EDUCATION AND GENDER AS DETERMINANTS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated Education and Gender as determinants of political participation in Anambra State.  Five research questions and six hypotheses guided the study.   The instruments used for data collection were questionnaire and focus group interview. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 1,775,842 registered voters in Anambra State comprising Anambra North with 369,907 males and 246,611 females amounting to 616,518 voters, Anambra Central with 373,454 males and 248,974 females amounting to

622,428 voters, and Anambra South with 322, 189 males and 214, 737 females

amounting to 536,926 voters. The sample size was 888 respondents selected through proportionate random sampling technique. Simple random sampling was used to select 485 males and 480 females. Proportionate random sampling was used to select

0.05% of the stratum resulting in 308 for Anambra North, 311 for Anambra Central,

and 269 for Anambra South. Two instruments were used for data collection, namely; focus group discussion guide and a 38-item questionnaire constructed by the researcher. Three experts, one in sociology of Education and two in measurement and evaluation at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, validated the instruments. The internal consistency of (EGDPPQ) was determined using Cronbach Alpha method. In each of the clusters, the reliability indices obtained were 0.92 for profiles of political participation by gender, 0.82 for educational qualifications of males and females, 0.89 for political post held by males and females in the State, 0.99 for reasons for political participation by males and females in the State and 0.83 for measures that  will help to  ensure gender equality on political participation. The overall reliability value for the whole instrument was 0.89. Statistical measures that were used to analyze the data were frequency counts for research questions 1, 2 and

3 and mean for research questions 4 and 5. Multiple Regression analyses were used

to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of probability. Results showed that 70% of the   males   participate   more   in   politics   conventionally   than   females   (30%). Educational qualification of males and females do not determine their political posts.

70% of Males  hold  more political posts than females (30%)  and  are greater in

number than females in political participation. The reasons for males and females political participations are it creates the urge to contest for one of the political posts during election in the individual (x=3.15), it makes the individual a public figure (x=3.06)  and  it  enhances  the  income  of  the  individual  participants  (x=2.92). Measures that will ensure gender equality in political participation are, public sensitization  to   be   receptive   to   female’s   aspirants   (x=3.10),   a   violent   free environment which will allow females to participate in political campaigns without fear of molestation (x=3.20) and use of thugs in politics should be legislated against in order to ensure females active participation (x=2.96).Educational qualifications of the respondents are not significant predictors of their (P < 0.05) political posts in the state. Educational qualifications of the respondents are significant predictors (P <

0.05)  of  their  reasons  for  political  participations  in  the  state  and  Education

attainments of the respondents are significant predictors (P    0.05) of the measures to

ensure gender equality in political participations in the state.

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Background of the Study

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

In any democratic society, education is seen as a catalyst for change and an instrument for political, economic, and technological development.   The national policy on education (NPE) stipulates that Nigeria philosophy of education is based on the integration of an individual into a sound and effective citizen (FRN, 2004). Education therefore is the skillful process of bringing out the innate potentialities in an individual.  It develops human endowments and aims at the development of the entire personality of an individual (Isichei & Olufowobi, 2003).  Education equips an individual to participate in the social life of their community and to make their contributions towards the development of their society.  It can be perceived also as one of the main mechanisms for promoting social change and for adjusting the roles of individual to meet the demands of social and economic change (Parsons & Gishown, 2004).

Education is a potent force that brings about change in the attitude, skills, values and interest of individuals.   It is these changes that bring about cognitive, psychomotor  and  affective  orientation  required  for  active  political  participation. These changes could be learnt formally in the school or informally through the mass media or political parties.  These change are very crucial to members of a society for an overall growth and development.   Therefore, education is the most important vehicle of change and an instrument par excellence for effective national development.     Education refers to a major social institution for transmission of knowledge including basic facts, job skills as well as teaching cultural norms and values to young people in the society (Macionis & Gerber, 2005).  In this context, education is the process through which an individual is socialized to acquire the skills and knowledge to participate in all spheres of life.   Education is a mobile treasure that travels with an individual throughout life and it enables one to grow, develop and be empowered to participate in all phases of life including politics.  This fact was emphasized by Ojobo (2005) in his observation that, Educational empowerment of people is the foundation of all other forms of empowerment, be it social, economic, technological and political.

