Determinants of Women Empowerment among The Ijesa of Southwestern Nigeria

The term empowerment has become a popular concept especially in relation to women. Women empowerment has been seen as a panacea for social ills, high population growth rate, among others. Women‘s empowerment is necessary for ensuring women’s welfare, as well as the well-being of their households. Empowerment of women is also important for the development of a country, because it enhances both the quality and quantity of human resources available for development. It is therefore important to promote and monitor the level of women’s empowerment in Nigeria. The overarching question this paper addressed is what are the factors enhancing women’s empowerment among the Ijesa of south western Nigeria. The principal focus of this paper therefore was to examine the factors enhancing women’s empowerment among the Ijesa of south-western Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design using qualitative and quantitative techniques was employed. A multistage sampling technique, which involved purposive selection of four Local Government Areas (LGAs) with the predominance of the Ijesa was used. A random selection of 17 enumeration areas and 1,594 ever- married women of childbearing age was carried out using a structured questionnaire, indepth interview guide and focus group discussion guide. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and logistic regression at p<0.05 level of significance. Qualitative data were content analysed using thematic approach. The findings shows that husband’s income, professional occupations among women (such as lawyers and doctors), higher education among women, are some of the factors enhancing women empowerment among the Ijesa of south western Nigeria. The study concluded that husbands’ characteristics contributed less to women’s empowerment compared to wives’ characteristics. Keywords: Empowerment, Determinants, Ijes