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PROBLEMS OF MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN ITEM, BENDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF
ABIA STATE
BY
OGBONNAYA, KINGSLEY ASOGU PG/MED/08/50047
DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION AND EXTRA MURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
APRIL, 2012
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TITLE PAGE
PROBLEMS OF MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN IN COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT IN ITEM, BENDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ABIA STATE
BY
OGBONNAYA, KINGSLEY ASOGU PG/MED/08/50047
A THESIS REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION AND EXTRA MURAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTERS IN ADULT EDUCATION AND
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
MAY, 2012
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CERTIFICATION
I, Ogbonnaya Kingsley a post graduate student in the Department of
Adult Education and extra mural studies with registration number,
PG/MED/08/50047 has satisfactorily completed the Masters of Adult
Education and community development. The work embodied in this project
report is original and has not been submitted in part or full for any other
diploma or degree of this or any other University.
______________________ __________________ Ogbonnaya, Kingsley. A Prof (Mrs.) C.I Oreh
Student Supervisor
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APPROVAL PAGE
This project has been approved for the Department of Adult
Education and Extra mural studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
_________________ _________________ Prof (Mrs.) C.I Oreh Internal Examiner Supervisor
____________________ __________________ External Examiner Ven C.A Onyechi Head of Department
___________________ Prof S.A Ezeudu Dean Faculty of Education
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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to Almighty God for his protections, provisions,
blessings, knowledge and wisdom throughout the period of this
programme.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The successful accomplishment of this work is certainly as a result of
combination of many people who deserve special thanks. The researcher‟s
special thanks goes to the project supervisor, Prof (Mrs.) C.I Oreh, who in
spite of her crowded schedules remained a mother. Her motherly wisdom,
guidance and patience to mention but a few in the supervision of this
project is far beyond the usual responsibilities of any supervisor. May God
Almighty continue to bless and strengthen you.
A very heartful thanks go to Associate Prof (Mrs.) F.O Mbagwu who
took the project upon herself to see the end of it. May God bless you. The
researcher sincerely appreciate the efforts of Prof (Mrs.) S.C Nwizu,
Associate Prof (Mrs.) Uju Nwobi, Dr O Nwakaire Dr (Mrs.) Ebirim U, the
HOD Adult Education and extramural studies Ven C. Onyechi and to all
academic and non academic staff in the department. The support and
encouragement from the Dean of faculty Prof S.A Ezeudu cannot be over
emphasized. The researcher wishes to acknowledge the vital role played
by his brother Prof N.O Ogbonnaya and family to the success of this
programme. The efforts of the following persons are also appreciated Angel
Chinyere, Nduka Udeagha, and Prince Ojukwu Eze. To Prof Uche Eze and
Prof I.C.S Ifelunni of educational foundations the researcher is indepted to
you.
Finally, to God and my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ for the enabling
grace and favour throughout the course of this study. Amen.
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Abstract
The study investigates problems of women’s marginalization in community development in Item, Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. The need for the study arose because of noticeable problems of women’s marginalization hindering effective community development in Item. A four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. A 38 item questionnaire was developed and administered to 32 registered members of Item development union (women’s wing). The data collected were analyzed with respect to each research question using means scores. A mean of 2.50 was adopted as the cut of point. The t-test statistics was used to test the two hypotheses formulated for the study. The researcher found out that the factors that lead to marginalization of women included religious belief, poverty. Illiteracy unemployment early marriage, Gender sterotypes and Deprivation. The research found out also the consequences of women’s marginalization as it affects community development which included Abandonment of project, Disunity in community development, A project taking long time than necessary, lack of trust, mismanagement of community development fund, lack of access to land and other properties among others. It was found out that the ways of eliminating marginalization of women included access to education, access to ownership of land and other properties by women, Democracy in community development, support from government and other NGOs, public enlightenment about the consequences of marginalization in community development, women empowerment, making the women functionally literate for community development projects and introduction of good policies that will improve the well fare of women in community development. The study also found out that the various ways of promoting gender equity in community development include incorporating women in community development planning Raising consciousness of women about their rights and responsibilities in area of economic and political development, improvement of women’s educational status through literacy programmes, Abolish laws that marginalize women’s access to property and inheritance, and also incorporating women in decision making process in community development.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification page ii
Approval page iii
Dedication page iv
Acknowledgements v
Abstract vi
Table of contents vii
List of Tables viii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction 1
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 7
Purpose of the Study 8
Significance of the Study 9
Research Questions 10
Hypotheses 10
Scope of the study 11
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework 12
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Theoretical Studies 12
Theoretical Framework 47
Review of empirically related studies 59
Summary of literature review 62
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 64
Area of the Study 64
Population for the Study 65
Sample and Sampling Technique 66
Instrument for Data Collection 66
Validation of the Instrument 67
Reliability of the Instrument 68
Procedure for Data Collection 68
Method of Data Analysis 69
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 70
Research Questions 70
Hypothesis 77
Summary of Findings 79
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CHAPTER FIVE
Discussion of Results, Implication, Conclusion 83
Recommendations and Suggestions for Further Studies 83
Discussion of Results 83
Implications of the Research Findings 87
Conclusion 88
Recommendations 90
Limitations of the Study 91
Suggestions for Further Studies 92
REFERENCES 93
Appendix A: 101
Appendix B: 102
Appendix C: 106
Appendix D: 107
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
1 Population Distribution of Item Women Development Union. 65
2: Sample Distribution of Item Women Development Union. 66
3. Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on the Problems of
Women‟s Marginalization. 70
4: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on the Factors
that Led to Women Marginalization. 72
5: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on Ways of
Eliminating Women‟s Marginalization. 74
6: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on Ways of
Promoting Gender Equity. 76
7: t-test Analyses of Urban and Rural Women on the Factors
that Led to Their Marginalization. 78
8: t-test Analyses of the Urban and Rural Women on the
Problems of Women Marginalization. 79
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Marginalization of women has gone a long way in setting back the
developmental effort in our societies. Marginalization of women can be
described as the denial of access to their basic human rights. This issue of
women marginalization presents a moral question to which generally
scholars, economists and social scientists have all contributed in since the
issue of women development came into the global arena.
The plight of women differs from country to country. Women in
developing economies however bear a double burden of discrimination as
a result of the social and economic deprivation resulting from the
domination of men over them. It is therefore wise to say that men see
themselves as head and leaders over women and this makes it easier for
them to keep women disempowered through the use of patriarchal values
because patriarchy itself is sustained by customary, religious and traditional
values (Adanaku, 2001).
Ugwu (2001) stated that “the concept of women in the world view is
illusive and exploitative by men and society. For example, the general
belief of men is that women are weaker, feeble and have poor reasoning
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attitude”. This statement shows to a great extent that the problems of
women are not just given the opportunity to share useful ideas but even
when such ideas are shared, they are ignored. In some communities,
women are also not treated equally with their male counterparts even in the
educational sector. They are denied the right to education with the
conclusion that their education ends in the kitchen. Women are equally
denied the freedom of speech and they are often intimidated, abused,
ignored and neglected (United Nations, 2006).The report revealed that
marginalization of women causes a lot of ills to our society in the areas of
economic, political, social, cultural, community and national development.
Marginalization of women has affected the development of communities
negatively because women are discriminated against and they lack the
power to fight back (Ajanaku, 2001).According to the author discrimination
is sustained due to women‟s powerlessness, he maintained that women
are poor, do not own land, are relegated to the informal sector with micro-
enterprises, and denied resources such as large scale credit facilities. They
lack access to political power which gives access to all of the other
resources. Occupationally, for example, women are expected in the
nursing, hair dressing, secretarial and clothing professions. It is considered
taboo for women to want a job as auto-mechanic, cab driver or shoe
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cobbler. It is the socialization process entrenched from the village to
national level that constitutes a lot of problems and set back to women
participating effectively in community development. These does not mean
differences in sex roles, which are basically determined by women
biological peculiarities and sexual anatomy. Rather, it talks about the
differences in gender functions, which are culturally determined overtime by
the norms and traditions of the people. Typically, in African setting, the
discriminatory gender functions were anchored on the gender myths, which
permit the men folk to dominate, control and exploit women economically,
educationally and politically. It is evident to say that women operate within
a restricted scope in the context of both community and national
development.
In the traditional Nigerian society, gender functions of men and
women were clearly outlined. This division was backed by some underlying
myths, which arrogate to men and women superior and inferior functions
respectively. Men are perceived as the heads of families and decision
maker in all matters governing both the family and the community. Women
on the other hand are expected to be the traditional homemakers, good
wives and mothers (Okonkwo, 2001). Women were bound by societal
norms to be obedient and dependent on their husband and adhere to rules
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and regulations as laid down by men and these rules sideline women to
effective participation in community development programmes and
projects.
In Nigeria, and especially in Igboland women are not entitled to own
land or even inherit either father‟s or husband‟s property, Women are
regarded as men‟s wealth to be inherited by the husband eldest brother
when the husband dies. In this regard, women cannot inherit, but can be
inherited by their male counterparts, this brings about marginalization which
affects development in our communities. Female children are sometimes
regarded as birds of passage since they will eventually get married and
leave their parents family. These may explain why for several years
marginalization against women in all ramifications took its origin and is
rooted in the culture of Item people. Azikiwe (1992) observed that the
position of women is still adversely influenced by some cultural practices
and norms. The society was organized to subdue women into accepting
any role assumed to them by the society even when there is no justification
for such marginalization against women. Azikiwe also stressed that this
problem especially acquisition of land and property by women is hard to
brake due to cultural backup associated with it. The consequences of
marginalization among women affects community development negatively.
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In Item, women occupy a low position in the social, religious and
political structure because of cultural pattern. The adoption of such culture
as a tool to marginalize women in the fast changing and sophisticated
society hampers development in its totality. It was on this note that in 1979,
the United Nations General Assembly adopted the convention on
elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. Several world
conferences have been held on the same issue. Despite the progress
made, Ghali (2006) noted that, much more remains to be done as women‟s
concern are still given second priority almost everywhere. He further
lamented about gender disparities and unacceptable discrimination against
women, in public and private life, on a daily basis, in all part of the world.
These showed that one of the major obstacle or constraints to
effective community development is the marginalization and discrimination
of women. This is because it is expected that in community development
programmes and projects, women should be involved deeply right from the
planning stage to completion stage and should not be seen as feeble and
considered as having low reasoning attitude and should be given
opportunity to exercise their freedom rather, than being intimidated, abuse,
ignored and neglected.
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Community development can be seen and defined as a global,
dynamic, iterative and interactive process of change that constitutes the
source of significant and measurable improvements in various aspects of
life and provides some degree of satisfaction (Anyanwu, 1992). Supporting
this view, Mbagwu (2001) views community development as a programme
of continuing education which never ends. If goals are achieved, new goals
are set, programmes enlarged thereby making the task easier
In community development, planning involves making wise choices
from different alternatives. Planning is associated with making forecast for
future actions. That is to say that planning involves decision-making for a
future course of action, a decision which must be taken well in advance
(Ogbannaya, 2004). Therefore, planning in community development implies
deciding in advance what to do, how to do, when to do it, where to do it and
who is to do it.
The implication of planning in community development implies that
planning involves decision making which is action-oriented. It is futuristic.
Unfortunately, women are discriminated upon during this vital aspect of
community development effort such as planning. According to Ogbonnaya
(2004: 15), the efficient planning of any programme demands that the goals
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and objectives be made clear. It is the involvement of all and sundry
without segregation of any.
