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A seminar in
celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) was held at the
University of Lagos on March 9. Jointly organised by PEN Nigeria and
the university’s Department of English, the seminar featured paper
presentations by Eno Ikpe, Mojisola Shodipe, Anthonia Yakubu, and Ofure
Aito.

Among those in
attendance were: Duro Oni, dean of the Faculty of Arts; Eruvbetine A.E,
head of the English department; as well as Folu Agoi and Ropo Ewenla,
vice president and secretary of PEN Nigeria respectively. The theme of
this year’s celebration, ‘Equal access to education, training and
science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women’ was of
particular focus during the seminar.

According to Akachi
Adimora-Ezeigbo, coordinator of the event and chair, PEN Nigeria’s
Women Writers Committee, the celebration was a platform “to demand that
women have an equal right in the society.” She acknowledged that some
changes have been made; issues related to women including human
trafficking, girl child education, female genital mutilation and rape
have been looked into over the years. “Change may be slow but it is
happening and I thank all those who are trying to make this change,”
she said.

Women in National Development

Eno Ikpe’s paper,
‘Women in National Development’, kicked off the presentations, setting
out the role of women to National development and the impact of
globalisation on their lives. “Globalisation, which has both positive
and negative sides, has provided a lot of opportunities for women,”
Ikpe said. The associate professor of History and Strategic Studies,
University of Lagos, spoke about how she had benefited from a
scholarship during the oil boom. She urged women to seize opportunities
to develop themselves, especially through information technology.
However, she noted that, despite these opportunities, much still needs
to be done. “Nigerian women are very versatile and the government
should give them more educational opportunities. The situation where 70
per cent of women earn close to nothing isn’t acceptable and women
should learn to equip themselves,” she declared. She maintained that a
woman is essential to national development, whether as a housewife,
market woman, or labourer.

Women, Language and Politics in Nigeria

Mojisola Shodipe,
in ‘Women, Language and Politics in Nigeria’, gave insight into the
importance of mother tongue in political participation. In a
presentation of extracts from ongoing research on gender issues, she
gave examples of women who have occupied positions in the political
terrain, whether directly or indirectly. The famous Iyalode
title-holder of Yorubaland was also cited as an example of women in
cabinets. “Much has been done to ensure the emancipation of women.
Women are giving men a run for their money,” Shodipe said.

But she pointed out
that this is no longer the case, as a majority of people, especially
women, are excluded from political participation because of the
language barrier. According to her, the dominant use of English
Language in politics, mass media, and even Nollywood is a major
barrier. Slogans on political posters are written in English, ‘Eko o ni
baje!’ seeming to be the only indigenous language on posters in Lagos.

“English continues
to occupy the position of dominance. Most of the women who take
political positions are from the elite groups; they speak good English
and have gone abroad,” Shodipe said.

She suggested the
use of indigenous languages as a solution. “Mother tongue gives insight
into the culture of the people. Women who don’t understand English are
disempowered,” she said, adding that “women are reduced to the role of
dancing and Aso ebi wearing at political rallies.”

However, such women
are not given opportunities to participate in decision making, Shodipe
noted. She proffered solutions, including the following: political
parties should be in compliance with the constitution and should
finance political adult education and workshops; non-governmental
organisations for women should channel their support to women; and
political campaigns should embrace the use of indigenous languages.
“Language should not be a barrier for women to take part in politics or
emancipation of women to take up political space,” she concluded.

Subliminal Texts: Women, Proverbs and Power

Anthonia Yakubu
presented a paper on ‘Subliminal Texts: Women, Proverbs and Power.’ She
argued that proverbs have a great influence on society; they constitute
a major part of culture and are used to remind and warn people about
important issues. “Folklore occupies a central place in our lives,”
Yakubu asserted, further revealing that people are conditioned by what
they hear; and much of what they do results from this conditioning.
“The Yoruba use proverbs to drive home a point and show credibility,”
she said. The adage, “Owe l’esin oro”, was cited as an example of the
importance of proverbs in Yoruba culture.

Using the Yoruba
and Igbo cultures as examples, Yakubu showed that many proverbs portray
women in a negative light and feed the patriarchal system. She gave
examples of proverbs that paint women as being naturally inquisitive
for ill, and portrayals of women as having little control over their
sexual desires. Women are also portrayed as talkatives, gossips, and as
poor keepers of secrets. “Against their will, women act out these
negative thoughts,” Yakubu observed.

Igbo proverbs are
not much different. Many of them are biased and encourage a man’s
egocentric nature. There are also Igbo proverbs that suggest that a
woman has no say in choosing a mate and should always be satisfied with
her lot. This is suggested by the proverb “If a maiden is too
particular in choosing a man, she will marry the spirit python.”

Yakubu concluded
that, “These Igbo proverbs portray women as calculative, greedy and
pretentious.” She reiterated that women are important to the society
and are now becoming bread winners, contrary to the negative attributes
ascribed to them.

Women in Literature

The paper titled
‘Women in Literature: Representations of the Dynamics of Nigerian
Women’s Identity’ was presented by Ofure Aito. She explained that
“Women have been vulnerable to various representations in different
periods,” but with the inception of female writers in the country,
women are finally being given a true representation. “Female writers
represent women in oppression and celebrate women in achievement,” Aito
stated. “Nigerian female writers are not in contest with men; rather,
they are more interested in showing how they are as women and as
writers. They set out to acknowledge and to challenge misconceptions
about their identity.”

Acknowledging the
role of literature in women’s lives, she said, “Literature has created
platforms for discussions, dialogues, representations and many more.”
To buttress the point, she gave examples of various female writers
including Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta, and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo who
have represented women positively in Nigerian literature.

Comments, Questions and Discussions

Questions and
comments from the audience were entertained after the presentations.
Yakubu maintained that gender is generalised, saying, “Until we change
our mindsets and conditioning, we can’t break down the patriarchal
system.” Aito also reiterated that women need to support one another.
“It’s like speaking from both sides of our mouths when women see an
opportunity and fail to use it,” she said. She cited the case of Sarah
Jubril, a presidential aspirant who had only one vote cast for her, by
herself.

Asked why there were only female speakers at the seminar,
Adimora-Ezeigbo said the decision was based on “the nature of the theme
and the fact that we needed experts in the field.” She also noted that
most of the issues raised during the seminar were political. “Issues
related to women tend to be political. That’s why I’m not surprised at
the comments. But there is still the basic fact that women need to be
promoted and encouraged,” she said.