THE GLOBALIZED WORLD AND GENDER RIGHTS IN

NIGERIA:
THE GAINS, THE LOSSES*

Abstract
Globalization is all about making things Global. It is a phenomenon that integrates local
products, services and cultures into a global culture defined by the world’s economic and
political super powers. The global flow of capital, commodities people and information which
is the hallmark of globalization connotes equal exchanges and sharing of goods and services
between countries and cultures. There are however, fears that globalization is creating
increased gender inequalities. Nigeria like most other Sub-Saharan African States, exists with
entrenched and endemic gender inequality. This article appraises globalization and its effect
in general, and ultimately to determine its effect (positive and negative) on gender equality
and rights in Nigeria.

Introduction
With globalization, discussions have initially centred on grand narratives,
embracing developing and encompassing visions. Scientific standpoints were
illustrated rather than empirically researched. The phenomenon globalization has now
reached the stage in which its manifestations are analyzed in a precise manner in
concrete geographical context and pertaining to different topics. It is in a stage of
examining the manifestation of its interconnectivity in cities in the advanced
economies, and whether it reflects the inequalities of the past, that were only visible at
the continental level. Discourse on globalization today, focuses on local
manifestations of global developments in terms of lifestyles, cultures, social cohesion,
social conflict, identity formation, economic opportunity, survival strategies and
above all inequalities and particularly with reference to this article, gender inequality
and rights. Globalization has given many countries access to a wide range of products
and services from around the globe. It has afforded people the opportunity to buy at a
relatively cheap price, products and food that do not grow in their own countries, and
all the year round. Like most good things in life, globalization is not without its
disadvantages and short comings, so while one interpretation of globalization has to
do with equal exchange and sharing of goods and services between countries and
cultures, the reality of a globalized world is much different.

Globalization
Globalization involves the idea of viewing the whole world as one mighty
village with common trade, culture, social mobility and economic front. It is the
process of creating languages, services and products that apply not just to an
individual neighbourhood, city or country but to the entire world. It is characterized
by a globally integrated economy, where decisions regarding production, consumption

*
Felicia Anyogu Ph.D and Carol Arinze-Umobi Ph.D – Lecturers, Faculty of Law, Nnamdi
Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
148 The Legislative and Institutional Framework of Environmental Protection in the Oil …

and other aspects of social relations increasingly bear transnational dimensions.1

Globalization entails free trade, free mobility of both financial and real capital, and
rapid diffusion of products, technologies, information and consumption patterns.2
Under globalization, government policy choices have geared towards free
trade and financial flows. These policies tend favourably towards higher regulation of
industry, privatization of state owned establishments and reduced expenditures on
public issues. Of course, the liberalization policies and technological advancement,
made economic fusion very rapid, creating a high level of economic integration
causing a loose national state boundaries.
As a result of this, local products, services and cultures disappear into a global
culture, a culture defined not by the global citizenry but rather the world’s economic
and political super- powers – mostly North American owned corporations3. In
globalization, people seem to be consumed by a North American culture’ accentuated
by Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, typical dancing styles and songs, and Nike running
shoes4. Globalization does not only create one culture, it mandates people to re-
orientate themselves to promote this culture5. The culture of working in factories to
produce Nike running shoes and video cameras, and giant beef farms to produce
hamburgers to be consumed by the rich, is a typical feature of globalization6.
Although globalization is about culture, it is mostly about money.
Globalization encourages the merging of world economic markets through ‘free’ trade
agreements, the creation of transnational corporations that sell products and services
to people all over the globe, and the privatization of government services like health
care, water, and mail delivery, in favour of private ownership. Unfortunately,
globalization isn’t about equal exchange as we are meant to believe, it is about
concentrations of profit and power in certain parts of the world and with certain
people7. The international trade agreements signed under globalization are devoid of
any trade barriers and obstacles8. This makes it easy for countries to move their
factories and services to countries of cheapest labour. With this, they produce at
cheap rate which guarantees them maximum profits. The idea of free trade is that
whichever country produces the cheapest products wins. Producing cheaply in this
context means having cheap labour and conducive atmosphere where the harmful side
product is shifted to another country. Globalization has injected into the system the
idea that the best way for a country to reduce its spending is to initiate a cut-back on
government services, such as health care, electricity, education and even mail

