sours covering her body was warming herself in the morning sun during the winter or Harmattan season, when people have all gone to harvest crops on their farms, a mysterious hawk flew upon the girl and took her a way to a mighty cotton tree. There, the carnivorous bird began eating her up. The Boki inhabitants of Orem-Ekpang were attracted to the scenario. Diviners then warned that their Orem-Ekpang clusters must be deserted. So, everyone took their belongings and families and made [hurried] away. This tale has always been in the mouth of every old Boki person, as their history, like that of Africa as a whole then was orally transmitted. However, it must be mentioned that with time several fractions of the Boki people, who had hurried away from Orem-Ekpang later returned to the area, perhaps upon contact with Western civilisation and religion- Christianity. iv. The tendency to secure land, especially for farming, though it was less potent in Boki than among more populous peoples (Abua, 2008). On the second general tendency regarding Boki history, Abua (2008:189) notes that during the two immediate past centuries, the advent of greater security coupled with the demands for conveniences and the desire to be nearer to the emerging urban areas, particularly commercial centres (areas) had reduced all villages following rural-urban migration. For example, oral sources had revealed that Katabang, a Boki village, left her hilltop settlement for her

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 present settlement in 1917 (Abua, 2008: 189). It is thus an indisputable fact that Boki, a small nation or a cultural entity in Cross River State, like others, has a history and the systems every society possesses and operates. Many people in recent years have traced the remote migratory root of the Boki to Cameroon; Oban, the centre of the Ejagham nation of Central Cross River; the Bette clusters; and the Ekoi clusters respectively (Erim, 1989; Bassey, 1999; Robert, 2016; Monica Agbor, 2008; Matthew Besong; Monica Odey). It should be noted that these sources are usually both oral and written. A non-Boki respondent, Odey Robert, explained that both written and oral sources abound that corroborate the obvious geo-linguistic and cultural facts [evidence] upon which one could infer that the Boki had some dealing with and be traced to Better, Cameroon and Ejagham nation. For instance, the place still shares boundary with Cameroon and and Obanliku LGAs of Cross River, on one hand; names, basic vocabularies based on lexicostatistics, and culture traits with Ejagham areas like Obubura, Ekori and others, on the other hand. He recalled that his grandmother, Oshama Agbor mentioned Boki’s trace to and affinity with Cameroon, Better Ejagham several times, who had stressed that their spread to other places or parts of Boki homeland was said to be basically during and shortly after their migration from Cameroon to their Boki settlement. One would even be right to assert that the people had migrated to Cameroon from the Central Africa, when different other groups had begun moving, from their original home, and then later moved further to their present site. It suffices to say that the people could be a spring of one of the large communities of tribe, as Erim (1989) maintained that smaller ethnic groups, ethnic clusters, are a respective spring of the large community of tribes. The Boki themselves maintain that the term ‘Boki’ was originally applied to or used for the people of ‘Danare’, which comprised seven villages, whose eponymous ancestor was one Bissong Boki. What is still unclear is the origin and migration of the Bissong Boki. The term ‘Boki’ is still restricted in application to the seven villages of Danare. But it is generally used by the modern local natives to denote/refer also to the following areas associated with (closely allied to) Danare area: Osokom, Abo, Bashua, Beebo, Bawop, Kwakwe-Beebo, Bumaki, Eastern Boki, Irruan, Isobendege, Kakwagom, Bue-Bishu, Kakwagom-Buda, Oremekpang, Buentsebe, Boje, Okwangwo, Bansan, Alike, Okundi, Ntamante, Ekpashi, Osokom II, Katabang, Nsadop, Nwul, Isom-Achua, Oku, Bafin-Etintim and Bue-Obui clans, with a total of 537 major villages. Formally, the term ‘Boki’ was applied documentarily by Sir Harry Johnston, followed by P.A. Talbot, to a group of peoples known to speak a common central speech variety- Boki Language, with considerable number of (several) dialects. These peoples, according to them, are Bette, Gaye (Obanliku), Yakoro (Bekwarra), Alanku-Boki and Boki (other Boki). These two colonial masters and writers had overstretched Boki because the first three groups are distinct groups who merely share certain linguistic and cultural similarities, which could be aligned to the historical social contact and relations between the Boki proper and these their neighbours erroneously conceived by these foreign officials/writers as part or peoples of Boki. Of course, these peoples still share boundaries and social relations, including marriages and socio-cultural and economic activities as well as cross political and linguistic traits with the Boki till date. The Bekwarra (Yakoro), for example, first had contact with the Boki when they ‘hurried away’ from Obudu, their Bette original Cross River home, and settled at Irruan, before proceeding later to their present Bekwarra settlement after stopping over variously and founding Ogoja in company of Ugaga (Yala), before the Nkum Nkim peoples joined them in what is today known as Ogoja LGA (Stoddart 1932; Erim, 1989; Abua, 2008; Robert, 2015). The area occupied by Boki is estimated to be at 900sq mi, according to the colonial Intelligent Reports (Abua, 2008: 187), while recent studies estimate it to be 1,070sq mi (2,771km2). Its location in Nigeria is given as 6o16’26’N 9o00’36’E. The 2006 population census placed Boki at 186,611 with 174/sq mi (67.3/km2) density (http://www.citypopulation.de/php/nigeria-admin.php?adm2id=NGA009007). Out of the estimated population of 186,611, 93,406 stands for women; 31,102 presents children; while men have about 124,408, using the United Nation Development Programme population findings model, which revealed that women and children usually make up 11/3 of the total population of every area. Boki became an autonomous LGA on 28 August, 1991 with Boje as its Capital. Before then, it had been under the former Ogoja Region and Province during the colonial era and later under Ikom LGA of the post-colonial military era. It is a landlocked LGA of Cross River, Nigeria, bounded by the Republic of Cameroon eastward, Obudu and Obanliku northward, Ikom and Ogoja westward and southward (Cross River Watch, 2013). The region is discovered to have some of the most rugged terrains on Nigeria, for it is almost completely covered by the Cross River Rainforest (one of the last remaining in Nigeria) and the Afi Mountain, ranging 60%, which is why most of its

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 parts cannot be plied by vehicles throughout the year (http://www.independentnig.com/2012/08/boki-communities- nigeria-tourist-haven-devoured-by-mudslide/). Boki LGA is the agricultural hub of Cross River State and one of the largest LGAs. This status makes it a viable region for agricultural investment. It is known internationally as a commercial centre for agricultural commodities such as cocoa, coffee, timber, yam, vegetable, banana, plantain, palm products, among others. Its famous markets include Okundi, Ntamante, Kakwagom, Wula and Katchuan markets (www.kekerete.tripod.com/CRSG/boki.html). Afi Mountain is listed as an ‘Important Bird Area’ for Nigeria, and the migratory swallow roost at Boje is one of the largest in Africa, where bird-watchers are welcomed but mist-netting is not permitted except by special arrangement with the state Wildlife authorities.

