Project Abstract

Abstract
Feministic activities in Nigeria have been on the rise in recent years, with women playing significant roles in advocating for gender equality and women's rights in the society. This research project aims to explore the various feministic activities in Nigeria and the crucial role women have played and continue to play in advancing the feminist agenda in the country. The research will employ a qualitative approach, including interviews, focus group discussions, and content analysis of relevant documents and literature on feminism and women's rights in Nigeria. The study will focus on the historical context of feministic activities in Nigeria, tracing the evolution of feminist movements and the key milestones achieved over the years. One of the key findings of the research is the significant impact of women in challenging patriarchal norms and advocating for gender equality in various spheres of Nigerian society. Women have been at the forefront of campaigns for legal reforms, gender-sensitive policies, and social change to empower women and girls in Nigeria. Furthermore, the research will examine the challenges and obstacles faced by women involved in feministic activities in Nigeria, including societal stereotypes, cultural barriers, and institutional discrimination. By shedding light on these challenges, the study aims to provide insights into how to better support and empower women in their feminist endeavors. The role of women in the society is multifaceted, and this research project will also explore the diverse contributions of women to the economic, political, and social development of Nigeria. Women have been instrumental in driving positive change in various sectors, including education, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and governance. Overall, this research project seeks to highlight the importance of feministic activities in Nigeria and the invaluable role of women in promoting gender equality, women's rights, and social justice in the country. By amplifying the voices and experiences of women activists and scholars, the study aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on feminism and gender equality in Nigeria and beyond.

Project Overview

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The issue of feminism springs up from women’s consciousness of their situation in the society and various oppressive acts against them.
In traditional Africa the woman is an object of constant scorn, degradation and physical torture. In the past, women did not exist as individuals with
personalities to defend. They rather existed as mere docile and exotic accompaniments to the males. Throughout that period, women lacked a voice to
articulate their dilemma and their point of view. They, thus, accepted their fate without resistance.
In those days, these women, in addition to experiencing the same oppressive social condition as their male counterparts in a developing world, were
subjected to extra repressive burdens arising from the socio-cultural structures of patriarchy and gender hierarchy. These years of subjugation have, however,
produced in today’s women relentless questioning of the status quo. They protest against dehumanization, political enslavement and social oppression.
They rationalize that the running of the African world is not the preserve for males and thus there should be absolute equality of both sexes in all spheres of
life. Such a reaction is termed feminism, which is an ideology that urges, in simple term, recognition of the claims of women for equal rights with men.
The term feminism usually refers to a historically recent European and American social movements founded to struggle for female equality. Feminism by this
designation has become a global political project.
African female writers have come a long way from the 1960’s when the few women that published fiction could be counted on one fingers and they were
hardly noticed by critics or if noticed at all, were not taken seriously. At the end of the twentieth century, it was no longer out of place to talk about
generations of female African writers or categorize female authors as ‘established’ or ‘emerging’. Nadine Gordimer, a female writer from South Africa had won
the noble prize for literature in 1991. two years later, the African continent lost a leading female writer Flora Nwapa of Nigeria. A novelist, short story writer,
and poet, Flora Nwapa held in her hands on her death bed on 17 October 1993, the first printed copies of her three new plays; sycophants (SIC). A pioneer
African Female Novelist, she had published poetry and short stories before revealing her talents as a playwright, etc.
The phenomenon of female change was not limited to creative artists. African women scholars too, were no longer satisfied to have somebody else define for
them the aesthetics of female writing, or patronizingly describe for them the dynamic and intrinsic reality of being a woman in the African socio-cultural and
political environment. this issue of African literature today is entirely devoted to African writers and the presentation of women in African literature. This in itself is a recognition of
two important facts: first, that African women writers, as a number of articles in the collection point out, have been neglected in the largely male authored
journals, critical studies and critical anthologies and secondly, that the last ten years or so have seen a tremendous blossoming of highly accomplished work
by African women writers and it would have been in excusable to continue to ignore them. The second fact partly, though not entirely ores an explanation for the first. If the critical attention has been scanty, it is partly because up-to the end of the 1960’s the literary output of African women was also rather scanty. This is most probably due to a number of well known historical and sociological factors. Writing and education go hand in hand and for all kinds of sociological and other reasons the education of women in Africa lagged far behind that of men. Adetokunbo Pearce’s article on Efua Suther Land’s plays
suggest precisely how public the role of the dramatist could be and usually is, but African societies have been slow in according to women this ‘senior’ position and public exposure.