Gender Perspectives in Politics, Peacebuilding and Development in Nigeria

The study interrogated the implication of adopting gender perspectives to issues of politics, peacebuilding and Development. It was observed that there is an imbalance in the roles played by the male and the female gender in politics in Nigeria and therefore calls for more intensive studies into the political role and participation of women in the context of the ongoing democratization in Nigeria and Rivers State in particular. The study applied the qualitative deductive (secondary) methods of data collection and content analysis. In adopting Liberal feminism as a theoretical framework which is premised on the basic principles of freedom, justice, equality and liberty, the study discovered that Nigerian women are still being marginalized due to the style of leadership inherent in the country. Furthermore, despite the challenges women are facing, women's activism and advocacy, education of women, positivity on the part of successive governments towards women empowerment and interest of women to participate in Politics and peacebuilding are getting a lot of positive energy but a lot still needs to be done. The study therefore recommended that there is a need to build a mass Coalition of women's support and advocacy groups using NGOs and Grassroots women associations to coordinate support and advocacy for fellow women aspirants.