Oppression, to explain its causes and consequences, and to prescribe strategies for womens liberation.

In other words, women formulate these theories as a way of resisting or dealing with oppression, and also as a means of addressing needs, priorities and mode of seeking power.
Liberal Feminism The main trust of liberal feminism is that female subordination is rooted in a set of customary and legal constraint that blocks women entrance or success in the public world. Due to the false belief that women are by nature less intellectually and physically capable than men, they are excluded from all spheres of life, as a result of this policy of execution, the innate potentials of many women remain untapped. Liberal feminism highlights the oppressive gender roles that have been used as excuses or justifications for giving women a lesser place or no place at all in the academy, the forum and market place, consequent on this, three liberal feminists school of thought emerged on how to eliminate these hurdles. Classical liberal feminists believe that discriminatory laws and policies against women should be removed for a healthy competition with the men. Welfare liberal feminists say that society should compensate women for past injustices and also eliminate socio-economic as well as legal impediments. Androgyny liberal feminist: this is a conceptual approach that counteracts the inclination to think less of a person on account of that persons gender. Marxist Feminists Marxist feminists claim that class, better account for womens status and functions. That sexism is a manifestation of the unjust structure of the society. It is the way our society is arranged that is responsible for the discrimination women suffer in the society and that unless we remove these problems by attending to the economy, political and social structures, women would not be free from discriminations. These discriminations, they claimed, could be seen in how women are given the most boring and low paying jobs; how womens domestic work is trivialized as not real work. They claim that capital is the primary oppressor of women as workers; and men, at most, the secondary oppressor of women as women.

Radical Feminists The radical feminists claim that the greatest avenue for women subjugation and oppression is through sex and so women should liberate their bodies from men. They argue that the real oppressor of women is the patriarchal system, a system that cannot be reformed but must be ripped out, root and branch. For them, it is not just patriarchys is legal and political structures that must be overturned; its social and cultural institutions (especially the family, church and the academy) must also go. Furthermore, they claim that female biology or nature is not oppressive; rather the men have controlled women as child bearers and child rearers. Thus, if women are to be liberated, each woman must be able to determine when to and when not to reproduce and also use birth- controlling technologies. Radical Feminists focus on biological origin of womens oppressions they examine ways in which gender (masculinity and Femininity) and sexuality has been used to subordinate women to men. Existentialist Feminists This theory emphasizes existence as opposed to essence. They claim that man in the beginning was nothing; he had capacity which he may or may not actualize; but he comes into the world with none of them realized. Man is nothing but is free to make something of himself. What he makes of himself is his essence (nature); existence precedes nature. In view of this, man, from the beginning has named himself the self, and the woman, the other, and as such a woman is oppressed by virtue of this otherness. So, if a woman is to become a self, a subject, she must, like man, transcend the definition limiting her existence. She must make herself to be whatever she wants to be. Socialist Feminists The socialist Feminists believe that gender and class play approximately the same role in any explanation of womens oppression. That womens condition is determined by the structures of production and sexuality, and socialization of children. So, womens status and functions in all of these structures must change if she is to achieve anything approximating full liberation. Also, womens interior world (psyche) must be transformed; for

without such a change, improvement in her exterior world will not liberate her from the kind of patriarchal thought that undermine her confidence. Others include analytic feminism, psychoanalytic feminists, postmodern feminist and African feminism. Revolution A revolution derived from a Latin word, which means - a turn around. It is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Aristotle described two types of political revolution: complete change from one constitution to another and modification of an existing constitution. Revolutions have occurred throughout human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration and motivating ideology. Historical Analysis of Womens Role in Nigeria Liberation Struggle The analysis of womens role in Nigerias liberation struggle in the pre colonial period can be understood from the nature of the economic, social and political actions they were engaged in that period. I should also perhaps state very clearly here, that before 1990 that none of the societies that currently makeup Nigeria was static, the dynamics of change varied in intensity from one society to another. In Southern Nigeria for instance were no formal separate and explicit political institutions and roles. Thus no description of any society in Southern Nigeria just before 1900 can claim to represent a model of the pre-colonial traditional social structure; it can only offer a tentative description of that society at that point in time. In both Old Oyo and New Oyo, the oba, known as the Alafin, developed a highly centralized and complex palace administration which kept the Ogboni chiefs and the oyo mesi kingmakers in the background (Atanda, 1973: 4; Babayemi, 1974). Historically, women played various important roles in the palace administration. The women of the palace were called in general ayaba, but they were of various ranks and grades. Highest in rank were those of the grade iya afin, who were usually wives of the preceding alafin, next the ayaba of the present alafin, then the female ilari (slave officials), and then the ordinary slave women. A similar tradition among the Igala of Northern Nigeria holds that the Igala kingdom was founded by a woman, Ebele Ejaunu. There were also female