In political participation, political education is of cardinal importance in the political process of any nation.  It is an educational process which provides for the

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study of the political situations in the community, the nation and the world at large (Okafor, 2007).   The purpose of political education is to develop in the citizens a more rational attitude and responsible behaviour toward improving the quality of politics and develop in the youths and adults adequate skills and sensitivities necessary to enable them take decisions concerning political matters.   Political education  includes assertive education,  voter  education and  civic education,  and these teach the citizens their rights and privileges.

Civic education refers to the process of educating citizens on their rights, duties and responsibilities (Zimmer, 2009).  Civic education helps to empower and motivate the citizens to identify what areas of the political and governance processes they can effectively participate in; what they can do to influence political outcomes and thereby improve the quality of governance at both local, state and national levels (Nwachi, 1991).   At the core of civic education are the values and principles of transparency, participation, responsiveness, accountability, empowerment and equality.    Communication and access to information are also integral part of civic education.   It is a critical and effective empowerment tool for promoting citizens’ participation in the democratic and development process of any nation (Welch & Hibbing, 2002).  It helps citizens to be active participants in the affairs of the nation by informing them about their rights, roles and responsibilities as citizens.   Civic education  empowers  citizens  both  as  individuals  and  as  part  of  the  collective grouping in the society with the knowledge, requisite skills, motivation and confidence to  assert  and exercise their rights and responsibilities  in  holding the government accountable.  This enhances transparency and contributes greatly to its credibility and public confidence in the government and its systems.

Civic education is most effective when linked with a programme of voter education that puts the election into context for voters and provides an explanation of the elections purpose, the surrounding issues and their significance.

Voters’ education is essential to ensuring that voters are well informed and can effectively exercise their voting rights and express their political will on election day (Taylor, 2012).   The goal of voter education is to make information available and accessible to all constituents.  Voter education campaigns should seek to achieve universal coverage of the electorates.  To do this effectively, it requires reaching out to disadvantaged groups as well as mainstream voters.    Minority groups, internally displaced persons and other marginalized segments of the society should be specially

targeted.  Young adults eligible to vote for the first time may need special messages explaining how to register and cast a ballot.   Voter education should also include publicity and encouraging people to vote (Verba, Burns & Schlozman, 2009). Successful voter education ensures that voters are ready, willing and able to participate fully in the election process.

Voting is a process through which someone shows that he or she supports a person, political party, or plan by using a piece of paper or by raising his or her hand to support a particular person or party.  In Nigeria, all adults who are 18 years and above are expected to vote.  It is also important to know that any body who did not register his/her name with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will not be allowed to vote on the day of election.  Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) conducts local government elections. Voters’ registration is a process by which all eligible voters are compulsorily required to register their name and other relevant data with the body in charge of election matters (Awe, 1990).

Political education also empowers citizens of a society with assertive skills (Okeke, 2005).   This enables competency skills in the areas of decision making, interpersonal communication skill and cognitive skills.  Assertive education helps to shape a person’s civic orientation which is important in political participation. Assertiveness has been proven to  be the most effective communication skill for building win-win relationships based on mutual trust and respect.  Assertive skill will enable  one  to  increase  one’s  confidence,  share  your  ideas  openly  with  reduced anxiety, gain support and commitment from others and minimize unproductive conflict and other obstacles to co-operation and team work.   By developing assertiveness skills, you will increase your overall ability to communicate effectively which will contribute to your personal professional success (Albert, 2013).   Being assertive  is  a  core  communicative  skill.    It  means  that  you  express  yourself effectively and stand up for your point of view while also respecting the rights and beliefs of others.  It helps one to boost one’s self esteem and earn others respect.  It also demonstrates that you are aware of the rights of others and are willing to work on resolving conflicts.   It  is not  just  what  you say but  how  you say it, that  is important.  Being assertive gives you the best chance of successfully delivering your message.  If you communicate in a way that is too passive or too aggressive, your message may not be delivered to the people.