Statement of the Problem
Marginalization view from all angles is one of the major hindrance,
obstacle and constraints to effective community development. If there is no
integration of women and their affairs in community development projects,
community development may not augur well.
With this regard, the researcher observed that marginalization of
women will separate them from participating actively in community
development in planning process. When women are sidelined, the totality
of the people is no longer involved and it does not form the integral part of
the development in the community. Therefore, this brings out the problems
of discrimination and marginalization of women and the ills associated with
gender inequality in community development. Women are at the centre of
human life and endeavor and when they are not integrated, in any
organization or community development works, it could generate
misunderstanding, mistrust, confusion and frustration and it affects
community development negatively. Achebe (1983) confirmed the above
assertion when he observed that when the centre cannot hold together,
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things fall apart: This at the same time implies in the marginalization and of
women as they are the centre of human life and living.
It is therefore apparent that urgent attention is needed in order to
address the problem of women‟s marginalization in participating effectively
in community development particularly in Item Bende local government
area of Abia State.
Studies in the area of women‟s marginalization have always
X –rayed some of the causes of the problems and their effects without
reasonable measure of attention on the strategies to be adopted to reduce
problem of marginalization of women on community development to the
barest minimum at least so as to foster and promote gender equity in
community development. Hence ,the researcher is interested in
investigating the factors responsible for the marginalization of women,
identify the consequences and perhaps ways of eliminating it.
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study is to find out the problems of
women‟s marginalization in Item, Bende local government area of Abia
state.
Specifically, this study intend to:
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1. Identify the problems of women‟s marginalization in community
development.
2. Identify the factors that lead to marginalization of women.
3. Investigate the ways of eliminating marginalization of women in order
to foster community development.
4. Determine various ways of promoting gender equity in community
development in Item.
Significance of the Study
The problems of women‟s marginalization in community development
in Item Bende Local Government Area of Abia state cannot be over
emphasized. Findings of the study would enable the Bende local
government Area of the state in general become aware of factors that lead
to marginalization of women in the local government. It will reveal to the
agency responsible for Adult and non formal education realize the factors
that lead to marginalization of women.
The finding of the study would also reveal to the agency for Adult and
non formal education the strategies for eliminating marginalization of
women in Bende local government so that the issue of marginalization
would be eliminated or reduce to the minimum.
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Research Questions
The study will be guided by the following research questions
1. What are the problems of women‟s marginalization in community
development?
2. What are the factors that lead to women marginalization in Item?
3. What are the ways of eliminating marginalization of women to foster
community development?
4. What are the various ways of promoting equity in community
development in Item?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of
significance:
1. There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the
urban and rural women on the factors that lead to women‟s
marginalization in community development in Item.
2. There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban
and rural women on the problems of women‟s marginalization in
community development in Item.
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Scope of the Study
Primarily, this research focuses on the problems of marginalization of
women in community development in Item, Bende local government area of
Abia State. The study will focus on
Problems of women‟s marginalization
Factors that lead to marginalization of women
Ways of eliminating women‟s marginalization
Ways of promoting gender equity in community development.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter discusses the review of literature relevant to this study.
The review is presented under the following sub-headings:
A Conceptual Framework
-Concept of community
-Concept of Development
-Concept of Community Development
Theoretical studies
-Factors that lead to marginalization of women
-Social Discrimination Faced by Women
-Marginalization Against Women in the Traditional Nigeria
-Various ways women are marginalized
-Problems of women marginalization
- Factors influencing marginalization of women
-Various ways which gender equity can be promoted
B. Theoretical Framework
- Community development theory
- Democratic theory in community development
- Participation theory in community development
- Human relations theory
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C. Review of Empirical Related Studies
D. Summary of Literature Review
Concept of Community
The term community is difficult to define with precision. Thus,
students in social work, education, economics, sociology, community
development and other related discipline concerned with human services
require knowledge of the community. This is not only because community
is the center of action of their professions but also because the nature of a
community has significant influence on success or failure of developmental
programmes. Thus, Osuji (1991) posited that the appeal of the concept of
community rests on a very articulated but passionately held belief that
community it somehow a good thing, a beloved entity or quality to be
promoted, defended and restored in social life.
However, in an attempt to localize the concept of community,
Anyanwu (1981:58) described community as:
A social group occupying a more or less defined geographical area and based on the feeling that people have for one another
Going further in his attempt to define the concept of community,
Anyanwu (1992) identified two major approaches i.e. the common sense
approach and the social science approach. From the common sense
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perspective, community can be described as a population group which has
developed a degree of social consciousness, and is working together as
one body to satisfy common needs. While from the social science concept,
Anyanwu (1992) pointed out that a community was conceived as an
interaction center where various activities concerning human life take
place.
Amirize (1998: 45) defines “community as a number of people, large
or small, sharing certain interests, sentiments, behaviour and objects in
common by virtue of their belonging to a social group, in a given territory”.
Ugwu (2001) defines a community as a social group occupying a more or
less defined geographical area. Akinpelu (1988: 34) also sees a community
as a group of people that is not too small and not too large.
In these definitions, the most striking words are “group of people”.
Therefore, community must be about a few people, many people and not
about an individual. Other common features discernible from these
definitions are “commonly shared values” and “given geographical areas”.
In other words, the people identified as a community share common
values, interests and responsibilities wherever they live or occupy. From all
these observations, community can be described as a group of people
large or small with shared values bound together by common objectives,
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characteristics and aspirations and occupying a given geographical area.
Akinpelu (1988:72) in trying to analyze the concept of community
characterized it as follows: The group must live together in, or occupy, a
fairly recognized territorial boundary such as that of a village, a small town,
a neighborhood in a sprawling municipality, the university campus, or even
a school.
Concept of Development
According to Ibe (2008: 230), the concept of development in human
society is a many –sided phenomenon that it has come to mean different
things in different societies in different situations and to different
development thinkers, Development connotes changes either for the better
or change for the worse and has wide application in a variety of situations.
Considering these examples: “ development”, “ social development”, “
intellectual development”, “economic development”, “political development”,
“educational development”, national development agricultural development
scientific and technological development”, community development.
In all these instances, the human element is the central focus either
as a beneficiary or as victim. The direction of any development process is
certainly geared towards a better condition or a better situation whether
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biological, physical, psychological, economic, political, social, national,
scientific and technological.
The term development connotes growth or maturation in a process
which starts off gradually and cumulatively through a kind of unfolding of
the internal and latent potentiality when the whole moves towards some
goal attainment.
Development is a gradual movement along a definite trend from one
stage to another involving several stages producing a cumulative effect
towards the achievement of a desired goal/objective of the people. The
phases of change are initiated by the people within the community or
society (Mbagwu, 2001).
Development is a qualitative improvement in the living standard of the
people as exemplified by level of industrialization, food production, size and
the distribution of labour force, pattern of income distribution, health
facilities and access to its use, education and access to it, good housing
and availability of basic amenities.
Anyanwu (1992) stated that development connotes growth or
maturation which implies gradual sequential phases of change upward
course in a process that increase differentiation. Ibe (2008: 232) in his own
view sees development as when a man develops himself through
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education, he successfully liberates himself from the throws of ignorance,
poverty and oppression. According to him, the primary purpose of
education should therefore be the literature of man.
Concept of Community Development
Community development is nothing new from the earliest periods of
human history Men have sought to improve their lot, and community
development is another sure way of doing this. The above opinion was
shared by Adekola (1997) when he asserted that community development
has always been a part of parcel of African culture. He based his stance on
the view of Fafunwa (1974) who identified the objectives of African
traditional education to include the development of a sense of belonging
and the encouragement of active participation in family and community
affairs. He went further to observe that Nigeria traditional societies like
other African societies had learnt to meet their social and economic needs.
Though he argued, for instance, that age groups usually engage in
communal work. They may help other members of the group in clearing,
planting or harvesting or helping the community at large in road
construction or the chief in performing a given assignment.
In the African society, community development implies working
together as members of a particular community to achieve common goals
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that are designed to achieve common goals that are designed to benefit
community. The place of community development in African society is best
revealed in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) lecture series of
1986 as cited by Adegboyega (1988) in Oyebamiji and Adekola (2008: 19)
thus:
One of the enduring and flourishing heritages of traditional societies in Africa is their involvement in community development. It has been the indigenous mechanism and technique developed and employed by the people to identify their felt-needs, choose what they want and take co-operative action to satisfy the needs of development planning and studies, many rural communities in Nigeria had learnt to pool their resources and provide both functional and physical facilities for themselves. It was in this ways that they involved themselves in construction of fortification, moats and branches round their settlements, shrine, churches and mosques for religious worship and of late educational institution.
The above positions of scholars clearly revealed that community
development is not new in the African societies. However, with the growing
field of knowledge and emphasis on real development for the improvement
in the life of the people, community development has become an area of
interest for development practitioner, social scientists, adult educators
social workers are even politicians.
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Generally, the concept of community development lacks a precise
definition that caters for its ever expanding field. Akintayo and
Oghenekohwo (2006) support this view when they observed that it is
difficult to state briefly, adequately and fully what is subsumed by the
concept of community development. That is to say that what constitutes
community development cannot be fully addressed in a few words called
definition.
On this note, community development can also be seen or defined as
a global, dynamic, informative and interactive process of change that
constitutes the source of significant and measurable improvement in
various aspects of life and provides some degree of satisfaction. That is to
say that community development concerns individuals and organizations or
institutions and their inter-relationships and inter-connectedness. It implies
the participation of all community components in this process and capacity
conditions required for an increase in necessary resources.
More so, community development as cited in Anyanwu (1992:16) the
Cambridge summer conference defined it as:
a movement designed to promote better living with the active participation and if possible on the initiative of the community but it this initiative in not forthcoming spontaneously, by the use of techniques for arousing and stimulating it in order to
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ensure its active and enthusiastic response to the movement.
The United Nations Organization (UNO) (1962) presented a definition
that today enjoys wider acceptability. It defined community development as
a process by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with
those of governmental authorities, to improve the economic social and
cultural conditions of community, to integrate these communities into the
life of the nation and to enable them contribute fully to national progress.
Community development also concerns individuals and organizations or
institutions and their inter-relationships and inter-connectedness. It implies
the participation of all community components in this process and capacity
building in order to favour the creation of the conditions required for an
increase in necessary resources. Community development also can be
seen and defined as a global, dynamic, iterative and interactive process of
change that constitutes the source of significant and measurable
improvements in various aspects of life and provides some degree of
satisfaction (Anyanwu, 1992). Supporting this view, Mbagwu (2001) views
community development as a programme of continuing education which
never ends. If goals are achieved, new goals are set, programmes
enlarged thereby making the task easier. Continuing, the author stressed
that In community development, people become involved in improving their
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own self, their economy and social conditions. Ideally, community
development aims at developing a suitable responsive self-reliant citizenry
capable of mobilizing their own local resources in order to certify their own
need thereby attaining a decent and wholesome life.
Community development could also be seen as the improvement in
the economic, cultural, political and social life of people though their own
initiative and effort which will enable them participate effectively in nation
building. Community development implies a process whereby community
members advanced by stages from one condition to another which involves
the people organizing themselves for identification of their problems, their
felt needs, on their own initiative, with their available resources with or
without supplemented assistance in any form from the government or non-
governmental organizations (Mbagwu, 2001). Therefore, community
development is a group of endeavor and responsibility. The author
maintained that the entire people are involved in bringing about progress in
a community‟s felt-need and are proud of the outcome of these team spirit.