1
. United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women; Economic and Social Commission for
Western Asia (ESCWA) United Nations House Beirut (Lebanon) 8-10 November 1999 DAW
working paper.
2
. Ibid.
3
. Women and Globalization at http;//www.unpac.ca/economy/introglob.html accessed on 10/6/11.
4
. Ibid.
5
. Ibid.
6
. Ibid.
7
. Ibid.
8
. E.g. It makes it possible for Female textile workers from Eastern Germany to lose their jobs to
women in Bangladesh, Fillipines clean vegetables and kitchen in Kuwait; and what is for the next
meal is not decided by local women but by multinationals specializing in novelty food and
genetically modified crops.
The Globalized World and Gender Rights in Nigeria: The Gains, The Losses 149

delivery9. Reduction of expenditure by the government is to ensure that they are able
to pay back loans from IMF, and World-Bank which sometimes have been paid over
and over again10.

Entrenched Gender Inequality in Nigeria

Gender is a set of visible characteristics that distinguish male and female.
Depending on the context, the distinguishing characteristics vary from sex to social
role, to gender identity.11 In recent times, the meaning of gender has in many contexts
been extended to include and in many cases used specifically to mean the latter. For
the purpose of this article, gender connotes the sexes; that is the male and female
sexes and the roles constructed for them by societal acceptance. Gender inequality
refers to the unequal opportunities in various spheres of development between men
and women, which basically and characteristically tilt in favour of the men. Gender
Rights also refer to the fundamental rights of each gender and by virtue of their being
human, and how the incidence of gender has affected the exercise of their fundamental
freedoms.
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)
prohibits inter alia discrimination on account of sex12, but many factors such as
customary and religious laws have conspired together to rob women of the exercise
and enjoyment of the right not to be discriminated against in Nigeria13. The inequality
between men and women (gender inequality) in Nigeria is visible in almost all aspects
of human endeavour.

Gender Inequality in Economics

More than 550 million rural women constituting 50 percent of the world’s
rural population live below the poverty line, and women constitute nearly 70 percent
of the world’s 1.1 billion poor.14 It is also recorded that more than 1 billion people in
the world today, the great majority of whom are women live in unacceptable
conditions of poverty mostly in the developing countries.15 One of the key areas
where gender inequality is grossly manifested in Nigerian society is in the economic
sector. Economic growth is the production of goods per capita but how does one
produce goods per capita where he or she has no capital?16 The ability of the
Nigerian women to participate in independent economic activities is limited by social
obligations to husband and family. In traditional Nigerian society, women’s
participation in the productive process was well defined, varying from the
economically independent and almost aggressive Yoruba women traders, to the
9
. Dorothy Iglis Bread and Roses. St. John’s, New Found Land; Killick Press 1996
10
. Corporate Watch at www.corpwatch. Org.
11
. Gender at http;//en. Wikipedia-org/wiki/Gender accessed on 31/10/2010.
12
. S. 42.
13
. While a woman goes through the rigours of widowhood rites such as wailing intermittently, lying
on a mat spread on the bare floor and in seclusion, a man is not expected to do the same when the
wife dies. In fact, it is considered unmanly to cry. Women are not allowed by culture to inherit
land in Ibo land even from their own father.
14
. Critical Areas of Concern; A Preparatory Document to Beijing 1995 p. 37.
15
. Ibid.
16
. F. Anyogu, Access to Justice in Nigeria; A gender Perspective Enugu, Ebenezer Productions
Nigeria Ltd 2009 p.301.
150 The Legislative and Institutional Framework of Environmental Protection in the Oil …

