BUILDING A GENDER-SENSITIVE CULTURE OF PEACE THROUGH CRITICAL LITERACY AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN SELECT UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Nigerian society, from time immemorial, is a patriarchal society. It is a structure of a set of social relations with material base which enables men to dominate women. Women are relegated to the background, subjugated, discriminated as the weaker sex such that not all jobs, positions and offices are given to them despite the level of education, intellectual ability, experience in life, physical strength and financial status. There is a limited participation of women in decisionmaking positions in most sectors; segregation into certain activities; restricted opportunities for training, capacity-building and networking; How many women are included in the political and electoral processes, in national governance and the security structure processes? In most cases, they are placed under men. The average Nigerian woman is seen as an available object for prostitution, forced marriage, street hawking, instrument of wide-range trafficking and a misfit in the society. Research has shown that even in the universities, conflicts and violence arise as a result of gender disparity. Course representatives, presidents of the Student Union Government (SUG), the different clubs and societies in the universities are usually and preferably headed by males rather than females. These conflicts and violence either inside or outside the classroom usually affect the quality of teaching and learning, mutual relationship and peaceful co-existence. This study aims to estimate the causes and effects of gender disparity in the universities and proposes building a gender-sensitive culture of peace as the way forward through critical literacy. The study was based on the analysis of 50 structured questionnaires distributed among students and teachers in the select universities through random sampling. Critical literacy is proposed as the strategic tool for building a gender-sensitive culture of peace. It also proposes how teachers and students in the universities can make significant contributions to the transformation of conflicts and violence stemming from divisions, hierarchy of differences and inequalities of the society into peace.