Invariably, community development is about actions made by a
community to bring about better economic, social and political conditions
for itself. Community development appears in different forms in different
countries regardless of their level of development but they uphold the same
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basic principles irrespective of cultural differences. Nevertheless, it rests on
culture, habits, economic, social structures, political and religious
inheritance of people. It also includes strategies adopted in tackling current
problems which determines the type of community development the people
desire. Moreover, any programme desired by the people in a community
ought to be executed within a given time, according to specifications and
through democratic participation in order to accomplish a meaningful goal
(Mbagwu, 2001). Ugwu (2001) also viewed community development as a
voluntary participation of people themselves in an effort aimed at improving
economic, physical and social conditions in communities in order to raise
standard of living with as much as possible by the people. This is to say
that community development is effecting social change and as well a
process by which a set of technical, social, cultural and institutional
measures are implemented for the inhabitants of rural areas with the aim of
improving the socio-economic conditions of the people living in the
community.
Factors that Lead to marginalization of women
Onuigwe (2008) observed that many women have really misplaced
and sold their birth rights over years in accepting the fact that women are
mere house wives, they limit the role of the women to taking care of the
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kitchen and the children at home. He also Stated that even in the village
meeting which serve as a very important tools for communication, when
problems are discussed and new ideas sought, women are not
involved.This is because they only believe to be house wives and such do
not have anything to contribute to the society
Furthermore, marginalization of women could also be seen as a
social problem, Puller and Myers in Aguene (1999) described social
problem as a condition, which is defined by a considerable of persons as a
deviation from social norm, which they cherish. The general belief of men
and society is that women are weaker, feeble and also have poor
reasoning attitude. Marginalization of women as a social problem consists
of objective condition and subjective definition. The objective condition is
verifiable situation which can be checked as to its existence and magnitude
by impartial and trained observes. The subjective definition is the
awareness of certain individuals that the condition is a threat to train
cherished values (Ogbonnaya, 2007).
Women marginalization or gender discrimination is not a new
phenomenon, it is global and fundamental to the pervasiveness of
feminized poverty and very controversial. Marginalization is the willful
denial of access to one‟s right by an individual or a group. Therefore, it can
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be described as the denial of access of a particular gender by the other to
the basic human right including legal economic, social and political rights
(Ajanaku, 2001). Marginalization against women was well entrenched in
both the traditional and modern Africa.
Through out history, women have usually had fewer rights and a
lower social status than men. The traditional role of women are usually wife
and mother dominated; and most women‟s lives centred around their
households (World Bank, 1995:293). In Western societies, the situation is
the same. Women‟s role have always been fraught with ambiguity.
Oboegbulam (2001: 41) noted that a true woman does not achieve self-
actualization through intellectual creativity and participation in political,
economic and social life on a level equal to that of men. Rather, her destiny
lies in generic fulfillment through motherhood, physical, spiritual, and in
being a helpmate to her husband.
UNESCO (1993) defines discrimination in education as any distinct
exclusion, limitation or preference which is being based on race, colour,
sex, religion, political or other opinion of a national or social origin,
economic condition or birth, which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or
impairing equality of treatment in education.
25
Marginalization on the basis of being female in male-dominated
societies are realities which a majority of women in Nigeria and other parts
of Africa have had to grapple with. Raised in a culture in which the
conceptions of women are illusive, exploitative, role differentiation is
sharply strongly advocated to the disadvantage of women. Right from birth,
the infant girl is reminded of her roles as the girl child, lady, wife, mother,
grandmother which are saddled with family responsibilities (Oboegbulam,
2001: 48).
Social Discrimination Faced by Women
Women experience considerable discrimination as well as physical
abuse. There are no laws barring women from particular fields of
employment, but women often experience discrimination because the
government tolerates customary and religious practices that adversely
affect them. The Nigerian NGO‟s Coalition (NNC) expressed concern about
continued discrimination against women in the private sector, particularly in
access to employment, promotion to higher professional positions, and in
salary inequality. There are credible reports that several businesses
operate with a “get pregnant, get fired” policy. Women remain
underrepresented in the formal sector but play an active and vital role in the
country‟s important informal economy. While the number of women
26
employed in the business sector increases every year, women do not
receive equal pay for equal work and often find it extremely difficult to
acquire commercial credit or to obtain tax deductions or rebates as heads
of households. Unmarried women in particular endure many forms of
discrimination.
Marginalization against women was well entrenched in both the
traditional and modern African societies. By this we do not mean the
differences in sex roles, which are basically determined by women
biological peculiarities and sexual anatomy. Rather, we mean the
differences in gender functions, which are culturally determined overtime by
the mores and traditions of the people. In African setting, the discriminatory
gender functions were anchored on the gender myths, which permit the
men folk to dominate, control and exploit women economically,
educationally, and politically. In this regard it was evident that women
operated within a restricted scope in the context of national development.
However, consequent on women‟s struggle for greater freedom at
both national and international levels, many national governments,
including Nigeria, and international organizations, such as the United
Nations, have progressively enacted laws and initiated policies designed to
reduce the restrictive practices which hitherto hindered women‟s
27
participation in diverse activities related to national development. No doubt,
these measures reflect an increasing realization that by virtue of their
position in the family, women are in a position to make significant impact on
human resources capacity building for national development. In other
words, it is reckoned that greater empowerment of women through
enhanced educational, economic and political opportunities should result in
among other things, a more effective parenting for children and
adolescents in the interest of national development. It will further focus on a
critical assessment of the extent to which the new dimensions in women
empowerment are resulting in optimal maternal parenting for children and
adolescents (Okonkwo, 2001).
Marginalization Against Women in the Traditional Nigeria
In the traditional Nigerian society gender functions of men and
women were clearly delineated. The division was backed by some
underlying myths, which arrogate to men and women superior and inferior
functions respectively men were perceived as the heads of families,
breadwinners and decision makers in all matters governing the family and
the community. Women, on the other hand were expected to be the
traditional homemakers, good wives and mothers. They were bound by the
societal norms to be obedient and dependent on their husbands and
28
adhere to rules and regulations as laid down by men (Otite and Oginonwo,
2001). In terms of social status they were classified as part of their
husband‟s chattels (Okonkwo, 2001). In the same vein boys were given
preferential treatment over the girls. They usually accompanied their
fathers to village meetings and interacted freely with their social
environment, acquiring some useful skills for their personal development.
Girls on the other hand were more or less confined to the house to assist
their mothers with domestic chores (Okonkwo, 2001).
Marginalization of Nigerian women are in all spheres of life-
economically, socially, politically, religiously, educationally and otherwise.
In education, they are backwards. Azikiwe (1992) discovered that fifty
percent of human resources for development are women and yet majority
of them have been largely excluded from the countries of the world.
Women contribute to development under the most difficult multiple
disadvantage circumstances. They contribute over one third of the
recognized labour force on top of their reproductive role of bearing and
raising children, nourishing and socializing them, they continue to carry out
all of the household work.
Women are the invisible farmers of the third world. Although they
constitute 50% of the labour force, they are excluded or even marginalized
29
by agricultural modernization and development plans. (Ijere,1992). Going
further Ijere made it clear that “women political campaigner is called names
and a woman manager is avoided. He maintained that women are usually
given secondary roles to play at meeting, unions, and similar activities as
Vice President, Assistant Secretary”.
Continuing he stressed that “women need to be empowered to
protect themselves against marginalization, violence, abuse, customs and
tradition that violate their rights. Improving women access to education
would enable them acquire foundation skills-literacy, numerancy, reasoning
and social skills such as teamwork and has further opportunities to team
skills throughout life.
Women in Nigeria have always been active economically. The extent
and significance of their activism has not always been rewarded by
commensurate degrees of political power vis-à-vis men. Although women
willingly exercise the rights that they have, but structural constraints from
the pre-colonial, colonial and decolonization eras continue to prevent the
elimination of marginalization against them[Okome,2009]. It is possible to
distinguish between two major positions by organized women‟s groups
within Nigeria (Okome, 2009). He stressed more visibility in prominent
positions for women as part of the decision making apparatus and the other
30
calling for radical changes and structural transformation in order that the
rights of all women will have as much de facto as de jure relevance. The
first position constitutes the top-down approach held by the National
Council of Women‟s Societies (NCWS) and the second, the more
comprehensive and broadly-based approach of Women in Nigeria (WIN).
Both organizations have made attempts to generate academic and other
interest in the elimination of discrimination against women as they define it.
Thus far, the NCWS position has received more support by the successive
Nigerian governments. The NCWS, working on the premise that with more
women in positions of authority, women‟s issues would be taken more
seriously, and women‟s rights enhanced, advocates that there be more
women appointees and that these women have more prominent positions.
In response, the approach usually taken by Nigerian governments to
correct discrimination is to appoint a few token women into positions where
they have high visibility. However, this is no way helps the majority of
women.
Discrimination affects women‟s political and civil rights. The
enfranchisement of women in the North was one of the political demands
made by women‟s organizations in both the East and West after their won
enfranchisement but the right to vote was only granted to women in
31
Northern Nigeria in 1976. In the East, it had been granted in 1954 and in
the West in 1958. Some have argued that the exercise of this right may be
problematic even where it is guaranteed because of social constraints on
the movement of women in purdah. For instance, Akande(1997) suggests
that women who are secluded in purdah may be unable to vote as a result
of the electoral rules which end the voting day at 6pm because women in
purdah cannot go out until after sundown. However, Okome (2009: 7)
claims that women in purdah turned out in such large numbers to vote in
the 1976 local government elections (which was the first in which they
could participate on an equal footing with men) that the voting day was
extended by two hours. Thus, it is clear that women will exercise their rights
with adequate and institutionalized protections. Women have also always
exercised their rights as well as organized collective action within political
interest and pressure groups for the enhancement of women‟s‟ rights in
society. Oruene‟s work demonstrates that purdah in and of itself ought not
to prevent women from voting, and there is no evidence that it has. Akande
(1997) presumes that women who are not living under conditions of purdah
would be better able to exercise their right to vote.
On the same hand, Akande (1997) contends that Nigerian women do
not have full legal capacity insofar as they are unable to “independently
32
enter into contracts,…acquire and own property…enter into other legal
transactions, sue or be sued.” The extent of women‟s practical freedom
also varies with class, level of education and type of marriage. Within
polygynous marriages, women may have more freedom than within
monogamous ones because they are not subjected to the presumption of
legal unity in monogamous marriage, which gives the man the advantage.
In terms of the capacity to marry, the right of consent and the requirements
of bride wealth-payment, women‟s right to independent decision-making
may be curtailed. In general, Nigerian law limits the rights of a woman in
marriage under all legal systems.
Rights of production and reproduction encompass women‟s rights in
the family, economic, social and political spheres. Rights of production
concern recruitment, promotion and training as well as benefits and
entitlements. They also include equal opportunity for decision-making in all
organizations. The rights of reproduction relate to the capacity for a woman
to make independent decisions about her own body. This includes the
ability to control the size of her family, exercise control over the discipline of
children, free access to family planning (including abortion) and the right to
legal and practical equality in the control of family resources and children
after divorce. This is enhanced by a woman‟s access to information
33
concerning her rights as well as legal and other measures that can be
taken to gain these rights (Okome, 2009).
Marginalization of women in property ownership still exists under
customary law. While everywhere women are entitled to property acquired
by trading, ante-nuptial property belongs to both parties in the north and
east but only to the husband among the Yorb. Once divorced, the woman is
not entitled to her husband‟s estate. The CEDAW, Article 16 (1, h)
considers both spouses as having the same rights “in respect of the
ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and
disposition of property.” The report of the Nigerian government states that
the same standards apply to both married and unmarried women in the
allocation of government owned land and housing. It identifies customary
law as the main avenue of discrimination in property ownership. This is not
only inaccurate, it constitutes a refusal to acknowledge that the majority of
women who apply for government-owned property are often educated,
wealthy, well connected or based in urban areas. Also, these women are
most likely to invoke CEDAW and take legal action against discriminatory
practices. The government‟s report also fails to acknowledge the vital role
that family negotiation plays customary law to militate against abuses.
