Nigerian Women and Social Development: Towards a Progressivist Study of the First Ladies’ Pet Initiatives

Abstract

Abstract This paper analyses the moribund state of the humanitarian initiatives undertaken by Nigerian First Ladies (wives of presidents and vice-presidents) after leaving office. This project dysfunctionality is motivated by culture politics of the men in power. Such limits the scope of women’s rewards and national glory for their efforts and ingenuity. The humanitarian initiatives need to be institutionalized. This is because the projects are localizations of the United Nations’ 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. These projects, therefore, go a long way in complementing the conventions aimed at safeguarding women and children. The social ills that the projects sought to rectify worsen as cancer still ravages the Nigerian population, with a higher incidence noticed among women. Cases of sexual and gender-based violence are on the rise. This has been responsible for the 2022 2023 Nigeria-United Nations signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Nigeria’s partnership agreement with Germany. These are aimed at improving the social conditions of Nigerian women. The major setback of the pet projects is that they relied on patriarchal will and political power for finance. The paper suggests that the government should partner with the project's initiators through regulation. These strategies can enable humanitarian projects subsist after the tenures of the initiators. This facilitates the attainment of the women’s vision for national development. Keywords: Nigerian First Ladies, Pet projects, Humanitarian initiatives, Power, Cultural politics