Abstract
The most fascinating development in politics has been the increase in women’s political participation globally. Women are becoming more engaged in variety of institutional decision making processes and Africa appears to be leading in women’s parliamentary representation. Since the re-birth of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, women have tried to gain access to decision making positions by contesting at various political levels and representation of women’s organizations on various policy debates have increased at local and national levels. However, their efforts appear not to be greeted with much gains as the result seems not very encouraging. What is problematic is whether the representation of women’s organization in democracy and decision making in Nigeria is descriptive or substantive. Even when women’s organizations are represented in the decision making arena, it appears that their influence were not much felt. This paper will investigate the invisibility or otherwise of women’s organizations in decision making process and governance in Nigeria, its implications and Challenges. The study employed descriptive survey research design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the six South Western States in Nigeria and 150 respondents from women’s organizations who were willing to participate in the study. A self-designed instrument was used to gather data for the study. The research instrument was validated and texted for its level of reliability, using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis for its co-efficient. Nine research questions were generated to guide the study. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive analysis, frequency counts and percentages. The findings revealed that the roles played by women’s organizations in decision making arena was significant but not visible and unappreciated. It was therefore, recommended that women’s organizations should do all they can to be more active in governance and encourage more women to be fully involved in decision making process in Nigeria for national development. Keywords: Women’s organizations, decision making, invisibility, descriptive, substantive representation.
Highlights
And presently in Nigeria and Africa, women faced a lot of problems of inequality
Women’s organizations played significant roles in governance in Nigeria as indicated by 80% of the respondents while 59% of them indicated that the roles played by women’s organizations in decision making process and governance in Nigeria were not visible
53% opined that the roles played by women’s organizations in governance were not appreciated in Nigeria
Summary
And presently in Nigeria and Africa, women faced a lot of problems of inequality. Since the Nineteenth Century in Nigeria, women struggled against gender discrimination and gender based violence. Feminism and women’s movements sprung up in Nigeria alongside the nation’s fight for independence and improvement of citizens’ quality life. Women’s movements became prominent in Nigeria because of the attempt made by women to enhance equal rights and opportunities for women like men. The culture of patriarchy and male chauvinism deprived women of their rights. This led to exploitation and marginalization of women in private and public lives (Soriola, 2017). In the pre-colonial period in Nigeria, women participated in public life effectively and had access to national resources.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