Consequently, poor women living in urban areas suffer because kinship
34
ties become more tenuous under conditions of urbanization (CEDAW,
2003).
The economic, social and cultural rights of women primarily relate to
equality and are predicated on the necessary for the material well being of
the citizenry, with the state playing a pivotal role. They are essentially
egalitarian in character and embrace inter alia, the right to work, the right to
organize, form join trade unions. They include the right to equal pay for
equal work, the right to social security, the right to food, health, education,
and the right to participate in cultural life and also to enjoy the benefit of
scientific progress (United Nations, 1995).
Maginalization against women empowerment are both blatant and
hidden likewise universal. Even where it is prohibited by law, it continues
due to tradition, custom or deep rooted perception and attitude towards
women. It is found in both the most highly industrialized countries and in
the least developed ones and in all types of economic (Ugwu, 2010).
According to (Ugwu), 2001 most women workers are found in the
lowest paid, lowest status and lowest skilled jobs. With little opportunity for
advantage, they have the least job security and fewest benefits. In some
places, certain women suffer even more because of apartheid, racism. For
instance, in the electronics industry in Nigeria only 10% of all the
35
technicians are women and less than 9% of marriages are women, in spite
of the laws forbidding discrimination in hiring, promotion and personal
policies.
Women everywhere are paid less than man for doing the same jobs
as men, and because the jobs they do are valued less, even though they
may be as more demanding than the job men do. Research has it that in
Kenya, Thailand or the USA, women receive on the average only 4% of
what men earn. In Morocco, a woman machinist in the clothing industry
earns 30% of the wages of men doing the same work. In the UK male
workers in the garment industry average £1.78 per house (World 1994).
Also In many countries, women are still not adequately protected by
maternity legislation. Even where they are, this legislation is sometimes
used against them. Because women receive less education than men,
fewer job opportunities are open to them. Vocational training and access to
new technology and knowledge are given almost exclusively to men.
In many countries, both developed and developing, women still face
legal barriers to equal access to money. For instance, they may need a
male quarantor to obtain a loan. Even some development programmes
restrict membership in cooperative and access to credit to women who are
heads of the family. This policy prevents women from cooperatives (UNO
36
1995). The economic and social powerlessness of women as individuals
and as a group in society still constitute a great barrier to women asserting
their rights. In spite of women‟s contribution to economic growth and
development of their country, their contributions have rarely been
recognized. This is primarily because house work which almost every
woman traditionally spend a significant part of their life doing daily is still
not economically valued within the household and the society at large.
Traditionally, women‟s task are in the domestic sphere and in agriculture.
Typically,on the average women‟s day is long and filled with multiplicity or
arduous tasks such as subsistence food production, food processing and
preparation, gathering of firewood for use as fuel, drawing of water,
handcrafts and child care. All these they do as unpaid (World Bank 1994).
In Nigeria, it is not easy for women to obtain credit facilities. Most
communities do not allow women to own or inherit any of the family
estates, especially landed properties. These have negative consequences
on women‟s position of capital for economic activities. Customary, women
are not encouraged to have access to credit from sources other than
husbands or male guardian.
37
Okome (2009) states that the Nigerians Women and the female child
was only but a number. When a female child was born, it was only
announced with a subdued tone. When a male child was born, it was not
only announced gleefully but also celebrated and celebrated. This
statement of facts vividly describes the place and roles ascribed to female
children and by extension the Nigerian women of the old era.
During those periods, our women were not given the opportunity to
be seen or heard. Our places were in the kitchen at home. Or women were
not given the opportunity to freely partake in social and political activities.
They were relegated to the background so it was impossible for them to
hold any leadership position in the society (Ogbonnaya, 2007).
Ugwu (2010) also stressed that Nigerian women of the old era were
faced with norms and traditions that were very stiff and inhuman. Those
were the times teenage girls were being sanctioned into marriage to men
old enough to be their fathers. Women then had been silent housekeepers,
cooks, and sex slave and child bearers. They were never part of the
decision making process even in the matters that affect them directly.
Women had no financial independence. They were expected to depend on
their husbands for their upkeep of the family. Any attempt to do otherwise
resulted in battery and assault for these women. While family elders viewed
38
such act as a rebellion and a contradiction of the societal norm. Most times,
the punishments meted were beyond human imagination.
How about the upbringing of the female child and by extension the
Nigeria women of the old era? The female child of the old era in the
Nigerian context was brought up to be timid, referred to as the weaker sex,
unable to expresses herself, part of a chattel, more like the furniture,
definitely without feelings. She had every reason, having been brought up
as a lesser mortal to feel inferior and total dependent on the man, who can
either be her brother, uncle or husband. Those were the experiences the
bad times of the Nigerian women of the old era (Ezeme, 2008: 33).
The customary land rights do not allow women to own land. Women
are excluded in extension, farm supplied credit and training services. New
technologies like the tractor, while lightening the burden of the men tend to
increase and complicate that of women. It must be noted, however, that
women‟s apparent invisibility in the cash crops sector is due to the fact that
their contribution is often unquantified and regarded as help on a husband
or other male relative‟s farm. Women are also marginalized religiously.
According to Holy Bible [RSV.Leviticus 12;2-5]
“If a woman have conceived seed, and borne a man child, then she shall be unclean seven days according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean? “But if she bear a
39
maid child then she be unclean two weeks, as is her separation and she shall continue in her blood of her purifying threescore and six days”.
In the New Testament has the following record of marginalization of
women.
In 1 Corinthians 14: 34 – 35 has the following records thus:
“Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience as said by the law. And if they will learn anything let them ask their husband at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church”.
Again, women were not counted during the feeding of five thousand
and four thousand, during Jesus ministry.
Mathew 14: 21 recorded that:
“And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. According to chapter 15: 38 has its record thus: “and they that eat were four thousand men, beside women and children”.
Okomo (2009), says, „In between the old era and the end of the 20th
century, Nigeria women just like their counterparts in the Western World
had through collections effects and common voice, supported by good
minded men in leadership, made tremendous progress in librating the
women from the bottom of the pit where they had been relegated.
40
Factors influencing Marginalization of women
Observing a situation or state of an unequal right and justice there will
always be a problem to the so called inferior group. The consequences of
the unequal status between men and women in a higher level of economic
and political powerlessness among women. Powerless in turn retards
development at any level; politically, economically, educationally and
socially. Little wonder did Okafor (2004) saw the degree of deprivation in
three dimensions such as deprivation in longevity,deprivation in knwoledge
and deprivation in a decent standard of living of human development. The
less percentage of deprivation the better the country is in that particular
index.
Generally, Marginalization of women could be characterized as
women‟s poverty and deprivation. This could be measured by probability of
their non-recognition in society which most times lead to pre-mature
deaths. However this depends on the traditions and customs of the people
or society in question. This factors and practices endangers and inhabits
long and healthy life of women e.g. poor feeding, inaccessibility of essential
drugs, political power, religious participating, cultural values, social norms,
access to healthy facilities quality and qualified medical personnel within
and outside the communities.
41
Moreso, the important roles played by women in socio-economic
speres [like rural community] in developing countries, are confronted with
rigid socio-cultural barriers and limited access to factors of production. It is
known that everywhere in the third world countries women as a group,
have fewer advantages even though they work longer hours than men
(Aguene, 2002). This situation imposes severe limits to effective and
sustainable development in the region. The persistent inequality in access
to resource along gender line is negative to the contemporary view of
development which Boutios-Ghate (2006), describes as not just an
increase in the productive/consumptive capacity of a population but also
the access to which people have access to basic social activities, services
and productive resources. He argued that micro-level analysis portray and
consist picture of gender based inequalities acting as constraints to growth
and poverty reduction in developing countries.
It‟s therefore obvious that in developing countries like Nigeria, women
are marginalized and as a result they do not contribute adequately to the
development process especially in the rural communities (Ugwu, 2010).
The fundamental problem therefore becomes that women have limited
access to resources which hinder their productivity and welfare as well as
their contribution to community and national development. The situation is
42
exacerbated by the fact that women are more educationally backward than
men. This situation according to Azikiwe (1992), affect women‟s
performance in the formal and informal sectors, which in turn limits their
effective contributions even in traditional female‟s activities such as child
care, sanitation, hygiene, health care and nutrition.
The marginalization of women however, have other negative
implication to the societal well being. Okonkwo (2001) has it that the
marginalization against women represent waste of a nation‟s economic
resources. Women are subjected to marginalization such as land
ownership, access to employment and financial services in order to
increase their productivity and promote general well-being of the people
since it has been established that women are responsible for greater
percentage of all agricultural production in developing countries.
In addition, to other non-agricultural activities such as food
processing and marketing, limited access of women to produce resources
will imply low household productivity and welfare. On the same view
Okome (2009) noted that poor countries are the most part agrarian and
pastoral fold and the agricultural performance has been bad in all those
countries that have remained poor in its own contribution, World Bank
(1995) stressed that the persistent inequalities between men and women
43
lead to lower levels of productivity and growth and further observed that if
development is expanding people‟s capacities and choices, then, the
revolution for gender inequality is about giving everyone the opportunity to
participate in development. However World Bank (1994) had earlier argued
that improving women‟s productive capacity can contribute to growth,
efficiencies and poverty reduction which are key to development. In
Nigeria, evidence show that women consistute about 70% of agricultural
labour yet most of them do not have access to land, training credit among
others (Azikiwe, 1992; UNICEF, 1998), a number of evidence also
indicated that majority of the population live below poverty line and that
women are marginalized.
Various ways which gender equity can be promoted
Empowerment, according to Kaegon (2009:208) refers to the
increase in the political, social and economic strength of an individual and
communities. He also, describes empowerment as a “… strategy that
seeks to transform the structures of subordination through changes in
legislature, property right and all those other institutions that reinforce and
perpetuate total male dominance”. Women empowerment, according to
Azikiwe (in Tanimu, 2009) means raising the awareness and
consciousness of women towards act and laws that are detrimental to their
44
progress and survival. In addition, Kaegon (2009:208) considers
empowerment of women “as encompassing development in education,
social, economic and political fields”. Considering these definitions, one can
equally say that women empowerment means giving women the authority
and legal power to participate in the social, cultural, economical,
educational and political fields of life without any hindrance.
Eke (2009:2) notes that sustainable development “… has to do with
purposeful and planned positive change, lasting progress and internally
generated growth over time, according to a set of prescribed economic,
democratic and other indices that clearly manifest in better quality of life for
all”. In another view, Aina and Salau (1992:6) see it as a “… process in
which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments and
orientation of technological development and institutional changes are all in
harmony and enhance both present and future potential to meet human
needs and aspirations:. Consequently, sustainable development refers to
balancing the fulfillment of human needs with the protection of natural
environment so that these needs can be met, not only with the present but
in the indefinite future. It refers to a general improvement in people‟s living
standards that can be maintained for generations to come.
45
Aruma and Aruma (2009) consider the concept of sustainable
national development as the process of promoting development initiative
that focuses on how to meet the needs of the present generation in a
country without necessarily compromising abilities of future generations to
meet their own needs. Sustainable national development reconciles the
nation‟s economic growth of the present and that of the future. It focuses on
social justice and well-being of both men and women. A nation, which
records a sustainable development, is deemed to have been able to meet
the human needs of her people not only in the present but also for the time
indefinite.
