EDITED BY:
Sirni Afonja
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
BEYOND OUR IMAGINATIONS:
African Women's Realities
Simi Afonja
@
Spectrum Books Limited
Ibadan
Abuja • Benin City • Gombe • Lagos • Owerri • Zaria
Spectrum titles can be purchased online at
www.sDectrumbooksonline.com
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Published by
Spectrum Books Limited
Spectrum House
Ring Road,
PMB 5612
Ibadan, Nigeria
e-mail: adlllinl@spectfll1llbooksonline.com
in association with
Safari Books (Export) Limited
1st Floor
17 Bond Street
St Helier
Jersey JE2 3NP
Channel Islands
United Kingdom
© Simi Afonja
First published, 2007
Editorial Manager: Sola Adedokun
Senior Editor: Anthony Olumekor
Editor: Grace Abe
All rights reserved. This book is copyright and so no part of it may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, electrostatic, magnetic
tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN: 978-978-029-795-4
Printed by: OKLEY PRINTERS (NIG.) LTD.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Contents
Dedication v
List cf Contriinuors LX
In trod uction
Our Imaginations, Their Realities 1
- Sinti Afonjrz
Chapter One
Gender and Feminism in African Development
Discourse 22
- Sinti Afonjrz
Chapter Two
Gender Images: The Deification of Motherhood in
Igbo Society' 48
- Solomon C. Mrzdubuike and
V rzlerieA Solomon
Chapter Three
Enhancing the Capacity of Women Leaders
of Community Organisations toward Peace
Building in the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria:
The Role of Women's Groups in Conflict
Resolution! 66
- Yonti Oruwari
Chapter Four
Classical and Contemporary Categories of
Participatory Learning Approaches 100
- AO. Olutrzyo and E.A Fayankinu
VIl
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Chapter Five
Gender and Leadership of Market Associations:
A Study of Bodija Market, Ibadan, Nigeria 125
- Ifemryi P. Ouveonoru, Taiioo Eue]! and
Cordelia Cuiagozie
Chapter Six
The Praxis of Gender and Community
Development in igeria 152
- Ckunotn, RA. mu! All/ko, Yetuude
Chapter Seven
Renaissance of Women's Interest in the Monarchy:
A Strategy for Empowerment 168
- F. A. Olasttpo
Index 189
Vlll
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
CHAPTER SIX
The Praxis of Gender and Community
Development in Nigeria
Okunola, R.A. and Aluko, Yetttnde
Introduction
With colonisation development in countries such as Nigeria
was interpreted from the standpoint of the Western
intellectual tradition. In this context of colonial experience
and history, indigenous strategies for survival prior to
contact with European civilisation were seen as inferior and
"uncivilised." Thus, development became a comparative
word and the specific environmental circumstances of each
nation's experience were neglected. For these nations to
modernise, they had to make conscious efforts to transpose
western structures through modernisation by design (Morse
et 111, 1969). In the centre periphery relationship inherent in
these relations, foreign standards became the yardstick for
measuring progress. Modernisation was based on a top-
down strategy guided by a development paradigm
dominated by economists and which Kaplan (1999)
summarised as the" delivery of resources."
The top-down approach was replicated at the national
level and rural areas have had to struggle to "catch-up" with
the urban areas in a race umpired by the western-trained
elite who took over and continued the policy of the colonial
administration. At the community level (periphery of the
periphery), people looked up to the centre of the periphery
152
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Communiuj Development in Nigeria 153
not only for developmental prescriptions but also for
practical guidance in the implementation of the specific
projects undertaken. The administrative structure that
emerged was designed for this" delivery of resources"
paradigm. Thus, community development that should have
meant the application of a community's social heritage, skills
and knowledge in the mobilisation of the material and human
resources for the improvement of the lives of the people
and the transformation of their environment, became
externally oriented and directed. Guided by the top-down
strategy, Western elite talked to the community members
who, to them, badly needed to be "modernised."
This approach found methodological convenience in the
existing social institutions as entrance into communities was
negotiated through the traditional political elite down to
the family level. In this process, the "superior" development
experts gave programmes and projects to the "inferior"
community members within the context of national
development with little reference to the community's specific
experiences. Literature has, however, demonstrated that this
approach to community development created a develop-
ment crisis that was replete with corruption and bad
leadership. Summarily, it has been shown that the trickle
down effect of the approach failed to take place. Leaders,
political leaders in particular, became more responsible to
their western mentors than they were to their citizens. Aside
from the fact that poverty soared, traditional structures were
relegated, the emerging culture of silence left the grassroots
worse off in terms of development.