dependent and often secluded Hausa women. It is therefore, important to note that
women as a social group are not homogenous. While the majority of women could
not own land and need the permission of their spouses before they could dispose of
their crops, few others had access to land even in better ecological zones. For
example, it has been noted that the Oba’s wives in Yorubaland had greater access to
land in better ecological zones than the wives of poor peasants.17 Women in Nigeria
have been confined to activities which were of secondary importance and which aided
household consumption rather than capital accumulation, while they marketed the
more important products for their husbands. Women also account for more than 60
percent of agricultural labour force and yet only an infinitesimal 10 percent of credit
allocated to small farmers gets to women.18 The economic activity data also overlook
unpaid labour in households and agricultural sector. This has made women
statistically invisible in most measurements of economic activity. The effect is that
women are then characterized by such measurements as unproductive, unoccupied and
economically inactive19.
Economic policies seem to be gender insensitive and such gaps must be
checked. Urbanization and current growing financial pressures have awoken the
desire for economic independence, and this has necessitated that women take up jobs
in addition to their ‘unseen’ and ‘unaccounted for’ economic activities at home. This
means that developmental policies, have to manifest some gender-equity, but on the
contrary some of such policies (e.g. the Structural Adjustment Programme) have
further resulted in “Feminization of Poverty”. When workers are laid off under this
programme, women are most often the casualties due to the inbuilt bias in SAP
against small scale enterprises and agricultural industry that women are primarily
engaged in.20
It is also known that at any income level, women pay more tax than men21.
Whatever consideration that informed this practice has no place in society any more,
as many women for many reasons are now single handedly raising their children, and
keeping their homes. It is also true that more than 80 percent of a woman’s income
goes into solving family needs. If anybody needs reduced tax, it should be a woman.
These gender gaps are inimical to the attainment of sustainable economic
development, as equal economic opportunities for both the female and male genders
lead to sustainable national development. The gender inequality in economics also
makes many women dependent on men and this is a major constraint to their exercise
of the fundamental freedoms.

17
. O.I. Aina, ‘’General Overview of the Status of Women in Nigeria’’, in A.A. Afolabi Gender Gaps
in the 1999 Constitution, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center p. 15.
18
. 4th World Conference on Women, Summary 2 – Summary of the 1994 World Survey on The
Role of Women in Development (Sales No 95 IV.1).
19
. Isabella Okagbue Women’s Rights are Human Rights Lagos MIJ Publishers 1996.
20
. The plan of Action to correct present imbalances in the participation of men and women in
political life, adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Council, Reports and Documents No. 22/Geneva
1994 p. 9.
21
. Known to the authors, and verified with colleagues in various different ranks.
The Globalized World and Gender Rights in Nigeria: The Gains, The Losses 151

Gender Inequality in Education

One of the major factors for the low level of female participation in the formal
sector is inequality of access to education between men and women. Access to
education is not only fundamental, but is also a veritable tool for women’s effective
participation in national development. The school is an important agent of
socialization. Consistent sex stereotype roles at home and more importantly in the
school can create inequality in educational opportunities. The directive principles in
Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),
in agreement stipulate that equal and adequate educational opportunities should be
made available at all levels.22 Unfortunately, this constitutional provision is made
unenforceable by the same Constitution.23 It is therefore, expected to be manifested in
policies which do not carry the force of law and so the female literacy rate in Nigeria
stands at 39.5 percent compared with a male literacy rate of 62.5 by 1996 and has
remained abysmally low since then.24 While girls in the Southern states have high
enrolment rates, some other states especially in the North have very low enrolment
rates for girls, and thus mathematically present a low rate for girls generally on the
average. Many cultural practices have also helped to compound the precarious
position of Nigerian females in the area of education; teenage pregnancy and early
marriage rank the highest in this. Where family financial resources are scarce, the
cultural practice of male preference has indicated that the boys be taken care of
educationally before any consideration for the girls. In some families, it is so bad that
the girls are usually given away in marriage so as to enable the families educate the
boys without any consideration as to whether the girl child in question is more
brilliant than the boy.

