-
Full text
-
53
University of Bayreuth
African Studies
WORKING PAPERS
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS
DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
DIAGRAMING THE ROLE OF THE FEDERATION OF MUSLIM
WOMEN ASSOCIATIONS (FOMWAN) AND THE CHRISTIAN
ZUMUNTAR MATA
Mukhtar Umar Bunza, 2024
academy reflects 12
53
University of Bayreuth
African Studies
WORKING PAPERS
GENDER, RELIGION AND
GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT
IN NIGERIA
DIAGRAMING THE ROLE OF THE FEDERATION OF
MUSLIM WOMEN ASSOCIATIONS (FOMWAN) AND
THE CHRISTIAN ZUMUNTAR MATA
CC-BY 4.0
Mukhtar Umar Bunza, 2024
ii
Institute of African Studies (IAS)
The University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers are published by the Institute of African
Studies (IAS) in Bayreuth, Germany.
The IAS promotes African Studies at the University of Bayreuth by supporting scholars from a
wide range of academic disciplines from almost all faculties. It facilitates cooperation between
researchers and institutions engaged in Africa-related projects, as well as teaching, both on
campus and around the world. The IAS consists of three central bodies: the Iwalewahaus, the
Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence, and the Africa Research Center (Forschungszentrum Afrika),
which is currently under construction.
The Working Papers give scholars the space to present empirical studies, theoretical reflections,
and report preliminary findings, ongoing projects, and current research. The Working Papers
usually reflect works-in-progress and invite discussion and feedback.
Submitted papers are subject to internal review at the University of Bayreuth. Contributions may
be submitted to the editor-in-chief: Dr. Malick Faye (IAS@uni-bayreuth.de)
The University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers feature on the EPub document server
at the university library:
2005 - 2018
https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/view/series/Bayreuth_African_Studies_Working_Papers.html
2018 - ongoing
https://epub.uni-
bayreuth.de/view/series/University_of_Bayreuth_African_Studies_Working_Papers.html
Institute of African Studies
Director: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer
Vice-Director: Prof. Dr. Stefan Ouma
University of Bayreuth
Wölfelstr. 2
D-95440 Bayreuth
Phone: +49 (0)921 554511
Fax: +49 (0)921 554502
www.ias.uni-bayreuth.de
IAS@uni-bayreuth.de
iii
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
Academy reflects
As the Working Paper Series of the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies which is part
of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence, Academy reflects offers a forum for research
conducted and presented by international Fellows and Postdoctoral researchers affiliated to the
Bayreuth Academy. The series includes papers such as presentations given at the Cluster’s
Knowledge Lab, invited lectures, workshop contributions, or conference papers related to the
ongoing research projects of the Fellows and Postdocs.
Founded in 2012 and since 2019 part of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence, the Bayreuth
Academy is a centre for interdisciplinary research at the University of Bayreuth. It complements
the Cluster’s research structures by offering a stimulating environment for Fellows, and a hub
for early career scholars.
The Academy hosts International Fellows at different career stages from all over the globe. They
are selected in competitive calls for a stay lasting from one to six months, and contribute to the
Cluster’s activities in its various research structures. A specific residence programme for artists
of all genres is organised in close cooperation with the Iwalewahaus. Furthermore, Cluster PIs
and other scholars at the University of Bayreuth may become Internal Fellows of the Bayreuth
Academy when invited for a sabbatical of one semester to participate in the working formats of
the Academy. The Academy also promotes working formats for Postdoctoral researchers of the
University of Bayreuth and externals. Convening international working groups is part of a
special postdoc qualification programme.
With its specific programmes, and closely connected with the African partner institutions, the
Bayreuth Academy brings together researchers who enrich the Cluster debates with their
multiple ideas and related perspectives. They are thus part of the lively international network
that makes the impressive strength of Bayreuth’s Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence.
Academy reflects complements the existing Working Paper Series published under the
umbrella of the University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers: Africa Multiple connects,
the series featuring research conducted and presented by researchers affiliated to the Cluster,
including papers submitted by the Cluster’s guests and visiting scholars; and BIGSASworks!, the
platform for publishing research-related articles and edited volumes by Junior Fellows of
BIGSAS.
Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies
Prof. Dr. Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni
Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence
Vice-Dean of Research
University of Bayreuth
Nürnberger Str. 38, ZAPF Haus 3
D-95440 Bayreuth
Phone: +49 (0)921 554595
https://www.africamultiple.uni-bayreuth.de
iv
About the Author
Mukhtar Umar Bunza obtained BA, MA and PhD History from the Usmanu Danfodiyo University,
Sokoto, and was promoted to the rank of Professor of Social History, in the Department of History
of the same University since 2008. Bunza was a Fellow of LEVENTIS Postdoctoral Research, SOAS,
University of London, ISITA Fellow, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA, SACRI Fellow for
Summer School at Babes Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania, and Fellow, Center of Advanced African
Studies, Cluster of Excellence, University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Bunza is the author of Christian Missions among Muslims: Sokoto Province, Nigeria, 1935-1990,
Africa World Press, NJ, USA, 2007, Gwandu Emirate: The Domain of Abdullahi Fodiyo, 2016, co-
edited a number of books and proceedings (such as: The Sokoto Caliphate: A Legacy of Scholarship
and Good Governance, 2006, (ISBN: 978-2076-27-9), Islam and the Fundamentals of Peaceful Co-
existence in Nigeria, 2014, (ISBN: 978-978-938-154-8), A History of Yauri Kingdom from 1411 to
its Emirate Status, Gaskiya Corporation, Zaria: 2015, (ISBN: 978-978-53847-2-7), Nigeria in
Search of Stability: The Role of Religion, History and Language, 2020), and has also published more
than eighty journal articles and books chapters nationally and internationally. He served and still
serves as External Examiner to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Maiduguri, Umar
Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, International Islamic University Malaysia, and Abdou
Moumouni University Niamey, Niger Republic. Mukhtar has supervised a number of Maters and
Doctorate students to successful completion, and has assessed a dozen of Professors and associate
professors for confirmation in Nigerian universities and abroad, and also serves as Editor in Chief,
Reviewer and assessor and editorial board member of different academic journals in the global
academic community.
In administration, Bunza was departmental Examinations officer, Head, Department of History,
Deputy Dean and acting Dean Postgraduate School, Chairman UDUS, ICT Management Committee,
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Member University Council, representing the Senate,
and Member, Postdoctoral Screening/Selection Committee at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University,
Sokoto, and was two times Commissioner for Higher Education, Kebbi State, Nigeria.
v
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
Abstract
This study revisits and explores the contributions of women religious organizations in Nigeria,
namely, The Federation of Muslim Women Organizations in Nigeria, (FOMWAN) and Zumuntar-
Mata (Church Women League) of Christian Churches, in comparative and proportional
evaluations. The elemental findings reveal that these religious organizations under study are well
structured and methodical associations with the primary aim of addressing some major
challenges faced by women in Nigeria, and had taken necessary steps to ameliorate them.
Initiatives such as Economic empowerment, educational, religious and political enlightenments,
and provision of health services are their major contributions to women and the society at large.
One interesting manifestation of toleration among the two differing religious groups was that they
cooperate and, in some cases, jointly execute some essential and enablement programs to both
Muslim and Christian women. Their slogans ‘the act of kindness knows no boundary’ is always at
fore. In the same vein, in order to widen the horizon of their activities and responsibilities they
partner favorably and mutually with development partners governmental and non-governmental
within Nigeria and beyond with a bid to advance and extend their interventions to as many women
as possible in the cities as well as in the rural areas. Through their various programs and initiatives
for self-help, therefore, the organizations significantly contributed towards women
enfranchisement and impacted in societal development positively.
Keywords: Gender, Religion, Development, FOMWAN, Zumuntar-Mata, Nigeria.
vi
CONTENT
Institute of African Studies (IAS)
ii
Academy reflects
iii
About the Author
iv
Abstract
v
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA:
DIAGRAMING THE
ROLE OF THE FEDERATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN ASSOCIATIONS (FOMWAN) AND THE
CHRISTIAN ZUMUNTAR MATA
1 History, Gender and Society: An Overview
1
2 The Indispensability for Women Organizations in Religions: An Evaluation
8
3 Background to the Establishment of FOMWAN and Zumuntar Mata
10
4 Empowerment and Development Initiatives of the Zumuntar Mata and FOMWAN
15
4.1 Education and Enlightenment
15
4.2 On Health Care Support
21
4.3 Political and Enlightenment Roles
23
5 Conclusion
25
6 Sources
26
7 References
26
8 Latest Publications in the Academy reflects Working Paper Series
31
GENDER, RELIGION AND
GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT
IN NIGERIA
DIAGRAMING THE ROLE OF THE FEDERATION OF
MUSLIM WOMEN ASSOCIATIONS (FOMWAN) AND
THE CHRISTIAN ZUMUNTAR MATA 1
Mukhtar Umar Bunza
1 History, Gender and Society: An Overview
The African societies are largely against what is widely believed on their perception about women,
and have placed women in higher esteem. ‘Woman’ and ‘mother’ are associated with prospect and
success in all dealings emanating from the family to the communal level. The similitude of this is
accorded to Earth, due to its importance and undeniable benefits to humanity, referred to as
‘Mother Earth’. This is not to repudiate some specific roles and functions in society exclusively for
men, the same as there are others specifically for women. To have a daughter worthy of being
married in the African tradition is as good as having male children who work for you on the farm
and relieve the father-in-law of mostly domestic labor, in the name of Aikin Sarakuta in Hausa, ‘In-
Law-Ship Services’. The betrothed will, together with his friends, colleagues and agemates
continue to render services to the bride’s father for years before the marriage contract is
solemnized. Throughout this period, courage and bravery are keenly demonstrated to convince
1 This article is the outcome of research conducted within the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of
Bayreuth, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany´s
Excellence Strategy - EXC 2052/1 - 390713894
2
the bride of the strength and reliability of the husband-to-be. Unlike in some societies and
civilizations, daughters are paid the dowry by the groom, in cash or in kind, and not the other way
round. The Greek, Roman, Hindu, and other civilizations’ stance on the status of women in contrast
with the African suffices a correlation at this moment.
