POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIAN POLITICS

Abstract

Nigeria's political system is a violent, harassing, and anti-women election system because it is a male-dominated system that remains a major obstacle to women's political participation. leadership in Nigeria in terms of vying for electoral positions in all the facets of governments. The evidences in the records were that after Nigerian started the democratic governance in 1999, the women who participated in contesting the political positions in all the tiers of governments were minimizing their numbers and percentage as compared with the total women population of Nigeria, therefore, the tendency indicated above could be regarded as the reduction of women in the electioneering industry. Based on secondary data, a theoretical mode of research was used to uncover the truth that ethical difficulties, party intrigues, and political violence have become so prevalent in Nigeria's election process that they must be addressed. In light of this, this paper believes that in order to achieve balanced political participation without gender discrimination, Nigerian women must be more aware of the importance of fully engaging and aspiring to more elective political positions at all levels of government, regardless of the level of harassment and intimidation. Because their desire to get elected to various public posts is a democratic right that cannot be expressed forcibly through the thuggery and violence that are so typical in Nigerian elections.  The paper argues that while women's participation and representation in Nigerian politics and governance have improved since the return of democratic governance in 1999, there are still significant obstacles to overcome before women and girls can fully exercise their civic rights. As a result, the report concludes with the following recommendations for combating gender discrimination and violence in Nigerian politics and government.