GENDER EQUALITY IN GOVERNANCE: IMPERATIVES FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper examines the critical role of gender equality in governance as a pathway
to sustainable democracy and development in Nigeria. There is still, in perpetuation, gender bias
in governance. This is largely due to the existing socio-cultural structure and practices that
perpetuate anti-democratic ideals and hinder development in our contemporary world.
Undoubtedly, these practices, which are self-injurious and retrogressive, terribly place women in
a questionable incapacitation that makes them unable to harness their latent endowment for their
benefit and the society at large. This has made it imperative to advocate for a departure from this
archaic, primordial, and non-progressive practice of not allowing them to offer what they have in
complementarity. Consequently, the paper focused on the plight of women in governance/political
leadership; participation of women in governance/political leadership; patriarchy and other factors
militating against women's participation in governance/political leadership; arguments against
women's participation in governance/political leadership; and arguments for women's participation
in governance/political leadership and strategic ways to encourage and increase women's
participation in governance/political leadership