3. CONCEPTUAL APPROACH Our key operational concepts are given conceptual clarifications here for easy understanding. To begin with, Boki describes a people as well as an area of Central Cross River, the land and the people with their culture and societal institutions/systems – economic, political, socio-cultural and educational systems, including their heritage, customs, traditions, values, norms, philosophy, cosmology, etc. Ajayi (2011) describes ‘woman’ as the feminine component of human species, who apart from serving as a vehicle for nurturing human life, is also a producer and consumer and an equally endowed agent for fostering a while some political, social and economic development in society. For Gotau (2015:4), the term ‘woman’ is a generic linguistic and biological label for a mature female human being. Quoting Genesis 2:23, he traces it to the biblical name given by Adam to Eve, the first woman God created, said to mean ‘taken out of man’. On her part, Afolayan describes woman as a man with a womb, designed by God to carry a womb for reproduction and to be a help mate for a man, her husband. Her definition, anchored on religious perspective, reflects woman’s generic and biological domestic roles of complementarity, complementing man and procreation. ‘Women’ is the plural of woman. Therefore, Boki women are the indigenous female (Eves of) Boki people of Boki land, Cross River State, Nigeria. Most of the Boki women are rural women. Their population far outweighs men’s, as in the macrocosm of Nigerian population: 88.5 million, whereby women constitute 49.6% of the total and are responsible for 60-80% of food production, besides reproduction and management roles (NPC, 1991; Adu, 2004). Boki’s total population is estimated to be 186,661, with women having 93,406. Ochelle (2014:14) notes that a given economy is the result of a set of processes that involves its culture, virtues, education, technological advancement, evolution, history , social organisation, political structure and legal system as well as it geography, natural resources endowment and ecology as main factors. These factors give context, content and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions. This is factual and the case with the economy of Boki on one hand, and Nigerian economy on the other. According to the Wikipedia, an economy or economic system consists of the production, distribution, or trade and consumption of limited foods and services by different agents in a given geographical location. The economic agents can be individuals, businesses, organisations or governments. This applies to our case under study, where Boki women are vibrant economic agents, who actively participate in and immensely contribute to the production, distribution and consumption of the limited human resources (wants/needs) – foods and services– in Boki, Cross River and beyond. This thus is why it is regrettable and unfortunate that the enormous roles and contributions of the Boki women are yet to be accorded the deserving societal and scholastic appraisal and appreciation. ‘Boki women and Nigerian economy’ revolves around the contributions to or roles of Boki women in Nigeria economy via their economic ventures like palm oil/palm kernel production, cassava processing, food production, craft, fishing, farming, poultry, firewood, plantation, petty trade, indigenous industries, entrepreneurship, etc. (see Robert, 2015:13; Olubabunmi, 2009; Ochelle, 2014). Agriculture is often defined simply as the cultivation of crops and the rearing of animals for man use. It involves crop and livestock production, fisheries, forestry and wild-life conservation, whereby Boki women engage in all of these but wild conservation (see Iweana, 2008). Entrepreneurship, in the words of Dibie and Robert (2014:4), is a contemporary economic concept that describes small and medium [and large] scale enterprises and skills acquisition, aimed at profit-making, self-reliance, economic boost, poverty alleviation, job creation, commercial transformation and socio-economic/national growth and development.

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 Entrepreneurship is mostly associated with the concepts of innovation and creativity and it generally involves the identification and exploitation of business opportunities culminating into an enterprise or business firm (Hisrich, Peters & Shepherd, 2006). Entrepreneurship is regarded as a key ingredient required to harness human and material resources towards the achievement of growth and development of any nation (Mohanty, 2009). Thus, entrepreneurship is generally considered as a power drive of any economy, particularly because the recent global economic downturn has necessitated most developing nations of the world to consider entrepreneurship, precisely small and medium scale enterprises as the positive option for economic re-engineering and building (Lambing and Kuehl, 2007). Oyibo in Duru (2011) defines entrepreneurship as the process of identifying an opportunity related to needs- satisfaction and converting it to a thing (product or service) of value. It can also be conceptualised as the process driven by the desire to innovate; that is, the ability to develop new business ideas and take the risk of setting up an enterprise to produce goods and services that can satisfy human wants. It is the ability and willingness to take risks and to combine factors of production in order to produce goods and services that can satisfy human wants (Drucker, 1985). This implies that an entrepreneur is a self-reliant/employed person who is willing to be innovative, creative, business-minded and able to identify and exploit opportunities in the environment. Economic growth, as Musa (2014:101) notes, is a long term process of sustainable rise in the capacity of a nation to supply increasingly diverse economic goods and services to its growing population. It is conventionally measured by the increase in Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of the country, in which the Boki women contribute to through their agricultural, trade, industrial and craft ventures, among others. Again, economic growth is described as an increase in potential total output of a country over a long period of time (Lipsey and Crystal, 1999). Since the total outputs of Nigeria Gross Domestic Product constitute its economic growth and the Boki women play an enviable role (contribution) to the GDP, thus their place in Nigerian economy cannot be over-emphasised. The concept of development, as it is currently, began in 1986 with the Brunthaid commission that encapsulated the concept of development to include economic, environmental, social, cultural and health needs as well as political needs (Brunthaid, 2003). In recent times, development currently therefore, one cannot avoid, concerns with socio- cultural and political issues and must focus on goals, ideas and ends as well as economic means (Ako, 2003). Ako (2003) observes that growth entails quantitative increase and precipitate development, and development implies a qualitative change in structure. Economic development is said to have occurred when per capital income is risen and the distribution of income is improved, with better administration, education, hospital, means of communication and transportation, technique of production and quality of life in general (Adu, 2004:123). The implication of the human factor in defining development emphasises that the target need not be on machines or institutions but on people. As such, this paper does appraise the invaluable contributions of Boki to the economic growth and development of both Boki and Nigeria now and later, with huge potentials from the women.

4. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Feminism as a theoretical consideration began since the 16th century with Liberal Feminism, Radical Feminism, Marxist Feminism (1884, Engels), Socialist Feminism, Race Nationalist Feminism, Poststructuralist Feminism, Women in Development Theory, etc. (Perenia, 2001). The struggle for women’s rights, recognition, equal/fair treatment, emancipation and assertion is grounded in these theories. That is, these theories rose with the growing interests in and studies on women’s place and participation in vital spheres of life in human societies, while the driving force is women’s growing agitations for an evolving new world order. It began as a movement championed by educated and elitist American and European women, which has spread with globalisation across all other parts of the world, including Nigeria as well as Boki. Kauffman (1981) traces feminism to Mary Wollstonecraft (1972). In ‘Vindication of the Right Women’, Kauffman (1989), challenged the idea that women exist only to please men; proposed that women should receive the same treatment as men in education; and that work opportunities and politics as well as the same moral standards should be applied to both men and women [equally]. While we dissociate ourselves here form radical feminism, we agree with Kauffman and her fellows, propose same for the Boki women and insist on gender and cultural restructuring and reformation in Boki, towards women assertion, empowerment and appreciation. Various theoretical models such as the Economic Development Model, Welfare Basic Need Approach, Women in Development (WID) that includes the Anti-Poverty Approach, Efficiency WID that is subdivided into the Equity Model and the Empowerment Model, and the Gender and Development (GAD) model, which is a development of

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 the and an adaption of earlier theories. It grew from the Women in Development (WID) Model and had variations and similarity with it (Adu, 2004:125). The aim of this theory was to inculcate the concept of ‘gender participation’, as different from women participation that connotes the contribution of both genders on an equal ground to development initiatives. Reacting to the views of Talcott Person and Robert Bales, functionalist theorists, Ityaryar (1993:11) contends that in countries where the conservative perspective largely governs, women are less likely to occupy important positions in public services, politics and the economy. Development policies affecting women, which are framed from this perspective, tend to emphasise some issues like child bearing, family planning, agriculture, food, population control, child abuse and prostitution. Of course, this is why the Boki women seem to have no place in the economy, regardless of their enormous contributions therein. Categorically, this paper is premised on both the liberal feminism and modernisation feminism. The latter rejects the bio-sociological roles of men and women across cultures and rather maintains that gender roles are culturally determined. These theorists argue that since gender roles are determined by culture, they can be changed by the people of the culture, whenever the need arises. They then call for a change from the old traditional values that are patriarchal values to those that are favourable to women and development (Idyorough, 2005:31). We share this position and advocate same for Boki women. Thomas Emeagwali is cited in Ityavar (1993:14) to have summarised the major concern of modernisation feminists viz: Once women are offered elective posts, exposed to formal education in large number, given easier access to credit facilities, exposed to technical innovations and the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, organized into co-operative, and made the beneficiaries of progressive land reform, the fundamental problems could have been resolved. Liberal feminists hold that the gender inequality in society is a product of patriarchal and sexist patterning of division of labour. Gender equality can be produced by transforming the division of labour through the re-patterning of key institutions – law, work, farming, education and media (Ritzer, 2000:454). Again, we share and adopt the standpoint of these theorists, as we advocate transformed and re-patterned aspects of Boki culture, including the key institutions so as to guarantee the Boki women’s self-assertion, participation in vital socio-political roles as well as wide recognition and appreciation by all and sundry. Financial, environmental, psychological, and sociological factors are elements that are able to either encourage or discourage women in entrepreneurship. Hence, women entrepreneurial motivation is considered as an interaction between economic, social, psychological and environmental factors as well as a willingness on the part of women to venture into entrepreneurial activity (Mansor, 2005; Moses, Olokundun and Akinbode, 2014). Thus, financial factors, may include insufficient finance, deterrents of tax system, inhibiting consequences of red-tapism and regulations, failure in policy implementation as regards promotion of small businesses, lack of prior financial education and experience, and other relevant factors (Mansor, 2005; Moses, et al., 2014). Environmental factors consist of availability of venture capital, the presence of experienced entrepreneurs as well as technically skilled labour force, accessibility of suppliers and customers or new markets, government influences, availability of land and other facilities, accessibility of transportation, supporting services and improved living and developmental conditions of local communities. In the same vein, psychological factors may include capacity and inclination to risk as regards venture creation, internal locus of control, need for achievement, and being proactively disposed. Finally, sociological factors may include family influence, role model, and specifically the role of women in the society (Mansor, 2005; Moses, et al., 2014). Hence, Mansor (2005) contends that the presence of these factors motivate the readiness to venture into entrepreneurial activity. The presence of these factors had long motivated the Boki women’s readiness to venture into entrepreneurial activities, basically local economies, commerce, manufacture, processing, trade, enterprises, industries, agriculture and so on.

5. BOKI WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO NIGERIAN ECONOMY As noted earlier, over the years, Boki women have been contributing significantly to the economies of Boki, Cross River and Nigeria, and, of course, by extension, other parts of the world. Then, they played a complementary role with men in the household lineage based pre-colonial economy (see Awe, 1992) and even played active roles in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, commerce, craft and politics in recent times. Despite the gross negligence, disregard and relegation of the vital contributions of these women to Boki, Cross River and Nigeria economies, their place in the economy cannot be overemphasised. There can never be any significant socio-economic development of a nation without due consideration, inclusion and placing of its women as adequate utilisation of human (labour) and material (natural) resources. The Nigerian

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 society with its economy is predominantly rural and agrarian. This rural sector possesses the huge potentials, prospects and capacity of spearheading the supply and development of food and funds required to sustain the nation, its industries and economy (Ochelle, 2014:13). Yet, rural women remain politically underrepresented, only peripherally mentioned in economic statistics and planning, and less educated or educationally deprived. This is the case with Boki women who were completely excluded from Boki traditional Politics until recently, are given but only a significant place in Boki modern politics (still underrepresented) and are peripherally mentioned in economic statistics and planning. According to Simmons (1975:140), the economic survey of Nigeria for 1959 recorded a total female labour force of 10,539 that year and indicated that 1,327 of these women were in processing and manufacturing industries. Obviously, female participation was substantially higher than these estimates. Yet, as development proceeds, women are clearly affected. This macrocosmic record applied to the microcosmic case of Boki too. Boki are clearly affected too. For a number of years, rural women in Nigeria have received some attention from such development organisations as World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), UNICEF, etc. But projects sponsored by these bodies have frequently reflected a western perception of women’s needs and aspirations, viewing women as farmers, wives, housekeepers, cooks and bearers of children. Donor agencies have directed funds toward maternal and child health clinics, family planning programmes, and have home economics projects. Yet, information has long been available showing that West African women play significant roles as farmers, traders and entrepreneurs in their own right, and that these roles are of central importance to the women, their families and the economies of their societies (Simmons, 1975:141). And, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Boki women are some of these West African women, who, of course, are not left out in these roles. Stating categorically, Boki women have been contributing to Nigerian economy thus:

6. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Economic development has and will continue to transform the agricultural sector in many developing countries. The process includes greater commercialisation, urbanisation and integration into the global economy. These trends and changes bring with them challenges and opportunities, some with a distinct gender dimension. Economic development and rising income that lead to greater demand for high-value commodities, processed products, and pre-prepared foods. In turn, food supply chains become increasingly vertically integrated, linking input suppliers, producers, processors, distributors and retailers. The Boki women had/have transformed and will continue to transform the agricultural sector in Boki, Cross River and Nigeria amidst the varied challenges they faced, and would do better if offered the deserved place and assistance. Since they have been and are actively involved in all these ventures, then their role in economic development cannot be overemphasised. Long before Johnston and Mellor (1961) identified what are today considered the fundamental economic contributions of agriculture to development, economists had focused on how agriculture could best contribute to overall growth and modernisation. Many of these earlier analysts (Rosenstein-Rodan, 1943; Lewis, 1954; Scitovsky, 1954; Hirschman, 1958; Jorgenson, 1961; and Fei and Ranis, 1961) uphold agriculture for its many resource abundances and its ability to transfer surpluses to the more important industrial sector. By serving as the ‘handmaiden’ to the industrial sector, agriculture’s primary role in the transformation of a developing economy was seen as subordinate in the central strategy of accelerating the pace of industrialisation. Small-holder production systems in rapidly growing areas are facing increasing pressure to commercialise, diversify and expand. Increasing scales of production are being observed particularly in the livestock sector, which attempts to supply rapidly growing markets for meat, milk and eggs. Small scale producers face particular pressures as size and private health and safety standards set by large retailers and wholesale buyers become increasingly important (de Haen et al., 2003). This is also obtained in Boki vis-à-vis the women, most of whom are small-holders, small- scale producers, whose certain pressures as size and private health and safety standards set by large retailers and wholesale buyers become increasingly important, patriarchy and gender role issues, low education, and lack of empowerment, among others. Over time, a traditional approach to development emerged, which concentrates on agriculture’s important market- mediated linkages. Several core economic roles for agriculture formed this traditional approach: (1) provision of labour for an urbanised industrial work force; (2) production of food for expanding populations with higher incomes; (3) supplying savings for industrial investments; (4) enlarging markets for industrial output; (5) earning

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 export earnings to pay for imported capital goods; and (6) producing primary materials for agro processing industries (Johnston and Mellor, 1961; Ranis et al., 1990; Delgado et al., 1994; Timmer, 1995).

7. PRODUCTION OF CASH CROPS Boki women are good producers of banana, plantain, yam, cassava, bush mango, vegetable (African salad – eruru, Boki leave [bechor], hot leave, spinach, bitter leave, etc.), pineapple, melon, maize [nkrun], cocoa-yam [ayong], water yam [nzizor], mushroom, etc. People from parts of North like Benue, Abuja and others usually buy banana, plantain, palm oil, palm kernel from these women. They sell bush mango to other parts of Cross River, Eastern and Northern traders. Eruru is well patronised by Yala, Bekwarra, Ogoja, Obudu, and Akwa-Ibom people in particular and others, including the Igbo, in general; etc.; likewise other produce. Although this does not mean that Boki men do not farm or support these women neither do we imply that women of such other areas do not produce all these. The point here is that they contribute significantly to both their Boki society and those of other parts of Nigeria, which do likewise to them cum Boki in return. It must also be stressed that their production is partly effected by comparative advantage and environmental factors. The claim is often heard that women produce 60-80% of food in most developing countries and half of the world’s food supply (Momsen, 1991; Mehra and Rojas, 2008). Sometimes the statement is qualified in various ways, specifying that it refers to local food production or a particular geographical region, and it is often phrased poetically viz: ‘… in developing countries, between 60 and 80 percent of food crops grow from seeds that are planted by a man’s hand…’ (Gupta, 2009). Jackson (2005) notes that these sources do not explain the methodology used in arriving at the estimate. Doss (2009) provides a detailed analysis of the conceptual and empirical challenges involved in estimating the share of food produced by women. The challenges include: (i) defining and measuring food production, (ii) defining the resources to be included in the calculation and (iii) designating those resources according to the gender of the person who controls them. A summary of the available evidence, using a variety of definitions and methodologies, finds that the contribution of women in agriculture is probably substantial but cannot be estimated with any degree of analytical rigor. It is unlikely to approach the levels so frequently cited. Food production can be defined in many different ways: primary crop production, food crop production, crop and livestock production, food processing and preparation, etc. It can be measured by weight, value, caloric content, etc. Each definition and metric gives a different picture of the contribution of women. Furthermore, food production requires a combination of different capital assets, including labour, land and finance, as well as intermediate goods and services, such as animal and mechanical power, seeds, fertilizer and water (Momsen, 1991; Jackson, 2005; Mehra and Rojas, 2008; Gupta, 2009). A simple comparison is often made between the amount of time men and women work in agricultural production, yet in order to understand the contribution women make to food production, it is necessary to consider a more complete range of inputs (Gupta, 2009). Realistically, it is very difficult to determine the gender of the person who controls these resources (Jackson, 2005; Gupta, 2009). If a crop is grown on land owned by an extended family, ploughed by a man, planted by a woman, weeded by their children and harvested collectively, what share can be attributed to the woman? All the same, what is important is that despite the complexity of making the contribution distinction, women’s quota contributed should be recognised and recorded rather than being ignored only for men’s, as the case in Boki, where patriarchy permeates everything.

8. CASSAVA PROCESSING Boki women engage in cassava processing and this contribute to and tap from the huge potentials and prospects of this sector of indigenous enterprises. That is, they process cassava into flour [alibo], pounded cassava food [fufu/akpu], cassava flake, cassava chips [a kind of Igbo sliced (and dried) cassava chips known as abacha], etc. These processed cassava products are used for both commercial and subsistent purposes. They constitute some sources of food and income. Some of them are sold out to traders from Abakaliki, Enugu, Calabar, Akwa-Ibom, Abuja, etc. on weekly basis. By this, the Boki women contribute not just to her immediate nation, Boki/Cross River, but also to the whole nation, Nigeria.

9. PALM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING Boki women produce both palm oil and kernel in large quantities for consumption and sales. Their palm oil, like that of the Bekwarra and Mbube, need no colouration. It means they engage in palm plantation, like plantain/banana plantation, and make several contributions to the economy, human and financial. They retail the palm wine tapped by men; process palm fruits for palm oil, palm kernel and kernel oil. These are also sources of income and food.

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 These are export goods too. Through these, they also effect development, economic growth and increase agriculture (see, Ijiba, 2014).

10. LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION Boki women are food fishers, ‘pastoralists’ and ‘zoologists.’ They rear domestic animals like fowls, ducks, pigs, dogs, goats and cats. Cats are mostly individuals’ pets, while others are reared for both domestic and commercial purposes. Even those who do not have these on their accord, rear and take good care of their husbands’ or relatives’ put under their custody. It is certainly clear that the benefits of all these are not their or Boki’s exclusive preserved, but cut across several other parts of the state and the nation – Nigeria. The excreta of these animals serve as manure that breeds high/good agricultural yields. Within pastoralist and mixed farming systems, livestock play an important role in supporting women and in improving their financial situation and Boki women, like other women, are heavily engaged in the sector. An estimated two-thirds of poor livestock keepers, totalling approximately 414 million people, are women (Thornton et al., 2002). They share responsibility with men and children for the care of animals, and particular species and types of activity are more associated with women than men. For example, women often have a prominent role in managing poultry (FAO 1998; Guèye 2000; Tung 2005) and dairy animals (Okali and Mims 1998; Tangka, Jabbar and Shapiro, 2000) and in caring for other animals that are housed and fed within the homestead. When tasks are divided, men are more likely to be involved in constructing housing and herding or grazing of animals, and in marketing of products, if women's mobility is constrained. The influence of women is strong in the use of eggs, milk and poultry meat for home consumption and they often have control over the marketing of and the income from these products. Perhaps, for this reason, poultry and small scale dairy projects have been popular investments for development projects aiming to improve the lot of rural women. In some countries small-scale pig production is also dominated by women. Female-headed households are as successful as male-headed households in generating income from their animals, although they tend to own smaller numbers of animals, probably because of labour constraints. And, ownership of livestock is particularly attractive to women in societies where access to land is restricted to men (Bravo-Baumann, 2000). Indeed, as a patriarchal society, access to land in Boki is more or less the exclusive preserved of men. While the role of women in small-scale livestock production is well recognised, much less has been documented about the engagement of women in intensive production and the market chains associated with large commercial enterprises. Demand for livestock products has grown much faster than the demand for crop staples during the past 40 years, fuelled by rising incomes, particularly in Asia and Latin America, and this trend is expected to continue. While pastoral and small scale mixed farming systems continue to be important in meeting the needs of rural consumers, the demands of growing urban populations are increasingly supplied with meat, milk and eggs from intensive commercial systems. This has important implications for the engagement of women in the livestock sector because of the different roles, responsibilities and access to resources that are evident within different scales of production systems and at different points on the production and marketing chain (Bravo-Baumann, 2000; Tangka et al., 2000; Okali and Mims, 1998). Doing so in Boki has the same, if not more, positive implication, outcomes and prospects for the women. Available evidence suggests that the role of women in meeting these changing demands may diminish, for two reasons. The first is that when livestock enterprises scale up, the control of decisions and income and sometimes of the entire enterprise often shifts to men. This is however not a universal phenomenon. For example, in Vietnam, many medium-sized duck-breeding enterprises are managed by women – but it is common and can be explained by the limited access that women have to land and credit. The second important factor is that all 15 small-holders face challenges when the livestock sector intensifies and concentrates and many go out of business. This is particularly evident for pig and poultry owners (Rola et al., 2006), but not confined to those species. Given the more limited ability of women to start their own businesses, this implies that they will tend to become employees rather than self- employed. In specialised activities like the production of day-old chicks, in the provision of services, and in slaughtering, processing and retail, women are visible wherever painstaking semi-skilled work is to be done, but very little information is available about the extent of their involvement compared to that of men, or their control over resources (FAO, 1998; Gueye, 2000; Tung, 2005; Rola etal., 2006).

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 11. FISHERIES In 2008, nearly 45 million people worldwide were directly engaged, full-time or part-time, in the fishery primary sector (FAO fishery database, 2008). In addition, about 135 million people are estimated to be employed in the secondary sector, including post-harvest activities. While comprehensive data are not available on a sex- disaggregated basis, case studies suggest that women may comprise up to 30% of the total employment in fisheries, including primary and secondary activities. Information provided to FAO from 86 countries indicates that in 2008, 5.4 million women worked as fishers and fish farmers in the primary sector. This represents 12% of the total. In two major producing countries, China and India, women represented a share of 21% and 24% respectively, of all fishers and fish farmers (FAO, 2008). There are fishers and fish farmers among Boki women too. Thus, they perform the known role women in general play in or contribute to fisheries. Women have rarely engaged in commercial offshore and long distance capture fisheries because of the vigorous work involved, and also because of their domestic responsibilities and/or social norms. Women are more commonly occupied in subsistence and commercial fishing from small boats and canoes in coastal or inland waters. Women also contribute as entrepreneurs and provide labour before, during and after the catch in both artisanal and commercial fisheries. For example, in West Africa, the so called ‘Fish Mamas’ play a major role. They usually own capital and are directly and vigorously involve in the co-ordination of the fisheries chain, from production to sales of fish. Unlike their counterparts of other areas, who dread fishing and fisheries, the Boki women, who are mostly used to riverine activities because of the presence of water bodies, deeply engage in this occupation for both subsistence and commercial purpose. This is the only hunting that women of this area and its environs are culturally allowed to be part of, like in Bekwarra (Robert, 2015).

12. FIREWOOD MARKETING FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION Boki women produce, gather and sell firewood and other forest products. According to Obadimu et al. (2008), women are the primary collectors of fuel wood and other forest products. They are often the chief repository of knowledge on the use and management of trees and other forest plants and products. The Boki women are likewise. Tosanwumi (1993) observes that forest have become for women a saving bank from which they draw huge dividends in the form of fuel fodder and valuable goods. Ajani (2000) reveals that 90% of forests productions are consumed as fuel wood, leading to great productions that are consumed as fuel wood, which in turn, leads to a great degree of deforestation in the country. He adds that the prices of fuel wood have risen by three times in the last decades in the country. The demand for fuel wood has been on the increase due to endless hike in the price of energy productions, particularly kerosene, liquefied natural gas and electricity. A few parts of Boki that are electrified rarely see electric power supply. Most other parts continuously live in darkness with fuel wood as the last resort for light, cooking, processing and mining, charcoal sales, and so on besides timber usage. Mores so, fuel wood are mainly used for domestic purpose to meet the energy requirements for cooking and space heating. In addition, commercial outfits such as restaurants, teashops, bakeries and ovens also use wood fuel, but the quantities are small when compared with domestic or family use. It is estimated that 90% of fuel wood consumption takes place in households, 5% in the individual sector and the remaining 5% in the commercial sector (Siddiquei and Amjad, 1993). The Boki women, via firewood business, contribute to Nigerian economy, like their counterparts of other cultures (areas). Poverty alleviation basically focuses on: (i) expanding employment opportunities, especially among women, and (ii) working towards that goal through policy action that takes into consideration macro- economic relationships and micro-economic allocation of resources, among other factors (Braun, 1995; Otitolaiye and Otitolaiye, 2014: 82). Therefore, firewood marketing constitutes a source of employment opportunities– entrepreneurship– for these rural women, from which they improve their standard of living, as they earn some income from it. As such, poverty is alleviated. This is one of the roles played by the Boki women in an emerging challenging economy like ours. Yet, their roles are boycotted, which should not be. Firewood (fuelwood) is one of the main sources of energy in Nigeria and most other parts of Africa. It constitutes about 1/3 of the total fuel used for cooking and heating in rural areas. It incorporates charcoal production and sales, patronised by most urban women, at least ½ of the total urban women population. Both firewood and charcoal are produced and marketed by Boki women, who are patronised mostly by external customers– buyers/users– regionally and internationally. As Kella (1996) has noted, fuelwood trading business is generally small scale operations that remain open throughout the year. Kella found that: 32% of fuelwood marketers are in urban areas, 52% in the villages while the remaining 16% are located along roadside; retailers dominate the fuelwood market, constituting