Gender Inequality in Politics and Public Voice

There is no doubt that discriminatory attitudes and unequal power relations,
account for the low participation and muffled voice of women in public life, despite
the promise of equality of political and civil rights by the Constitution. It is to be
noted that participation of women in public life is low all over the world but this
varies from country to country and Nigeria has one of the lowest scores in this regard.
The discriminatory attitudes have ensured a socialization of women that has left many
women too timid to assume positions of leadership, and also makes them untrusting of
other women. This invariably makes women reluctant to vote other women into such
positions. There has been a recently concluded election in Nigeria, and suffice it to
say that, only one female ran for the office of the President, and that of course, the
President is not a female. The election did not produce a female governor either. As
for other positions such as Senate, and the various houses of assembly, the usual
abysmally low percentages of females were recorded. Men seem to be the officials in
the political parties and the electoral process, while women remain essentially
supporters, side campaigners and clappers for men’s achievements in the field. The
effect of non-involvement of women in politics at decision-making levels is that

22
. S. 18(1), CFRN 1999.
23
. S (6) (b) (c), CFRN 1999.
24
. The Nigerian Human Development Report UNDP Lagos Nigeria 1997.
152 The Legislative and Institutional Framework of Environmental Protection in the Oil …

women’s gender specific concerns remain unaddressed and the benefit of their
perspective on mainstream issues is lost, and thus equality and consequently national
development remain an illusion.

Gender Inequality and Socio-cultural Institutions (Family)

Nigerian women are not adequately protected, even in family life as several
inequalities still play against them because of certain cultural and religious
acceptances. The three forms of marriage in the country (customary, monogamous
and Islamic) also have a role to play. The minimum legal age for marriage is 18 and
the monogamous (civil or christian marriage) abides by this, but customary and
Islamic marriages encourage child marriage in which the bride is not old enough to
share in the responsibilities of marriage. While polygamy is prohibited in
monogamous (civil or christian) marriage, every customary and Islamic marriage is
potentially polygamous. It is also to be noted that more than one-third of Nigerian
women are in a polygamous union.25 In all the three forms of marriages in Nigeria,
husbands alone make decisions concerning the upbringing of their children especially
in the area of health, marriage and education, even though in civil or christian
marriages parental authority is supposed to be shared between husband and wife.
Customary marriages do not recognize women’s right to inheritance especially
in the South East of Nigeria where neither wives nor daughters inherit a deceased’s
estate. Wives do not inherit in Yoruba-land but daughters do so equally with their
brothers26. Islamic marriages recognize inheritance by both wives and daughters
although the daughters inherit half what is due to the boys27. In both latter cases, there
is a sort of equity in the Inequality but it is difficult to fathom out what informed the
position in the South East area of Nigeria.
It would seem also that the physical integrity of women is not protected in
Nigeria. The Country’s Penal Code28 applicable to the North permits husbands to beat
their wives as long as it does not amount to serious bodily harm. Domestic violence is
also a luxuriating iniquity against the Nigerian women. Far from women reacting to
this obnoxious situation, 64.5 percent of Nigerian women actually believe it is normal
for them to be beaten by their husbands as reported by a 2003 Demography and Health
Survey. Female Genital Mutilation is prohibited by legislation in many states but it is
difficult to eliminate it at the national level and even in the states that have banned it,
as the law is difficult to enforce.29 Rape, a heinous crime carries on conviction, life
imprisonment but both the Criminal Code Act30 (for the South) and Penal Code31 (for
the North) overtly allow spousal rape respectively thus;
Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman
or girl without her consent or with her consent if the consent
is obtained by force -------or in the case of a married women
25
. Gender Equality in Nigeria at http;//genderindex.org/Country/Nigeria accessed on 24/6/2011.
26
. F. Anyogu, Access to Justice in Nigeria: A Gender Perspective. Op.cit. p. 319.
27
. Ibid.
28
. S. 55 (1) (d)Cap 89 Laws of Northern Nigeria 1963.
29
. Generally, Genital mutilation is done mostly by illiterate women either in remote villages or in
seclusion, hence the difficulty to enforce the prohibition.
30
. C38 Laws of the Federation 2004.
31
. Cap 89 Laws of Northern Nigeria 1963.
The Globalized World and Gender Rights in Nigeria: The Gains, The Losses 153

by impersonating her husband is guilty of an offence which

is called rape.32
and
1) A man is said to commit rape who, save in the case
referred to in sub-section (2) has sexual intercourse with
a woman in any of the following circumstances.
2) Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife is not
rape, if she has attained puberty.33

