Women in Nigeria

Child marriage is common in Nigeria, with 43% of girls being married before their 18th birthday, and 17% before they turn 15.[7] The prevalence, however, varies greatly by region.[7] Nigeria's total fertility rate is 5.07 children/woman.[9] Nigeria's high fertility rate is causing socio-economic problems and fueling under-development.[10][11]

Female genital cutting (also known as female genital mutilation) in Nigeria accounts for the most female genital cutting/mutilation (FGM/C) cases worldwide.[12] The practice is considered harmful to girls and women and a violation of human rights.[13] FGM causes infertility, maternal death, infections, and the loss of sexual pleasure.[14]

Nationally, 27% of Nigerian women between the ages of 15 and 49 were victims of FGM, as of 2012.[15] In the last 30 years, prevalence of the practice has decreased by half in some parts of Nigeria.[13] It was reported that about one fourth of Nigerian women reported having ever experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) as of 2013.[16] Studies carried on the prevalence of IPV in four Geo-political zones of Nigeria indicated that South East had 78.8%,[17] North had 42%,[18] South South had 41%,[19] and South West had 29%.[20][16]

The 12 Muslim majority states in Nigeria's north where polygamy is legal.

12 out of the 36 Nigerian states recognize polygamous marriages as being equivalent to monogamous marriages. All twelve states are governed by Islamic Sharia Law. The States, which are all northern, include the states of Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara [39] which allows for a man to take more than one wife.[40]

Elsewhere, both Christians and traditionalists in polygamous unions are recognized by customary law. These unions are contingent upon the absence of prior civil marriage, as bigamy technically applies, but even when present, men are seldom ever prosecuted for bigamy in Nigeria.[41]

A national feminist movement was inaugurated in 1982,[51] and a national conference held at Ahmadu Bello University.[51] The papers presented there indicated a growing awareness by Nigeria's university-educated women that the place of women in society required a concerted effort and a place on the national agenda; the public perception, however, remained far behind.

For example, a feminist meeting in Ibadan came out against polygamy and then was soundly criticized by market women, who said they supported the practice because it allowed them to pursue their trading activities and have the household looked after at the same time. Research in the north indicated that many women opposed the practice, and tried to keep bearing children to stave off a second wife's entry into the household.[52] Although women's status would undoubtedly rise, for the foreseeable future Nigerian women lacked the opportunities of men.

Yinka Jegede-Ekpe, herself HIV-positive, set up the Nigerian Community of Women Living With HIV/AIDS in 2001. The group intended to inform women about the risks of HIV/AIDS and to empower them to speak out.[53]

In the north, practices that were introduced in terms of women's position in society have been mainly as a result of colonialism and the introduction of salafism and wahhabism thought into the traditionally sufistregion [54]. This process has meant, generally, less formal education; early teenage marriages, especially in rural areas; and confinement to the household, which was often polygynous, except for visits to family, ceremonies, and the workplace, if employment were available and permitted by a girl's family or husband. For the most part, Hausa women did not work in the fields, whereas Kanuri women did; both helped with harvesting and were responsible for all household food processing.

Urban women sold cooked foods, usually by sending young girls out onto the streets or operating small stands. Research indicated that this practice was one of the main reasons city women gave for opposing schooling for their daughters[55]. Even in elite houses with educated wives, women's presence at social gatherings was either nonexistent or very restricted. In the modern sector, a few women were appearing at all levels in offices, banks, social services, nursing, radio, television, and the professions (teaching, engineering, environmental design, law, pharmacy, medicine, and even agriculture and veterinary medicine).

This trend resulted from women's secondary schools, teachers' colleges, and in the 1980s women holding approximately one-fifth of university places—double the proportion of the 1970s. Research in the 1980s indicated that, for the Muslim north, education beyond primary school was restricted to the daughters of the business and professional elites, and in almost all cases, courses and professions were chosen by the family, not the woman themselves.

