In Africa, Nigeria stands as the most populous nation on the continent. While there remains historically incredible things spoken concerning the nation, there have, for the longest, been several challenges faced by it, from terrorism in the northeast to communal violence and resource conflict across different regions.
Protecting the well-being of Nigerians remains a priority. Despite this, existing security systems typically overlook the vital role that women play in national security. This writer, as part of the “Improving Feminist Leadership Policy in Nigeria” initiative, contends that incorporating feminist perspectives into security policy is crucial for effectively addressing these difficulties.
This article analyses women’s distinct roles in ensuring food security, economic security, and political stability. It then offers recommendations for incorporating female leadership ideas into national security programs.
Beyond the Battlefield: Women and National Security
According to the ‘leadership as e suppose be’ documentary by the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation and Gatefield under the project “What Naija Women Want,” 133 million people in Nigeria live in multidimensional poverty. According to the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, this figure represents roughly 64% of the population. This data is based on the Multidimensional Poverty Index, MPI, which measures poverty using a variety of characteristics such as education, health, and standard of life.
Multidimensional poverty exacerbates pre-existing gender disparities. Women are more likely to suffer from poverty for a variety of reasons, including inferior education, less access to economic possibilities, and cultural limitations that restrict their rights and participation. As a result, women may suffer unjustly from concerns such as food insecurity, a lack of access to healthcare, and limited political participation. Women who live in poverty are more vulnerable to security threats such as gender-based violence, exploitation, and trafficking.
Poverty can also limit women’s access to justice and protection institutions, increasing their vulnerability to insecurity.
The Importance of Gender Policy Globally
According to the Heinrich Böll Stifung paper, titled “a compass for gender democracy and feminism,” economic and cultural upheavals have had a major impact on gender relations, notably since the mid-20th century.
Throughout Nigeria, historical narratives emphasize women’s contributions to national security. Queen Amina of Zazzau (1533-1610) displayed this by ordering her army to expand territory and defend the Hausa people. Similarly, during the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), women actively contributed to relief efforts, intelligence gathering, and peace building programs.
The above emphasizes the significance of the feminist perspective in resolving national security issues that affect men, women, and children. To push back on this perception, the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation argues in its documentary, ‘leadership as e suppose be’ that advocating for equal access to leadership for women and opposing women’s marginalization is about making the country work for all Nigerians, not gaining power.
The Unique Roles of Women in Security
Food Security: Women form the backbone of agricultural output in Nigeria, accounting for more than 80% of the agricultural workforce according to the FAO’s report; “The State of Food and Agriculture—Women in Agriculture.”
Economic Security: Women are key drivers of Nigeria’s informal economy, contributing significantly to household incomes through petty trading and small businesses.
Political Security: Women’s absence from peace building and decision-making spaces undermines national security. The African Centre for Strategic Studies has conducted research that emphasizes the relevance of women’s engagement in conflict resolution and peace building efforts.
Connecting the Dots for A Gender Inclusive Society
The Policy Innovation Centre, PIC, hosted the Gender and Inclusion Summit (GS-22) on November 16, 2022, in Abuja discussed transformative ways to achieve gender equality and accelerate the implementation of the SDGs, as well as shared prosperity for men and women.
According to panelists, Nigeria ranks 123 out of 146 nations on the global gender index (WEF 2022), highlighting the necessity for concerted efforts to solve gender inequality related disparities. “The Purple Book,” a report published by the PIC, the GS-22, themed “Connecting the Dots for a Gender Inclusive Society,” provided a platform for co-creating contextually
relevant recommendations for addressing gaps in Nigeria’s gender-responsive governance, policy, and programming exploring the following barriers to a gender-inclusive society:
Normative Barriers to a Gender-Inclusive Society
The report states that social norms have a significant impact on gender equality and inclusion. The report further stated that restrictive gender norms, gender division of labor, patriarchy, negative gender stereotypes, socialization, ageism, social punishments, gender asset gaps, and religious misinterpretations were all impediments to creating a gender-inclusive culture.
Non-Normative Barriers to a Gender-Inclusive Society:
According to the report, opinions from speakers and stakeholders indicated that non-normative impediments to a gender-inclusive society may be motivated by underlying gender norms that impact policy and program decisions.
The report further read; “Some of the non-normative challenges relating to gender and inclusion discussed were poor maternity and paternity packages, the weak justice system, limited use of data for gender-related decision-making, gaps in the availability of gender data, gaps in gender budgeting, collateral requirements limiting women and other minority group’s access to financial opportunities, poverty, and non-inclusive programming.”
Policy Recommendations
The GS-22 emphasized the necessity of evidence-based policies, gender-responsive governance practices, gender-responsive budgeting, and improving women’s legal protection while considering stakeholders’ contextual needs.
The need to support the National Gender Policy with essential action, particularly the 35% quota and affirmative action policy for women, which will allow women to hold 35% of appointments, was emphasized as a measure of increasing participation in decision-making.
A Level Playing Ground
Heinrich Böll Stiftung in its strategy paper titled “A Compass for Gender Democracy and Feminism: The Strategy of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s International Department,” the principle and affirmative statement, “enough for all” in unequal societies requires economic redistribution. Therefore, to achieve global economic justice, and strengthening women’s access to, and influence over traditional economic resources, there is a need for more institutions, laws, and policies.
Recommendations for a Feminist Approach to Security
● Policy Reform
● Institutional Reform
● Community Engagement
● Data Collection and Analysis
Benny Atsua, a singer, songwriter and Rights activist, writes in from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
This opinion article is published in Partnership with the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation as part of its Improving Feminist Leadership Policy in Nigeria project funded by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung to contribute to a more informed, engaging, and collaborative approach to feminist leadership policymaking in Nigeria by leveraging diverse perspectives, resources, and coalition building to address and bridge existing policy gender gaps and actions.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Benny Atsua, and as it relates to the project stated above.