Gender Inequality and Law

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)
prohibits discrimination based on many factors including sex34. As Nigeria is a
Federal Republic, every state in it has the authority to make its own legislations
within the powers granted it by the Constitution35. This fact and the multiplicity of
culture and religion make it difficult to harmonize legislations and eliminate
discriminatory measures. These cultural and religious backgrounds have informed
the making of some discriminatory laws such as citizenship laws36, proof of rape37,
indecent assault on males/females38 and others which have put women at a lower
legal status than men. A ray of hope exists in the establishment of a National
Committee on the Reform of Discriminatory Laws Against Women which has drafted
a bill in pursuance thereto. This Bill is under discussion at the National Assembly.
Again, a Bill ‘’Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill 2010’’, has been proposed at the
Lagos State House of Assembly39. The House of Assembly is requested through this
Bill, to enact a law to incorporate and enforce certain provisions of CEDAW
(Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) and
expand on the Constitution’s provision against discrimination on grounds of sex40.

The Effect of Globalization

Leaders of the World’s richest and most economically influential countries
have continued to gather to conspire on how to carry out activities that will expand
globalization41. The G8 Leaders, (Britain, Japan, Canada, U.S.A, Russia, France.
Germany and Italy) continue to rotate among themselves to carry out these
clandestine meetings to depress further, the already depressed economies of the
world42. Of course, protests have followed these meetings and one of the reasons

32
. S. 357 Criminal Code Act.
33
. S.282 (2).Penal Code
34
. S. 42 CFRN 1999(as amended).
35
. SS 5, 6 and 7 CFRN 1999 (as amended)
36
. S. 26(2) (a) Ibid.
37
. S. 112 Evidence Act E14 L F N 2004
38
. SS. 353 and 300 of Criminal Code Act C38 LFN 2004.
39
. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, Lagos State House of Assembly.
40
. Ibid; However laws that discriminate against women have been held to be unconstitutional and
illegal – see Reed v. Reed 404 U.S. 71(1971); Phillips v. Martin Martin Marietta
Corporation 400, u.s. 542 (1971) & Frontiero v. Richardson (1972) . NB Under the 1960 and
1963 Constitutions of Nigerian, women in Northern States were not allowed to vote.
41
. At http;//www.im[ac. ca/economy/introglab.html accessed on 4/9/2010.
42
. Ibid.
154 The Legislative and Institutional Framework of Environmental Protection in the Oil …

given for these protests is the fact that between 1980 and 1996 while world trade was
increasing, 28 of the World’s poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa became
poorer.43

Globalization and Gender Equality

The Losses
For many countries, trade could be the primary vehicle for realizing the
benefits of globalization. Trade policies affect employment, production, distribution
and consumption patterns, cultural values, social relations and the environment, all of
which engage and affect women as well as men.
Despite new initiatives and commitments, the sad reality is that the situation
of the worlds’ women is progressively deteriorating due to globalization. At this
point, it is necessary to take counts of the negative effect of globalization on gender
rights in Nigeria.

Trade and Economy

Many years ago, when the Europeans sought to teach people religion, they
also traded the wealth of the places they set foot on in the bargain. This trend is
therefore not a new thing. The free-trade characterizing globalization, is thus akin to
exploitation of poor countries as was done in the era of colonization. The trend
towards privatization manifest in the harrowing experiences of citizens of countries
indebted to the World Powers controlled IMF and World Bank, is a pointer to the
inequity in Globalization. This indebtedness has necessitated the privatization of
social services as a major requirement for Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP).
The new rules of globalization and those playing them focus on integrating global
markets, at the expense of the needs of the people, and countries that the market
cannot meet. Nigeria is one of such Sub-Saharan poor developing countries going
through the nasty experiences of economy integration of globalization. When people
are laid off in obedience to the dictates of the Structural Adjustment Policies,44 it
mostly affects women because a far greater percentage of those who get laid off are
women concentrated at the sweat jobs.
In Nigeria, the resulting withdrawal of government from social services is also
felt more by the female gender. When government stops providing essential services,
private companies come in not only to provide the services, but also at a maximum
profit. This essentially creates poverty. Already in Nigeria, poverty seems to wear a
feminine look. Of the 54.4 percent of poor Nigerians, 75 percent are women45. The
processes emerging from globalization will ensure a deeper drive into gender
inequality in this direction. In Nigeria, because of privatization, education is
becoming a luxury very few can afford and healthcare has become inaccessible.
Where education is expensive, the girl child as aforesaid suffers as already existing