Collette Suda also noted in her study about the centrality of women in Africa both as ‘life-giver
and nurturer’, and ‘connecting rod between families through marriage’ (1996). It was through
women that entirely unrelated families get connected and become blood relations. She
emphasizes that:
The female influence on the moral character of African society is arguably one of the
most enduring marks in the history of humanity. Part of the reason for this is women's
traditional caregiving roles, which put them in a unique and strategic position not
only to produce and sustain life but also to help instill socio-religious values and
morals in the family and society as a basis for establishing good and appropriate
relationships between members. Through various structures, African women have
devoted their lives and time to promoting the welfare of all. Culturally, women are
socialized to be relationship-oriented and this process prepares them to be sensitive
about the quality of relationships in marriages, families and communities. As agents
of religion and moral education, women's role in promoting socio-religious and political
moral order in Africa is more critical now than it has ever been in the past because some
African states and institutions have lost their morality and are either in the process of
being torn apart by conflict and structured inequality or are already deeply polarized
along gender, ethnic, racial, religious and ideological lines [Suda 1996, emphasis
added].
In spite of all odds, women in African traditions and culture continue to retain and uphold
constructive roles in society, within religious and mundane spheres of the community. In Egyptian
civilization, women played a very prominent role in almost all facets of the society, especially in
social, political and religious spheres. There were the reigns of female pharaohs in Egypt (Lesko
1991). In the tradition of ancient Ghana, women have served as ‘queen mothers’, queens, and in
some areas were political chiefs holding offices in towns and villages, as they have served in high
positions in the economic life of their societies and engaged in farming or trade (Abbas 2017). The
same encouraging accounts could be found in most African societies where women have played a
complementary role as partners with men in the societies and each has had a particular
responsibility within the confines of the home and the wider community.
Women have been at the core of all the three religions dominant in this part of the globe i.e.,
African Traditional Religion (ATR), Islam and Christianity. In the African Traditional Religion,
women dominate most of the rights and rituals associated with the cult. In the dancing, the liturgy,
incantations and intercession with the spirits, women occupy an illustrious position in the scene.
It is unimaginable for a Bori performance to be without women. Indeed, most of the Bori cults and
spirits are associated with and tamed by women. In Islam, the carriers of the religious symbols
and emblems through the hijab are mostly women. They are described as ‘core in Islamic religious
rites’. The scenario is the same in their practice and commitment to Christianity in most African
societies and in particular, Nigeria. Thus, women among Muslims and Christian adherents
3
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
accomplish their responsibilities in service to humanity by forming associations and
organizations with the sole aim of addressing and responding primarily to gender particularities,
uniqueness and special needs of women in society mainly at the grassroots.
The African society appreciates the role and function of each, male or female, based on his or her
biological and physical potential. In essence, it is that division of functions and roles that were in
most cases seen and viewed by mostly recluses as discrimination. However, in the historical
transition and evolution of the Northern Nigerian societies from the Pre-Caliphate, Colonial and
Post-Colonial a lot of the changes, some negative in nature, were recorded with regards to the
position of women in the society.
In the pre-colonial tradition of most Nigerian peoples, the place and position of women as wives
and mothers had gone beyond the domestic and private, but also public. In the history of Central
Bilad al-Sudan’s Kingship and political development, women’s roles in governance and
administration, as well as public conduct, were appreciably documented. In the one thousand
years’ old Seyfawa dynasty of Borno, one of the longest-lasting states in the region had the specific
position for the Mai’s elder sister, known as ‘Magaram’, and Mai’s Mother ‘Magira’ as well as the
Mai’s First Wife, ‘Gumsu’ in the government and public administration of the empire (Smith
1983).2 The influence of the Mai’s mother proved so remarkable that it can even enforce the
Shari’ah law and verdict against the high-level officers found guilty. In the 15th century, the
mother of Mai Biri imprisoned her son, the Sultan of Borno for failure to adhere to the tenets of
the Shari’ah. She received a complaint about her son (who was reigning as the King of Borno) for
exceeding the limit of the law in executing a thief, instead of amputation (Hogben and Kirk-Greene
1966).
In the history of Hausaland and the region’s political landscape, the role and centrality of women
were indubitable. In the formation of fourteen Hausa States, i.e., the Seven Hausa Bakwai and
Seven Banza Bakwai (the seven legitimate and seven illegitimate Hausa States), the importance of
Queen Daurama of Daura, and her acceptance to marry Bayajida after his heroic killing of the
serpent in her territory, was not only a demonstration of the power of a Hausa woman in the
political sphere but her influence on public opinion as her decision and resolution were
incontestable in the Kingdom. The same legend of greatness and power has been celebrated in the
name of Queen Amina of Zazzau. Queen Amina was not only respected as the political and
administrative head of the Kingdom of Zazzau but the unmatched warrior of her time, whose
effort in the defense and expansion of the border of her kingdom was a tremendous legend (Awe
1992). In the account of a 19th-century widow in Hausaland, Baba of Karo, as noted by Mary
Smith (1981), some level of the self-determination and freedom of women in Hausa society was
fairly reasonable at the time.
