IS THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY FAIR TO WOMEN?

ADEREMI MEDUPIN

In the days of gender activism in Nigeria

The closing two decades of the 20^th Century Nigeria witnessed a visible, vibrant association of women with a few men as diehard supporters in their midst-known as Women in Nigeria (WIN) and present in most Nigerian university campuses well known for their radical political orientation-mainly but not limited to those in Zaria, Ilorin, Kano, Ibadan, Calabar, Lagos ete, etc.

Actively led by fire brands like Yetunde Laniran, Ayesha Imam, Gloria Thomas, Ms Iweriebor, Bene Madunagu, Leslie Ogundipe et al, they were mostly committed ASUU members fighting alongside their male counterparts against the oppressive model under which peoples take home pay could not really take them home. The rallying call amongst the adherents of WIN was, to put it simply: gender equity. I cannot remember how, over time, this unifying umbrella later gave way to unrecognizable off springs of degenerative labels-from Professional Women Lawyers Association, Women Accountants of Nigeria, Association of Women Medical Practitioners and now more recently Christian Women Nurses Association, Association of Muslim Students of Law and such weird groupings of nebulous focus united at the same time by undeniable ideological bankruptcy.

Without doubt, women are more economically marginalized than men in Nigeria. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, Nigeria ranks 139 out of 156 countries in terms of gender equality, with significant gaps in economic participation and opportunity. On a comparative basis, despite making up approximately 49% of the population, women in Nigeria face significant economic disparities and barriers, including:

Limited access to education and job opportunities
Gender-based discrimination in the workplace

Unequal pay for the same work

Lack of representation in leadership and decision-making positions
Limited access to credit and financial services
Restricted control over assets and property

Social and cultural norms that perpetuate gender stereotypes and limit economic potential.

Some statistics highlighting the economic marginalization of women in Nigeria include:

According to the World Bank, only 41 % of women have a bank account, compared to 54% of men;
As estimated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2020, women hold only 27% of management positions in the country
The gender gap pay in Nigeria is estimated by the World Bank as at 2020 to be around 30%.
Women constitute 60% of the poorest people in Nigeria, with 62 million women living inextreme poverty-

Ten richest Nigerian women and their worth

Folorunsho Alakija $1.6 billion
Hajia Bola Shagaya $950 million
Dr Steall Okoli $800 million
Daisy Danjuma $100 million
Fifi Ejindu $80 million
Stella Oduah $80 million
Dr Adenike Ogunlesi $50 million
Bimbo Alase $40 million
Mosunmola Abudu $30 million
Bola Adesola $28 million

The impact of the economy on women is not uniform across the country. For example, women in the North West and North East zones have lower economic status than women in other zones. Furthermore, women in the rural areas have a lower economic status than women in the urban areas. Of the six zones, the South West has the highest economic status for women, followed by the North Central zone.

One obvious inference the reader may draw from the displayed statistics in Table I is that Nigeria can boast of women millionaires-not just in Naira terms but the other notorious currency. But there is an additional revelation which comes from Table II-highlighting the league of the richest men in the country. As the Table shows, the wealth of the women folks pales into relative insignificance when compared to those of their male counterparts. As simple illustration, the richest woman in Nigeria barely struggles to beat the eighth person on the men’s leagues.

Ten richest Nigerian men and their worth

Aliko Dangote $10.1 billion
Mike Adenuga $7.4 billion
AbdulSamad Rabiu $5.9 billion
Arthur Eze $4. billion
Cletus Ibeto $2.5 billion
Emeka Offor $2.2 billion
Benedice Peter $2.1 billion
Femi Otedola $1.1 billion
ABC Orjiako $1 billion
Orji Uzor Kalu $1 billion

Even more glaring is the fact that the combined wealth of the ten richest women does not match that of the singular richest man. Similarly, the bottom last three of the rich men have a combined wealth of $3.1 billon just trailing behind the $3.4 billion combined wealth of the three richest women. The contrast could hardly be starker.

Government Policies on Women

It is pertinent to note that the various government administrations have declared commitment to addressing the plight of women but it can be said that the one that has made the greatest effort at reducing women’s economic marginalization since independence is the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007). During his tenure, several initiatives were implemented to promote gender equality and empower women economically. Some notable achievements include:

Establishment of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in 2000- to coordinate gender-related policies and programmes;
Introduction of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme in 1999-which aimed to increase access to education for girls and women
Implementation of the National Gender Policy in 2006, aimed at promoting gender equality and empowering women;
Creation of the National Women empowerment Fund in 2001- to provide financial support to women entrepreneurs; and
Appointment of women to key positions.