43
. Putting poverty on the Trade Agenda. In common: Gender Action Against Poverty 2001 also at
http;//. Inpac.ca/economy/introglob. html accessed on 4/9/2010.
44
United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women at
http;//www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/ beirutglobal.htm accessed on 4/9/10
45
. National Bureau of Statistics; available on line file://F:/women and poverty 3.htm accessed on
3/5/2010.
The Globalized World and Gender Rights in Nigeria: The Gains, The Losses 155

gender inequality caused by male preference will ensure that she drops out of school
in preference for her male siblings. Inaccessibility of healthcare could mean
government hospitals become non-functional or ill-equipped. The private hospitals
become expensive and health becomes a hard issue for all, especially the female
gender who have to go through pregnancy and child bearing in addition to other
health needs. The forces of globalization having limited the States’ ability to provide
social protection, have made human capital investments more strained. This poses a
challenge to Poverty Eradication Programmes, and the efforts to respond to the needs
of the less visible segments of the population especially women and children, in
responding to their right to basic services and development of their capabilities.
Particularly for women in Nigeria, the craze for fast food (A dividend of
globalization or better still Mcdonaldization) has put many women in local subsisting
catering sector, off their self-employed business. They now have to scamper for paid
jobs in fast food joints such as “Mr. Biggs,” “Chicken Republic,” “Golden Toast”
‘’Tantalizers’’, ‘’Macdons’’ and many others. They lose their financial and economic
freedom to the management of these so called fast food establishments.
The extension of the market can have both positive and negative effects for
women’s situation and gender relations. Counting loses will include increased
exploitation and dependency. Most of the cheap and sweat labour, are in low paying,
labour-intensive sectors(including concrete work in construction sites) where
flexibility and ability to work hard are needed and women are already over-stretched
in such areas. The incidence of globalization drives wages even lower and this does
not help the achievement of gender equality needed for national development.
While the shift of labour intensive industries are now centred in middle in-
coming developing economies, creating job opportunities for women, the poor
conditions under which many women enter the labour market are still persistent46.
This is acute in sweat shops in informal sector through which arrangements such as
Sub-contracting and outsourcing have become integral part of the formal economy
and have experienced a boom since the incidence of globalization.47

Mobility and Migration

When inequalities between countries created by unequal power relations as
witnessed in globalization becomes, overtly manifest, citizens of poor nations desire
to leave their own countries in search of greener pastures elsewhere. This has affected
Nigeria greatly because of the brain- drain syndrome. Many of the very experienced
professionals, especially medical doctors, left the country to work in other countries.
The Nigerian hospitals were then left to operate without adequate staffing. Healthcare
became both un-qualitative and expensive, and this has resulted in a lot of careless
deaths48. Emerging global trends are also significantly making cross-border flow of

46
. F. Anyogu, Access to Justice in Nigeria: A Gender Perspective opcit. P. 307.
47
. Engaging in Globalization at http://www.un.org/women watch /daw/csw/beinitglobal.htm
accessed on 4/9/2010
48
. Known to the authors, some people have died in the Teaching Hospitals because they were left
unattended to for days, some due to ordinary malaria.
156 The Legislative and Institutional Framework of Environmental Protection in the Oil …

labour more permissive49. Short term contracted labours have become significant.
Women’s work is rated as low cost and flexible50, so this trend is very significant in
gender relations. While migration to greener pastures may improve women’s lives,
many have also become victims of trafficking especially for sexual exploitation. This
is typical in Nigeria where young girls and even women are recruited into foreign
countries with promises of good jobs and better life, only to realize that they were
recruited for purposes of prostitution.