In the Gobir Kingdom, for instance, the office of ‘Inna Gobir’ (literally means Mother of the Gobir
Kingdom) was, and still is, not only respected in the administration of the kingdom but feared as
2 ‘Mai’ is the title of the absolute ruler in the traditional Borno administration from the 10th century to the 19th century.
As a result of the Danfodiyo Reform of the century, and political pressure against Borno, the title has changed to Sheikh
or Shehu of Borno with the intervention of el-Amin el-Kanemi in the political affairs of Borno in the 19th century.
However, the title, Mai, is still in use for the provincial rulers of the area.
4
her prowess to invoke supernatural prowess was unsurpassed. Therefore, her powers in the day-
to-day administration of the kingdom and determination of who succeeds to the throne cannot be
debated. In the opinion of Bawa (2019):
The Inna [of Gobir] was also involved in the collection of taxes and had a number of
women officials who helped her in collecting taxes from various occupational groups.
Inna Yar Bukuma was very famous in the Kingdom and she was recorded to have
served as the sole regent of Sabon Birnin Gobir [1814-1878]. During her reign Inna
Yarbukuma was said to have not only launched an attack on Zamfara but also
demanded for the ruler’s [royal] sword.
That was the depiction of the status of royal women and those inherently at the helm of affairs
and general esteem, admiration and appreciation at various levels in the social and cultural milieu
among the Northern Nigerian societies for centuries.
In late 18th-century West Africa, the reformers led by Shehu Danfodiyo made the Tajdeed reform
movement focus primarily on issues regarding gender and women due to their imperative roles
in the society. Shehu Danfodiyo (leader and founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1817) therefore,
advocated for more freedom for women, in terms of expression within the family and in public.
Most importantly, access to education and condemnation of some evil cultural practices that
impinged on the status and rights of the womenfolk. Indeed, the gender awareness and sensitivity
of the Sokoto Tajdeed Movement attracted the criticism and opposition of the venal Ulama’a who
accused Shehu of promiscuity by allowing women to attend and actively participate in the session
and proceedings of teachings and orientation programs.
It was in recognition of this fundamental fact that as early as 1786 women were allowed to
participate in teaching and enlightenment campaigns embarked upon by the Shehu and his
supporters. It was indeed the first challenge that the Shehu received in the course of his Da’awa,
propagation and enlightenment missions. Mustafa Goni, one of the renowned Borno scholars of
the eighteenth century, wrote a petition criticizing the Shehu for allowing women to attend
religious sessions on the same ground as men to receive lectures and learn the religion. The
petition by Goni in verse reads:
To you, from us, blessed greetings which caused those who meet us to smell musk and
perfume. O son of Fudi [referring to Shehu Danfodiyo], rise and warn the ignorant,
that perchance they may understand religion and things of this world. Forbid women
to visit your preaching, for mixing of men and women is sufficient a disgrace. Do not do
what contributes towards disgrace, for God has not ordered vice, which would cause
us harm. The verses of al-Mustafa thirteen complete them, in the year twelve hundred,
plus a number, which will suffice us [See Abdullahi Fodiyo, Tazyin al-Waraqat, 1786,
ed. and trans. Hiskett, 1963].
Under the instructions of the Shehu his brother, Abdullahi Fodiyo, responded in the most eloquent
and theoretical tune to the letter of Mustafa Goni. Abdullahi in his reaction, denied any acts of
committing sins by the Shehu and his Jama’ah in the course of teaching their male and female
5
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
followers.3 However, he accepted going by a lesser evil of allowing women to come out to learn
instead of leaving them in ignorance, which is inseparable from unbelief. Abdullahi’s response as
presented in his Tazyin al-Waraqat, viz:
O you who have come to guide us aright, we have heard what you have said. Listen to
what we say. You gave advice to the best of your ability, but would you have freed us
from blame! And you spoke- Glory be to God, this was calumny! Indeed devils, if they
come to our gathering, spread evil speech, exceeding all bounds! We have not had
promiscuous intercourse with women, how could that be… But I do not agree that
their [women] being left to go free in ignorance is good, for the committing of the lesser
evil has been made obligatory. Ignorance pardons, even though it was disobedience. We
found the people of this country drowning in ignorance; shall we prevent them [women]
from understanding? ... Their number is ten. And the date is twelve hundred and one
[i.e. 1201AH /1786 AD] [Abdullahi Fodiyo, 1786, ed. and trans. Hiskett, 1963].
