The International Women’s Day was celebrated last week and despite the hype, some have said the celebration has become routine and has no impact on the realities of women in the Nigerian community. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE speaks with women on whether the celebration has been effective in addressing salient issues in the Nigerian society.
The International Women’s Day (IWD), created by Clara Zetkin in 1910, is a worldwide celebration of women’s social, economic, cultural as well as political achievements, and is also meant to serve as a call to action on issues that will accelerate gender equality.
It grew from a labour movement to become a recognised annual event by the United Nations (UN) and was first celebrated over a century ago in the year 1911.
And though it is celebrated on March 8 annually, the celebration extends throughout the month of March with activities by various groups across the world. And this year, the theme is #EmbraceEquity, emphasizing the importance of gender equity in all aspects of society.
This year, IWD explored the impact of digital gender gap on inequality for women and girls based on the UN’s estimation that the lack of women’s access to the online world will lead to a $1.5 trillion loss to gross domestic product of low and middle-income countries by 2025 if no action is taken.
However, there had been conversations on whether the day is worth celebrating in Nigeria or it is just a routine, as some have expressed the view that it does not seem to have an impact on the average Nigerian woman, especially those at the grassroots.
They argue that though the day focuses on challenging gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, and draw attention to bias and seek out inclusion for women, it has not impacted Nigerian women that much and Nigerian women continue to suffer backlash in their quest for gender equity.
The Women In Politics Forum (WIPF) confirmed this when it lamented the low number of female candidates that participated in the recent election in its analysis stating that there were only 381 women among the total of 4,259 contestants for the presidential and the National Assembly election.
Also, the Secretary for Gender Balancing and Youth Development of Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Ms Christiana Ojo, advised Nigerian women not to get carried away with the celebration that comes with the day but to discuss, chart a new course and devise practical solutions to challenges women face in the society.
Should IWD be celebrated in Nigeria? Nigerian Tribune spoke to professional women and activists in different fields.
Engineer Adenike Adebola
“In my opinion, there are no deliberate efforts to impact the lives of women at the grassroots with any Women’s Day initiative. This year’s theme, for example, went over the heads of even middle class women. I would have expected at least some effort to teach more women skills that would help them thrive in the digital economy. I’m not aware of such an initiative.
“I think it is great to have a day dedicated to women to celebrate our wins. However, I think we need more than a day a year to address the challenges faced by Nigerian women. I believe there should be a proper framework instituted to take on the challenges identified all through the year. Then, International Women’s Day can be used to highlight the measurable progress that has been made between years.
“For me, I spent a good part of the day on the Gender Pay Gap App on Twitter learning about the pay gap among men and women in different organizations that “celebrated” IWD. It was interesting to note that I saw only one organization that had women earning higher than men for the middle income band. It was great to be able to see data that supports what I’ve always believed about how women are exploited across board by businesses and organizations.
Olayemi Aribo, Associate Director, Program Management and Community Engagement.
International Women’s Day is set aside to celebrate women’s achievements, educate and raise awareness for women’s equality, call for positive change advancing women, lobby for accelerated gender parity and fundraise for female-focused charities amongst other things. However, from my experience, the IWD has more impact on women living in the urban areas than those living in rural areas.
“In the urban areas, we see pockets of activities on IWD celebrating women, talking about their achievements, gender mainstreaming and so on. On the other hand, we hardly see these activities replicated at the grassroots level, hence the low impact of IWD amongst Women living in these areas.
The importance of IWD to the average woman in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized because even in 2023, you still see a lot of gender bias, gender based violence, patriarchy e.t.c in Nigeria and we often shy away from these topics on a normal day but if we can make IWD a day we must talk about these things across the country, it can begin to shape the orientation of many about the issues facing women in Nigeria tand we can gradually move from talking about the issues once a year to every other day.”
Bukola Afolabi Ogunyeye, Educator and proprietor
“In my opinion, the International women’s day is yet to be able to have any impact on the women in the grassroots as a result of ignorance of what the day stands for and lack of enlightenment.
It is significant to the average Nigerian woman because it re-emphasises that the woman matter and are appreciated all over the world.”
Abiade Abiola, Lawyer, lecturer and activist
“I am an advocate of celebrating the minute things of life and making the best of every opportunity. So in as much as some people think celebrating IWD doesn’t have an impact on the average Nigerian woman, I believe they are being pessimistic and looking at the cup as half empty rather than half full. When we celebrate, we are raising awareness that women are important and should have a voice and not be relegated. The celebration comes in different ways and this is the only time some groups reach out to people at the grassroots in diverse ways and some needs are being met.
Instead of asking why it should be celebrated, we should ask what more can be done. IWD is relevant, we just need more advocates to care for the average Nigerian woman.”
Jadesola Ajibola, NAWOJ chairperson, GM Inspiration FM
“IWD is not routine; it is time to celebrate and recognise women that have made a difference and call for more awareness and action on salient issues affecting women. It is a day to remind ourselves on the need to protect women and allow them explore their potentials.
“Women are moving up and it can only get better with such awareness. This year’s celebration talks about access of women to innovation and technology and poverty is a key driver militating against this, so we need the IWD to draw attention to such issues.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Governorship poll: Lagos, Oyo, Nasarawa, Rivers, Delta, Kaduna, five others are key battle states
2023 elections: Tinubu’s victory not God’s plan for Nigeria, Peter Obi replies Aisha Buhari, others
I never intended to toy with any lady’s emotions —Yemi Cregx
2023 presidential poll: We’ll hit streets if courts don’t work – LP
Super Eagles legend Vincent Enyeama ranked greatest African goalkeeper