Gender Dimension of Poverty under Liberalization Policies

For the purpose of this article, the word poverty remains a condition in which
a person or community is deprived of, and, or lacks the essentials for a minimum
standard of well-being in life51. The essentials include food, shelter, health, education
among other social amenities. The evidence of poverty and food insecurity has been
acutely manifested in the last decade. With this, is equally the conflict in poverty
indicators. The Millennium Development Goals, have eradication of poverty as a key
objective yet many years on, an increasing number of people remain food insecure52.
Food Production and food access are two different players in the arena of poverty and
development. A poor nation may increase its food production, national food self-
sufficiency and economic growth to lift itself upward in the poverty statistics, but
sections of its people may remain food insecure because of other factors such as
financial constraint that affect their access to the food.53 It is construed from this that
development benchmarks that dwell on increased food production which does not run
concurrently with human development cannot give the correct picture viz a viz
distribution of food and ultimately Human Development indices.
The Nigerian economy is an agrarian one and women constitute the majority
of the poor. They are characterized by landlessness, as women are not allowed to
own land traditionally in many parts of Nigeria54 although women can today, acquire
land by purchase or by allocation from government. Many families are also headed
by females in Nigeria; many are remote from development assistance due to time,
health and illiteracy constraints. The gender dimension of poverty is therefore greatly
reinforced here. The table below showing the relationship of Human Development,
Gender Development and Human Poverty indices in four countries is evidence of the
abysmal position of women in Nigeria.55

49
. Globalization. Com at http;//www.globalizacija.com/doc_en/e00078 glo.html. accessed on
24/6/11.
50
. Ibid.
51
. P. Townsend, Poverty in the UK London Penguin Books `1979 p.42.
52
. http;//www.globalizacija.com/doc_en/e 0078 glo.html. accessed on 24/6/11.
53
. B.O Akanji, “Globalization, Poverty and Food Security: The Linkages of Gender Inequality and
Agricultural Growth in Africa; Conceptual and Empirical issues” at
http;//www.globalizacija.com/doc_en/e0078 glo.htm accessed on 24/6/11.
54
. Although the women from Arochukwu could own land traditionally even in earlier times.
55
B.O. Akanji op.cit p 2
The Globalized World and Gender Rights in Nigeria: The Gains, The Losses 157

Human Gender Human Poverty Macroeconomic

Development Development index growth (G N P
indicator indicator per capita)/year
Norway 0.934 0.932 3.9 36,806
Thailan 0.745 0.766 18.7 2593
d
Ghana 0.556 0.552 35.4 399
Nigeria 0.439 0.421 37.6 256

An analysis of the above table shows that human poverty is highest in Nigeria
and gender development is lowest in Nigeria. The lower the gender development, the
higher the human poverty and of course, the macro economic growth is also low.

Gender Rights
Early discourse x-rayed the entrenched gender inequality in favour of males in
Nigeria. Gender development for the purpose of this article means developing the
underdeveloped gender (in the context of Nigeria, the female gender). The long
standing discrimination against the female gender paralyzed their growth in various
aspects of life. Economically, they were stunted, legally they assumed a lower status
than men, and socially, they were down the ladder. This situation made it difficult for
many women to recognize, enjoy, or enforce their fundamental rights promised by the
1999 Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). Inbuilt in Globalization are many
biases that further cause gender inequality especially in the developing countries like
Nigeria. This will make for further violation of the rights of women, and increasing
difficulty in their enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms.
The Globalized world, despite these negative effects, has also opened some
new horizons for women. Because of gender inequalities and discrimination in all
parts of the world, especially in Africa of which Nigeria is a part, women can be
affected more negatively by globalization processes and policies than men. On the
other hand, globalization has significant gains for women, even in Nigeria.

The Gains of Globalization

Globalization is not all about losses for the Nigerian woman and her
fundamental rights. There are some gains and these include;

Increased Employment Opportunities

With the trend, there is increased employment opportunity for women in non-
traditional sector. This enables them to earn and control more income. This is
essentially empowering as it would help women to negotiate their role and capacity
within both the family enclave and society at large. Economic dependence on the
male decreases so that women do not have to tolerate the violation of their rights, no
matter where it is coming from. They will gradually come out of the position, where
they need the economic assistance of their violators. Economically, they can now
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fight legally for their fundamental human rights in the event of violations. This again
means their exercise of access to justice as promised in our Statute books.56

Diversification of Interests
Increase in World trade, particularly in services, which is the focal point in
globalization, has increased the involvement of women in various occupations and
professions of the services sector. Women around the World and in Nigeria, are now
found in professional services like, law, accounting, banking, airline booking (Travel
agents) and computing. This development has removed many women from the stereo-
type jobs like nursing and teaching. This in itself is an exercise of their fundamental
right of liberty via choice of career.