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 about 91% of the total; and almost 94% of the traders in urban areas are retailers, while 28% of the roadside traders are wholesalers. Kella’s observations also obtain in our case under study. His study with its findings perhaps builds on and complements Khattak and Amjad’s (1981), who reported that 90% of fuelwood is supplied from non-forest lands (that is private and community lands); and that about 41% of the fuelwood that are used by the households are purchased in the markets, while the rest 59% is obtained free from the source by self-collection. Marketing is a tool for directing the flow of goods and services from producers to the consumers, and this has a social dimension that could be used to reduce poverty of an area. This can be done by improving the efficiency of market for fuelwood and by removing distortion (Hulseboch, 1994). Helping the rural and urban poor is a moral obligation for every supply is a basic need, like food and shelter. Majority of the poor (like other segments of the society) depend on fuelwood for their daily needs – preparation of meals and the heating of homes.

13. BOKI WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Women entrepreneurs are described as a group of women who take initiatives to establish and effectively run or manage businesses (Mohanty, 2009). It is important to state that woman entrepreneurship is largely associated with small and medium enterprises consequent upon the fact that SMEs give women the opportunities to express their entrepreneurial talents hence their likelihood to be more involved in SMEs than their male counterparts (Tambunan, 2008). Findings and research presented by the International Labour Office as regards female entrepreneurship in developing economies, particularly in Africa, leads to substantial evidence that even women living under harsh and adverse conditions can still have notable economic impact by creating employment which most often than not is usually directed towards other women (OECD, 2004). Research findings indicate that a sample of 118 women entrepreneurs interviewed in Zambia owned 114 firms, providing 1013 persons with employment (ILO, 2003). Another research statistics, with relevance to women entrepreneurship in Africa, also indicate that a sample of 128 women entrepreneurs interviewed in Tanzania provided 752 persons with jobs. In the same vein, 123 women entrepreneurs were interviewed in Ethiopia, these women owned firms that provided employment for 852 individuals (OECD, 2004; ILO, 2003b). These research findings strongly indicate that women entrepreneurs, particularly in developing countries, have the potentials and capacities to own, run, manage and expand their enterprises, thus facilitating job creation and economic development. Therefore the impact of women entrepreneurship cannot be overemphasised. Therefore, it is imperative to review obstacles impeding the development of women entrepreneurship targeted at fostering entrepreneurial activities particularly in Africa and other developing nations, as this paper does and insists on change in all these regards. Entrepreneurship has been recognised by both developed and developing nations as an instrument for rapid and sustainable economic growth and development. It is considered the engine of growth because it creates the needed manpower and skills for rapid growth, poverty reduction, empowerment creation, technical skills acquisition and income generation (Musa, 2014:99). In Nigeria, entrepreneurship has been beneficial because the private sector, comprising small and medium enterprises, provides diverse employment opportunities for 50% of the country’s population (Muktar, 2013). They are both entrepreneurs and artisans. And through their care economy role, they engage their youths in several enterprises (entrepreneurial ventures), such as tailoring (fashion), hair dressing (saloon), arts and crafts, beauty care, farming and agricultural enterprises (fish production, food crop production, livestock, dairy farms, tree plantations, spices, etc.), wood and carpentry/timber, trade and others. Boki women are entrepreneurs, self-employed and minor labour employers who are willing and able to identify and exploit opportunities in the environment (Musa, 2014:101). These women are driven by the burning desire to innovate, develop new ideas and take the risk of setting up enterprises to produce goods and services that can satisfy human wants. These women’s attributes and entrepreneurial nature reflect the conception/definition of entrepreneurship by several scholars, like Drucker (1985), Soyibo in Duru (2011), Musa (2014), Duru (2011), and Meredith, Nelson and Neck (1991). Meredith et al. (1991) define entrepreneurs as people who have the ability to see and evaluate business opportunities, gather necessary resources in order to take advantage of them and initiate appropriate actions to ensure success. For Drucker (1985), it is the ability and willingness to take risks and to combine factors of production in order to produce goods and services that can satisfy human wants. These conceptions lucidly describes the Boki women, who possess these abilities, prowess, dexterities, initiatives and the willingness to take risks and combine factors of production to produce goods and services that satisfy man to some (a large) extent.