Empowering women entails empowerment of women‟s status and
potential through education, skill development and employment. In addition,
it involves taking full measures to eliminate all forms of exploitation, abuse,
harassment and violence meted against women. As a matter of fact, to
enhance women‟s empowerment, Narayan (in Lamidi, 2006) identifies four
key elements. These include:
Access to information
It is no longer any news that information is power and creates
awareness of what obtains in the immediate society and the entire world. It
equips one to take advantages of opportunities, access to services,
46
exercises one‟s rights, negotiates effectively and holds state and non-state
factors accountable. Considering this therefore, women can be empowered
through regular and timely flow of information from governments to women
and vice verse. Women should be properly informed of what happens in
the society for them to be better equipped to be useful in national economic
development.
Equal access to education
Tanimu (2009) and Kaegon (2009) articulate educational statistics
over the years seem to rightly suggest that women still lag behind men in
access to education. Access to education will give innumerable benefits for
the individual and greater economic development and wider participation in
politics. Ifeanacho (2003) sums it up that education will enable women
secure employment, become economically independent and less
susceptible to dominion by men. Education will also enlighten women,
prepare them for decision-making, leadership positions and propel them
into significant political positions in which they can promulgate laws that will
protect the rights of women.
47
Theoretical Framework
Community Development Theory
This theory according to Katz and Kahn, (1966) is the process of
working together towards improvement in the community. It involves the
notion that there are genotypic functions that should be carried out by any
mature social organization in the course of development, specialized sub-
systematic can be expected to emerge around these functions. Even in the
best of circumstances the process will be complex, imperfect, incomplete
and on-going. Community development theory heavily depends on general
system and on social systems‟ conceptual frameworks to organize and
relate the ideas, intelligence and information uncovered and created in the
processes of engagement. Systems frameworks have a number of
advantages. Descriptions, explanations, predictions and prescriptions can
be expressed readily in system terms. Placing questions and events in the
context of a system also has proven very stimulating or searching out
relationships and patterns of interactions. In addition, system frameworks
have the advantage of being used generously in many disciplines ranging
from biology to sociology. Finally, the systems framework has the
advantage of being compatible with a holistic approach (Bertalanffy, 1968
in Cook 2002).
48
Community development theory ordinarily treats communities as
systems. They are conceived as entities that reasonably can be
differentiated from what is around them (environment). They have some
kind of boundaries, and interactions take place across the boundaries with
the environment. Transactions from the environment to the community
systems are inputs. However, the community systems are selective in what
is accepted as input, and have a criteria by which to sort acceptable inputs
from other potential stimuli, coding. (At this stage of elucidating the model,
discussion is limited to a stimulus/response framework. Eventually, open
systems theory is added to take into account the possibilities for
spontaneous internal action and other forms associated with living
behaviour).
Community systems do work and perform transformations with
inputs. The products of the work are discharged into the environmental
outputs. Information about the reaction in the environment may be
transmitted back to the system as a form of input, feedback. In the most
general terms, the community system is conceived in relation to the
environment.
Application of this simple framework requires considerable
elaboration. However, this general pattern is similar to some of the
49
schemata popular in the social sciences (Easton, 1965).To conceptualize
the internal structure of community systems, community development turns
to social systems theory while social systems operate by the action of
people, the basic unit is not taken to be a person. The basic unit is a role
while roles in this context are performed by persons, a person is
considered much more than, and is definitely not defined by, a role (Biddle,
1979). The same person may perform multiple roles in the same social
system and may maintain life spaces not involving social systems. The
differentiation of a person from the civic roles they may perform is very
important in community development practice.
Many theories are used in community development. The earliest ones
tended to adapt economic or agricultural development models (Mezirow,
1963). From that time, the range of theories called upon has increased,
spanning from symbolic interactionism (Foote and Cotterell, 1955) to
cybernetics (Parsegian, 1973). Each provides some understanding or
guides action regarding a particular capacity of people or structures
expected to have strategic value in improving capacities of community
systems. None are thought to be sufficient to cover more than a limited part
or aspect. None are considered operationally complete theories with which
to effectively guide the entire development process.
50
Each of the theories that may be used is watched in the context of the
whole. The first step is to build a concept of the whole, even if incomplete
and inaccurate in some respects. This is based on the position that a
reasonable notion of a whole is possible before its constituent parts are
understood.
Just as it is possible to understand and even to operate an
automobile without knowledge of the place and function of the carburetor, a
community and its movements relative to the environment can be
understood broadly before knowledge of the place and functions of a part,
e.g. culture, in the system. The concept of the whole serves as a backdrop.
As various theories are applied to parts, e.g., culture, the whole is kept in
mind and a search is maintained for indications of relationships with other
parts. For example, culture can be thought of as a part, but it does not
operate discrete from the rest. The expectation is that cultural parts will
relate to politics, economics and physical surroundings in an interacting
mode. It affects and is affected by other elements conventionally abstracted
as entirely separate spheres or events.
The holistic approach is nothing more than a conscious effort to place
emphasis on the functional relationships among the parts and whole. It
does not require dealing with everything all the time. Dealing with any
51
aspect related to community systems is done in a way that keeps in mind
the whole and other parts. Even before particulars are known, the
expectations is that each part or aspect will operate with reciprocal
relationships. The holistic approach involves relational thought. Instead of
thinking about each element by itself, each is envisioned in the context of a
totality (Ogilvy, 1979).
Community development‟s advocacy of a holistic approach is largely
a reaction to the failures of sector approaches. Often other strategies for
development try to isolate the seminal sector. Usually, these have been
thought to be economics or agriculture. Efforts then concentrate on and in
this single sector. This theory works as if the selected sector is the primary
source for community or societal improvement. If change is in a positive
direction, as in an increase of per-capita income or of agricultural
production, it is expected that the whole system will be better automatically.
This theory suggests that there is one piece of the system on which
everything else depends. Strategically then, it is not necessary to directly
consider things beyond the chosen segment. The idea is that a trickle down
process is normal. It involves the notion that if the most important part is
improved, it is the nature of things that benefits will seep down through the
rest.
52
This theory, and operations in line with it, are frequently
recommended as an efficient approach. The justification goes along the
line that there are not enough resources, knowledge or energy to deal with
everything, so it makes sense to concentrate whatever is available in the
most important sector.
Community development theory responds with the proposition that in
fact there is not a most important sector. Conceptually, and for analytic
purposes, it is possible to think as if economics, politics, culture,
psychology and physical environment are separate. However, functionally
they are interactive and interdependent. The idea that each of these
aspects is discreet is an invention of the human mind devised as a practical
way to structure thinking. It is, and is known to be, a distortion of reality. It is
a helpful distortion as long as it is accompanied with the realization that it is
an artificial view. It is helpful to think about a single dimension, as long as it
is remembered that people, communities and societies are multi-
dimensional. In fact, each dimension, traditionally treated as separate
concerns organized by disciplines, touches and is touched by the others.
Therefore, it is necessary that concentration on a single dimension
must always be moderated. To be practical, intelligence about a single
sector must be interpreted in the context of the whole, the totality or the
53
system. The advisability of such a perspective is indicated by experience.
Many examples exist.
There are cases when thought was given only to technology
designed to increase production with the result that on its introduction, the
cultural system was destroyed and anomie emerged (Eckstein, 1966).
There are also cases that show it working in the other direction. Modern
technologies have been introduced only to have the cultural system prevent
them from reaching the anticipated level of increased production (Nair,
1979). The emphasis on the holistic point of view guards against
improvements in one sector bringing unintended consequences in other
sectors the negative impact of which outweighs the intended benefits.
Democratic Theory in Community Development
According to Cook (2002) the central mode of structuring for
community development is the democratic mode. Theory postulates that
capacities of community systems will expand with the introduction and
increasing use of democratic structuring. Increasing dependence on
democratic structuring, regardless of its extent at the initial stage, helps to
stimulate development and to support improvement in the quality of
planning, adaptation and decision-making within the system. Community
54
development theory suggests that as the levels of complexity and
uncertainty increase, democratic structuring becomes more suitable.
These seem surprising propositions. The common expectation is that
democracy becomes less suitable with complexity and uncertainty. The
normal view is that democracy fits best with small, stable and homogenous
communities. The popularity of the assumption that democratic structuring
is impractical for large, dynamic communities is related to the constant
exposure to elitist theories of democracy (Cook, 2002: 13).
There is a substantial body of literature expounding what has been
labeled “contemporary” democratic theory. It involves redefinitions of
democracy either for the purpose of modernizing it, or to argue that it is
inappropriate (Pateman, 1970). These redefinitions form the basis for a
wide variety of theories of democratic elitism and anti-democratic elitism.
All these “contemporary” theories share the element that “classic”
notions of democracy are unfit for the modern environment. Like the
ancient historian Tacitus, many contemporary theorists proclaim that old
style democracy, involving substantive citizen participation in governance,
could fit only events has been recognized as legitimate and has been
encouraged by the proliferation of points of involvement with and in the
system, the original state of intelligence is enhanced.
55
Participation Theory
This idea goes back to a very significant but frequently overlooked
element in classic democratic theory. This proposition is that participation
stimulates the learning and development of individuals (Lively, 1977). At
times when this consequences of participation, i.e., increased learning and
individual growth is considered at all, it is considered in terms of a benefit to
the individual. However, experience does not indicate that benefits of
learning and development through civic participation fall so clearly to the
individual.
To a specific person, the considerable costs in time, energy and
frustration may outweigh direct or tangible benefits. At least the direct
returns of learning and development through participation in public life
seem problematic, given the definition of “rational behaviour” common in
rational choice for those following the dictates of selfish utility maximization
(Laver, 1981).
From the point of view of community development theory, the benefits
from broad and open participation accrue to the system. Individuals may
profit or suffer from the learning and development gained through their own
civic participation. However, the system has a net increase in its potential
as persons become active and as incidents of participation diversify.
56
In the abstract, it may seem that any increase of knowledge,
sophistication and resourcefulness regarding public affairs that results from
participation would be evidence of personal improvement. Yet, in any
particular case, the reasons for participation and the adjustments of
expectations, behaviours and views of the world that follow from the
experience of civic involvement may bring changes for the individual that
he/she deems to be negative. In other words, an individual in his/her own
eyes may be worse off, or farther from the realization of personal
preferences after active participation than before.
Even when this is so at the individual level, the system still profits.
The aggregate result of civic participation expands the information, skills
and comprehensions of individuals within the system. The reservoir of
ingredients on which the system draws is enriched. Their participation
extends the potential of community systems. It increases the possibility that
needed or useful intelligence, skills and information will be available to
improve the systems‟ competence and capabilities (Cook 2002: 15).
Human Relations Theory
According to Ezeme (2008: 33) this is always regarded as the first
great proponent of human relations theory. The central idea in this theory is
that the human factor is important in the achievement of organizational
57
goals. Thus, it was assumed that workers will achieve better if their
personal welfare was taken into consideration. According to Nwankwo
(1982), the theories related to human relations brought into administration
such concepts as democratic leadership, policy making by consultation,
delegation of authority, decentralization of administration et cetera.
The central argument among the human relations theories is that it is
related to the marginalization of women and can motivate to participate
actively in the achievement of organizational goals. This differs from the
position of classical management theorists who emphasized the
achievement of organizational objectives at the expense of workers
welfare. It is believed that the basic problem of any organization, whether it
is an industry, education system or even a family is the building and
maintenance of groups of people within the organization. According to
Ezeme (2008: 33),this is always regarded as the first great proponent of
human relations theory. As a social philosopher, she was concerned with
the human problems encountered in organizations, and therefore
concluded that such problems can only be minimized when there is
cooperation among the workers. She therefore emphasized coordination as
the basis of any organizational effectiveness. Based on this, she developed
58
four organizational principles, all of which centred on coordination. These
principles include:
1. Coordination by direct contact with the people concerned. This
means that people should be dealt with individually.
