THE ROLES OF WOMEN IN NATIONAL UNITY
Women population in Nigeria has grown substantially from 26.8 million in 1960 to 94.2 million in 2017, out of a current total population of 190.9 million. Despite this substantial numerical female population, there is obvious massive gender gap between men and women; which can be witnessed in every sphere of developmental engagements: politics, economy, education and leadership; traceable to numerous systemic cultural and religious challenges that cause obvious gender marginalization in the society. These scenarios are even complicated by the inability of the Nigerian nation to fully associate with wave of globalization and international treaties meant to improve the lives of women and cause positive changes that can empower them. Going by Nigeria's large population, malformed means of development for women does significantly influence developmental achievement and growth of women in sub-Saharan Africa and Africa at large. This paper adopted historical method to examine the events of women's contributions in Nigerian politics, economy, education, religion, security and the family. The findings revealed that, promoting and involving women in development policies in Nigeria would have a major role to play in national unity and the progress of women in Africa generally. This paper examined some issues relating to women development and progress; and pointed out the noticeable challenges that implicate women in empowerment and growth in Nigeria. Some recommendations were made to help in remedying the observed shortfalls.
Keywords: national, roles, unity, women