Within this emergent framework, the top-down approach
was also replicated at the community level whereby
community leaders became responsible to the" develop-
ment experts" but the latter also worked through them. This
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
154 -Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
somewhat bastardisation of the rural patriarchal social
structure (Eke, 1980:11) meant that men represented the
interest of the home (as brw1e) and community (brzrzle) in the
Yorub a communities or among the Hausa - the uuugida at
home; the uutiangum at the community level; and the nnnmji
and udiissi amongst the Igbo. In this social arrangement, the
roles and voices of women that had hitherto liberated them
were suppressed or caged. It also required a major paradigm
shift for this approach to change in favour of the bottom-up
approach that also encouraged the phenomenological
approach and resort to qualitative methods of research. This
shift has been well demonstrated by feminist and postmodernist
studies and through cross-cutting issues such as poverty,
the environment, health, etc. Though there are different
paradigmatic positions, discussions and debates in
qualitative research, the common theme running through
them, especially in feminist methodology, is that women's
diverse situations and the institutions that influence
decisions concerning the female gender should be
problematised. This problem has been taken up at several
levels and has resulted in some methodological initiatives
such as that of the Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis
(SEAGA) of the FAO (1993) and the discourse on gender
mainstreaming in social research, especially those relating
to grassroots development.
The literature presents a wide range of definitions of the
Participatory Learning Approach to Community Development
(Razavi, and Miller, 1995, Stiefel and Wolfe, 1994:5; World
Bank, 1994; Cornwall and Jewkes, 1995; Saxena, 1998; and
Akerkar 2001). Cornwall (2000) in resolving the various
terminologies, biases, omissions and contradictions,
suggests that the Participatory Learning Approach can be
held to be an inter-disciplinary set of ontological and
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Communitij Development in Nigeria 155
epistemological baseline, methods and practices which
underpin full-fledged involvement of conceived and
perceived stakeholders. With the aid of manageable
resourcesin enquiry,decision-makingprocess,policydesigning,
planning, programming, implementation, adjustment,
monitoring and evaluation as well as reprocessing of, if the
need arises, sustainable oriented development projects
could be achieved. Participatory Learning Approach (PLA)
is, therefore, an integrated pathway that draws into itself
actors and practitioners with available required resources
to actively contribute their quota towards sustainable
development for the advancement of any social setting.
This chapter is a contribution to the discourse on
participatory practices in gender and community
development. Empirical data are presented showing the gap
between theory and practice, negating the expected
empowerment of women at the community level.
The Problem
Within the backdrop of the crisis of development arising
from the top-bottom strategy and the imperative of making
community development people oriented, several initiatives
emerged with concepts such as sustainable development
and the empowerment buzz words in development
theorising. In the emerging praxis, development was
interpreted as helping people to gain an understanding of
themselves and thus taking control of their own future
(Kaplan, 1999:15). In facilitating resourcefulness, which is
the driving motive of the new trend, the methodological
approach changed from talking to the grassroots from an
expert position. The old order, in which data were extracted
from the grassroots and processed outside their milieu for
development decisions to be implemented by them, had to
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
156 Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
be jettisoned. The emerging methodological approach
collected and processed data with the grassroots. The final
decisions and implementation of development projects are
thus in the hands of the people. Recognising social des-
aggregations, the new approach gave voices to various
stakeholders in the community in particular to women,
youths and other identifiable minority groups.
A Test of Gender Participation in Community
Projects
The new framework assumed that theories would emerge
from specific problematised environment before policy and
action in the interest of the minority or the subordinated
would be carried out. However, there are doubts that this
popular methodology has realised its aim and given voices
to the voiceless. The empirical study reported in this chapter
investigated the extent to which the participatory learning
approach to community development has given voice to
women at the grassroots level. The project assessed the
process of implementation of the PLA methodology in
community development from a gender perspective and
explored the methodological constraints that inhibited
women voices in community development. Solutions to
these constraints are offered.
The study was carried out in four communities selected
for the Community Based Poverty Alleviation Programme
financed by the World Bank under the Community Driven
Development package.' The four communities that are
under focus are: Amaize (Abia State); Araromi Ekiti (Ekiti
State); Danwarai (Kebbi State) and Okuha Obanyi (Kogi
State). Entry into the selected communities was facilitated
by the LocalGovernment Community Development Officers
and the Community Leaders and in each community;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Communibj Development in Nigeria 157
various Participatory Learning Approach (PLA) tools were
adopted for data collection. A logical framework was
developed that detailed all activities designed for the ten-
day stay in each of the communities.
