Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to Social Justice, Gender Inequality, and Economic Inclusion for Marginalized Widows in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study explored entrepreneurship as a tool for addressing social injustice, gender inequality, and economic exclusion among marginalized widows in Rivers State, Nigeria. The research adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys of 225 widows, selected using purposive and snowball sampling techniques with qualitative interviews of 20 of the widows and 5 key research collaborators, which included NGOs and community leaders. Data for the study were collected using structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview guides which aided the researcher to gather information from the 225 respondents across three Local Government Areas of Rivers State, Nigeria (Ikwerre, Obio Akpor and Port Harcourt City) used for this study, validated through expert reviews by communication experts and pilot testing done using Cronbach’s alpha at 0.79. Key findings revealed that 68% of widows face property dispossession post-bereavement, while 72% experienced income growth after entrepreneurship, which enabled them to ac