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 14. PROSPECTS OF BOKI WOMEN AND NIGERIAN ECONOMY There is no gainsaying the fact that Boki women, like most of their counterparts of other developing nations, have immensely contributed to Nigerian economy over the years. And it is a gesture they continuously sustain across ages for posterities. Their involvement in local/indigenous commerce and industries, agriculture, entrepreneurship (enterprises), arts, crafts, technology, manufacture (food processing), education, economic growth and development and good enough parenting (home care – care economy) all constitute the phases of the Boki women’s contribution (role) as well as prospects to Boki, Cross River State and Nigerian economies. The prospects of these women’s role in nation’s economy begin with the care economy and end with their insignificant participation in politics and formal education. Women’s free (unpaid) domestic (family/home care) services-roles, including procreation, sexual satisfaction of their husbands and good enough parenting, constitute the care economy role of women across all economies and cultures. Several scholars/researchers have worked on and attested to this unique socio-biological role of women in general. For instance, DAC Network (2011:25), Sweden MFA (2010) and Faith and Blackden (2009) have observed that women perform the bulk of unpaid care work across all economies and cultures. In many societies, existing norms dictate that girls and women have the main responsibility for the care of children, the elderly and the sick, as well as for running the household, including the provision of water and energy supplies. Some unpaid care works such as looking after family members are valued by those undertaking them, but much else are drudgery, such as water and fuel collection. In terms of effecting economic growth, Boki women have been ensuring sustainable rise in the capacity of the economies of Boki, Cross River State and Nigeria through increased supply of economic goods and services to their teeming populations. All their various economic, commercial artistic, technical (entrepreneurial), and agricultural contributions to the society’s growth and development are of economic growth effect. Economic self-assertion is economic liberation, which is made manifest through self-dependence/reliance. Boki women assert themselves economically and thus are not only self-dependent but supportive to their husbands and families. Since they engage in various economic activities, they are self-reliant, entrepreneurs, employers of labour in their own little or great quota (way) – job creators/designers and trainers of future entrepreneurs, artisans, technicians and professionals. Of course, through their economic buoyancy, most of them directly sponsor their children to school– through (nursery) primary to tertiary education, while others support their husbands financially in their children’s education sponsorship. Also, some of them sponsor their husbands or themselves through schools, especially higher education. Food provision, cooking, trading, processing, manufacture, farming, livestock production, among others, including those discussed above under ‘Boki women’s contribution to Nigerian Economy’, are all obvious prospects of these women’s contribution to their society. But for several human and natural constraints, these women would have no limit in their contribution to all spheres of human endeavours in their society. Of course, like other rural women in general, Boki women, who are mostly rural women, are blessed with a lot of dexterity, prowess, strength, talents, wisdom, attributes, potentials, etc. of high prospects for their societies, for which they account for the general agricultural, socio-economic, cultural (domestic/care), educational (informal), biological, and development roles of women across all developing societies (cultures). These women are part of the total 60-80% Nigerian women ratio in agriculture and economy, besides their reproductive and management roles.

15. CHALLENGES OF BOKI WOMEN These women are constrained by various man-tailored and natural bottlenecks. These limit their scope and roles, and set in contempt regarding their enormous potentials, capabilities, roles and contributions, which are undermined in various ways. Such relegation and negligence account for the situation where the Boki women erstwhile had no single place in Boki traditional politics – no single female traditional political authority/institution, until recently that the Women Leader traditional institution was created. Thank God for Western education, its shortcoming notwithstanding, for which Bessi Bangkong, for example, among these women, ruled as Boki LGA Chairman (Chairperson). Benedette Barong Osang, the present Otu ba Nyinye Nsadop (General Women Leader of Nsadop), revealed, during this study interview, that gender equality is now felt by the Boki women. In Nsadop, there are other Otu ba Nyinyes under Benedette Osang and there had been several past General Women Leaders of Nsadop. However, there are still several gaps yet unfilled for balanced gender roles and traditional tools therein. And of course, it has been posited and established that most women leaders usually do better than their men counterparts (Adu, 2005:128, Ifesanmi, 1998). Benedette Barong Osang is often said to have done likewise in Boki– [almost] better than some of her male

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 predecessors and successors. Other Boki women leaders have done and are commended likewise. Bessi Bangkong is doing a lot currently in Nsadop land in mobilising women, old and young, and contributing their quotas to the development of Nsadop society. This implies that the Boki women are also good rulers, like some of their male counterparts, thus their near exclusion from Boki traditional politics and insignificant placement (poor representation) in Boki/Cross River secular (modern) politics is stereotyping, fraught, bias, prejudicing and worrisome. Boki women unions, like Boki Women Association, Nsadop Women Association, etc. that are completely women-centred organisations, have shown in various ways that these women have enviable leadership charisma, potentials and capabilities. As Adu (2004:135) observes, ‘keeping women away from the development process amounts to depriving the society of an essential component, a necessary link in the political, economic and socio-cultural development of the county.’ That is what keeping the Boki women way from development processes amounts to. And, Darwin (2002) argues, ‘If human survival is the world’s most urgent problems today and of course women are essential for this survival, then their participation in power is indispensable for the emergence of solutions to the crisis.’ We totally agree with Darwin. It is clear thus that Boki women are challenged by several cultural and gender issues (embargoes) that adversely affect their effective (extreme) contributions to the society. Found in a male preponderance society, their roles are culturally defined, based on the tenets of the functionalist gender theorists, who consider the biological roles separation between women and men across cultures. According to the functionalists, because women are often pregnant and/or nursing children, the pre-industrial societies assigned domestic roles to women while hunting and defence tasks were assigned to men because of their larger size and muscular strength. According to Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales, instrumental leadership is always assigned to men in all societies while expressive leadership is assigned to women. Women provide care, love and support to their husbands; caring for the younger ones and carrying out household chores, which together constitute ‘care economy’. That is, they are social emotional specialists who specialise in overcoming interpersonal problems by diffusing tension and promoting solidarity. Whereas, men specialise in analysing emerging issues, defining activities and organising people to carry out those activities so as to solve those problems. They have the responsibility of going out of the home in search of well paid jobs and providing for the material needs of their families (Hughes et al., 1999:276-7, Ityavar, 1993:11-2). The foregoing explains why Boki women have been excluded from Boki traditional politics as well as given low recognition in spite of their enormous contributions to the economy as well as the society at large. This is shrouded in patriarchy, cultural and religious prescriptions and the women’s low literacy level. We submit that negative cultural and gender embargoes that work against Boki women should be eradicated, because since culture is conventionally made, it could be changed likewise. This follows the position of modernisation feminism. Modernisation feminism rejects the biological origin of gender roles and asserts that gender roles are culturally determined. It emphasises women and development. Thomas-Emeagwali is cited in Ityavar (1993:14) to have summarised the thrust of modernisation feminism thus: Once women are offered elective posts, exposed to formal education in larger numbers, given easier access to credit facilities, exposed to technical innovations and the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, organized into co-operatives and made the beneficiaries of progressive land reform, the fundamental problem would have been resolved. Ityavar (1993:15) posits that modernisation feminism has been responsible for incremental changes that have occurred in the Nigerian society in terms of women access to education, political positions, health services, co- operative services and other reformist economic programmes such as ‘Better Life for Rural Dwellers.’ So, we advocate and envisage modernisation and liberal feminism, not radical feminism, for the Boki women, towards realising the deserved change. More so, based on the functionalist bio-sociological gender roles assignment in Boki, the women are challenged by educational discrimination via the girl child’s education deprivation. There still exists a great gap between Boki women and men in formal education. The men are more educated than the women for several reasons, cultural, economic, gender-based and religious. In as much as illiteracy is still high in Nigeria generally, Boki is affected too. And, in Boki, there are more illiterate (uneducated) women than men. Like in most other parts of Cross River (e.g. Bekwarra and Yala), Nigeria Africa and most other parts of the globe, the girl child’s education is compromised or contemplated. For instance, the Boki lady (girl) used to be easily withdrawn from school and given out for marriage. These days, most of the girls (ladies) easily relinquish schooling (education) for marriage, while a few of them take to local craft, artisan, technical and commercial enterprises. On the other hand, Boki, as a nation, direly needs standard schools for at least a compulsory basic education that fully incorporates women.

