AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE - AUTHOR: DR. KAYODE ADENIRAN OMOJUWA

The paper situates the relevance of affirmative action in history, when society became classed to exclude others through the erection of barriers. Society evolved a system of patriarchy which subordinates the woman to man. That was carried on to contemporary times.
There are gender-based barriers erected from institutions of religion, culture and the environment. 
The possibility of correcting barriers against women through radical (Marxian) overthrow of the old order, or through the liberal approach of affirmative action, which was used to address issues of marginalisation in the United States and elsewhere. It is backed by legislation and uses various approaches to attempt redress.

EQUITY FOR WOMEN UNDER SHARIA LAW IN NIGERIA

The religion of Islam and its basic and immutable source of laws (Qur’an) have made abundant provisions that bestow on women quality status and role though a regime of rights not enjoyed by them hitherto to its advent fourteen hundred years ago. These rights were reinforced by the Hadith (actions and sayings of the Prophet [PBUH]) as the exemplary lifestyle adherents of the religion of Islam are enjoined to emulate. Over the years concern and dialogue on the provisions of Shari’a law and the extent to which they support, respect, and protect women’s rights has remained a central focus in global and national human rights discourse. This is in the light of perceived and real limitations to the enjoyment of specific rights in different jurisdictions of the Islamic world. There is also the non-commitment to international laws on women’s rights by many countries (especially Muslim ones) where the laws are perceived as an imposition aimed at adulterating the religion of Islam. Overall, the gap between the theoretical provisions for women’s rights and the practical enjoyment of those rights is so wide to give credence to the perception that it is Islam (Shari’a) and not the inherent cultural, economic and political bearings that impair the enjoyment of women’s rights under Shair’a. Furthermore, the concerns of women’s rights activists cannot be dismissed in the face of an acute low level of education (Islamic and western) among Muslim women, their near absence in public life, and their weak bargaining position in power relations arising from poverty and ignorance among other militating factors.

OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN NIGERIA

OVERSIGHT Institutions are Commissions either created by the Constitution or empanelled by the executive to carry out certain assignment or supervise certain activities of government. For example, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

These institutions are given specific roles and assignments to carry out in accordance with the terms of reference allotted them in the Constitution or instrument setting them up.

OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS & THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN COMPARATIVE AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Political leaders in Africa wield unrestrained powers, which alienates then from the governed. The result is that democracy lacks participation and development is not sufficient.

However, a new social contract that could make governance more accountable can be glimpsed from the experiences of South Africa and Eritrea where serious attempts have been made to check excesses of political leaders through empowerment of oversight institutions.

Accountability has been absent in Africa and Third World democracies not because there are no oversight institutions but because the legal and constitutional framework are defective. In Nigeria, for instance, there are a lot of such bodies but they are not effective.

RESOURCE ALLOCATION, PUBLIC FUNDS AND GENDER

In the long tedious journey to women’s emancipation, multifarious activities were and are being utilized: propaganda, petition, lobby, demonstration, civil disturbance, picket, direct action, affirmative action, infiltration and alliances to being success to the campaigns.

Gender And Development Action (GADA) has reached a stage of articulating the positions to be canvassed. This needs reformulation of data in order to strengthen the arguments for the struggle.

The struggle thus far has gone beyond the vote and legislative mention for citizenship, electoral and political rights. The struggle now contains economic rights. These are to be fermented in the fields of more direct women participation or interest; in matters of labour and living.

SAFEGUARDING WOMEN’S RIGHTS UNDER THE SHARIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The historical analogy adopted by the writer in this monograph is a very useful approach to contextualising discussions around Sharia in Nigeria. It must be acknowledged that the application of Shaira as Muslim laws in what was to later become Northern Nigeria predates colonial rule and believe in Islam was not just considered a religious obligation for a good Muslim but also a politico legal framework, Islam itself being more a way of life than just a religion.

Approaching the issue from a gender perspective however raises certain debates, one may ask the question whether interference of the colonial system with the Shaira process in Nigeria has delayed its maturity and raised the sensitivity level of certain custodians of Islamic values as to make them more politically conscious, or maybe it has ameliorated the potential for the violation of human rights, women’s human rights in particular. What is agreed amongst women activists however is that the Islam is a gender responsive religion as attested to by the guarantee of women’s human rights as stated in the Qur’an. However processes of interpretation by a patriarchal culture and the juxtaposing of divine (immutable) laws with religious (socially devised) laws as Sharia has eroded the rights of women.

THE ROLE OF OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS IN HANDLING GENDER SENSITIVE ISSUES

Issues of women rights have always been on the front burner, even if the results of efforts preceding the Beijing Conference do not reflect the amount of energy put into the movements that have tried to situate women in a more advantageous position.
The Beijing Conference was not in any way an awakening event for the Nigerian women; rather it was at best a rekindling of the spirit. The Egba women riot and the Aba women revolt were some of the instances of women in Nigeria rising up in defence of their rights. Such women as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Margaret Ekpo and Sawaba Gambo did not attain public recognition through the magnanimity of the men folk or some state tokenism towards women, but rather through their efforts at giving a voice to women.
As in the case of other movements, geared towards liberating a set or group of people, the forces that seek to maintain the status quo always find means of reducing the impact of such movements if not vilifying it. Not only have there been instances of putting down the women effort with sheer brutal force, the movements have also been given less prominence than it deserves in history. In Nigeria, the role assigned to women in the public domain does not reflect their input into the various battles that led to the emergence of the Nigerian state and the many marches against tyranny in our land. Neither does it reflect the fact of their having fought their rights battle long before Beijing.
Dr. O.B.C. Nwolise’s The Role of Oversight Institutions in Handling Gender Sensitive Issues establishes the rights of these previous efforts to take a prominent place in the history of political struggles in Nigeria. He actually goes further to establish the fact that the fire that burned with fervour in the women’s struggles in pre-independent Nigeria, especially in the period 1940s to 1960s, is even greater than what burns now. He is compelled to ask at a stage that in spite of having a greater number of women in public area, “what happened to the vibrancy, and radicalism of Nigerian womanhood?”

WOMEN: PHASES OF DEPRIVATION IN NIGERIA

The economic crisis pervading developing democracies the world over has intensified the risk of increasing the feminization of poverty. The standing of women in this regard has greatly impacted their output in participation at both the national and regional levels.
Despite the fact that women comprise 31% of the total official labour force in industrially developed countries and 46.7% worldwide, women’s unpaid labour is still twice that of men. Recently a United Nation Statistics shows that 1.3 billion persons in the world live in poverty and 70% of them are women.
Today, despite the provisions of Section 43 of the Constitution, statistics have shown that over 90% of lands and properties are registered in men’s names. There is also no gainsaying the fact that because of the existing customary or religious laws in some places in Nigeria, women have no property rights at all.
Ibrahim Umaru’s intervention through this paper X-rays the phases of Deprivation in Nigeria and its implication on the existence of women. It takes a cursory look at the justiceability question of some of the rights in the constitution; his conclusion highlights key areas and issues that require legislative intervention. It represents a welcome addition
to a growing body of literature critically evaluation the condition of women. Its depth and scholarly rigour is equally enhanced by the author’s status as a male, speaking about women’s issues. His intervention has shown that truly, men can be critical partners in the quest for women rights.
This piece makes exciting reading and it is recommended for all.