sovereigns in Northern Nigeria, prominent among whom was Queen Amina of katsina in the fifteenth century, who extended her influence as far as the Nupe, built many cities and is still held to have been responsible for introducing the kola nut to the region (Lebeuf) 1963/94). In other societies, however, there was much greater sex differentiation. When this sex differentiation resulted in women forming their own strong organizations, as among the igbo and Ibibio, women controlled their own affairs and possessed political influence on the basis of their collective strength. Where such female organization was lacking, as among the Ijo, Kalabari, Efik, Edo, and Itsekiri women, their political power as a collectivity was negligible, though individual women of high status could exercise political power as a collectivity. Though, individual women of high status could exercise political power either through the office of the queen mother (Benin) or through their personal relationships with the male rulers. In socially stratified societies, women of high ascriptive status always occupied a higher social status position than the commoner men as well as women. However, in Yoruba and Riverine Igbo societies, not only the individual high status women but also women as a collective possessed political power through their organizations and through their representatives, the Igbo omu and the Yoruba iyalode. It would seem that differences in sex political differentiation are explicable in terms of the different social structures. However, these social structures in nineteenth-century Southern Nigeria had developed as such through a sequence of historical events and were undergoing considerable internally and externally generated changes, especially from the mid-century on. Some of these changes and events provided the opportunities for women to play a greater part in politics, while others were later to inhibit womens political activities. The Yoruba wars demanded extraordinary services from both men and women; where women were able to rise to the occasion, they were rewarded with greater political responsibility as in case of the Egba and Ibadan iyalode. The disturbances and dislocation in Efik and Itsekiri societies at mid-century enabled two women to wield unprecedented political power, while the omu of onisha in the 1880s tried to capitalize on her office to support the new Christian religion in onitsha. The end of the century initiated another sequence of historical events which was to affect womens

political roles adversely. Pre-colonial African women occupied a position complementary, rather than subordinate, to the men. As has been shown, the sex segregation which existed in many spheres of society often enabled women to control their own affairs. Early Struggles of Feminist Activists Beginning in 1929, women in the southern part of Nigeria combined the struggle for independence with attempts to address the socio-economic polities of the colonial administration and their impact on womens riot and the Aba womens boycott in the East, women crystallized the strategic importance of the need to question the link between the political and monetary policies of incumbent authorities and the impact of these on womens lives. Under the leadership of Mrs Ransome-Kuti, women questioned the the character of governance; the authoritarian, arbitrary nature of decisionmaking by the Sole Native Authority and the colonial governments. Women organized military and began to develop a movement that immediately became a part of the independence national movement, but also developed a clear voice in questioning the implications of existing policies on the quality of life and status of women. Thus women as a constitutuency began to emerge as a force to be reckoned with. Evoking cultural traditionals, like threatening to bare their bodies at the Obass palace in Abeokuta, their strategies and tactics differed from those applied by the womens movements on other continents. Of course, it is equally valid to claim that there was an ongoing process of symbiosis with the experiences of women elsewhere, in sofar as the leadership of women in Nigeria was aware of the stirrings of women the world over. It was from these anti-colonial resistance struggles that the foundations for womens emancipation, equality and empowerment were first laid. Under the leadership of Mrs Ransome- Kuti, the movement quickly spread beyond the south-western part of Nigeria, and in1974 Nigeria the first truly national body organized across class, regional and ethnic lines. The National Womens Union, which in 1953 metamorphosed into the Federation of Nigeria Womens Societies (FNWS), was political in character and content. For the first time, under the banner of FNWS, women demanded political participation and direct representation in all legislative houses. Its primary demand was one third of seats. The one- third quota remains a popular demand for women today in many countries in sub- Saharan Africa.