Other administrations such as those of Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari have also made efforts to promote gender equality but could not match the Obasanjo record. . It is rather too early to assess that of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. However, during the campaign, he made promises to prioritize gender equality and women’s empowerment, including:

Increasing access to education and economic opportunities for women;
Implementing policies to promote gender equality in the workplace;
Providing financial support and resources for women-owned businesses; and
Addressing gender-based violence and discrimination.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how his administration will translate these promises into concrete actions and policies to address women’s economic marginalization in the country.

The continental Picture for comparison

Raising our gaze to the continental level, we see the position of women in a more objective perspective. To cite a few illustrative examples: comparing Nigeria and Ghana, women in Ghana face similar challenges with limited access to economic resources and opportunities as both countries have significant gender gaps in economic opportunities and political representation. However, Ghana has made more progress in terms of women’s political participation and representation, with more women holding public office. Women in Ghana are also more likely to be more involved in artisanal and small-scale mining. Comparing Nigeria and South Africa, we see that both countries have constitutional provisions supporting gender equality; however, both face high rates of gender-based violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault. Also, both have gender disparities in education, with women having lower access to quality education; however, South Africa has achieved parity in education, with equal numbers of men and women enrolled in tertiary education, unlike Nigeria. On balance, South Africa has a higher percentage (at 43%) of women in the workforce compared to Nigeria’s 34%. Besides, South Africa has a higher percentage of women in parliament (42%) compared to Nigeria’s 4%. Coming more generally to economic status, we find that in Nigeria women have only 26% of non-agricultural employment-against South Africa’s 45%, 70% of women work in the informal sector while the overall women’s labour force participation rate is 48.4% -against South Africa’s 52%-with women earning 60% of what men earn-against South Africa’s 75% .

Bright rays of Hope

Several Nigerian state governments have been addressing the challenge of women’s economic marginalization through various initiatives and policies. For example, Lagos state has established the Lagos State Women’s Empowerment Fund to provide financial support to women-owned businesses and has implemented the “Women in Leadership” initiative to promote gender equality in governance. The Kaduna state government has also launched its own “Kaduna State Women’s Empowerment Programme” to improve women’s economic status through training and entrepreneurship support while it also established “Kaduna State Women’s fund to provide financial assistance to women. In a similar vein, Ogun State is implementing its Ogun State Women’s empowerment Scheme to provide loans and training to women entrepreneurs while at the same time establishing the “Ogun State Women’s development Centre” to support women’s economic development. On July 9, 2024 a partnership between Ekiti State government and Access Bank Plc was formalized in terms of a N1 billion loan initiative for women-led businesses in the state. According to the state governor, “the scheme is primarily designed to provide seamless and accessible loan for female business owners in the state”, adding that “the initiative would expand the scope of women’s accessibility to soft loans and unlock other financing opportunities for women-led business to bolster micro, small and medium scale enterprises”. The Kano State government has launched its own “Kano State Women’s Empowerment Programme” to improve women’s economic status through training and entrepreneurship support along with the establishment of “Kano State Women’s fund” to provide financial assistance to women. Enugu State has also implemented its own “Enugu State Women’s Empowerment Scheme” to provide loans and training to women entrepreneurs along with the establishment of “Enugu State Women’s Development Centre” to support women’s economic development. All these are clear attempts to redress a major constraint faced by women in Nigeria thus promoting gender equality.

Women in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas

Given the central position of oil and gas in the Nigerian economy especially in regard to public finance, it is appropriate to highlight the presence of women in the sector. Naitametrics put it rightly when it noted how the industry is often seen as a male-dominated field, but that women are now making strides in the sector and proving that gender is not a barrier to success. From engineers to executives women are making significant contributions to the sector. Indeed, there is a vibrant body, Women in Energy, Oil and Gas (WEOG). On their website, we are informed that: Women in Energy Oil and Gas (WEOG) is a forum created to promote gender diversity and inclusion in the male dominated energy, oil and gas industry thereby creating opportunities for women to step into leadership roles and pursue their career, business and personal goals in line with the Global goal 05. On March 29, 2020, the Punch Newspaper put up a write up on “Women who call the shots in oil and gas listing the following as key players:

Folorunsho Alakija-listed earlier- is known as one of the wealthiest black women globally. Her fortune surged dramatically when her company, Fumfa Limited, was granted a license to explore for oil on a 617,000-acre block called OPL 216. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked her as the 96^th most influential woman globally.
Bola Shagaya-Regarded as one of the richest and most fashionable women in the country, Shagaya is the Managing Director of Practoil Limited, a company that imports and distributes base oil in Nigeria. She also founded another exploration company called Voyage Oil and Gas Limited.She started her career with the audit department of the Central Bank of Nigeria before venturing into business on her own. One of her earliest business activities was the importation and distribution of photographic materials in Nigeria and West Africa. Her other interests cut across real estate, and fashion, and she is a friend of many bigwigs in the country. Shagaya studied Economics at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna; and Accountancy at Armstrong College, California, USA.
Awuneba Ajumogobia-A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Awuneba Ajumogobia is also a co-founder and director of Multistream Energy Limited. She studied Economics at the University of Ibadan and has worked with companies including Peat Marwick Ani Ogunde and Company, Deloitte and Arthur Andersen (now Accenture). She is an associate of the non-profit organisation— Women in Management, Business and Public Service, and the Chairperson of the Governing Council of Grange Education Limited.
Catherine Uju-Ifejijka-Uju-Ifejika started her career in the oil and gas industry in 1987 when she joined the legal department of Texaco as a junior counsel. She later rose to become the company’s secretary for public and government affairs for West Africa. She joined Britannia-U Nigeria Limited in 2007 (a subsidiary of the Britannia-U Group) as the CEO and has continued to steer the affairs of the company admirably, garnering several accolades along the line. The company’s activities include oil exploration and production, refining, trading, supply and distribution, upstream (exploration and production), downstream (supply and trading), shipping and sub-surface engineering.
Amy Jadesimi- Jadesimi received her first degree in Physiological Sciences from Oxford University, England, before proceeding to Oxford University Medical School, where she graduated as a medical doctor. Upon graduation from medical school, Jadesimi joined Goldman Sachs International in London as part of the investment banking division of the company, specialising in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions. She joined LADOL in 2004 and she has seen to the expansion of the company in several ways. The company’s base is specifically designed to meet the logistical needs of deep water offshore oil and gas operations and projects in and around Nigeria.
Godrey Ogbechie- She started her career in the banking industry where she worked with Universal Trust Bank Limited and Fidelity Bank Plc. While in the banking sector, she worked in different areas spanning operations, customer service/relationship management, audit and human resource management. After a fulfilling time in the financial sector, Ogbechie joined Rainoil Limited (owned by her husband, Gabriel) as the Group Executive Director. Bringing her wealth of experience to bear on the operations of the company, her impact has been felt in different areas of the company. She oversees the corporate support service functions of the company which include human resources, information technology, and administration and facilities management.
Victoria Samson- Victoria Samson started her career in the oil and gas industry as a dealer with Texaco Nigeria Limited. She went on to co-found the Bovas Group with her husband, Bamidele Samson, in 1980 and started operations as an indigenous independent petroleum marketing company, before opening their first filling station in 1991 at Osogbo, Osun State. Presently, the company operates 119 service stations around the country. The firm also opened a liquefied petroleum gas plant in 1995 and presently has about 20 operational gas skids.
Audrey Joe-Ezigbo- Like some others on this list, Audrey Joe-Ezigbo co-founded Falcon Corporation Limited with her husband, Joe. The oil and gas outfit’s services range from engineering, procurement, construction, real estate and natural gas distribution, and Audrey’s contribution to the company’s growth cannot be overstated. Audrey, who is also the Managing Director and principal strategist of Falcongaz Limited, sits on the board of several corporations and is the president of the Nigeria Gas Association.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive. For example, in other publications, Winifred Akpani is listed as the Managing director and CEO of Norhwest Petroleum Company Limited which has developed into a major player in the Nigerian Oil and gas sector.

Conclusion

There’s no contesting the fact that addressing the observed disparities and promoting gender equality is essential for Nigeria’s economic growth and development. Empowering women to fully participate in the economy can lead to increased economic productivity, improved livelihoods, and a more equitable society. However, having submitted thus and building on the preceding facts, permit me to modify the initial question, to read: ISN’T THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY FAIR TO PRIVILEGED WOMEN? I come in peace, please.