Between Recognition and Cooptation. Institutionalizing Nigerian Women's Agenda under Military Rule (1960s-1992)
Résumé
"Last week's inauguration of the National Commission of Women is a dream come true for Nigerian women", one can read on 28 June 1990 flipping through the Daily Times, one of the major Nigerian newspapers. These words introduced the brand-new National Commission for Women. General Babangida and his military regime sponsored this body following pressure from several female activists and the National Council of Women's Societies, the largest women's organization in Nigeria at the time. The National Commission for Women's main goal was to facilitate dialogue between various women's organizations, the Nigerian military administration, and international agencies focused on women's development in Nigeria. This paper analyses the history of this commission and other governmental bodies created to push women’s agenda inside the state during the Babangida regime (Mama 1995; Abdullah 1995). It reflects on the various ways women expressed themselves in this complex web of governmental bodies for women, despite facing political silencing and constant control over their actions. Although the commission was created in response to activists’ requests, this institutionalization was carried out in the military regime's terms and followed General Babangida’s politics of institutionalization of several social movements (Diamond, Kirk-Greene, et Oyediran 1997). How did women activists navigate this web of governmental bodies for women during the Babangida regime? What were the effects of this institutionalization on women’s activism? Based on written (pamphlets, newspapers, women’s movements archives) and oral sources this paper seeks to contribute to the conference’s reflections on women’s modes of action in elite politics and on the politics of silencing and cooptation.