In order to actualize and justify the egalitarian reforms, which the Shehu and his companions
envisaged for the society, the womenfolk must be fully educated and mobilized to be more
responsible members of the civilization. In addressing this crucial issue of women’s education and
other rights and privileges the Shehu authored a book entitled: Irshad al-Ikhwan ila ahkam jawaz
khuruj al-Niswan, (Guidance for The Brothers on The Legality of Women Out-Door Activities), which
was widely disseminated all over the region of West Africa with a view to clear the dust on these
vital but misunderstood issues. He says in the preliminary part of the treatise, “Let my brothers
know that I am prompted to write this book by the split of the people of Bilad al-Sudan as to
whether women can go out or not” (n.d.). On this matter the people were divided into two, each
of them was on the extreme side. One side, which was prone to negligence believed that women
should have the absolute right to go out whether or not there is a legal necessity. Though this
belief was absolutely erroneous, it was nevertheless widely held in Bilad al-Sudan. The other side
was also guilty of extremism, for it places an absolute ban on women going out whether or not
there is a legal necessity. This practice was wrong. Members of this class were in the community
of Bilad al-Sudan. Shehu further stressed that:
I am writing this book in order to counsel members of these two classes so as to
explain to them the Islamic golden mean- a position between the two extremes. That
‘It is lawful for women to go out whether where there is a legal need such as attending
to either worldly needs such as economic activity [which with she obtains a
livelihood], and the like, or religious necessity like going out for acquisition of
knowledge if her husband cannot teach her; for in matters of religion everyone [male
3 The letter of Sheikh Mustafa Goni (a renowned Borno scholar of the late 18th century) containing his query against the
attitude of Shehu towards women learning and participation in educational activities hand in hand with men is
contained in Tazyin al-Waraqat of Abdullahi Fodiyo cited above.
6
or female] is responsible for what he or she does’ [See details in Bunza 2016, emphasis
added].4
Balogun (1990) observes that Shehu condemned those who shut their womenfolk in without
affording them the opportunity to learn extensively (the affairs of their religion and the world).
The personal example of Shehu Danfodiyo’s disposition to women’s education, especially amongst
his wives and daughters, was a very encouraging and glaring commitment in addressing the issue.
In the same vein, Shehu was averse to exploiting women’s labor on the farm and at home for
domestic purposes, where men were aloof. In the opinion of Danfodiyo, men rather than women
should bear the brunt of hard labor in order to cater to the family. Woman’s work is only
supportive and complementary except where the male counterpart was not available to serve. He
declared in his Nur al- Albab (Elegance of Wisdoms) and Wathiqat al-Ikhwan (Treatise to the
Brethren), that the domestic services rendered by women in terms of cooking, provision of
firewood, grinding, fetching of water, and labor on the farm were not compulsory upon them by
the Shari’ah, but voluntary. Shehu tirelessly fought for the economic and social emancipation of
women, by ensuring their rights to ownership of property, inheritance of estates of deceased
relatives and husbands and opening of educational opportunities (Kaura 1990).
In response to the seriousness of the problem, the Shehu adopted some radical measures to match
the gravity of the problem. He started by describing the situation of women in the pre-jihad
societies in the following:
One of the habits of men, scholars of the Sudan is that they leave their wives,
daughters and slaves neglected like a grazing livestock without teaching them what
Allah made obligatory on them of their articles of Faith, regulations governing their
purity, fasting and their like, i.e. buying and selling. They consider them like a
container, which they use; when it breaks, they throw it in dung and rubbish places.
It is the duty of every Muslim to start with himself and guards it by performing his
duty properly also, to abandon unlawful things, thereafter, he should teach his family
and relations [Kani 1985].
Finally, Shehu unreservedly called upon the womenfolk in the strongest terms saying:
O, Muslim women do not listen to the speech of the misguided [group] who misguide
others and deceive you by making you to obey your husbands without ordering you
to obey Allah and His messenger [peace be upon him]. They claim that the happiness
of the women is in obeying their husbands. They do this in order to get their selfish
desire out of you. They also ask you to do what Allah and His prophet did not stipulate
at all, like cooking and washing of cloth and the like. At the same time, they do not ask
you about what Allah and His messenger has ordained to you of obedience. Yes, it is
incumbent upon the wife to obey her husband according to the consensus of scholar-
jurist in secret and in open even when the husband is very poor or a slave. It is not
4 See details in Shehu’s Irshad al-Ikhwan (n.d, p. 1) for the text of the statements and his appeals for understanding the
case of women in the Societies of West Africa.
7
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
permissible for her to disobey him at all, according to the consensus unless he orders
her to disobey Allah, in which case she should not obey him [Kani 1985].
The relevance of this statement was multifarious in the traditional West African societies.
Primarily, it intends to show the women that they have the right to revolt or resist any law or
tradition or cultural practices that denied them of their right as enshrined canonically in the
Shari’ah (code of law based in the Qur’an and prophetic traditions). It also disabused the minds of
the Muslim women, awakening their consciousness as equal partners to men and not servants, or
disposable objects of amusement. Shehu also condemned the act of involving women in hard labor
as an added burden on them apart from that of motherhood and matrimonial responsibilities
(Ogunbiyi 1969).