2. Coordination in the early stages, suggesting that coordination in an
organization should not be delayed.
3. Coordination as the reciprocal relation of all the factors in a situation.
In other words, coordination should involve an agreement of all
individuals.
4. Coordination as a continuing process. The implication is that an
administrator should always be coordinating people, their works and
other resources at all times. Coordination should therefore not be
seen as a seasonal or temporary affair. The relevance of the human
relations theory to this present work is that the knowledge of the
theory enhances peoples‟ performance and also improves their
interaction within the community development context. It explains the
need for cordial relationship to exist between the male and the
female so as to achieve community development goals and
objectives.
5.
59
Empirical Studies
This part of the review of literature take into consideration studies that
have been done and their findings as they relate to the current study.
Ugwu (2010) carried out a study titled “Assessment of the millennium
development goals in the promotion of Gender Equality in Udi L.G.A. of
Enugu State”. The population consists of four hundred registered members
of women organizations in Udi L.G.A. The researcher used simple random
sample technique in collecting the sample from the overall population. The
population used for the research was 400 and the sample size was 200.
The instrument used for the study was a 20 item questionnaire. The results
were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed
that women do not have access to land and other property. It also revealed
that women consciousness and responsibilities in economic and
community development is on the low side. It recommended that the
government should set up a regulatory body to over see that women are
not marginalized. It also recommended that government should implement
policies that will protect the right of women against violence, abuse and all
forms of traditional practices that are harmful to them. On the other hand,
women should encourage themselves to participate in politics and also in
community development issues so as to increase leadership in women.
60
Ugwu‟s work was on Assessment of the millennium development
goals in the promotion of Gender Equality. But the present work is on
problems marginalization of women in community development in Item.
The sample for Ugwu‟s work was four hundred but the present work used
five hundred and thirty two. Ugwu‟s work used only rated means scores but
the present used additional t-test to test the hypothesis
Ezeugwu‟s (2008) carried out a study titled “Adult Education as an
Agent of Community Development for Empowering Women in participation
in national Development. The population consist of all the catholic women
Organization (CWO) in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State and
their total number were six thousand eight hundred and fitly ( 6,850)
women. The researcher sampled 800 women from the community and then
used 300. The weighted mean was used in answering the research
question. The results were analyzed using mean and standard deviation.
The findings revealed that the major problems of women in national
development are discrimination in politics and marginalization. The study
also revealed that women are even marginalized in Agricultural
modernization and development. It recommend that the government should
provide intensive adult education programme to raise the level of education
of women and to create consciences mess of community development. It
61
also recommended that the government should make a policy which will
give equal right to every citizen. The studies review the backwards and
marginalization of women in different areas of life and sought how to
improve their status and at the same time liberate them.
Ezeugwu‟s work was on Adult education as an agent of community
development for empowering women‟s participation in National
development in Nsukka local government area. But the present work is on
problems marginalization of women in community development in Item.
The sample for Ezeugwu‟s work was eight hundred but the present work
used five hundred and thirty two. Ezeugwu‟s work used only rated means
scores but the present used additional t-test to test the hypothesis
62
Summary of Literature Review
Nigeria women have been subjected to inequalities in the political,
social, economic, educational and cultural sectors and these do not place
them in the best comparative advantage (Aguene, 2002).
Status of women is a very compelling issue essentially because
women are yet to attain their full potentials. Examining status of women
revealed that status of women differs from one nation to another. The
greatest disparity could be found in women in industrialized nations and
developing nations. Such differences are also evident in urban and rural
areas of various countries. The marginalization situation of women in
Nigeria is on the issue of gender bias, where there is a huge disparity in the
socio-economic development of the gender in Nigeria.
The tragedy of the contemporary state is that it still fails to rise above
the people‟s rights. Ugwu (2001) contends that individuals and groups
representing the state and international institutions make claims for these
rights. Thus, Ugwu‟s critique is directed at securing rights and making
claims against powerful institutions on behalf of relatively powerless actors.
Another source of problems that militate against women‟s rights is
that most of the administrative practices which prevent equal treatment of
Nigerian men and women are products of colonial laws and government.
63
Another is the assumption that a woman must prove that she was not
responsible for bringing discriminatory practices upon herself. A third
problem arises from the lack of resources to pursue the legal remedies that
may be available. While there are admirable and significant efforts being
made by some lawyer‟s and women‟s groups to provide free legal
assistance, these efforts remain inadequate.
The ideological dimension of discrimination becomes evident when
one considers the extent to which the discourse on rights is shaped by the
language, ethics and moral judgments adopted from the West. The
meanings, ideals, and practices of non-Western peoples tend to be viewed
through the lens of the West and assessed through theories derived from
Western historical experience. Paradoxically, activist groups and scholars
that support the expansion and promotion of women‟s rights are thus
subject to the pitfalls that come which drawing on such a tradition. Negative
stereotypes of the role of women in pre-colonial society are stressed, even
by scholars and activists who claim to be pro-feminist. In an attempt to
promote and defend women‟s rights, the problems without sufficiently
highlighting the achievements of women or the rights that they enjoy
already (Women‟s International Network, 1995).
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the methodology adopted in carrying out this
study. It is discussed under the following sub-headings: Research Design,
Area of the Study, Population of the Study, Sample and Sampling
technique, Instrument for data collection, Validation of the Instrument,
Reliability of the instrument, procedure for Data Collection and Method of
Data Analysis.
Research Design
This study adopted a descriptive survey research design it seeks to
determine the problems of women‟s marginalization in community
development in Item, Bende Local Government Area of Abia state.
According to Ali (2006) a descriptive survey design uses the sampled
data in an investigation to document, describe and explain what is in
existence or non-existence or present status of existence of the
phenomena being investigated. Therefore, the survey research design will
be appropriate for this study.
Area of the Study
This study will be conducted in villages in Item, Bende local
government area of Abia state. Item has a male dominating culture. In
64
65
other words the culture favours men in all aspects. Wealth, property and
children belong to the men. Girls are given out early for marriage the
women are neglected in many areas and are marginalized. These villages
comprise of Akanu, Amaeke, Amaekpu, Amaokwe, Apanu, Okagwe, Okai,
Okoko, and Umuakpa. Item is in Ohafia education zone and in Abia North
senatorial district.
Population for the Study
The population for the study comprised of all the registered members
of Item development union (IDU) women‟s wing. Available data showed
that they are, 5532 registered members (IDU Women‟s Wing, 2010).
TABLE 1: Population Distribution of Item Women Development Union
S/N Branch Number of Registered Members
1 Aba 3245
2 Abuja 109
3 Enugu 322
4 Item 1427
5 Lagos 128
6 Owerri 92
7 Umuahia 207
Total 5,532
Source: Item Development Union (Women‟s Wing, 2010).
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Sample and Sampling Technique
Based on the large population size (5,532) of the registered members
of Item Development Union (IDU). The researcher will sample the
population element from each of the strata so as to ensure a manageable
size. A sample proportion of 10 percent of the population (IDU) will be used
to determine the sample size of the study. The choice of 10percent is
based on the premises that if the population is a few thousands a sampling
interval of 10 percent will do Nwana (1981: 72) as cited in Nwagu (2005).
Table 2: Sample Distribution of Item Women Development Union
S/N Branch Number of Registered Members
1 Aba 317
2 Abuja 9
3 Enugu 28
4 Item 138
5 Lagos 11
6 Owerri 9
7 Umuahia 20
Total 532
Instrument for Data Collection
The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire titled
problems of women marginalization questionnaire (POWMQ). The
67
questionnaire was organized in two parts. Parts A sought to collect
personal data of the respondents while part B was arranged in four clusters
A,B,C and D which represented the four research questions that guided the
study. Cluster A has 8 Items which addressed research Q I cluster B has
13 items, which addressed research question 2, cluster C has 10 items
which addressed research question 3, while cluster D has 7 items which
addressed research question 4. The instrument was made up of 38 items.
A four point rating scale was provided for the respondents to make their
responses as follows:
Strongly Agree - SA (4points)
Agree - A (3 points)
Disagree - D (2 points)
Strongly Disagree - SD (1point)
Validation of the Instrument
To ensure the validity of the instrument, the initial draft of the
questionnaire was subjected to validation by four experts. Two from Adult
Education, and two from Measurement and Evaluation, in the University of
Nigeria Nsukka. These experts were requested to study the items and
assess the suitability of the language, adequacy and relevance of the items
in addressing the research questions, bearing in mind the purpose of the
68
study. Their corrections and comments were used to modify the
questionnaire. The modification gave rise to the final draft which were
produced, pilot – tested and then administered on the respondents.
Reliability of the Instrument
The reliability of the instrument was trial-tested using 15 women from
Nsukka development union which is outside the main area of study.
Cronbach Alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the
questionnaire items. The result of the test yielded 0.8 for Cluster A, 0.83 for
cluster B while Cluster C and D was 0.84 and 0.81 respectively. While 0.91
was obtained for the total Clusters. The high reliability index confirmed that
the instrument is reliable. (see Appendix D)
Procedure for Data Collection
The researcher used three field assistants for distributing the
questionnaire to the respondents. The research assistants were briefed
and trained on the method and modalities for administering the
questionnaire to the respondents. A total of 532 copies of the questionnaire
was printed and distributed.
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Method of Data Analysis
The formula that was used to calculate the mean scores
X N = X
Where
X = Sum of scores
N = Number of scores
X = Mean
Source: Nworgu, (2006)
The criterion mean was calculated using weights of the respondents
and options as showed above e.g.
= 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 4
= 10 4 = 2.5
The researcher used the mean score of 2.5 and above as the acceptance
point while any mean below 2.5 will not be accepted. t-test was used to test
the two null hypotheses that will be accepted at 0.05 level of significance.
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
This chapter deals with presentation of the results of this study. The
data were presented according to the order of the four research questions
and the two hypotheses that guided the study.
Research Question One
What are the problems of women Marginalization in community development? TABLE 3: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on the Problems of Women‟s Marginalization
Urban Women Rural Women
S/no Questionnaire Item X SD Decision X SD Dec
1 Abandonment of community development
2.97 1.11 A 2.90 1.1 A
2 Disunity in commonly development project
2.77 0.94 A 2.74 1.13 A
3 A project taking longer time than necessary
2.52 0.97 A 2.70 1.1 A
4 Lack of awareness in community development projects
2.59 1.01 A 2.60 1.07 A
5 Lack of trust in community development project
2.72 0.91 A 2.69 1.05 A
6 Mismanagement of community development fund
2.69 0.99 A 2.71 1.01 A
7 Creating different factions in community
2.74 0.91 A 3.07 0.97 A
8 Misinterpretation of ideas in community development projects
2.63 1.04 A 2.95 1.01 A
9 Lack of available local materials 2.87 1.03 A 2.77 1.13 A 10 Lack of economic power in
community development project 2.75 0.90 A 2.78 0.96 A
11 Lack of access to land and other properties
2.66 0.88 A 2.77 0.96 A
12 Lack of skill acquisition in community
2.83 0.98 A 2.90 0.96 A
13 Lack of income generating activities
3.03 1.06 A 3.04 0.97 A
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70
71
Table 3 presents the mean rating of urban and rural registered
members of Item development union women‟s wing on the consequences
of women‟s marginalization in community development. The thirteen items
are rated above the cut off point of 2.50 on the four point rating scale. Items
1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 have corresponding mean scores of
2.97,2.77,2.52,2.59,2,72,2.69 and 2.74 with standard deviations of 1.11,
0.94, 0.97, 1.01, 0.91, 0.99 and 0.91 respectively by the urban women.
