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Gender Inequality In Party Politics In Nigeria: Insights From South-West Nigeria
Gender inequality has remained a persistent phenomenon in many developing countries. Even in the developed countries, some countries still grapple with gender discrimination and women marginalization in politics. But in the poverty-stricken African nations, gender inequality is more of a serious development issue. The reason is that, many women still remain trapped in age-long discrimination in national politics occasioned by traditions, colonialism and imperial capitalism. This paper argues that, gender inequality is still a serious problem in the South-Western Nigeria using Lagos, Oyo and Osun States as case studies. The paper reports a survey carried out on women politicians of two major political parties in the South-West i.e the ACN and the PDP. The survey was carried out between March and April, 2013 on 200 women politicians in the South-West. This method was complemented with 20 In-depth Interviews of women politicians. Findings from the study showed that, gender inequality, gender discrimination and marginalization are still the major constraints to women participation in Nigerian politics. Based on these findings, the paper recommended greater emphasis on the ‘’Affirmative Action’’ recognized by Nigerian laws.
Key Words: Gender Inequality, Women, Politics, South-West, Nigeria.