A community meeting preceded all other activities after
the entry formalities. Here the community members were
informed about the objectives of the study and the dialogue
process commenced with all identified stakeholders'
meeting reminiscent of a village square setting. Day two to
day ten were reserved for intensive interaction (using the
PLA tools, especially as refined under the Socio-economic
and Gender Analysis (SEAGA)in the community by the five-
member facilitating team that included the community
development officer, two females chosen from within the
community and a desk officer from the state's Community
Based Poverty Alleviation Agency: The team expanded as
it became necessary in the course of the study. The 11th to
14th day were reserved for mopping up and a final
community meeting to resolve the differences and conflicts
arising from the entire process. Descriptions and content
analysis were adopted in the discussion of our findings.
In all a total of sixteen Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
were carried out in the four communities with an average
of ten respondents per session. Four major categories of
stakeholders participated in the FGDS; adult males, adult
females, male and female youths. In the course of each
session, a peer wise ranking of needs of the community as
perceived by each group was developed. In addition, a total
of thirty-two in-depth interviews (IDI)were conducted across
the study sites. Respondents for the IDI were drawn from
leaders of identified stakeholder groups within the
community. Two community meetings were mandatory per
community. Data from these sources were supplemented
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
158 Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
with observations, group interviews, especially with women
groups outside the community meetings. Grapevine
discussions were also held informally in canteens and
drinking joints in the community.
This" democratic" process, prescribed by the community
driven development strategy, produced a community based
peer wise ranking of needs and identified projects to meet
such needs. Based on this outcome, a community proposal
was developed for each community for possible funding
by the state agency for community based poverty alleviation
agency. One of the major components of the proposal is the
demand that each community make available (or show
concrete evidence in the form of bank account deposit) ten
per cent of the total cost of the proposed project as
counterpart funding. The Community Development
Association (CDA) in each community coordinated the
development of the proposal on behalf of each community.
The CDA executive is constituted at a community meeting.
In addition, the community meeting is expected to elect a
project implementation committee as well as a project
monitoring and evaluation committee for the chosen project.
Here gender considerations were to be given priority.
The Loss of Women's Voice
The findings of post community meetings suggest that this
methodological approach believed to be participatory is not
in reality what it was expected to be. It created room for the
subsuming of onegender at the expense of the other thereby
defeating the aim of the emergence of the PLA tools. This
conclusion stems from the results obtained from other PLA
tools such as the in-depth interviews, informal interviews
and grapevine discussions outside the formal procedures.
Generally, at the one-to-one level, the prioritised needs of
L
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Tile Praxis of Gender and Community Development in Nigeria 159
women differed from the picture that emerged from the peer-
wise ranking of the women at the group level. For instance,
an interviewee at an informal session in Amaise community
said:
We women need market where we can sell and buy. The
availability of market will empower us economically and
permit us to buy what pleases us.
Another female respondent in Danwarai community
observed thus:
Please, we women need micro credit to enable us increase our
businesses, and employ more labour to work on our farms.
At another informal session with a woman in Okuha Obanyi
community, the respondent reported thus:
While it is true we need a bridge, we women need schools so as
to empower females educationally. The non-availability of
schools has accounted for our sufferings. Therefore, school is
more important for women now.
The gender dimension to needs perception was equally vis-
ible in Araromi Ekiti as a female respondent argued:
Given the topography of our community, the issue of drainage
and the link bridge is paramount, but we women will equally
wish for micro-credit scheme where it is possible ... and a bigger
market too.
The above quotations suggest that the tools available
do not adequately express the needs of women. Thus, an
explanation for such variations in the choices of the women
can be traced to the culture of patriarchy and male dominance
that muted their voices. At the FGDSwhere women identified
their needs as same with men, they merely expressed the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
160 Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
men's view as passed on to them by their btutle, nuiigida, and
1l1lflllyi through the process of socialisation. In spite of the
fact that the tools were designed to give voice to the
voiceless, the men were in control of the dialogue. The
exclusion of women was sometimes through networking.
This information networking was co-ordinated by the
Community Development Association (CDA) in order to
present a united and common need for the community.