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 Boki lacks good schools and other basic amenities. In what lends credence to the foregoing, Gbayi (2013) observes, among other points, that the Early Childhood Care Education subsector had been besieged with some challenges which include lack of basic infrastructure, uniform, standard, relevant segregation data, funds and dearth of qualified teachers/caregivers. He adds that statistics has shown that 2.02 out of the 2.2 million Nigerian children eligible for early childhood education (ECD) have no access to the services. The Boki girl child who is deprived of at least the basic education would usually be known for an insignificant role in various spheres of her society. The society with its institutions is more responsible for this scourging problem (phenomenon) than the individual women (girls) and their parents. So, the lack of facilities/infrastructure/social amenities, such as insufficient schools and high school fees, lack of healthcare facilities, poor road network, lack of favourable market, lack of access to modern facilities for mechanised farming, economic and industrial activities, the absence or lack of electricity, the absence of communication networks, as many parts of Boki have no single GSM (Global System Mobile) network services, to mention but a few, all constitute severe challenges to the Boki Women. Again, these women suffer the untold hardship (abject poverty) known to be associated with rural women and children of developing nations, like Nigeria, (Alcook, 1993:12; Ochelle, 2014; UNDP, 1997; Enemuo, 1999; Okeke, 1995). Low standard of living (poverty) greatly affects women’s contribution to their society in several ways. For example, poverty is partly responsible for the low level of education in Nigeria at large and Boki in particular. Poverty and poor rural development and empowerment are the basic problems of the rural dwellers, especially women, in developing economies (nations). Studies have shown that women suffer poverty on a more widespread basis than men, and their experience of poverty is quite different as a result of expectations about gender roles. Therefore, the concept of ‘feminisation of poverty’ is sometimes used by some scholars to denote the proposition that: more women suffer or are likely to experience abject poverty at an unceasing rate; women stand a greater risk of poverty than men; there are specific impacts of poverty on women (Alcook, 1993:12; Ochelle, 2014:5). Finally, the Boki women are confronted with contemporary trends like globalisation, urbanisation, westernisation and modernity. Most of them now prefer urban areas to Boki – their home – vis-à-vis urban life of laziness, gross disregard for agriculture and local economic and entrepreneurial ventures, since many are only after white-colour jobs which are almost non-existent. Most of them, like their contemporaries of elsewhere, simply misunderstand, misapply and over generalise/practise these trends.

16. CONCLUSION So far, the study of the place of Nigerian women, inclusive of Boki women, is still very insignificant and was one of the most neglected themes in the past until recently. Studies have revealed that (Boki) women in Africa generally played a complementary role with men in household lineage-based pre-colonial economy (Awe, 1992) and as well played an active role in agriculture, manufacture, trade and commerce, culture, social and even politics, like the Yoruba and Hausa women of historical times (FAO, 1966; Simmons, 1975; Awe, 1992; Ityavyar, 1993; Ogundipe- Ieslie, 1994; Kolawole, 1997; Fayeemi, 2013; Ochelle, 2014; Adegboyega, 2015; Ajayi, 2011; Sankira, 2015; among others). These roles have been and are ever sustained by women across ages and across all cultures (societies). Boki women of old and new did/do likewise, though the old ones did much more than their fellows of contemporary times. However, the contributions of the Boki women to Nigerian economy are enormous, though relegated/neglected and rarely heard of/written about. They have been playing a significant role in agriculture, economy, culture, social, manufacture, art, trade and commerce and entrepreneurship, but have had a poor place and recognition in Boki traditional and secular politics until recently. Their productive participation in modern politics and leadership, though recent, is commended or appreciable. It is apt to conclude with Blankson’s (2009:17) credence to our position thus: The vital contributions which women make to the economies of all human societies are very often unrecognized, unrewarded and constantly entail arduous exertions. In addition, the non-inclusion of women in socio-economic and political history of Africa is a fundamental problem that has continued to deepen the poverty of African historiography.

17. RECOMMENDATIONS In the course of this study, the following recommendations have been made:  There is a dire need for more studies of this kind, especially on women’s contributions to their societies in general and those of Boki women to Boki, Cross River and Nigerian societies in particular. The task lies mostly

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 10, December – 2017, Pages: 71-88 with the respective scholars of their societies, who mostly shy away from their indigenous knowledge. Scholars who shy away from their indigenous knowledge, e.g. Boki/Nigerian aspects of culture and other phenomena are insignificant, inconsequential, ‘less learned’, no matter their education status, being westernised and biased.  Scholars/researchers should be free from subjective, gender-bias, truth-buried, sectional, sentimental, battered and irrational perspective works/researches.  Rural development and empowerment should not be compromised by governments, institutions, NGOs, elites, the bourgeoisie and the gerontocrats. Rural development sustenance culture should be exhibited and enforced, towards maintaining and sustaining real development projects, programmes and efforts.  Cultural orientation and re-orientation is imperative, towards betterment, promotion/appreciation of the good aspects of a culture (e.g. hard work virtue) and the elimination of the negative aspects like gender labour division and stereotyping, women relegation, women exclusion from traditional and /or modern politics, as in Boki, and so on.  Boki direly needs basic infrastructure and social amenities such as standard markets, good roads, schools, hospitals/clinics, pipe-borne water (boreholes and taps), electricity, communication networks (MTN, Airtel, Glo, Etisalat, Vodacom), libraries, post office, town halls, etc. The availability of these would increase development and Boki women’s contributions to Boki, Cross River and Nigerian economies. These would also go a very long way to solving most of the challenges faced by these women.  Agriculture and entrepreneurship should be held high, promoted and sustained across the various cultures (societies) in Nigeria and other parts of the world. These sectors, along with local commerce and industries, should be developed and made lucrative so as to address employment and other social issues (vices) to at least the barest minimum. The youths should be taught technical skills for self-reliance.  The girl child education should not be toyed with across all cultures in Nigeria and beyond. This orientation should be popularised through sensitisation, awareness campaign, mass literacy, rural education, educational broadcasting and journalism, and what have you.  These women should be exposed to mechanised farming, electronic trading (commerce) and the appropriate use of modern communication facilities to be able to best fit into the cum excel in the contemporary global society.  Their husbands (the men) should always support/appreciate them in all regards.

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