As a result of that struggle and reform, women in the Muslim societies of West Africa were
emancipated and appropriately placed as equal partners in the progress of the realization of the
ideals upon which the Sokoto Caliphate was founded. That was contrary to Kari Bergstrom’s
(2002) assertion that women were, since the Danfodiyo reform, less heard in public affairs. Her
position was short of the record of the existing situation on the ground and possibly relied on
unsubstantiated claims. One would be left in no doubt of this fact if one views the mobilization of
a women’s program chaired by Nana Asma’u, the daughter of the Shehu (1864) under the Yantaru
System.5 From the scholarly comments and contributions by Nana Asma’u and other women, the
Caliphate did not only create opportunities for women in juristic and spiritual spheres but also in
the social and economic as well as administrative ethos such as military expeditions and other
related issues in the governance of the society.
The British colonial period set in at the beginning of the 20th century. The Sokoto Caliphate was
conquered by the British forces on 15 March 1903, with the occupation of Sokoto, forcing the
Caliph to flee. Thereafter, the entire societal fabric in all ramifications started to change in the way
and manner that favored the British colonial administration. In the opinion of Hauwa Mahdi
(2009), the colonial government with the connivance of the traditional rulers, against the position
of scholars, institutionalized the denial of education to women, the same opportunity which was
secured for them by Danfodiyo. Further, the commoditization and materialization of society by
the new capitalist system imported by the British valued only labor and money to settle colonial
imposed taxes. Thus, consequently debasing any individual with no labor to render and without
money to pay for taxes. The second-class citizen position of women was further aggravated by
these colonial policies (Bunza and Kware 2015). In spite of changes in time and circumstances,
women remain an important factor to reckon with in religious as well as temporal dispensations
in the society.
5 That was an association of the womenfolk, founded by Nana Asma’u, for the advancement of the course of the Sokoto
Jihad, principally targeting the women, teaching, re-orientating and enlightening them. For the history and activities of
the Yantaru see, Omar S., Yantarun Nana Asma’u Danfodiyo: Tarihinsu da Taskace Wakokinsu, ZEETMA Press, 2017b.
8
2 The Indispensability for Women Organizations in Religions: An
Evaluation
The fact that women and children are the most vulnerable segment of society, and the
indispensability of the gender question and particularities as well as the historical role of women
in the establishment, the spread and development of Christianity and Islam has inspired many
women today, and now fulfills that legendary role. Kathleen McGarvey affirms:
Muslim women claim that feminist activism existed since the religion came into
existence [the prophetic period of Muhammad SAW]. So too, Christian women recall
those who struggled and overcame what they perceived as injustice to women in
church and in society since the early days of Christianity. However, feminist discourse
is a phenomenon of the last two centuries while feminist theology per se has been
developing only since the 1960s. The roots of the term Christian feminist theology are
uncertain. However, it is largely a result of women’s increased access to theological
education just as Islamic feminism resulted from women’s increased access to the study
of their religious sources, reducing in both cases the authority of religious leaders as the
sole interpreters of their religious truth [McGarvey 2009, emphasis added].
The position of the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus Christ), Mary Magdalene, (who was central in the
resurrection of Jesus on the third day of his crucifixion) has been indelible in both theological and
missionary spheres. Throughout the missionary endeavors in Nigeria, women served and
continue to serve as a very vital and crucial tool of the exhibition of the Lord’s kindness through
serving as choruses, nurses, doctors, and mistresses at orphanages and rehabilitation centers, etc.
The history of Christianity in northern Nigeria will remain deficient without reference to active
sisters who had forsaken their worldly pleasures and chose to be with the poor, indigent and sick
in the rural and remote areas. The names of such devoted sisters like Miss Knowles (popularly
known as Maijinya, i.e. nurse, in Hausa), Mrs. Playfair and a good number of them from Canada,
Britain and the USA who adopted traditional names, Ladi, Ige, Kande and a host of others, will
always be remembered in the history of Christianity in northern Nigeria (see Bunza 2007).
Similarly in Islam, women have been reliable pillars and sources of confidence and succor since
the time of the Prophet. It was the wife of the Prophet, Khadija, who first consoled him and
encouraged him when he expressed fear and trepidation at the point of the initial revelation he
received. She accepted him and financed his missions and trips with her wealth. The Prophet
received the same encouragement from Aisha, his wife, who was a repository of wisdom and
learning; and his daughter Fatima who was crowned as the leader of the women in heaven.
In the Nigerian case, the role of women in Islamization and educating the society, though still not
receiving adequate attention by researchers, however, Babbly Mack and Jean Boyd, provide
special coverage on the activities of Nana Asma’u (1793-1864) and her role in the 19th-century
reform movement led by her father Shehu Danfodiyo (Boyd and Mack, 1997). In the same vein,
Sa’adiya Omar provided a catalog of such committed and educated women who illuminated the
towers of Islamic faith since the 17th century as well as women scholars, Modibbe (plural of
women scholars in Fulfulde language), and institutions that they have established and maintained
9
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
to the present (Omar 2017a and 2017b). Under this paradigm, therefore, women’s religious
activism is not something new or out of place as far as the history and development of religions in
the northern Nigerian region are concerned. The view has been succinctly presented by
Bergstrom in the following:
Women have new forces to contend with, such as the global economy and new
religious movements, on top of the historical legacies they have inherited. More layers
are being added to the complexities of the positioning of Hausa women in their
societies and world. They will continue to work with the pieces of their heritage and
their visions for tomorrow to create their own modernity in Hausaland. From these
legacies of colonialism and Islam, one finds plural and diverse Hausa women
negotiating their identities and place in society [Bergstrom 2002].
