An Empirical Study of Women and Politics: Towards Participatory Democracy in Ogun State, South - Western Nigeria.

At both the national and international levels, there is a growing academic interest in the level of participation of women in politics. The ‘third wave’ of globalisation emphasizes the issue of democratization, women and human rights which dominate world interests in Africa. African women, especially in Nigeria are exploited and marginalized. Despite the fact that women constitute about 49% of the total population, they are discriminated against in the political process. The marginalization of Nigerian women is more pronounced in the democratization processes. Women in Nigeria constitute more than two - thirds of the country’s 70% adult non- literate population while they hold less than 5% of the important decision making positions. The present national assembly in Nigeria has low average of 0.05% of women in both lower and upper houses of the bicameral legislature. This limited conception of the political relevance of women is responsible for their political marginalization. While it is important to increase the number of women in public offices, the more fundamental question raised is about the character of democracy in Nigeria. Is it gender sensitive? Against this backdrop, this study discusses the issue of women involvement in politics in Nigeria. It examines the extent to which, women participate in party politics in Nigeria as well as the extent (or otherwise) to which they are respected and accepted as equal stakeholders in the democratization process. The aim is to establish the continuities and changes obtainable in the struggles undertaken by women in the recent past targeted at altering the male - partisan political space. This was done through an empirical analysis of women’s participation in decision making policies in different segments, sectors of the Southwest of the Nigerian state