Women who are described as the most important but neglected agents of change are now being given prominence in development issues in the world and also in many sectors in Nigeria. According to Boender (2002), the concept of empowerment is related to gender equality but distinct from it. The core of empowerment lies in the ability of a woman to control her own destiny This implies that to be empowered, women must not only have equal capabilities (such as education and health) and equal access to resources and opportunities (such as land and employment), but they must also have the kind of society that allows them to use those rights, capabilities, resources, and opportunities to make strategic choices and decisions (such as is provided through leadership opportunities and participation in political, economic and social institutions).
In Nigeria today the birth of a male child is greeted with more pomp and pageantry than that of a female child and one need to observe the half heated congratulations given to a woman at the birth of a female child particularly when the women in question has no male issue. There are still issues of withdrawing female students for marriage, for example in several communities in Nigeria especially in the northern parts, early marriages of girls between the ages of 9 and 13 is still the norm; the preference of wanting to educate the boy child instead of the girl child is still a problem. Also there has been little, encouragement for more girls to aspire for carries in medicine, engineers and technology
The role of women in the society cannot be over emphasized. They play critical roles in almost every economic and social sphere of life. And for them to exercise their potentials, they must live without the fear of intimidation and violence. Because of the historical legacy of disadvantage women have faced, they are still all too often referred to as a vulnerable minority. In most countries, however, women are a majority, with the potential to catalyze enormous power and progress. The resilience and the contributions women make to their families, communities, and economies despite the constraints can not be emphasized. Although empowerment and equality should be enjoyed by all women and men, the believe is that three subpopulations of women must receive
• Poor women in the developing country like Nigeria and in countries that have achieved increases in national income but where poverty remains significant
• Adolescents, who constitute two-thirds of the population in the poorest countries and the largest cohort of adolescents in the world’s history. For Nigeria over 60 million of her populations are youth and one third of those populations are women.
• Women and girls in conflict and post conflict settings.
Prioritizing these groups is not intended to minimize the vulnerability and needs of other groups of women, but to emphasize that investments in these subpopulations are a priority for achieving immediate and long-term results in reducing poverty and improving national development in the country.
Women have the greatest needs. Investments in them will produce the greatest benefits. Gender inequalities tend to be greater among the poor than the rich, especially for inequalities in capabilities and opportunities World Bank (2001). Moreover, the well-being and survival of poor households depends disproportionately on the productive and reproductive contributions of their female members. Also, an increasing number of households are headed or maintained by women investing in the health, education, safety, and economic well-being of adolescents, especially adolescent girls, must also be a priority. Adolescence is a formative period, one of transition between childhood and adulthood. It is a time when interventions can dramatically alter subsequent life outcomes.
Proper avenue need to be created for female to contribute effectively in Nigeria, female should be helped to gain dignity as human in their own right, they must be educated so that they are not only aware of their right but also they can acquire the necessary skill and dignity to contribute effectively and efficiently to national development. The more women we have in key positions of decision making the greater will be the attention on women issues.
National development is the responsibility of all. it is only through ensuring the contribution of everyone that Nigeria can succeed in improving the quality of life for her citizens, women should be encourage to contribute their quota to the development of Nigeria as a nation
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