Empowering the ‘Powerless’: African Philanthropy and Rural Women Empowerment in Wukari Metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria since 2000 By Peter Wilfred Naankiel Benue State University Makurdi, Nigeria Email: [email protected] Abstract Since the return of democracy in Nigeria in May 29th 1999 after close to three decades of military interregnum, rural women empowerment has remained a cardinal issue of government. Multi- variegated empowerment strategies and policies have been initiated at various levels of government-Federal, State and Local Government. However, in spite of these, rural women remain the most neglected and socio-economically and politically neglected and disempowered. In Wukari region of Taraba State, Nigeria, different African formal and informal philanthropies have been making frantic efforts towards ameliorating the plight of rural women through skill acquisition, granting of loans, free donation of adult education materials, medical services, civic education among others but these positive changes have not been given scholarly attention in the literature. Therefore, this paper examines the role of philanthropy in women empowerment in Wukari. Through the use of empirical methods anchored upon the use of questionnaires, key informants and secondary sources of data, this paper argues that African philanthropy in Wukari holds a great potential in addressing women empowerment questions and other gender issues especially in rural Wukari area of Taraba and Nigeria in general. Adopting the functionalist theory, the paper further surmises that despite the enormous contributions being made by charities in Wukari especially in women empowerment, the state has not shown serious interest to partner with these charities to promote all inclusive (gender based) sustainable development and recommends way forward. Keyword: Philanthropy, Charities, DSK, Foundations, Wukari, Nigeria, Africa 1 Introduction Rural women are the poorest of the poor and unduly oppressed by national and international injustice… in Nigeria the rural women live in the rural areas without amenities to make life easy. They engage in non-market economy where 70 to 80 per cent are involved in subsistence work. The common characteristics of these women are their simple mindedness and their stooped and haggard looking form. They are always ragged and aged before their time. This is due to long hard day they experience daily…they are often stark illiterates in the interior countryside, who has no access to any information whatsoever and even where they do, lack the ability to analyze such for want of a reference point.1 Rural women empowerment question has remained a central national question in Nigeria for several decades now. The centrality of women question was spurred by both local and international dynamics. For instance, the wave of democratization in Africa following the demise of Soviet Union and the ascendancy of neo-liberalism coupled with international feminist movements particularly the Beijing 1995 Women Conference and subsequent declarations all paved way for a broader representation of women in national development discourse in Nigeria.2 Furthermore, the return of democracy in Nigeria after several years of military dictatorship also deepened the space for women voice in national politics. However, in spite of the orchestrated public campaigns and media propaganda on the imperative of rural women empowerment, rural women still lag far behind in terms of empowerment.3 All attempts made by government to address the plight of rural women in Nigeria particularly in Wukari Metropolis have failed to ameliorate or transform the socio-economic and political status or conditions of women in this region. As a result of this unsavory scenario, African Philanthropists in different parts of Nigeria including Wukari metropolis are making concerted efforts towards women empowerment. In Wukari metropolis in contemporary Southern Senatorial Zone of Taraba State, Nigeria, monumental achievements have been recorded but this has not been adequately documented in scholarly literature. Besides, little is known about African giving culture in Wukari and its potentials in rural transformation and development. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the following research questions; what is the profile of rural women within the context of Nigeria political economy and how powerless are the rural women? What is African philanthropy? What is the role of African philanthropy in Women empowerment in Wukari Metropolis? What are the achievements and challenges facing African Philanthropy in contemporary Wukari Metropolis and how can they be addressed? 2 Apart from the introduction, this study is deliberately schematically divided into four sections. Section two provides some conceptual clarifications and theoretical framework, section three focuses on the profile of Rural Women and the quest for empowerment, section four examines the role of African philanthropy in women empowerment in Wukari taking into account achievements and challenges and recommendations on strengthening African philanthropy for overall national development and rural transformation. Conceptual Clarifications and Theoretical Framework In this study, the following key terms are clearly defined to situate their usage and meaning within the context of this study. The essence of clarifying concepts is to curtail confusion of usage of terms that have diverse meanings and stimulated logical flow of analysis. It is in this perspective that key terms like empowerment, philanthropy, rural, women are clarified. Empowerment: The term empowerment has been used in social sciences to mean different things. In gender and women studies, some scholars use the term to mean a host of issues from liberation to equality. Some even use empowerment interchangeably with words like liberation, feminism or even womanism. Akinbi avers that: “the word women empowerment, women liberation, womanism and feminism are used interchangeably to denote a social product, which encapsulates all efforts to understand and elevate women who now feel dejected and disillusioned in a male dominated society.”4 To Akinbi therefore, the issue of empowerment is simply a tussle for equality and equity in distribution of the resources of Nigeria between Nigerian men and women. Akinbi’s view is quite defective and women empowerment is beyond the struggle for equity and equality between men and women. Nannet defines empowerment as “a multi-dimensional social process, which helps people gain control over their lives. It is a process that fosters power (that is the power to implement) in people for use in their own lives, their communities, and their societies, by acting on issues that they define as important”.5Nannet’s definition demonstrates that empowerment is a process which is intended towards shared freedom and enhanced capacity to take ownership of a process. Thus, Regina Ode sees empowerment as the authority, capacity and means to effectively participate and share authority. To Regina, 3 Empowerment specifically means the establishment of an enabling environment capable of facilitating the full realization of the potentials inherent in Nigerian women. It suggest(s) [sic] that Nigerian women must be unshackled from the cultural, religious and other social conditions that promote their relegation as opposed to their self-actualization… it means the centering women, making them understand that they are entities unto themselves and can hold their own if given the opportunity to do so.6 Empowerment in this context is therefore a holistic process that leads to increase in the political, social and economic strength of an individual. Kraegon aptly avers that empowerment is the strategy that seeks to transform the structures of subordination through changes in legislature, property rights and all those institutions that reinforces and perpetuate male dominance.7 From the foregoing definitions, certain common features or components of empowerment can be deduced. First, empowerment is a process that aims to transform an individual or group. Empowerment cuts across socio-economic, political and cultural spheres and the central aim of women empowerment is aimed at dismantling all the barriers or forces that hinders women from thriving in all facets of life in the society. Women empowerment is about mental, moral, physical, political, economic capacity building or development or transformation of rural women to take full ownership of their lives and participate fully, equally without discrimination in the society. In this study, women empowerment is taken to mean all the planned and coordinated processes or strategies aimed at ensuring that women potentials, aspirations and capacities are developed and realized in the society. It aims at dismantling all the social, cultural, economic and political barriers to women development in the society.8 Women empowerment involves the enactment of laws and the creation of institutions that seeks to promote and protect women wellbeing and welfare in the society through the removal of discriminations and creations of opportunities for them to thrive. It is also about capacity building, educating and mentoring the women to take ownership of their lives and pursue their dreams and goals in the society. Philanthropy: Philanthropy like many other social science concepts are not amenable to a straight- jacket definition.9 Thus, it is cultural driven and varies frontiers. Moyo observes that philanthropy connotes