The economic and financial situations, peace and security, displacement and settlements and the
general societal problems such as health and disease, food and diets, women are the major
stakeholders in almost every aspect of human society. Therefore, organizations for self-help and
services to humanity through religious organizations go a long way in actualizing the
humanitarian tendencies and humane characters and mood of the womenfolk. In most cases, more
men than women die as a result of wars, road accidents, and other disasters, leaving behind
widows and orphans to bear the consequences of the situation. As noted by Ayesha Imam,
The new economic policies in recent decades [in most African states] have resulted in
untold hardship on most households. Government withdrawal of subsidies in
electricity, education and health sectors adversely affected the society. In response to
such situations, women religious actors put forward services in the religious arena. Such
inequalities are largely a product of neoliberal economic policies, which prioritize
debt repayment, cut social expenditure, and focus on export-oriented production and
privatization. In particular, the destruction of welfare states that has come with
neoliberalism has provided fertile ground for the growth in the power of conservative
religious actors. ‘Where states have ceased to provide [adequate] services such as
healthcare and schooling, religious entrepreneurs have stepped into the breach, women
and children are most vulnerable in these circumstances [Imam 2016, emphasis
added].
Consequently, women view the self-help they render as selfless service to themselves as women,
to God, and then to other sections of the society. Para-Mallam sums up the requisite for women’s
religious organizations to work for God and themselves in her statement:
Religious groups are the most popular and legitimized way for women to organize for
development. In both rural and urban areas women make use of religious associations
to meet practical, psychological, and spiritual development needs. Membership of such
groups supports women in their own individual efforts towards poverty alleviation
and helps them to develop coping mechanisms to weather desperate conditions
[2006: 409, emphasis added].
10
Further, in spite of the undeniable and important roles of women in both Islam and Christianity,
the extent of male control and domination seeks to sideline, marginalize and muffle the voices of
women in the fold of the religion. To change the scenario requires persistent and constant struggle
from within the religious fold. The scriptural manipulation and misinterpretation can only be
corrected if women emerge as active members who can issue verdicts and statements of authority
within their religion. That can only be achieved through action and not subordination. McGarvey
supports this view that from the Christian perspective, Christian feminists undertake the
awareness that women’s voices were absent through the centuries of tradition and their
recognition that women were often envisaged theologically as naturally inferior and a source of
sin and pollution or as paragons of virtue, which led them to a critique of tradition and to attempt
a theological reformulation of some doctrinal themes. Few themes have not been touched on by
Christian feminist scholars (McGarvey 2009: 78–79).
So, women must demonstrate their competence and performance in theory and practice in order
to reposition themselves in their appropriate status. Thus, the indispensability of women’s
organization and movement in religion. Niamh Reilly observes in the same light thus:
Religion provides a useful vehicle through which the losers can express their
alienation and antagonism vis-à-vis the ruling elites, who in ex-colonial states are
condemned not for being exploiters but for being Westernized. Alternatively, religion
can be the vehicle adopted by an emerging class that, having gained economic status,
is making a bid for political power. In these processes, fundamentalist leaders claim
the monopoly on the authentic and definitive version of collective identity and set
about imposing this vision on the wider community, often extending beyond the
immediate constituency they claim to represent [2009: 9].
In the opinion of this work, the re-emergence of women-gender activism and the bid for
empowerment in the religious fold is a part of the agitation to recoup the lost position and status
of the womenfolk in the society. The Zumuntar Mata (Church Women Fellowship) and FOMWAN
(Federation of Muslim Women Organizations in Nigeria) are contextualized and studied in this
paper in the above frame and parameter.
3 Background to the Establishment of FOMWAN and Zumuntar Mata
The Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN) was established in 1985 in
Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. Though the Association was a recent creation, its legacy follows the
one left behind by Nana Asma’u (1793-1864) and her associates in the mobilization, sensitization
and emancipation of women from the yokes and shackles of poverty, uncanonical cultural
practices and traditions as well as disease and ignorance. “For the leadership of FOMWAN, their
authority and inspiration are connected to the 19th-century women’s movement under the
leadership of Nana Asmau, Maryam and Fatima, her helpers and partners in the Yantaru
movement.”6
6 Interview with Professor (Mrs) Sa’adiya Omar, the 3rd National Ameerah of FOMWAN, 1993-1997, age 65 years, at her
office Center for Hausa Studies, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria, on Thursday, 12 September 2019.
11
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
According to Professor Sa’adiya Omar (one of the founding members, and past President General-
Ameerah of the Association), the formation of FOMWAN was immediately followed by the
enactment of a constitution to guide the conduct of its members and provide a general frame of
action to achieve its set objectives. The first constitution was passed into law as an enforcing and
binding document on 12 October 1985. The document has been revised and amended from time
to time based on emerging needs and circumstances. In their constitution, the fundamental
objectives of the Association are stated in the following:
Recognizing its position as the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association in Nigeria,
the Organization affirms its loyalty to the Islamic Faith and its ardent commitment to
the progress of Islam and commends to its members as worthy Muslims upholding
the basic principles of Islam, namely the Unity of God and the brotherhood of mankind
as taught by the prophet Muhammad [peace & blessing of Allah be upon him]
[FOMWAN 2007a: 8].
