On March 16, Nigerian legislators refused to pass for second reading, the bill on gender equality.
The bill, titled ‘Gender Parity and Prohibition of Violence against Women’, would have, among other things, provided women quality in marriage, education and opportunities. This was not to be.
Some of the legislators cited religious and cultural reasons. Some said the constitution already provides for the rights of all persons in Nigeria and, therefore, eliminates the need for a codified instrument to protect the rights of women.
But here, The Cable highlights five ways Nigeria ironically, legitimises discrimination against women and the girl child...
CITIZENSHIP
Did you know that section 26 (2) (a) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution denies a woman the right to confer citizenship statues on her foreign husband but grants such rights to a foreign woman married to a Nigerian male?
ASSAULT
The criminal code doles out harsher punishment – felony – for assault against a man. Be you a woman, it is misdemeanour. Read here what section 353 of the criminal code says: “Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults any male person is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years. The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.” And read here what 360 says: “Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a woman or girl is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for two years.”
MARRIAGE
Under Nigeria’s penal code guiding the northern parts of the country, “Nothing is an offence, which does not amount to the infliction of grievous harm upon any person and which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife. Such husband and wife being subject to any natural law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful.”
WORK
Section 55 of the labour act bans women from working in the night. “No woman shall be employed on night work in a public or private industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof, or in any agricultural undertaking or any branch thereof.”
POLICE
This must take the biggest piece – the police regulation.
Section 121 to 126 regulates the affairs of women in the way it does not regulate males.
Women police officers shall, as a general rule, be employed for duties that are concerned with women and children only. Married women cannot enlist in the police. Where an enlisted single woman wants to get married, she must have spent two years in the police and then apply for permission to marry.
She must furnish the police with particulars of fiancé who must be investigated and cleared before permission is granted. A married woman police officer “shall not be granted any special privileges by reason of the fact that she is married and shall be subjected to posting and transfer as it were unmarried.”
Also, an unmarried woman police officer who is pregnant shall be discharged from the force.
*Well..........
That's why Nigeria is still backward, na nuclear weapon naim concern bubu pass...I dot kie why our lawmakers won't allow a genuine course take its place....Stella u must enjoy me
ReplyDeleteMadam, we knw u dnt lik PMB buh it ll b 9ice if u dnt include in in errtin, is PMB a law maker? And wa du u wnt in 2 du in such mata???
DeleteHmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
DeleteHmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
DeleteWell-oh-well!
ReplyDeleteEnough already.
ReplyDeleteCitizenship...
What foreigner would want to be a Nigerian? Maybe one from Niger.
Assault...
Whether 2 or 3yrs, so long as they get incarcerated, it's fine.
Marriage...
No grievous harm, those are the operative words. If as a woman you are willing to go through emotional and mental abuse in marriage, na you sabi.
Work...
What woman wants a night job?
Police...
It's not by force to be a police woman. Married women in the US military get sent to the middle east all the time. If a man can be transferred, so can a woman.
A married woman cannot join because of the aforementioned reason, the military requires complete dedication. No baby mamas allowed in the force, so what? And yes...with so many devilish men around, I wouldn't mind an organisation doing a background check on my partner...I'll even consider it a perk.
I am a woman but I am sick of the gender equality shit. Go hustle and make money and see if you would not be treated equally or even more than a man.
You are an Idiot. But the day your sick ass will bring you to the hospital at past midnight, you will not let a female doctor attend to you abi???
DeleteMind you, Females are taking over the medical field all over the world. So soon, we will refuse to do night shifts.
How many male nurses do you know? Good! But when you get to hospital that late at Night and don't see any nurse on duty, you will start cussing the Nigerian health care workers. When you make healthy laws, you create enabling environments, if not shut the fuck up and continue eating the mess.
Yes,you are a woman. Suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Toy have been abused to the point that you wanna remain fixed in that tight corner, please speak for yourself. Millions of women out there won't stop until what is right is done, it may not be for them but their children and children's children. Selfish and ignorant people think about just themselves and just for today.
Anon 14:41... U are the idiot here... She made total sense, y give a woman night job, maybe as a security officer or what.. Women naturally dont have the physical energy for some jobs and men dont get pregnant, women do and it affects dedication... Being totally equal with men os totally impossible... seems like the devil has come again thru women to destroy yet again...women abeg stop ruining Gods plans of human nature... to hell with those that will say my mum , my sis and those shit
DeleteLike I have said and I will keep saying "the MAJOR problem we have in Nigeria is our constitution" until we draft and implement a new constitution Nigeria will remain stagnant...quote me anywhere
ReplyDeleteI dont know*
ReplyDeleteAnd some idiots will come here and be citing bible and Quran. Do I blame anybody? I feel like slapping women who say things like we don't need equality. Slave mentality is seriously strong. I hate when people cite bible as a basis for passing out laws...are we a religious nation? Last I checked we were a circular nation. Later Christians would be crying that bubari wants to make Nigeria a Muslim country yet and still, they will use bible to quote rubbish for me as fact and basis of ruling on a bill. Its because they are men and the law and society is always on their side. Sexist nation oshi. Women wake up and realise that we are in captivity. Once this topic is brought up people especially men will open their mouth and quote bible or Quran... So what if I'm an atheist and I don't believe in religion? Why force your way of thinking down my throat? If we are a religious country plz let me know, if not stop using religion to limit the citizens. If women are allowed the freedom to thrive in this country, the sky will be our limit. But as myopic as our male brethren (and some women sadly) females are still held back because men love and are obsessed with the power and control they have over women. #femalesarehumanstoo
ReplyDeleteSecular not circular dear
DeleteGo slap your mama. Fool.
DeleteMust everyone want the same thing? Is it by force.
Idiot.
Thanks Chi,it also annoys me when people begin to quote Bible or Quran for me whenever this equality issue is discussed.What if I don't believe in religion?We are just too 'religious' for our own good I'm this country that we don't know when to draw the line.
DeleteEquality:The equal treatment of people irrespective of social or cultural differences.
DeleteEquity : Justice, impartiality or fairness.
Every time we call for gender equality, we must bear in mind that the perks that we enjoy as women will disappear and then we'll be treated exactly as we want... like men. But the irony of it all is that in gender equality itself lies an inequality. The strengths and abilities of a man are different from that of a woman and that's y we all have our separate duties. Why don't we fight for gender equity and leave equality out of it? Women are delicate and should be treated as such. Let each member of either gender carry what he can. Let the men be men. Let the women be women. Although as women, our religions and traditions have placed us in a somewhat uncomfortable position of being "lesser" than the other gender but the beauty of it lies in the perfect understanding of the reasons why things are the way they are. God ain't stupid, He's wise. However, it's apparent that our political and religious leaders have manipulated the Books and traditions in order to subdue and spite us for their own selfish ends... and that is exactly what we need to tackle.#GenderEquitynotEquality.
Drops mic.
All I see is laws that favour woman. U can't eat ur cake and still keep it.
ReplyDeleteI thought the saying was 'You can't have your cake and eat it'..... Why do I keep seeing the reverse everywhere on this blog?
ReplyDeleteIts 'you cant eat ur cake and have it' and not the way u quoted it.
DeleteNo anon, she's actually correct, "you can't have your cake and eat it"
DeleteSection 55 of the labour act bans women from working in the night? This is new to mr,that means NLC no dey do their work cos women do night shift we'll especially in media houses or hospitals and it's been happening for lonnng time,they say we are all gentlemen here at work...Lol
ReplyDelete