WOMEN IN GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA, 1999-2012

Democracy is a system of government that abhors gender segregation in politics. Also, it has been observed that contribution to development in any society is not gender discriminatory. Utilizing secondary data, the paper shows that although female of ages 20 and above constitute 50.10 percent of the nation’s population; their appointment into positions of authority is infinitesimal compared to their male counterpart of the same age. It reveals further that the dominance of male in the nation’s politics, and the low involvement of women in the election participation and their appointment into positions of authority have created the politics of “near-exclusion” of women in favour of their male counterpart in the past. It therefore recommends among others the integration of women into the political process in terms of their actual involvement in public policy formulation and implementation as basis for sustainable democracy and development in Nigeria