These same items are rated 2.90, 2.74, 2.70, 2.60 2.69, 2.71 and
3.07 with standard deviation of 1.1, 1.13, 1.1, 107 1.05, 1.01 and 0.97 by
the rural women. Items 8,9,10,11, 12 and 13 are also rated 2.63, 2.87,
2.75, 2.66, 2.83 and 3.03 with standard deviations of 1.04,1.03, 0.90, 0.88
.0.98 and 1.06 by the urban women while they are rated 2.95, 2.77, 2.78,
2.77, 2.90 and 3.04 with standard deviations of 1.01, 1.13, 0.96, 0.96, 0.96
and 0.97 respectively by the rural women.
Research Question Two
What are the factors that lead to women marginalization in Item.
The data for providing answers to research question two, is shown in Table
4
72
TABLE 4: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on the Factors that
Led to Women Marginalization
Urban woman Urban women Rural women
S/no Questionnaire Item X SD Decision X SD Decision
14 Culture is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
3.72 0.60 A 2.49 085 A
15 Religious belief is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
3.08 0.82 A 3.14 1.01 A
16 Poverty is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
2.76 1.03 A 2.95 1.16 A
17 Illiteracy is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
3.05 .95 A 3.04 1.06 A
18 Unemployment is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
2.83 1.01 A 3.15 0.97 A
19 Early marriage is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
2.96 .89 A 3.25 .91 A
20 Gender stereotypes is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
2.91 .96 A 3.08 0.80 A
21 Deprivation is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
2.79 1.00 A 3.19 .92 A
Table 4 presents the mean ratings of urban and rural registered
members of Item Development union on the factors that led to
marginalization of women. The table shows that all the eight items are
73
rated above the cut off point of 2.50. For urban women items 14, 15, 16
and 17 are rated 3.72, 3.08, 2.76 and 3.05 with standard deviation of 0.60,
0.82 1.90 and 0.95 while for rural women the same items are rated 2.49,
3.14, 2.95 and 3.04 with standard deviation of 0.85, 1.01, 1.16 and 1.06.
Items 18,19,20 and 21 were also rated 2.83, 2.96, 2.91 and 2.79 with
standard deviations of 1.01, .89, .96 and 1.00 by the urban women while
they are rated 3.15, 3.25, 3.08, 3.19 with standard deviation of 0.97 0.91,
0.80 and 0.92 respectively.
74
Research Question Three
What are the ways of eliminating marginalization of women?
TABLE 5: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on Ways of
Eliminating Women‟s Marginalization.
Urban woman Urban women Rural women
S/no Questionnaire Item X SN Dec X SD Dec
22 Access to education 3.39 0.84 A 3.42 0.99 A 23 Access to ownership of land and other
properties 3.26 0.78 A 3.46 0.75 A
24 Women empowerment 3.11 0.96 A 3.41 0.84 A 25 Support from government and other
NGO‟s 3.07 0.99 A 3.31 0.99 A
26 Government policy about women in community development
3.11 0.86 A 3.32 0.95 A
27 Democracy in community development 3.21 0.91 A 3.42 0.92 A 28 Loans or support from government or
other NGO‟s for women in community development efforts
3.27 0.89 A 3.46 0.76 A
29 Public enlightenment about the consequences of marginalization in community development
3.32 0.84 A 3.56 0.78 A
30 Making the women functionally literate for community development projects
3.08 0.97 A 3.43 0.82 A
31 Introduction of Good policies that will improve the well fare of women in community development
3.09 1.13 A 3.50 8.87 A
Table 5 presents the mean rating of urban and rural registered
members of Item development union women‟s wing on the ways of
eliminating marginalization of women. Looking at the table we can see that
all the ten items are rated well above the cut off point of 2.50 on the four
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point rating scale. Items 22,23,24,25, 26 and 27 are rated 3.39, 3.26, 3.11,
3.07, 3.11 and 3.21 with standard derivation of 0.84, 0.78, 0.96, 0.99, 0.86
and 0.91 respectively by the urban women. These same items are rated
3.42, 3.46. 3.41, 3.31, 3.22 and 3.42 with standard deviation of 0.99, 0.75,
0.84, 0.99, 0.95 and 0.92 by the rural women. Items 28,29,30 and 31 are
also rated 3.27,3.32 3.08 and 3.09 with standard deviation of
0.89,0.84,0.97 and 1.13 respectively by the urban women while they are
rated 3.46, 3.56, 3.43 and 3.50 with standard devotion of 0.76, 0.78, 0.82,
and 0.87 respectively by rural women.
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Research Question Four
What are the various ways of promoting gender equity in community
development in Item?
Table 6: Mean Ratings of Urban and Rural Women on Ways of
Promoting Gender Equity
Urban woman Urban women Rural women
S/no Questionnaire Item X SN Decision X SD Decision
32 Incorporating women in community development planning
3.23 0.89 A 3.46 0.86 A
33 Raising consciousness of women about their rights and responsibilities in area of economic and political development
3.25 0.84 A 3.45 0.88 A
34 Improvement of women educational status through literacy programmes
3.29 0.92 A 3.52 069 A
35 Abolish laws that marginalize women‟s access to properly and inheritance
3.40 0.82 A 3.35 0.88 A
36 Encourage group business enterprises and co-operation and inheritance
3.23 0.86 A 3.42 0.88 A
37 Training women on simple hygiene, good nutrition, family planning and child care
2.89 1.02 A 3.49 0.75 A
38 Incorporating women in decision making process in community development
3.27 0.89 A 3.46 0.76 A
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Table 6 presents the mean rating of urban and rural registered members of
Item development union women‟s wing of the various ways of promoting
gender equity in community development in Item. Looking at the table, we
can see that all the seven items are rated well above the cut off point of
2.50 on the four point rating scale. Items 32, 33, 34 and 35 are rated 3.23,
3.25, 3.29 and 3.40 with standard deviation of 0.89,0.84, 0.92 and 0.83
respectively by the urban women. These same Items are retard
3.46,3.45,3.52 and 3.35 with standard deviation of 0.86,0.88,0.69 and 0.88
by the rural women. Items 36, 37 and 38 are also rated 3.23,2.89 and 3.12
with standard deviations of 0.86, 1.02 and 1.06 respectively by the urban
women while they are rated 3.42,3.49 and 3.34 with standard deviation of
0.88,0.75 and 1.04 by the rural women.
Hypothesis one: There is no significant difference between the mean
ratings of the urban and rural women on the factors that lead to women‟s
marginalization in community development in Item.
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TABLE 7: t-test Analyses of Urban and Rural Women on the Factors that
Led to Their Marginalization
Group N
_ X
SD t-cal t-critical value
Level of sign
of Decision
Urban Women
Rural women
258
274
3.1
3.41
1.04
1.17 1.96 0.05
530 Accept
Total 532
Table 7: presents the t-test statistical analysis of the difference
between the mean ratings of urban and rural women on the factors the lead
to women‟s marginalization in community development. The t- calculated
value is 1.17 at 530 degree of freedom (df) and 0.05 level of significance.
Since the calculated value of 1.17 is less than the table value of 1.96, the
first null hypothesis of this study is accepted. It can therefore be concluded
that there is no significant difference in mean rating of urban and rural
women on the factors that led to women‟s marginalization.
Hypothesis Two
2. There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and
rural women on the problems of women‟s marginalization in community
development in Item.
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Table 8: t-test Analyses of the Urban and Rural Women on the
Problems of Women Marginalization
Group N
_ X
SD t-cal t-critical value
Level of sign
of Decision
Urban Women
Rural women
258
274
3.4
3.72
0.592
0.57 1.96 0.05
530 Accept
Total 532
Table 8: presents the t-test statistical analysis of the difference
between the urban and rural women on the problems of women
marginalization in community development. The t-calculated value of 0.57
on 530 degree of freedom and 0.05 level of significant. Since the calculated
value of 0.57 is less than the table value of 1.96, the second null
hypothesis is accepted. It could be concluded that there is no significant
different between the mean opinion scores of the urban and rural women
on problems of women‟s marginalization in community development.
Summary of Findings
The following are the summary of the findings of this study
1. Urban and rural women in Item, Abia state agreed that the factors that
led to women marginalization include culture, religious belief, poverty,
80
illiteracy, unemployment, early marriage, gender stereotypes and
deprivation.
2. The urban and rural women in Item were of the opinion that the problems
of women‟s marginalization include abandonment of community
development projects, disunity in community development project, lack of
awareness in community development projects, lack of trust in community
development project, mismanagement of community development fund,
creating different faction in community and misinterpretation of ideas in
community development projects. Others include lack of available local
materials, lack of economic power in community development project, lack
of access to land and other properties, lack of skill acquisition in community
and lack of income generating activities.
3. The urban and rural women in Item also agreed on the ways of
eliminating marginalization of women which include: access to education,
Access to ownership of land and other properties, women empowerment,
support from government and other NGO‟s and government policy about
women in community development. Others include democracy in
community development, Loans or support from government or other
NGO‟s for women in community development efforts, public enlightenment
about the consequences of marginalization in community development,
81
making the women functionally literate for community development projects
and introduction of good polices that will improve the well fare of women in
community development.
4. Urban and rural women in Item also agreed on various ways of
promoting gender equity in community development which include
incorporating women in community development planning, raising
consciousness of women about their right and responsibilities in areas of
economic and political development, improvement of women‟s educational
status through literacy programmes and abolishment of laws that
marginalize women access to property and other inheritance. Others
include encourage group business enterprises and co-operative and
inheritance, training women on simple hygiene, good nutrition, family
planning, child care and incoprating women in decision making process in
community development.
5. Hypothesis one showed no significant different in the mean ratings of
urban and rural women in Item on the factors that lead to women‟s
marginalization except item 1 which has a t-test value of 3.61. This value is
higher than table (critical) value of 1.96. This means that the respondents
differ on culture as a factor that leads to women‟s marginalization in Item.
82
6. Hypothesis two showed no significant different in the mean ratings of
urban and rural women in Item on the consequences of women‟s
marginalization on community development.
83
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, IMPLICATION, CONCLUSION
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
This chapter presents the discussion of the result of this study the
implications of the research findings, conclusion, recommendations,
limitations of the study and suggestion for further research.
Discussion of Results
It was the opinion of the urban and rural women in Item (table 2) that
the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization in Item include culture,
religious belief, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment early marriage gender
stereotypes and deprivation. This findings is in line with the submissions of
Onuigwe (2008) who observed that many women have really misplaced
and sold their birth rights over years in accepting the fact that women are
mere house wives, they limit the role of the women to taking care of the
kitchen and the children at home. Women are not involved in community
development activities because they only believed to be house wives and
such do not have anything to contribute to the society. Aguene (1999)
supporting this view also described it as a social problem which he defined
as a deviation from social norm which they cherish. The urban and rural
women in Item (table 3) were of the opinion that the problems of women‟s
marginalization in community development include abandonment of
83
84
community development projects, disunity in community development
project, project taking longer time then necessary, lack of awareness in
community development projects, mismanagement of community
development fund, creating different faction in community, misinterpretation
of ideas in community development project lack of available local materials,
lack of economic power in community development project lack of access
to land and other properties lack of skill acquisition in community and lack
of income generating activities. These are in line with the opinion of Azikiwe
(1995) who puts it that the marginalization against women represents
waste of a nation‟s economic resources. Supporting this view Aguene
(1999) observed that in the third world countries, women as a group have
fewer advantages even though they work longer hours than men. This
situation imposes severe limits to efficiency and sustainable development
in the communities. It‟s therefore obvious that the problems of
marginalization of women is that they do not contribute adequately to the
developmental process especially in the rural communities.
