National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said women still do not have equal access to decision-making and power-sharing at all levels in the country like their male counterparts.

The revelation was contained the in bureau’s Gender Statistics Quarterly Bulletin for the First Quarter of 2022 released yesterday. The report focused on three key areas – Power and Decision Making, Health, Population and Education.

According to the document, only 13.73 per cent of ministerial appointments had been occupied by women since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. On power and decision-making, NBS said six women were presidential candidates in the 2019 elections, while 22 others were vice-presidential nominees.
[ad]
During the same period, 67 men were presidential candidates, and 52 for vice-presidential post.

Regarding the 2019 governorship elections, 80 women were aspirants, as 984 men contested for same position in different states. The report added that 271 women vied as deputy governors in different states compared to 789 men.

At the senatorial level, 234 women competed for senatorial positions, with 1649 men in 2019. At the judiciary level, the report said 66 women were appointed judges and other high-ranking judicial positions in 2020, compared to 138 men.

The report also stated that Nigeria has never had a female president or vice-president since its return to democracy in 1999. Also, no woman has been appointed into the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

On ministerial appointments, it added that women have only occupied 13.73 percent of the ministerial positions, while their male counterparts have taken 86.27 per cent of all slots.

In the area of population, the report stated that the population growth rate as of 2021 was 2.53 per cent. “The total projected population for 2021 was 211,493,324, with women constituting 49.99 per cent, and men 50.01 per cent, which translates to 105,716,462 females and 105,776,862 males,” it observed.

The report stated that the estimated number of elderly population for 2019, 2020 and 2021 stood at 8,986,055, 9,370,131 and 9,777,339.

From these estimates, the percentage of elderly women were 46.20, 46.38 and 46.58 per cent for 2019, 2022 and 2022.

In the area of education, the document revealed that the literacy rate in English Language among young men and women aged 15 to 24 was 78.3 per cent for males and 72.3 per cent for females, according to the Nigerian Living Standards Survey, 2018/2019.

Data also revealed that there were more males in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The total fresh undergraduates via UTME/DE Entry 019 were 785,259, constituting 438,260 males and 346,999 females.
[ad]