The Constitutional Discrimination Against Women And The Affinity Of Nigeria Laws With Patriarchy -By Towobola Bamgbose

This year’s International Women’s Day is themed “Embracing Equity” which means acknowledging and validating the struggle and experiences of different women from different backgrounds thereby creating resources to help solve each challenge. The Nigerian women have not just faced discrimination individually, they face a systemic discrimination collectively as it has been embedded in our constitution and other legislations. 

The rule of law is defined in the Encyclopedia Britannica as “the mechanism, process, institution, practice, or norm that supports equality of all citizens before the law, secures a non-arbitrary form of government, and more generally prevents the arbitrary use of power”.

This means that everyone is equal before the law and that the law will treat everyone as equal even lawmakers. To maintain the “equality before the law” status, laws should be devoid of discrimination, patriarchal values, sexism or male chauvinism. 

Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria (CFRN) states that “A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion should not be discriminated on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sex or political opinion.  Hence, patriarchy should have no place or space in our constitution. The concept of patriarchy refers to a male system of a society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of family and descent is reckoned through the male line. In modern theories patriarchy has been defined as a system of male authority which oppressed women through it’s social, political and economic institutions. Various legislations in Nigeria have patriarchal values embedded in them such as; 

 Section 26 of the CFRN, this section confers citizenship on any woman who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria but conspicuously leaves out that a man can become a citizen by being married to a Nigerian female citizen yet the 9th assembly in 2022 voted against a Bill Of Expansion Of Scope Of Citizenship By Registration. Presently, the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria gives only Nigerian males the exclusive right to confer on their foreign wives citizenship while Nigerian women cannot do so. This further upholds a long standing patriarchal norm that where a couple has different nationalities prior to marriage, the nationality of the husband may automatically be imposed on the wife upon marriage and never Vice versa. 

Also Regulation 124 of the Police Act states that a woman who is desirous of marrying must first apply in writing to the commissioner of police for the state police command in which she serves and that permission will be given if the intended husband is of good character and the woman police has served in the force for a period of not less than three years. No regulation under the police act regulates when and who a police man should marry. Section 124 is an intrusion of privacy of women and an entrenchment of sexism and patriarchy and a love for control over women’s lives. 

 The controversial regulation 127 of the Police Act, states “An unmarried woman police officer who becomes pregnant shall be discharged from the force, and shall not be re-enlisted except with the approval of the Inspector-General”. This is an entrenchment of religious and cultural bias against women who have children outside the confines of marriage, these beliefs go as far as calling the child “illegitimate”. Individuals in our society have the right to hold jobs, have babies and choose not to marry as this is their private lives. Again, men are not subjected to this regulation. It takes one back to the the times when teenage girls were sent away from school for getting pregnant while the boys continued to school. 

This isn’t just unjust, it is wicked and it is an invasion of women’s private lives contrary to women’s fundamental human rights entrenched in article 8 of the European Convention On Human Rights and section 37 of the Nigerian constitution. 

Section 353 and section 360 of the criminal code treats victims of unlawful and indecent assaults differently on the basis of gender. Section 353 addresses that unlawful and indecent assault against any male should be treated as a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years while Section 360 addresses unlawful assault and indecent assault  against any female as a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for two years. Why is the unlawful and indecent assault against a woman treated as a lesser offense compared to that of a man? This is a way to trivialize assault against women. 

The penal code which governs the northern part of Nigeria and its infamy of being deep rooted in sexism and male chauvinism, in Section 51(1) it states “ Nothing is an offense which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any person and which is done…(d) by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife, such husband and wife being subject to any native law or custom in which such correction is recognized as lawful, here we have the penal code allowing correction of a full grown woman as far it doesn’t lead to grievous harm this erodes the fundamental human right a woman has which is entrenched in section 34 of the CFRN which provides that every individual is entitled to respect of dignity of his person, this is  against her right against any form of violence, assault or battery. Under the penal code, assault against men and women are treated differently, also men and women caught committing adultery are also treated differently and women in these sections are treated unfairly and unjustly. Section 282(2) of the penal code as well enshrines spousal rape.

The Personal Income Tax (2004) discriminates against women in respect to tax reliefs and allowances by making the husband the sole claimant of the allowances in expense of the wife even if they were generating similar income in full employment. The assumption that the man is always the head of the family, a total disregard to modern women, to working women and to female bread winners, once again the ideal of patriarchy that a man is the head and bread winner is evident in our laws which is supposed to treat us as equals.

 There are various other laws in Nigeria that discriminates against women, the list inexhaustible, yet no law or legislation has been made to help advance the challenges women face collectively. The rule of law and systemic oppression should never co-exist. It is a mockery of our laws and huge disrespect to women who form half of our population. These laws evidently written by men and upholders of patriarchy, are deep rooted in sexism and gives a pass for Nigerian women to be oppressed and subjugated. It is vile, wicked, a great disservice to the rule of law and the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian women.

The bill; The Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill was rejected by the 9th assembly last year but if passed into law, it will guarantee equal opportunities to women in politics, at workplace, inheritance, education, etc.

Also, advocacy and educating people, both men and women about these irregularities and unjust laws with the call for amendment can help change the situation of things. 

Electing women into the House of Representatives and Senate will also help, as these women understand the challenges other women face and she is most likely not to act based off cultural or religious bias and discrimination against women. 

In conclusion, it must be noted that women are equal to men and must be treated as such, our constitution and laws must steer clear off enshrining discrimination against women as the rule of law cannot co-exist with oppression. Lastly, The advancement of women is the advancement of the society.