However, in the last few years, the rate of women's employment has apparently increased as more women have been employed in the modern sector. You find them as cashiers in the banks, teachers in public and private primary and secondary schools, nurses at hospitals as well as television hosts of different TV programs. Although, the issue of women not occupying top positions still remains a huge challenge all over the country and across all sectors as most of these positions are occupied by men with little opportunities for equally qualified women. In addition, young ladies deciding on courses and professions to choose from now have the full autonomy to do that in some households especially in the southern part of the country. However, the north still lags behind in these apparent changes due to cultural laws.

A Nigerian woman balancing market goods on her head

In the south, women traditionally had economically important positions in interregional trade and the markets, worked on farms as major labour sources, and had influential positions in traditional systems of local organization. The south, like the north, had been polygynous; in 1990 it still was for many households, including those professing Christianity.

Women in the south, had received Western-style education since the nineteenth century, so they occupied positions in the professions and to some extent in politics. In addition, women headed households, something not seriously considered in Nigeria's development plans. Such households were more numerous in the south, but they were on the rise everywhere.

• Amina J. Mohammed — Deputy Secretary-General of the U.N.
• Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki- Politician and philanthropist
• Florence Ita Giwa — Politician
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala — Economist, First Female Minister of Finance
• Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, activist
• Dora Akunyili - Former Minister of Information and Communication, Former Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria.
• Kemi Adeosun - Minister of Finance (November 2015 - 2018)
• Beni Lar, Member of Nigeria's House of Representatives and women's advocate

• Bilikiss Adebiyi Abiola — Wecyclers CEO
• Folorunsho Alakija, businesswoman
• Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive (Africa Region) of Standard Bank
• Debrah Eunice Osagiede

• Agbani Darego — Model and Beauty Queen[56]
• Alex Okoroji — Actress, Media Personality and Author
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — Writer
• Chioma Akpotha — Actress & Film Maker
• Folake Coker — Fashion Designer, Creative Director of Tiffany Amber
• Funke Akindele — Actress
• Genevieve Nnaji — Actress
• Helen Paul — Comedian
• Ireti Doyle — Actress[57]
• Kiki Mordi – Media personality and journalist
• Krystal Okeke – Ms. Illinois USA Universal 2016 and founder of America Multicultural Kids Fashion Show and Miss America Nation beauty pageant
• Onyinye Ough, author and activist
• Osonye Tess Onwueme — Playwright[58]
• Mo Abudu, media personality
• Tiwa Savage - Entertainer
• Ufuoma McDermott — Actress & Film Maker
• Yemi Alade - Entertainer

Notable scientists include:

• Ameyo Adadevoh - Nigerian physician
• Professor Grace Alele-Williams - Mathematician[59]
• Francisca Nneka Okeke - Physicist[59]
• Deborah Ajakaiye - Geophysicists[59]
• Olabisi Ugbebor - Mathematician[59]
• Ayoka Olufunmilayo Adebambo - Animal Scientist[59]
• Adenike Osofisan - Computer Scientist[59]
• Folasade Ogunsola - Medical Scientist[59]
• Chinedum Peace Babalola - Pharmacist[59]
• Olubola Babalola - Quantity Surveyors[59]
• Rabia Sa’id - Physicist[59]
• Lucy Jumeyi Ogbadu - Microbiologist[59]
• Prof. Sylvia Uzochukwu - Food Scientist[59]
• Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi, Ph.D - Environmental Biochemist[59]
• Rosemary Nkemdilim Ogu, Ph.D - Obstetrician/ Gynaecologist[59]
• Folasade Olajuyigbe, Ph.D - Biochemist[59]
• Stella Ifeanyi Smith, Ph.D - Microbiologist[59]

• Factors associated with attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women: a comparative analysis of 17 sub-Saharan countries [1]
• Intimate partner violence and reproductive health of women [2]
• Intimate Partner Abuse: Wife Beating among Civil Servants in Ibadan, Nigeria [3]
• Intimate Partner Violence among Women in a Migrant Community in Southwest Nigeria [4]
• Intimate Partner Violence: Prevalence and Perceptions of Married Men in Ibadan, Nigeria [5]
• Influence of Community Social Norms on Spousal Violence: A Population-Based Multilevel Study of Nigerian Women [6]