The exclusion ofwomen's voices was tied to the financial
control of the projects. The study revealed that the men
through the CDA raised or sourced for the 10%counterpart
funding that was a precondition for the funding of the project
under the Community Based Poverty Alleviation project
Thus, they tended to dominate the decision about the
projects to be funded. The importance of male power was
evident in all communities. But in Danwarai community
(Kebbi State) the youths refused to "play ball." They
demanded for a secondary school and articulated their
position very clearly at the community meeting. This
angered the adults, especially the men, and they threatened
to withdraw their 10%fund as well as the land needed if the
secondary school was approved. Due to the crisis that arose
from the position of the youths a series of reconciliation
meetings had to be held that eventually saw the road
sponsored (as it were) by the elders through. The women in
that community did not have enough power to carry their
position that far. Rather, they more or less allied with the
men (their husbands). They sent delegates to calm down
the youths. In one of the peace meetings, the head of the
market women said to the youths:
Please, my sons, let the wish of your fathers prevail so that we
can have peace .... And also, so that we do not miss this
opportunity. Remember that they are your fathers and our
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Community Development in Nigeria 161
leaders, they know more and they have the resources .... you
will also become elders in future.
One obvious explanation of the women's powerlessness
is poverty. In this context, the men who were also the "policy
makers" usually held sensitive positions in the community.
For instance, when a female respondent from Danwarai was
asked independently why she towed the line of the men
during the community meeting, she answered:
Why won't we say the same thing like our men? Should we
say anything different, there will be trouble for us, as our
husbands will not give us peace at home. This talk is between
you and me ... Please do not reveal that I told you this.
A similar position came from Amaizae:
Peace at home is much better and should be rated higher by
any sensible wife above community matters ... na home person
go sleep ... any argument in the village square with your
husband can be problematic at home.
The situation was the same in Okuha Obanyi as a woman
argued:
Well, what was eventually chosen will benefit us women on
the long run, although ifwe have our way as women, we would
have preferred another thing.
The opinion of a woman in Araromi Ekiti sums it all up
even though the peer wise ranking by women agreed with
that of men:
There is no doubt that our husbands respect our viewpoints
and are always interested in our well-being ... but we also have
to defer to them in some circumstances, especially for peace to
reign at least in the house.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
162 Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
An inference from the above is that women are conforming
and concurring to the male idea of development. Thus, a
bandwagon effect is created.
However, the case was different in Araromi community
where the women agreed on the same need with their male
counterparts. Even at the individual discussions and
interviews, their position was still the same with those of
the men. One likely reason for this consistency may be the
enlightenment programmes that have been implemented in
the community over the years that created awareness among
women. The awareness might have been "wrongly" created
through the educational, political and media experiences
to which they had been exposed. At school the teacher - a
representative of western education - wrongly informed
the students about community needs. She suggested that
politicians define peoples' need for them and the media
informs people what the media thinks. The people's voice
was absent in her conception of communities' needs.
These case studies suggest that rural women are
disadvantaged in the participatory learning and action
process compared to men. PLAS do not take the power
structures in the communities into consideration and end
up excluding women from development.
Conclusion
In this study, we have been able to show that while the
methodological tools of the participatory approach to
community development has been able to transcend some
of the problems inherent in the top-down approaches, the
absence of women's needs in community development
plans of action shows there are still gaps in actualising the
perspectives and needs of disadvantaged groups such as
women. It is clear that while the hitherto political "minority"
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Communibj Development in Nigeria 163
is able to make its voices heard, the emerging PLA tools
and the procedures require consensus on the community's
position on its development needs. In this context, the
patrilineal social structure has been found to be resilient to
change. The role of the Community Development Associations
in the information networking has also been shown to be
very decisive. In this respect, the submission of a woman
trader in Danwarai is meaningful. She said:
... You know that if the wall does not open up, the lizard will
not have access into the building.
Here, "unity" is being used as an "opium" to subdue
the options of women. Besides, the need to give the picture
of unity within the community is also the need for peace in
the domestic domain. Contradicting the family head, in most
cases men, is seen as abominable. This traditional value thus
renders less potent the promises of the participatory approach
and the inherent methodologies. There is, therefore, the need
for the introduction of affirmative policies to development
such that women are allowed to take full decisions as regards
their own well being independent of the men even in the
same community. The women, like most marginalised
groups, also deserve self-determination. They should not
be bugged down by measures of central tendency in a
politically unequal social setting. The community meeting,
for example, is often the final arbiter in community needs
assessment under the participatory approach. Under the
bottom-up approach to community development, a more
fundamental adjustment is required.
At the mobilisation and needs assessment levels (even
at all other levels), local mores on women's public role as
well as the social constraints which limit women's partici-
pation in the public domain in the community must all be
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
164 Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
understood and incorporated into any strategy designed to
invite and encourage active participation of women. The
local myths about women's lack of importance to village
economies need to be stamped out. Information on women
and the roles they play in society and economy must be
improved. In the communities, women's productive and
reproductive roles are privatised and their contributions to
household productivity are seen as "mere" housework. This
male bias in local knowledge must be eliminated.
