Harnessing Dividends of Democracy through Women Empowerment in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
1Abdulrahman Adamu & 2Zuwaira Haruna Rasheed
1Department of Political Science,Federal University Gusau, Zamfara
2Department of Arts and Social Sciences,Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Benin Kebbi
Email: abduladamu6@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
In spite of the fact that women constitutes the integral part of the nation’s development, their disadvantaged position in Nigeria when compared to their men counterparts, and the fact that they are ravaged by poverty make case for efforts to be geared towards their empowerment. This paper examines this scenario closely through the use of secondary sources of data and reveals that successive governments in Nigeria have made frantic attempts to formulate and implement policies and programmes to empower women but these efforts have yielded little or no result. It argues that those charged with the responsibilities of implementing such lofty policies and programmes have allegedly diverted the funds into personal use. It concludes that women empowerment in Nigeria should be taken seriously essentially on the basis of their large population as they are at disadvantaged position when compared to their men counterparts in the country. The paper recommends among others that government at all levels in Nigeria should intensify efforts towards providing enabling environment for women empowerment to be achieved holistically. And it is the belief of this paper that if women are empowered, it can have positive impact on the social, political, economic, and cultural development of Nigeria.
Keywords: Dividends of Democracy, Capacity-building, Women, Empowerment, Nigeria
