Strategies for Improving the Standard of Women Empowerment Programmes in Nigeria
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Sokoto Educational Review VOL. 16 (1): June 2015 www.sokedureview.org STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING THE STANDARD OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMMES IN NIGERIA OLOMUKORO, O. CAROLINE Department of Adult & Non-Formal Education, University of Benin, Nigeria. Abstract This paper examines the strategies for improving the standard of women empowerment programmes in Nigeria which have not been adequately maintained and sustained over the years. The paper shows that despite the laudable programmes put in place by education agencies to elevate the status of women, certain factors tend to hinder access to the successful utilization of education opportunities by women. The paper discusses the concepts of empowerment and development, highlights the empowerment programmes and the situational analysis of women educational status and recommends, among others, that the empowerment of women should start from the grassroots by organizing training programmes with skill acquisition centres for women by government agencies and other educational stakeholders. The girl-child should be properly enrolled in schools early enough in order to overcome the primary set back of illiteracy. Education requires the concerted effort of all concerned as opposed to abandoning the responsibility to government alone. Keywords: Standard, Education, Development, Women Empowerment, Programmes. Introduction All over the world, countries invest in education because it facilitates personal and social development. It is the potent instrument for the development and transformation of any society. It has also been recognized as a fundamental pillar of human right, democracy, sustainable development and peace. Education whether formal or non-formal has been seen as the foremost instrument for empowerment. It is the bedrock of women empowerment. Olaleye (2008) has also observed that education as a process, has become a very important means of empowering women with basic knowledge and skills, so that they can become co-partners in development. In addition, Adesanya (2006) remarks that education is critical to empowering women in all aspects and it is increasingly seen as an instrument of empowerment. Several landmark conferences, including the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, placed women’s education and empowerment at the centre of development efforts. Similarly, the third goal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) addressed women’s needs. The goal stresses the import of women empowerment and gender equality. The United Nations Millennium Development is the most recent body of International work that addresses and reaffirms the equality of women. Additionally, Kwapong (2005) points out that women have an enormous influence on the well-being of their families and societies, but their potential is not fully realized because of the discriminatory social norms, incentives and legal institutions. Hence, there is an urgent need to empower the female folk and ensure that the standard of the various programmes are improved upon and maintained. It is no longer in doubt that women constitute the majority of adult illiterates in the world. The Education For All Global Monitoring Report (2008) lent support to this view point that about 774 million adults lack literacy skills, one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of these adults are women. Buttressing this assertion further, the 2006 National Population Census Report puts the female population at 68.3 percent out of a total of Strategies for Improving the Standard of Women Empowerment Programmes in Nigeria about 140,000,000 Nigerians and a majority of them are illiterates. Similarly, the Human Development Report of July 2014 in commemoration of the International Literacy Day September 8th, indicated that Nigeria has a literacy rate of 61 percent and a majority of the illiterate population are women. Nigeria is ranked 184th out of 194 countries in the world in terms of literacy attainment in 2012. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESO) states that an estimated 40 to 45 million persons in Nigeria are illiterate. In 2015, the number increased to about 54 million. The document further indicated that of the over 757 million adults worldwide who still lacked basic literacy skills about two-thirds of them are Nigerian women, and the third-world countries. The 2013/2014 Global Monitoring Report (GMR) states that Brazil, China, Indonesia have all attained a 90 percent literacy rate, whereas Nigeria has less than 70 percent. According to Akande (2003) in Olomukoro (2014) education in particular increases a person’s ability to participate in society and to improve the quality of life and standard of living. Education is therefore, perhaps more important for women than men, especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa, where economic and social development are grossly constrained by rapid population growth and inadequate development of the human resource base. Women are foundations of life due to their multiple and critical roles in the family as homemakers, caretakers and caregivers. This explains why Abaji (2008) argues that education more than any other instrument in the world, is empowering and for the female gender, nothing can be more empowering than the instrument of Education. It is Education that gives information and skills for effective participation of individuals on issues in the society. The United Nations Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (1985) stressed that education is the starting point for women advancement in the different fields of human endeavour. It is the basic tool that should be given to women in order to fulfill their role as full members of the society. In a similar vein, Ojobor (2008) observes that the educational empowerment of Nigerian women is the springboard to every other form of empowerment, be it political, social, economic and cultural. The National Policy on Women approved and adopted in April 2000 states that women’s educational status in any nation correlates with its level of development (Women Watch, 2005). Fasokun (2008) indicates that education does not only provide basic knowledge and skills to improve health and livelihoods, but it empowers women to take their rightful place in the society and in the developmental process. Bereday in Afonja (2003) says that education is truly a mirror of the level of development and the aspiration of any people. The author further notes that education is a means of advancing people in terms of giving them knowledge, skills, attitude and aptitude necessary for expanding their potentials. Education remains the bedrock for a sustainable development. Women empowerment involves developing their mental and physical capacity, power or skills for them to operate meaningfully in their social, economic and political milieu; thereby experiencing a more favorably level of recognition and subsequently enhance their statuses. Education is a fundamental right for all, including girls and women. Women have been known to have contributed in very many ways to the development and betterment of the society and yet women are still less educated and under-represented in all spheres of human endeavours compared to their male counterparts. (Kester and Gbenro, 2008; Osokoya, 2008). 111 SER Vol. 16 (1): June 2015 Given that women constitute over fifty percent (50%) of the world’s population including Nigeria with about two-thirds of them as non-literates, their empowerment is therefore crucial for national development. For instance, the UNESCO (2003) records that the literacy rate for Nigerian girls and women stood at 47% while that of males was 67%, yet the females form about 50 percent of the population. Their development is unarguably imperative because harmonious and sustainable development requires the participation of all the citizens of a nation. It must be emphasized that no nation can make impressive progress in terms of development if her women folk remain ignorant, excluded and marginalized. Women and girls globally constitute the largest single category of persons denied full and equal opportunities of education for all. According to the 2006 Population Census Report, there are 71,709,859 million males and 68,293,633 million females in Nigeria. Two-thirds of the female population is illiterate. This is further buttressed by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report (2008) that more than 22 million people in Nigeria are illiterate, 65 percent of who are women. As citizens of this country, women form a high percentage of the population in Nigeria and they need to be empowered to contribute their quota to the development of the country. It is against this background of the lop sided women empowerment programmes that this paper examines strategies for raising the standard of women’s empowerment programmes in Nigeria. Clarification of key concepts Empowerment: The word empowerment captures the sense of gaining control and participating in decision making. At the core of the concept of empowerment is the idea of power. In defining the term empowerment, Karl (1995:14) explained that power means • having control or gaining further control • having a say and being listened to • being able to define and create from a woman’s perspective, • being able to influence social choices and decisions affecting the whole society, and • being recognized and respected as equal citizens and human beings with a contribution to make. In the view of Nigel and Werner (2001), the concept of empowerment in an individual or a social group, presupposed that a state of social oppression exists which has disempowered those in the group, by denying them the opportunities or resources which have defined them as inferior humans; thus lowering their self esteem. As a general goal, empowerment has been described as a political and economic process which increases individual and group power, self reliance and strength. Similarly, Adesanya (2006) pointed out that empowerment is the acquisition of more control over decision which affects one’s life. It refers to a combination of increased awareness of strategy and an ability and capacity to act.