People with higher education are presumed to have more knowledge, understanding, higher income and better job status.  These make them more capable and  more  inclined  to  contest  elective  posts  and  make  contributions  to  various political activities and organizations (Orakwue, 2009).  People with higher education graduate with either Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE), Higher National Diploma (HND), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.); Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.); Masters degree in Education (M.Ed.), Masters degree in Arts (M.A.), Masters degree in Science (M.Sc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D).   Educational attainment  therefore is of paramount importance to everyone participating in politics irrespective of gender. Moreover, individuals with higher education receive higher income and can use their income and networks advantageously to get themselves involved in politics.   Educational attainment acts as a sorting mechanism that allows citizens to obtain higher prestige, occupations,  higher  wealth  and  greater  involvements  in  voluntary organizations. These  intervening  indicators  then  place  citizens  in  more  or  less  economically, socially and politically connected networks which subsequently facilitate participation.  Education has indirect effect on political participation in the sense that education is a determinant of an individual’s future political post, profession, income and socio-economic status.   The educated citizen is knowledgeable, attentive, understanding and acquires skills such as cognitive and inter-personal skills.  These skills are necessary to enable one intermingle with other people in political forum (Okeke, 2005).  Therefore, the importance of acquisition of political education poses a serious concern to the general public.  However, in Anambra State, education of the  female  is preferred to  males education (Okafor,  2007).    In virtually all the schools from tertiary to primary schools, the numbers of females enrolled are greater than the males thereby having more educated females than males.   The males are easily given out to learn trade and crafts.

Issues about gender in any society are socio-culturally determined.  Gender is a cultural construct that distinguishes the roles, behaviour, mental and emotional characteristics between males and females as developed by a society (Okeke, 2006). Male and female perform different roles in some societies.  Many believe that men and women should play different but complimentary roles in order to promote the well being of the family and the society.   Therefore, any society that value development  needs  to  carry  both  males  and  females  along  (Okeke,  2005).    In

sociological perspective, gender role describes behaviour and attributes expected of individuals on the basis of being born male or female.   It is a set of behaviours, attitudes and personality characteristics expected and encouraged of a person based on his or her sex.  In this context, gender is the role ascribed to males and females by the society.   These roles ascribed to them could be as a result of some significant differences between female and male brains.  The language center in the male brain is usually in the dominant (usually left) hemisphere, whereas females use both hemisphere of the brain to process language.  This may explain why females seem to have stronger communication skills and relish interpersonal communication more than males and that is why an average girl learns to speak and read earlier than boys (Adinma, 2009).   Also, the toys and games parents select for children are often unconsciously intended to socialize them into the appropriate gender roles.   Girls receive dolls in an attempt to socialize them into future roles as mothers.  Women are expected to be more nurturing than men, and when boys receive ball or guns, they are likely to  be action figured and designed to bring out the alleged aggressive tendencies in them (Unigwe, 2002).

The traditional gender roles help to sustain gender stereotype such as males are supposed to be adventurous, assertive, aggressive, independent and task oriented whereas females are seen as more sensitive, gentle, dependent, submissive, weak, emotional and people oriented.  Young men are expected to help their fathers in the farm or tend the livestock and accompany their fathers to village meetings.  These attributes take them outside the house thereby exposing them to discussing certain political and other issues and take part in decision making which make their voice to be heard unlike the females who do not have much time to spend outside and do not take part in decision making thereby making their voice not to be heard.  Men are supposed to earn a living and be incharge of their families and take decisions about what goes on in the family while women help with the cooking, fetch water or do laundry, work on their farm or sell house-made products in the market to ensure that they could feed and clothe their children (Ezuma, 2001).  The kinds of crop women cultivate differ from those that men cultivate.  In Ibo society, yams are seen as men’s crop which is more expensive than other crops and remains the chief food.  Females cultivate beans, cassava, cocoayam amongst others which are not as expensive as the yam.   In the same vein, males are expected to study in sciences or economics in colleges  while  women  should  study  arts,  languages  and  humanities.     In  the

workforce these stereotypes persist, as more men become doctors, construction workers, mechanics, pilots, bankers and engineers and more women become secretaries, teachers, nurses, flight attendant and house wives.  Currently in Anambra State, females are more in school than males thereby having more educated females and are more in the workforce than the males (Kayoce, 1996).   It is the level of educational empowerment of the gender that determines his/her level of political participation and also, the gender role that enforces gender disparity (Unigwe, 2001).

Gender disparity refers to the discriminatory treatment meted to males and females  in  the  society  (Jimoh,  2003).    Gender  disparity  is  common  amongst members  of  the  society  (Nwankwo,  2002).         The  Nigerian  society  could  be described as being pervasive with gender disparity in the dimensions of social status and privileges, human rights, educational opportunities and political participation. Gender disparity therefore, refers to the differences in roles performed by males and females.   These differences exist as a result of biological and physiological composition of sexes.   These differences also affect political participation in the

state.

People discuss political issues and matters in their various groups, families and work places and at various times such matters come up.  Such discussion x-ray the ideas and feelings of the people about how best the government would be run for effectiveness and optimum benefit  of the society.   Through indirect discussions, debates, opinions and expressions, the electorates help to formulate public policies through their leaders who participated in the indirect discussion (Ejeziem, 2007). Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects or involves the political sphere.  It is also the voluntary activity through which members of the society take part in the selection of their rulers and consequently, directly or indirectly take part in the formation of public policies (Nwankwo, 2002).

In political participation, one can be active or non-participating.   Non- participation results when the  individual  is aloof and  completely alienated  from politics.  He does not want to know what goes on in the government and will never ask questions.  Such non-participation signifies attitude of contentment, apathy and alienation.  Active participation involves voting during election, contesting elective position, supporting candidates for election and belonging to a political party. According to Tahir (1991), there are three types/profiles of political participation namely: conventional political participation, unconventional political participation

and illegal political participation.   Conventional political participation involves activities that  are expected of good citizens.   It  includes voting, belonging to  a political party, volunteering for a political campaign, making campaign promises and donations, contest elective post, support candidate for election, co-operate with the government in power and engage in public debate on political issues.   For most people participation occurs every few years at election time.   People strongly committed to politics are more likely to participate on regular basis.

Unconventional political participation involves activities that are legal but often considered inappropriate.   It includes signing petitions, supporting boycotts, staging demonstration and protests.   Young people, students and those with great concern about a regime’s policies are most likely to engage in unconventional political participation.  Illegal political participation involves activities that break the law,  eg assassination,  sabotaging  an opponent, terrorism,  and  campaign through theft.  Most of the time, people resort to illegal participation when legal means have failed  to  create  significant  political  change.     People  have  the  opportunity  to participate in politics through membership of political parties, supporting candidates for election, voting during election, contesting elective posts, joining campaign trips and attend campaign rallies of political parties.  In addition, they co-operate with the government in power by doing things that promote the activities and success of the government and engage in public debate on political issues.   These can be done through  the  mass  media,  television,  radio,  hand  bills,  posters  and  newspapers (Nkoyo, 1991).

People participate in politics to contribute to the development of the society. When people participate, they get to speak for themselves and voice out their opinions.   Participating in politics make people to be aware of what should be their expectations from the government.  It exposes the individual to the various posts in government and even creates the urge to contest for one of the posts during elections. The individual becomes acquainted with the various processes of policy formulation in government.   It creates exposure for the individual whose popularity increases among the electorates.   It makes the individual a public figure.   It enhances the income of the individual directly or indirectly.  It enables one to contribute his quota to the development of the society.   Political participation makes the citizens to be well informed about government activities and enlightens or educates the citizens on the roles they should play to make the government succeed (Ezuma, 2001).

In  current  political  process,  political  parties  are  the  major  vehicles  for political participation, as our constitution does not give room for independent candidates to contest elections.  In modern democratic societies, the success of the government depends on peoples’ representation and election.   These are only achieved through the formation of political parties which then contest elections to select the peoples’ representatives in government.  It is only in political participation that one has the right to contest an elective post through the umbrella of a political party.  The political parties provide political education to the people through mass media, campaigns, rallies, pamphlets and posters, they serve as machinery for recruiting political leaders in the country, they encourage electorates to be more interested in government through their classification of issues and provision of relevant information on candidates for election and current events in the society. They cause the government to be accountable to the electorate through constructive, criticisms of the government (Ejeziem, 2006).

In  Anambra  State,  some  of the  electoral offices  for  which  elections  are conducted  before  a  leader  emerges  include  the  following:    The  office  of  the Governor, the House of Assembly, the office of the Local Government Chairperson/Chairman and ward councilors.  These political posts are classified into two namely the executive and legislative.  The executive is the arm of government which  carries  out  the  general  functions  of administration  e.g.  Governors,  Local Government Chairman, Town Union Presidents and Commissioners. The legislative arm of government  is made up of elected representatives of the people who are charged with the responsibility of law making and amendment of the constitution, example members of House of Assembly, Councillors (Anigwom, 1999).

In all political activities, both the males and the females are supposed to participate fully.   Over the centuries, there seemed to have been some gender disparities in the roles played and contributions made by male and female towards political participation and socio-economic development of nations especially Nigeria

(Nwankwo, 2005).  Beginning from the 19th century, women in several countries led

a prolonged struggle to obtain the right to vote.  In Africa generally and in Nigeria in particular opposition to women suffrage was based on the assumption that women and politics did not belong together, that politics was a non feminine activity (Uche,

1998).   In Nigeria, women earned their access to the modern political programme through their active political participation in the struggles against colonialism.  Few

women like Margret  Ekpo, Olufumulayo  Ransom Kuti and  Gambo  Sawaba  had distinguished political careers, but they represent insignificant population of women in the society (Okeke, 2005).

Evidence shows that women constitute about 60% of the population. Nevertheless,   their   levels   of   participation   in   political   and   socio-economic programmes of the nation seems to have not been proportionate to their size (Tahur,

1999).  Women in Nigeria had been in politics before Nigeria became a republic e.g. Margret Ekpo was the first and only female elected into the legislative assembly in Nigeria in 1961.  Others are Olufumulayo Ranson Kuti, Gambo Sawaba and Queen Amina of Zaria who was known for her fighting prowess.  During the leadership of Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979-1983), Mrs. Oyibo  Odinamadu was nominated as a presidential running mate of the defunct political party Action Group (AG).  There were Babatope who  was elected  into  the House of Representatives,  Chief Mrs. Adenike   who   were   all   cabinet   ministers   during   Alhaji   Shehu   Shagari’s administration.   Furthermore, Mrs. Patricia Ette in 2007 became the first  female speaker of Federal House of Representative in Nigeria and Dame Virgy Etiaba was the first female Governor in Anambra State, Nigeria.

In Anambra State, Politics seems to be perceived as exclusive preserve for males (Orakwue, 2009). This is because many societal values such as women are seen but not heard restricted women’s participation which originated from the pre- colonial  era.      In  this  21st   century,  the  number  of  females’  participation  have increased  to  a  larger  extent  but  not  yet  proportionate  to  their  total population. Females’ access to western education lagged behind that of males for a long time and that created a gap in their active political participation.   Conversely, in this 21st century females are  sent  to  school in  preference to  males thereby having  more educated females (Kayoce, 1996).   The differences in male and female enrolment cannot be over emphasized.   The females are educationally empowered more than the males and this equips them to actively participate in politics yet they do not. There seems to be other factors that weigh both males and females down in active

political participation.

Political  parties  seem  to  have  a  large  repertoire  of  techniques  used  to eliminate males and females from party primaries such as declaration by powerful party barons or owners, state governors and god fathers, when they support one candidate  others  withdraw.     As  they  are  very  powerful  and  feared  in  the

communities, their declaration carry a lot of weight.  Another way of eliminating the successful winner of an election is by selecting a candidate too popular to the party. This is known as declaring the result by selection.  Party primaries always turn out to be tales of woes for candidates, contesting elective posts according to (Nwankwo,

2005:18),

belief and shock trailed the release of the PDP National Assembly primaries conducted in Anambra State where the candidate that contested for the Anambra North Senatorial district was replaced with somebody else who never contested.   The first day of the party primaries was inconclusive and delegates  were asked to come on the second day for the conclusion of the nomination.  By the second day, a result sheet was already being branded about by supporters of  “successful  aspirants”  who  laughed at  those waiting to cast their votes.

This means that an aspirant could win a nomination or election and the polling officials  would  simply disregard  the result  of the winning  candidate and  would declare the loser as the winner.  The results declared are most often in favour of the males or females.   This results to intimidation, marginalization and subjecting the aspirants to perceive political participation as the exclusive preserve for a particular

gender.

Women are marginalized and are rarely treated as equals in politics.  Women who are interested in politics are not given support rather tradition is used to scare them away.   Violence and use of thugs are often used by males opposing female candidates knowing that the females will normally give up.

In the same vein, elections in Anambra State are associated with problems. The electoral body seemed to have not done their job very well in election management.   Election results were falsified by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials have been bribed to do so.   Based on the foregoing therefore, the study sought to determine if education and gender are determinants of political participation in Anambra State.

Statement of the Problem

Political participation requires active participation of males and females, therefore any society that values development needs to carry both males and females along.  In the recent past the males were preferred to schooling than the females and that resulted in having more educated males then females that participated in politics.

Conversely, there seems to be more educated females than males yet, the females are not actively participating in politics.   It appears that political education which should help the populace to be sensitized is not provided either by the government or the political parties.  That is why election in the state is often associated with problems. Many votes were nullified, ballot boxes stolen, rigging, votes not counted, some of the electorate decided not to vote as their votes would not count, money politics became the order of the day, electoral body was incompetent, voters registers were flooded with fictitious names and voters were disenfranchised.  In the just concluded

gubernatorial election that took place on the 16th November 2013, elections in some

local governments were not conducted because the INEC official was bribed so he did not deliver the materials for the proper conduct of election.

