PATRIARCHY, GENDER EQUALITY AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIGERIAN WORKER
European Scientific Journal August 2014 edition vol.10
PATRIARCHY, GENDER EQUALITY AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIGERIAN WORKER
Okoroafor 0
Ejike C. 0
0 Department Of Social Sciences Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria Iheriohanma, E. B. J. Directorate Of General Studies Federal University Of Technology Owerri , Imo State , Nigeria
The paper focuses on the implications of patriarchy and gender equality on the productive development of Nigerian workforce as it continues to contribute to national development in a fast globalizing 21st century. It aims to determine that patriarchy and gender equality are practically functional tools for the promotion of workers productivity in contemporary Nigeria. It concedes that there is appreciable degree of belief by many Nigerians that patriarchy is a big factor undermining productive advancement of Nigerian workers and also fostering the propagation of social and gender inequalities in the country. Against this belief, the paper submits that the twin concepts of patriarchy and gender equality are potentially working tools for the sustained productivity of Nigerian workers; and therefore recommends, among others, change of perception to support the prevalence of patriarchy and gender equality, effective implementation of gender mainstreaming and meritocracy, eschewing social and political vices within the context of equal respect/treatment for and among all Nigerians.
Patriarchy; Gender Development; Nigerian worker
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Introduction
Background to the Study
Nigerian workers are no doubt experiencing certain conditions that
are common with their counterparts in other nations of the world but there
are peculiar issues confronting their development in terms of productivity,
welfare, growth and competitiveness, etc. The issue of the influence of
patriarchy and gender equality on the productive development of the
Nigerian worker in these contemporary times is the focus of this paper. The
average Nigerian worker cannot be said to be a happy man giving the
conditions and experiences he faces day by day. The Nigerian worker today
lives his or her life on remuneration that is referred to as “survival wages”,
and we keep getting statistics from the relevant authorities telling us that
there is serious improvement. Yes, people in the civil service have bought
some cars, but without fuel to run them, so that is improvement (Dickson,
2013). This is not to say that the only problem confronting Nigerian workers
is that of their poor welfare status but that it is the most glaring factor
militating against their productivity as at now. A visit to the Federal
Secretariat in any state, you will see corruption walking side by side
idiosyncracies, ethnic and tribal sentiments. Who cares, workers pacing from
one office to the other doing nothing with idiotic efficacy and efficiency
(Adeoye, 2013).
Other factors, apart from meager wages and poor welfare system, are
also contributing to putting downwards the productivity level of Nigerian
workers. These factors are sometimes ignored or not easily noticed as being
partly responsible for the present low productivity status of Nigerian
workers. Factors such as the falling standard of education leading to
unemployable graduates who are increasingly joining the Nigerian
workforce, lack of regards for constituted authority, negligence of duty,
absenteeism, corruption, strikes and official profligacy, etc, have all
combined to continually undermine the positive development of Nigerian
workers in different ramifications, including productivity. Some authors and
long standing prominent feminists such as Helen Hacker, Dorothy Smith,
Kate Millett and Ann Oakley, etc, also seem to believe that patriarchy and
gender inequality are elements of social stratification that are also
contributive factors that influence work organizations adversely. Hacker
(1972), states that with the employment of women as wage earners:
men were quick to perceive them as a rival group
and make use of economic, legal and ideological
weapons to eliminate or reduce their competition.
They excluded women from the trade unions, made
contracts with employers to prevent their hiring
women, passed laws restricting the employment of
married women, and carried on ceaseless
propaganda to return women to the home and keep
them there
Again, Sachaefer (2008), declares that, “a detailed overview of the
status of the world’s women issued by the United Nations in 2000, noted that
women and men live in different worlds – worlds that differ in access to
education and world opportunities and in health, personal security and
human rights”. In Nigeria, especially in this era of women empowerment and
drive for gender equality, many individuals, particularly women have the
view that the practice of patriarchy and the absence of gender equality are
partly responsible for the underdevelopment and low productivity of the
Nigerian workforce. Many Nigerians b (...truncated)