Furthermore, if women are to be "really" mobilised to
participate in community development activities, such must
be those that women see as high priority, not the ones valued
by community men in a community meeting directed by
patriarchal values. At this stage, compromise may have to
be sought between what women value most and what men
will initially permit (or value). The type of compromise
envisaged is not feasible within the context of community
meeting as is currently being practised by development
experts on the field. Thus, the sub-summation of women
into /I community" is masking the distinctiveness of women
experiences and subsequently eroding their inclusiveness.
The power imbalances and intra-household relations further
constrain the abilities of women to participate hence their
failure to carry through their voices.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Communiuj Development in Nigeria 165
References
Akerkar, S. (2001). Gender and Participation: Overview Report.
Institute of Development Studies, November, Brighton.
Anyawu CM (1992). Community Development: TILeNigerian
Perspective. Cabsersther Educational Publishers.
Ayandele, E.A. (1974).The Educated Elite in the Nigerian Society.
Chap. 2. Ibadan University Press, Ibadan.
Cornwall, A. and Jewkes, R. (1995). "What is Participatory
Research?" Social Science and Medicine, 41(12):1667-76.
Cornwall, A. (2000). "Making a Difference, Gender and
Participatory Development." WW7D. ids.ac. uk/ids/
participation/researcJl/geder/gendpartic.pdf
Coser, L.A. (1976). Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in
Historical and Social Context. 2nd ed. Harcourt Brace
Publications, New York.
Ekeh, P. P. (1980). Colonialism and Social Structure. An
inaugural lecture; University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Est@s,R.J. (1993). "To-war-ds Sustainable Developm nt: from
Theory to Praxis." Social Development Issues, Vol. 1593;
PP 1-29.
Fanon. F. (1961). The Wretched of the Earth. Groove Press
Incorporated, New York.
FAO (1993). Socio-economic and Gender Analysis Programme
(SEAGA), Micro-Level Handbook; Tucson: The Bureau of
Applied Research in Anthropology, University of
Arizona.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
166 Befond Our Imaginations: African Women's Realities
Galbraith, J.K (1977). The Age of Uncertainty, BBe, London.
Guijh I. and Veldhuizen LV. (1998).What Tools? Which Steps?:
Comparing PRA and PTD. International Institute for
Environment and Development (Issue Paper No.
79), London.
Kaplan, A. (1999). The Development of Capacity. NGLS
Development Dossier, Switzerland.
Marshall, G. (1996). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Sociology.
Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Morse, CA. Best F.E Freidland, W.K Lewis, J.W and Macklin,
D.B. (1969).Modernisation by Design: Social Change in the
Twentieth Century. Cornell University Press, Italia and
London.
Okunola; R.A and Olutayo A.O (2000). "Sustaining
Development Projects: Lessons from Two Nigerian
Communities," a paper presented to the NASA
Conference; lIe-Ife: OAU.
Olutayo A.O. (1992). "Community Development and Social
Welfare." A Paper presented at a National Training
Workshop for Local Government Community
Development and Social Welfare Officers, Ibadan.
Onoge, F.O. (1995). Africa and the Challenge of Empowerment.
Empowerment and Action Research Centre, Lagos.
Oxaal, Z. et al. (1997). "Gender and Empowerment:
Definitions, Approaches and Implications for Policy."
Bridge Report No. 40, Institute of Development
Studies, Brighton.
Punch, KF. (1998). Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative
and Qualitative Approaches. Sage Publishers, London.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The Praxis of Gender and Communitu Development in Nigeria 167
Razavi, S. and Miller, C. (1995). "From WID to GAD:
Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development
Discourse." Geneva: UNRISD Occasional Paper, No.
1.
Ritzer, G. (1996). Sociological Theory. 4th ed. McGraw Hill
Publication, Singapore.
Roberts, G. (1974). Questioning Development. Returned
Volunteer Action, London.
Saxena, N.C. (1998). "What Is Meant by People's
Participation?" Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 17,No.
1, PP 111-113.
Stiefel, M. and Wolfe, M. (1994). A Voice for the Excluded
Popular Participation in Development: Utopia or Necessity?
Zed Books, London.
Webster, A. (1984). Introduction to the Sociology of Development.
Macmillan Press, London.
World Bank (1994). "The World Bank and Participation
Operations." Policy Department, Washington Discussion
Paper 378, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY