Gender equality in contemporary Nigeria: problems and prospects

Idongesit Eshiet, University of Lagos

The objective of this paper is to assess the state of gender equality in contemporary Nigeria. Nigeria is situated in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has a population of 140 million. Currently, Nigeria ranks 159th position in the United Nations Human Development Index and has about 70% of its population living below the poverty line. Although women constitute 68,293,683 of the population, however, they still have limited access to both tangible and intangible societal resources. They are faced with various handicaps and restrictions such as low participation in politics, poor access to education, healthcare, etc. However, in recent times, successive governments, in reaction to the various International Conventions and Covenants on women, have undertaken legislative and administrative reforms that would give women full access to economic and productive resources. This paper assesses the measures taken, the successes achieved and the constraints that still inhibit the achievement of gender equality in Nigeria.