The urban and rural women in Item agreed that the ways of
eliminating the marginalization of women include access to education,
access to ownership of land and other properties, women empowerment,
support from government and other NGO‟s, government policy about
85
women in community development, democracy in community development,
Loans or support from government or other NGO‟s for women in
community development efforts, public enlightenment about the
consequences of marginalization in community development, making
women functionally literate for community development projects and
introduction of good polices that will improve the well fare of women in
community development. These findings are in line with Ebong (2006), who
maintained that education creates an enabling avenue for participation in
the development of oneself and the society. Education is an agent of
change which can foster equality development and economic growth of the
nation. Supporting this view, Anyaogu (2011), sees the need for both
government and non-government organizations to intensify their efforts,
especially on gender education in order to achieve gender equity as well as
foster community development in developing economics. On the other
hand, Oyebamiji and Adekola (2008) identified that democratic style of
leadership can eliminate women‟s marginalization because it is a style of
leadership that integrates all and sundry without the segregation of any.
Both respondents also agreed in their opinion on the various ways of
promoting gender equity in community development as planning, raising
consciousness of women about their rights and responsibilities in area of
86
economic and political development, improvement of women educational
status through literacy programmes, abolish laws that marginalize women‟s
access to property and inheritance, encourage group business enterprises
and co-operation and inheritance training women on simple hygiene, good
nutrition, family planning and in community development. This finding is in
line with Ugwu, (2010) who found that women‟s consciousness and
responsibilities in economic and community development is of traditional
practices that are harmful to them. Supporting this view Ezeugwu, (2008) is
of the opinion that government should make a policy which will give equal
right to every citizen so as to promote gender equity. On the other hand
Ijah (2009) opined that women are the vital link between the present and
the future, production and consumption, savings and investment, poverty
and alleviation and environmental sustainable growth. It is therefore,
pertinent not to treat them as target groups of social welfare rather their
principle roles as agents of socio-economic development should be fully
recognized and enhanced.
Hypothesis one showed no significant difference in the mean ratings
of urban and rural women on the factors that lead to marginalization of
women in Item. This finding is not surprising because both groups must
have experienced the same factors as leading to women‟s marginalization.
87
Hypothesis Two showed no significant difference in the mean ratings
of urban and rural women on the problems of women‟s marginalization on
community development.
Both respondents agreed on the problems of women‟s
marginalization on community development. This finding is in line with
Oboegbulam (2001) who noted that woman does not achieve self-
actualization through intellectual creativity and participation in political,
economic and social life on a level equal to that of men. Rather, her destiny
lies in generic fulfillment through motherhood, physical, spiritual and in
being a helpmate to her husband.
Implications of the Research Findings
These research findings have the following educational implications:
Adult educators should continue to work on those factors that lead to
marginalization of women as it hinders effective community development
efforts. They should stress the fact that provides not only awareness but
also measures to eliminate them.
The community development agents should assist both the
government and non-governmental agencies to eliminate those ills
associated with women‟s marginalization as it affects community
development in their various communities and agencies.
88
Both respondent agreed that being functionally literate can help in
eliminating marginalization of women. Therefore, the National council for
adult and Non-formal education with other Non-governmental agencies
should all put hands on desk in providing functional literacy and other
measures to eliminate women‟s marginalization so as to foster community
development. This finding implies that the agencies should continue to
emphasize on those factors that will help eliminate women‟s
marginalization more especially as it affects community development.
The findings of this study showed the various ways of promoting
gender equity in community development. This finding implies that effort
should be made by both government and non government agencies
including community leaders in raising up consciousness of women on their
fundamental human right by organizing seminars, conferences and other
non-formal educational programmes so as to eliminate women‟s
marginalization and forester community development.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that community development is a programme that
involves all and sundry without the segregation of any, it is still very
unfortunate that women are being marginalized and as well segregated in
community development in Item, Bende local government Area of Abia
89
state. This study concluded that Urban and rural women in Item Abia state
agreed that the factors that lead to women marginalization include culture,
religious belief, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, early marriage, gender
stereotypes and deprivation.
The urban and rural women in Item were of the opinion that the problems of
women‟s marginalization include abandonment of community development
projects, disunity in community development project, lack of awareness in
community development projects, lack of trust in community development
project, mismanagement of community development fund, creating different
faction in community and misinterpretation of ideas in community
development projects. Others include lack of available local materials, lack
of economic power in community development project, lack of access to
land and other properties, lack of skill acquisition in community and lack of
income generating activities.
The urban and rural women in Item also agreed on the ways of eliminating
marginalization of women which include: access to education, Access to
ownership of land and other properties, women empowerment, support
from government and other NGO‟s and government policy about women in
community development. Others include democracy in community
development, Loans or support from government or other NGO‟s for
90
women in community development efforts, public enlightenment about the
consequences of marginalization in community development, making the
women functionally literate for community development projects and
introduction of good polices that will improve the well fare of women in
community development.
Urban and rural women in Item also agreed on various ways of promoting
gender equity in community development which include incorporating
women in community development planning, raising consciousness of
women about their right and responsibilities in areas of economic and
political development, improvement of women‟s educational status through
literacy programmes and abolishment of laws that marginalize women
access to property and other inheritance. Others include encourage group
business enterprises and co-operative and inheritance, training women on
simple hygiene, good nutrition, family planning, child care and incorporating
women in decision making process in community development.
Recommendations
In the light of the findings of this study and the education implications
the following recommendations are made;
91
(1) It is important that the problems of women‟s marginalization should
continue to be tackled both in local, state and national levels because
through it there will be measures to eliminate it.
(2) The problems of women‟s marginalization have been a huge obstacle to
effects community development efforts. Therefore, women should be
integrated so as to foster development rapidly.
(3) Women should be encouraged and as well involve them to participate
actively in community development activities and not to be seen as feeble,
weaker and people with poor reasoning attitude rather they should be
encouraged and as well be integrated in developmental programmes
4. Item community should adopt a leadership style that will give room for
women to participate both in planning of any developmental programme or
project because community development involves all and sundry without
segregation of any.
Limitations of the Study
The following limitations were found out in the cause of the study
1. The results of the study cannot be generalized in other state and local
governments because the study did not cover or include them.
2. Some extraneous variables such as location may have influence the
result of the findings
92
3. Educational qualifications of the respondents to filling of the
questionnaire may have resulted to inappropriate responses.
Suggestions for Further Studies
Based on the results of the study, it is suggested that further studies
be made in the following areas.
1. Marginalization of women as a constraints to effective community
development should done in other communities, local governments and
states
2. A study on gender equality on community development also be carried
out in other local government and states
3. A research should also be done on comparative study of women‟s
marginalization in south east Nigeria.
93
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APPENDIX A :
INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE RESPONDENTS
Department of Adult Education and Extra-mural Studies University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Dear Respondent,
PROBLEMS OF MARGINALIZATION OF WOMEN IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN ITEM, BENDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF
ABIA STATE
I am a post graduate student of the above named department. I am
carrying out a study on the topic stated above. The purpose of the study is
to investigate the Marginalization of Women as a Constraint to effective
Community Development in Item, Bende L.G.A. of Abia State.
You are requested to complete the attached questionnaire as honesty
as possible. I wish to assure you that all information provided by you will be
treated in strict confidence and used for the research purposes only.
You are requested to tick () in either of the columns written Strongly
Agree (SA) Agree (A) Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD)
Thanks for co-operation.
Yours sincerely, Kingsley A. Ogbonnaya
101
102
APPENDIX: B QUESTIONNAIRE SECTION A. Data Collection/Instrument
Please tick (√) in each of the column you consider appropriate
1. Age Range: 18 – 27 ( ), 28 – 37 ( ), 38 – 47 ( ), 48 – 57 ( ) 58 and above ( )
2. Marital Status: (a) Single ( ), (b) married ( ), (c) widowed ( ) (d) divorced ( ) 3. Educational Qualification: FSLC ( ), WASC ( ), OND ( ),
NCE ( ) BA/B.Sc. B.Ed. ( ), Non of the above ( )
Specify ______________________________
4. Occupation: Civil/Public Servant ( ), Farmer ( ), Trader ( ), House wife ( ), any other specify ____________ 5. Location: Urban ( ) Rural ( ) Do not write your name. Please read and complete the questionnaire as
honestly as possible.
Note: SA = Strongly Agree
A = Agree
D = Disagree
SD = Strongly Disagree
103
SECTION B: Cluster 1: What are the problems of women’s marginalization in community
development?
S/N ITEMS SA A D SD
1 Abandonment of community development
project
2 Disunity in community development project
3 A project taking longer time than necessary
4 Lack of awareness in community development
projects
5 Lack of trust in community development project
6 Mismanagement of community development
fund
7 Creating different faction in community
8 Misinterpretation of ideas in community
development projects
9 Lack of available local materials
10 Lack of economic power in community
development project
11 Lack of access to land and other properties
12 Lack of skill acquisition in community
13 Lack of income generating activities
Cluster 2: What are the factors that lead to women’s marginalization
SA A D SD
14 Culture is one of the factors that lead to women‟s marginalization
15 Religious belief is one of the factors that
lead to women‟s marginalization
16 Poverty is one of the factors that lead to
women‟s marginalization
104
17 Illiteracy is one of the factors that lead to
women‟s marginalization
18 Unemployment is one of the factors that
lead to women‟s marginalization
19 Early marriage is one of the factors that lead
to women‟s marginalization
20 Gender stereotypes is one of the factors
that lead to women‟s marginalization
21 Deprivation is one of the factors that lead to
women‟s marginalization
Cluster 3: What are the ways of eliminating marginalization of women
SA A D SD
22 Access to education
23 Access to ownership of land and other
properties
24 Women empowerment
25 Support from government and other NGO‟s
26 Government policy about women in community
development
27 Democracy in community development
28 Loans or support from government or other
NGO‟s for women in community development
efforts
29 Public enlightenment about the consequences
of marginalization in community development
30 Making the women functionally literate for
community development projects
31 Introduction of Good policies that will improve
105
the well fare of women in community
development.
Cluster 4: What are the various ways of promoting gender equity in community development in Item
SA A D SD
32 Incoprating women in community development
planning
33 Raising consciousness of women about their
rights and responsibilities in area of economic
and political development
34 Improvement of women educational status
through literacy programmes.
35 Abolish laws that marginalize women‟s access
to property and inheritance
36 Encourage group business enterprises and co-
operative and inheritance
37 Training women on simple hygiene, good
nutrition, family planning and child care
38 Incoprating women in decision making process
in community development
106
APPENDIX:C
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
S/N BRANCH NUMBER OF REGISTERED MEMBERS
1 Aba 3245
2 Abuja 109
3 Enugu 322
4 Item 1427
5 Lagos 128
6 Owerri 92
7 Umuahia 207
Total 5,532
Source: Item Development Union (Women‟s Wing, 2010).
107
Appendix: D
Population sampling
SAMPLE DESTITUTION TABLE
S/N BRANCH NUMBER OF REGISTERED MEMBERS
1 Aba 317
2 Abuja 9
3 Enugu 28
4 Item 138
5 Lagos 11
6 Owerri 9
7 Umuahia 20
Total 532
