Gender, Politics and Governance: Assessment of Women’s Attitude towards Political Participation in Ekiti South Senatorial District of Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the gender power relations in leadership in Nigeria by assessing the women’s attitude towards political participation at different levels of political activities and investigate the factors sustaining gender inequality in politics in Ekiti South Senatorial district in Southwestern Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey design. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected for the study. Results showed that women had poor attitude towards political activities (40.3%) and the women’s level of political participation at contesting for political posts was low (22%). However, inferences drawn from the analysis of the study showed that there were significant association between women’s membership in political parties (χ2=17.292, p<0.001), age (t=3.272, p=0.001) and occupation (χ2=13.592, p=0.004). The study identified inadequate finance, insecurity, gender roles, lack of policy implementation as challenges causing gender inequality in politics. The study concludes that improving women’s attitude as crucial for bridging the gender gap in politics.