Patriarchy and the state of Women participation in Governance in Edo State of Nigeria.

Abstract

Despite the freedom to participate in governance by both eligible men and women in Nigeria, the political scene in Edo State has been highly dominated by men-folk at all levels of governance due to the patriarchal social system in the State. Patriarchy as a concept, symbolizes a hierarchical structure that encompasses political, economic, social, religious, cultural, industrial and financial spheres, under which a large proportion of upper echelons in society are controlled and dominated by men. Thus, any system that perpetrates men’s undue advantage over women is considered patriarchal. This paper analyzed the relationship between patriarchy and women participation in the governance of Edo State and found that there is low participation in the state politics and governance on the part of Edo women; that there is discrimination against women in governance in the state, and that patriarchy remains a factor that limits women participation in the governance of Edo State. The implication of the study is that there is need for policy action on the part of the state government to enable more women to be included in the governance of Edo State. The paper recommends the need to address the low participation of women in the governance of Edo State by allocating political positions to women on quota basis. Also, societal obstacles of patriarchy, custom, religion, tradition and other obnoxious beliefs found to be responsible for low women political participation must be set aside in the State.