The contemporary analysis Liberation/Democratic Struggle

of

womens

Role

in

Nigerias

Essentially, quest for democracy are demands for empowerment of some sort- be it economic, social or political. Most often, this empowerment appears in form of recognition of rights and entitlements through different forms of legislation, or through granting certain financial and economic concessions, or even through facilitating access to a range of resources and positions. Womens political participation The experience of post-colonial Nigeria has been that of unchecked development of political machinery, and abuse of power by the state. Power as a relationship between the state and the citizens, as well as among citizens themselves, needs to be redefined and negotiated. This redefinition of power also means that a broader and more diverse political playing field is possible. Women can effectively bring a different perspective into politics, based on experience. They can also enable a politics of difference. In other words, the more the gender dimension asserts itself on the political scene, the more it is possible to see a different horizon for identity formulation, one that may go beyond traditional frameworks based on ethnicity, religion, age, caste, or class. Currently, women remain a less privileged section of any society- no matter what their religious or ethnic affiliation, tribe or class. The broader the possibilities for identification, the greater the option to form alliances across traditional political lines. In theory and to some extent in practice, women can come together across party, ethnic, tribal and religious lines, because they are able to see a commonality of purpose that transcends these divisions. Challenged by the progress made by women globally, Nigerian women are currently engaged in the struggle and advocacy for political inclusion. Women have through various coalitions efforts, on Affirmative Action, CEDAW, Gender and Constitution, addressed the issue of political marginalization, as only three percent of Nigerian women hold an elective of appointive position at the federal, state and local levels. Women in Conflict Situations

As in most conflict situations, women in Nigeria have played a prominent role in democratic struggles in the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas in recent times. First, as mothers, wives and sisters, they suffered bereavement both in internecine conflicts and in the militarys reign of terror in which thousands of men were killed. Second they were often the victims of the violence of security forces out to pacify an increasingly restive populace. Women were victims of rape, sexual slavery, flogging and forced marriage. Third, many women were also direct combatants and activists in the confrontation with security forces and oil companies, paralyzing work. At the height of the ogoni crisis, soldiers shot one woman dead in Biara when a group consisting mainly of women and children attempted to block work on a shell pipeline. Finally, within communities, women especially widows and spinsters, were also the victims of violence by community members in the course of the crisis. Let me state clearly that the plight of women in the Niger Delta has not received the attention it deserves. Gender issues are still treated as residual or tangential to the democratic process. However, the condition of women will be a barometer for the progress of democracy in the Niger Delta in future. This is because women are the most severe victims of social deprivation. Womens Health The success of Womens liberation struggle is connected to their health status, it is often said that health is wealth. The health of Nigerian women is in a scary state as current data and statistics reveal a proportionally high mortality rate of 10% to global maternal deaths. Women are also the most exposed to HIV/AIDS infection. Women and the Economy About 80% of commercial activities in Nigeria take place in the small-scale sector, which is informal and dominated by women and girls. Low income, greater financial risks and low standards of human development and greater social exclusion by the organized private sector characterize this group. Only a few women have access to credit and effective business management skills. Women and Education Disparity still exists in literacy rate between men and women, while male adult literacy is 70.1%, female adult literacy is 54.6%. The

commercialization of education of education and the endless strikes embarked upon by teachers and lecturers to demand legitimate and appropriate remunerations have further heightened this disparity. Conclusion My approach to summing up the issues of feminism as a revolution within the context of womens struggle for a just and equal society is to reemphasis those consensus issues and suggestions that underscore the protracted advocacy for womens rights. These *The Nigeria state be restructured to reflect the genuine wish and aspiration of the people * That the economic resources of this country be utilized for the benefit and welfare of all citizens and not just a few Government takes specific steps to amend the constitution to meet gender sensitive requirements *Domesticate CEDAW and other international legal instruments that advocate and protect womens human rights. . To accelerate equal representation of women in all spheres of public life. In order to achieve our collective objective on these propositions it imperative for us draw an agenda for sustained action because what is worth doing at all is worth doing well, we do not delude our selves that the struggles for liberation in what ever form is going to be easy, but we must not give up, our generation must experience a new Nigeria. We must persevere, in the end we will have nothing to loose but our chains! Thank You References: *Nigerian Women Mobilized Nina Mba *The Nigeria NGO CEDAW Coalition - A shadow report * Continuing Dialogues for Nation Building IDEA

*African Feminist Theory and Practice- AWLI