Gender Inequality in Nigeria’s National Assembly since the Fourth Republic

Gender inequality is quite an enormous issue that have lingered all through different time. From time immemorial, women have always been reckoned as second-hand citizens when compared to their male counterpart. There has always been the marginalization and discrimination between men and women in all walks of life. Gender inequality represents the preference of men at the detriment of women. This has been made obvious in the industrial sector, educational sector, work environment, banking and finance sector and political sector. For this reason, this work will delve into the relationship between gender inequality and conflict management in Nigeria’s National Assembly since the Fourth Republic. The study showed that although women’s rights to actively engage in politics were protected by the Nigerian constitution; yet, during the past ten years, women’s involvement has increased relative to before. This is only the case when we use certain metrics to gauge the rise in involvement, such as the proportion of women who vote in elections, the number of women in public office, the number of government laws pertaining to women, etc. There has not been laudable and commendable participation of women in political positions in Nigeria and most parts of the world. This is also the case in the Nigeria’s National Assembly. Some factors that lead to the above include discriminatory culture and norms, religion, economic factors, educational factors, political factors and the rule of law. The study was anchored on the Relative Deprivation Theory which postulates that individuals who believe they are being denied something that is deemed necessary for their lives—such as money, rights, political voice, or status—may organize or participate in social movements or armed conflicts aimed at regaining the things they perceive to be missing. It is therefore recommended that women who are politically-inclined and have political ambitions should be encouraged and given due supports just like their male counterpart.