A  joint study undertaken by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and two international agencies, reveals pay disparity and other handicaps women face in Nigeria

Although women in Nigeria have the potential to productively engage in the economic sector and reap returns equal to those of men, the reverse is the case in Nigeria. The prevailing economic and social realities have made it possible for one in every two men to spend time in pursuits that earn them an income while one in every two women spends time doing unpaid work. A recent study by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development, DFID, titled: “The State of Gender in Nigeria: Constraints and Opportunities,” said that women earn less than men even within the same sector.

A survey carried out in Osun State on rural rice production demonstrated that women earn 60 cents per a dollar that a man earns in that sector. The report also said that there is a 13 percent wage gap between men and women in rural areas and a 30 percent wage gap between men and women in urban areas. Also, female tertiary graduates earn 20 percent less than their male counterparts. The report noted that this “pattern of women earning less than men is common across all levels of education.”

Certain factors are responsible for the prevailing income inequality between men and women in Nigeria. They include women’s lack of access to inputs like land, tools, training and credit, which are vital in enhancing their productivity and profitability. According to the British Council’s report, even though more than 50 percent of agricultural labour is supplied by women, men are more likely to own land. “Specifically, male-headed farm households own more than three times the amount of land the female-headed farm households do. Agricultural input used by female-headed farm households is significantly lower than male-headed households across most resource categories: fertiliser, animal traction, livestock, pesticide, herbicide, irrigation, hired labour and access to extension services,” the report said, adding that “less than two percent of female-headed households use mechanisation in rural areas.”

Deprived of the resources and opportunities to compete on equal platform with men, women are, therefore, crowded in the informal entrepreneurship sector where profits are lower and, unfortunately, where more women are hired by female business owners. Consequently, 14 percent of formal entrepreneurs in manufacturing and services and 29 percent of those participating in the informal sector, are women while the rest are men. Similarly, female business owners have 20 to 30 percent fewer employers than male business owners. Moreover, their enterprises are smaller than those of men.

 This gender disparity in business ownership is further illustrated in the report. For instances, the percentage of women-owned firms  in Delta, Edo and Ebonyi states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, were eight, four, 26 and 31 percent respectively. This also shows significant regional disparities. The disadvantages suffered by women-owned enterprises are worsened by hurdles that hinder their access to finance. Other barriers to starting and expanding businesses by women include limited financial literacy, limited collateral and reluctance to formalise businesses. The report identified lack of clarity in tax systems as one of the limiting factors that have trapped women businesses in the informal sector.

The World Bank and DFID report was collaborated by another study carried out by the British Council entitled “Gender in Nigeria Report 2012- improving the lives of girls and women in Nigeria,” The Gender in Nigeria Report said that Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of female entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa as the majority of women are concentrated in casual, low-skilled, low paid informal sector employment.  It also pointed out that only 7.2 percent of women own the land they farm. This limits their access to credit and constrains entrepreneurship and business activity. Moreover, only 15 percent of Nigerian women have bank accounts.

The British Council’s report attributed the income disparity that exists in favour of male population in Nigeria to unequal opportunity to education. According to the council, less women have the opportunity to gain access to formal education because of lack of gender parity in enrolment in both primary and secondary education. It said that “sample surveys reveal that the gross enrolment ratio of girls is still significantly lower than that of boys.”

The educational disparity against women is further worsened by the high proportion of female dropout from school.  The report said that “girls’ completion rates are generally lower than that of boys.” This is worse in some states in the northern Nigeria.  In Jigawa State, says the report, “girls’ completion rate is as low as 7.8 percent.”  Some social factors are responsible for the educational disparity against women in the northern states. One of them is the value that parents attach to the education of their daughters. “Some parents prefer their boys to go to school because only sons inherit and carry on the family name,” said a girl who was interviewed in the course of the survey.