Migration
Women have more chances of migrating to work abroad and this improves
their life chances and opportunities.

Governance
Globalization has generated an unprecedented understanding among nations
that socio-economic rights are part of the international human rights concern.
Nigerian women are not secluded from the growing international women’s movements
and their influence over intergovernmental processes. These processes are
empowering women and making it possible for women’s organizations in Nigeria and
other countries to grow, and bring positive developments in the lives of women. Many
of them are basically involved in the fight for the human rights of the female gender
and the empowerment of women in general.

Technological Change
The emergence of technological change has been of great help to the
empowerment of women all over the world especially in Nigeria. Women in Nigeria
and elsewhere are using the internet and e-mail for development processes such as
networking, advocacy, dissemination and exchange of information. There is also
employment in information processing work. It is noteworthy that the majority of the
computer operators both in large and small scale enterprises are women. Information
Communication Technology has also improved the access to health of women in
Nigeria.

Recommendations
It would be observed that the losses come with some gains and vice versa. All
that is needed is some harmonization and suggestions for mechanisms to avoid new
forms of exclusions and isolation of the female gender. It is therefore, recommended
as follows:

56 . S. 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The Globalized World and Gender Rights in Nigeria: The Gains, The Losses 159

Monitor
Because of gender inequalities and discrimination in many parts of the world
including Nigeria, which make women more vulnerable to the negative impacts of
globalization, it is necessary to monitor the gender impact of change so that the little
efforts so far made in the achievement of gender equality, and the expansion of human
capabilities, are not sacrificed on the altar of trade and border liberalizations.

Surveys and Analysis

While surveys focus on the labour market participation within the changing
world and in Nigeria, further research is needed to assess the impact of globalization
on other aspects of life.

International Mechanisms for Labour

Due to the lack of effective international mechanisms that regulate and protect
the rights of labour moving across national borders, migrants are vulnerable to human
right abuses. Nigeria should therefore, make more effective, its legal and
administrative mechanisms for checkmating human trafficking as many of the
supposed migrants for job opportunities end up being victims of trafficking mostly for
purposes of sexual abuse and forced prostitution.

Exclusion from I C T
Millions of women in Nigeria still do not have access to Information
Communication Technology due to factors like cost, location, and time constraint.
Mechanisms should be evolved to remedy such factors, for example, by providing a
central ICT Centre in every community etc.

Education
The gains of globalization have not been equitably distributed, and the gap
between rich and poor countries, men and women still exists. For women, the gains
have concentrated in the hands of women who are better placed in life with higher
levels of education, and access to capitals and resources. The answer in Nigeria still
remains “education”. Education of women will bring them out of the doldrums of
ignorance, exclusion, isolation, gender rights blindness and human rights abuse.

Elimination of Gender Inequality

There should be a concerted effort at the elimination of gender inequality in
Nigeria. All the cultural bottle necks that drag women down economically, legally
and socially must be done away with. It is only when gender equality is attained, that
world policies will affect men and women equally in Nigeria.

Conclusion
This article has tried to give an insight into what globalization as a world
process entails. The endemic gender inequality has been discussed also. Both the
positive and negative effects of globalization on women and gender rights have also
been outlined. Recommendations as to a possible way forward have also been made.
It should be noted that the deep-rooted gender inequality and abrasion of women’s
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human rights that exist in Nigerian society were not brought on by globalization.
These inequalities exist to be affected either positively or negatively by imminent
changes in world processes and policies, of which Nigeria cannot help but be a part of.
Globalization policies like all other endeavours in life have both positive and negative
impacts on all the countries of the world. Because extreme gender inequality exists in
Nigeria, the negative policies in Globalization and its attendant free trade re-enforce
further gender inequality which consequently deepens the violation of women’s
human rights. It is hoped that the recommendations especially the elimination of
gender inequality shall be hearkened to and that it would put men and women in
Nigeria on a pedestal to be affected equally by World policies.