Prior to taking office in 2015, President Buhari reaffirmed his commitment to the growth of Nigerian women both at home and abroad in his manifesto on his objectives for Nigerian women.
He promised to give women more chances in education, job creation, and economic development. And ensure that they would be fairly represented in government posts.
“I will acknowledge and defend gender equality and the empowerment of women, placing particular attention on rural economies. I’ll advocate for the idea of allocating a set number of seats in the National Assembly and the states to women using the party structures.”
Women are increasingly contributing to the advancement of their countries both inside and outside of government around the world. My government would make sure that Nigerian women are given the opportunity to advance and play more significant roles in the development of our magnificent country, he added.
President Muhammadu Buhari has come under fire from more women groups for breaking his commitment to empower Nigerian women and defend their constitutionally protected rights.
The advocates pledged to continue their struggle through advocacy, but they also pushed the government to boost the meager allocation because they believed that women were vital to the development of the country and the economy.
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Among the grievances is the N58 billion allocated to Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) in the 2023 budget, an amount women advocates said falls short of what is required to implement projects targeting women.
According to WEE, a transformational process where women and girls move from having little control, voice, and choice at home and in the economy to having the knowledge, tools, and opportunities necessary to access markets, compete fairly in them, and have the freedom to manage and reap the rewards of economic gains.
The 0.27 percent of WEE allocated for spending represents a 43 percent decrease from the N103 billion allocated for WEE in 2022.
From N15 billion in 2019 to N25 billion in 2020, the WEE budget increased. In 2021, it was N51 billion and soared roughly 100 per cent to N103 billion last year before it was lowered to N58 billion.
Furthermore the overall number of WEE projects rose from 275 in 2019 to 285 in 2020, 645 in 2021, and 938 in 2022, . However, in the budgetary proposal for 2023, it dropped to 122.
Lami Adamu, president of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), asserted that the allocation of WEE indicates that women are not a government priority and that WEE needs to be given more importance in order to help women reach their full potential and actively participate in the economy.
She said: “We were horrified to find that despite Mr. President’s dedication to the economic progress of our women, there is almost no money in the budget to support women. No country can thrive without proper investment in women.“
“The money for women programmes been cut. There are also fewer Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) carrying out WEE commitment in 2023 compared to 2022. The 2023 budget for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs was slashed. Comp
However, despite the high proportion of female entrepreneurs compared to most other countries, various difficulties and obstacles prevent women from expanding their firms, according to Dr. Andrew Nevin, Chief Economist of PwC Nigeria.Noting that only 20% of businesses in Nigeria’s formal sector are owned by women, significant outcomes are beginning to emerge.
Many women, associations, groups, and NGOs have asked for explicit legislation to close the gap by obliging the government to provide women with adequate opportunity.