Women belong to women wings of political parties where they canvass votes for their political parties while men continue to direct the affairs and control the political parties exclusively.  The females do not belong to members of inner caucus of  the  party  as  their  presence  will  only  be  required  after  party  planning  and structuring have been finished.   The members of the inner caucus of the political parties decide who become their party flag bearers.  The problem of the study put in question form is; are education and gender major determinants of political participation in Anambra state?

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study is to ascertain if education and gender are determinants of political participation  in  Anambra State.   Specifically the  study sought to:

1.   determine the profiles of political participation by gender.

2.   ascertain the influence of educational qualifications of male and female on their political posts.

3.   find out political posts held by males and females in politics.

4.   ascertain the reasons for political participation of males and females in the state.

5.   determine  measures  that  will  help  to  ensure gender  equality on political participation.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study are considered significant because there is need for empirical information for explaining education and gender as determinants for political participation in Anambra State.  In particular, it is expected that the findings will help to explain the functionality of the theoretical postulations of education and gender on political participation.  The feminist theory by Nancy Cott maintained that the effect of domination of men over women or patriarchy is a significant factor that perpetuates the suppression of women in the society.   The understanding of this theory in the Nigerian setting would be of particular significance to further researchers in the field of sociology of education.

In practical terms, the finding of this study will be of immense benefit to the ministry of education, policy makers, politicians, sociologists of education, curriculum implementers and guidance counsellors.

The study will help ministry of education to know the causes of disparity in politics and measures to take to curb them.  The knowledge may also help to include civic education in the curriculum, to be taught in the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.  Citizens are taught their rights and duties in politics.  The ministry of education may use the strategies of organising workshops, seminar and public enlightenment programmes.

The study will help policy makers (in education) in formulating and implementing policies to sensitize citizens on gender, politics/rights and duties.  This will assist in protecting gender rights and skill development.   The constitution of Nigeria  gives  equal  rights  to  both  males  and  females  to  actively  participate  in politics.  Therefore no gender should be marginalized.

The study will expose to politicians especially females that politics is not exclusively preserved for males.  The federal government gave equal right to both males  and  females  to  participate  actively  in  politics.    The  females  should  be integrated into the mainstream of the government and political parties.  This could be done by reserving certain seats for women at all levels.  The study will also create awareness that there must be political sensitization among female and male politicians.  It will make them to realize that educational empowerment of the gender determines and equips him/her to hold a political post.

The study will provide insight for sociologists of education on the role of education on increased understanding of gender equality.   This will help them to educate the society in political participation irrespective of political post.

The study will help curriculum implementers to gain much insight from the study to provide curriculum that will be of great help to students in understanding gender equality.   It will help them to draft ways of educating the society against gender discrimination in politics.

The findings of the study will equally help guidance counsellors greatly to counsel students on subjects that will help them to participate effectively in politics.

Scope of the Study

The study was carried out  in  Anambra State comprising  three senatorial zones namely, Anambra North, Anambra Central and Anambra South which house up the 177 communities in the state.

There   are   three   types   or   profiles   of   political   participation   namely conventional, unconventional and illegal participation.   The study focused on the conventional participation because they are the activities that are expected of good citizens eg voting, belonging to political parties, contesting elective posts, supporting candidates for election and volunteering election campaigns.  The variables covered in the study were Education, Gender and Political Participation.

Research Questions

1.   What are the profiles of political participation by gender?

2.   What are the influence of educational qualifications of males and females on their political posts?

3.   What are the political posts held by male and female politicians in Anambra

State?

4.   What  are the reasons for  males’ and  females’  participation in politics in

Anambra state?

5.   What   measures  can  be  taken  to   ensure  gender  equality  in  political participation in Anambra state?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were stated and tested at 0.05 level of significance:

Ho1         Gender of the respondents is significant predictors of their political posts in the state.

Ho2         Educational attainments of the respondents are not significant predictors of their political posts in the state.

Ho3         Educational attainments of the respondents are not significant predictors of their reasons for political participations in the state.

Ho4         Gender of the respondents is not a significant predictor of the respondents’

reasons for political participations in the state.

Ho5         Educational attainments of the respondents are significant predictors of the measures to ensure gender equality in political participations in the state. Ho6 Gender of the respondents is a significant predictor of the respondents’ measures to ensure gender equality in political participations in the state.

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