The vision and mission of the Association are also expressed as:
Vision:
FOMWAN envisions a world where women are totally empowered to be role models in making
[sic] positive impact in the society.
Mission:
to propagate the religion of Islam in Nigeria through Da’awah [propagation], and
establishment of educational institutions and other outreach activities. To improve
the socio-economic status of the populace especially women, youth and children
through training, provision of qualitative education, health and humanitarian
services, micro-enterprise scheme and functional advocacy’ [FOMWAN 2007a: 9].
In the above constitutional objectives and the stated vision and mission of FOMWAN, it is visibly
clear that the Association adheres to the teaching of Islam, that the Association believes that Islam
has given women what they require as equal in the sight of God, and that rights will be regained
to women through propagation and advocacy. Fundamentally, the vision is more gender-biased,
as regardless of religion or ethnicity or geographical entity, the main apparition and concept of
FOMWAN is to create or assist in creating ‘a world where women are totally empowered’. Gender
sensitivity and consciousness are undeniably at the fore. Further, empowerment programs, health
and education for women and children are the set mechanism for the actualization of its vision
and aspiration.
Researchers confirmed the commitment of FOMWAN to achieving the said objectives, according
to Sulaiman,
the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria [FOMWAN] is a faith-
based umbrella organization that links Islamic women’s groups in Nigeria and
promotes Muslim women’s viewpoints on the national stage. The Association has
12
been working to spread Islam through dawah and to advocate for Muslim girls’
education—and thus, to improve the status of Muslim women and children, to
advance Nigerian development projects, and to promote the “positive social behavior
of Muslim girls”. Implementation of girls’ education as a means to eradicating
poverty, the association engages in programs to increase the retention rate of girls in
school, continue education for married women, and integrate literacy and vocational
training into established Qur’anic schools [Sulaiman 2015: 6].
Most of the members of FOMWAN are Muslim women elites: doctors, lawyers, academics,
politicians, and wealthy merchants. They serve as the bridge between the conservative Muslim
scholars who frown at and, in some instances, prohibit women from pursuing western education,
by setting themselves as examples of a blend of Islamic moral ethos and western or modern
training. The organogram of the Association is a pyramid from the Board of Trustees, National
Executive Council, National Committees, Zonal Coordinators, State Executive Council and finally
Local government Executive Council. The structure and checks and balances, as well as the
democratic apparatus in the Association, make its survival virtually crises free in spite of
differences in class, ethnic, linguistic and regional affiliation among its diverse membership.
On the other hand, the Zumuntar Mata [Women Christian Fellowship] as highlighted earlier,
unlike the FOMWAN, is fragmented under varied church denominations. As such, it does not have
a single historical evolution, structure as well as common aims and objectives. However, the two
fundamental cornerstones and identifiers help in creating a functional synergy and aim to serve
Christ through doing good to humanity, especially among women. Each church denomination has
a separate women’s wing, known as Zumuntar Mata in Hausa language or ‘Women Fellowship’,
with different periods of establishment, the structure of leadership and without a unified single
national governing body. The possible earliest branch of the women’s movement in the churches
of Nigeria is the Women Fellowship Union, WFU, which belongs to the Church of Christ in Nigeria,
COCIN.
According to Para-Mallam,7
WFU is a faith-based and indigenous Church organization set up in 1942 to cater for the
spiritual and developmental needs of women and girl-children within the framework of
the church mission and administrative structure. It functions as a unit under COCIN’s
Department for Evangelism and Church Growth. Its objectives, programmes, and
projects address both strategic and practical gender interests [Para-Mallam, 2006].
WFU’s goals and objectives aim ‘to produce a holistic woman’ who will be ready and equipped to
meet the needs and challenges of her present-day community. It has three wide-ranging
objectives:
7 Oluwafunmi Josephine Para-Mallam is a Professor of Gender and Development in Nigeria, and currently Director of
Studies at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
13
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
◼ To inculcate in women and girls a spiritual and biblical understanding of God’s valuation
and requirement of women.
◼ To train wives to partner with husbands to build wholesome and godly families.
◼ To enhance the human resource potential of women and girls towards socioeconomic
development for individual, family and societal well-being (Para-Mallam 2006: 417).
According to Nehemia Galadima, Borno State COCIN Woman Leader, the Church of Christ in
Nigeria (COCIN) has a four-part structure. At the top is Athens General Church Council GCC;
Regional Church Council RCC; Local Church Council LCC; and Church Council, CC. The COCIN
Women Fellowship is structured along those lines. It exists at four levels. Decisions are made at
the GCC level and passed down the chain to the CC level. In terms of objectives, the fellowship
exists by carrying the Gospel to the list; providing assistance to needy members with wrappers,
soap, detergent, slippers and money; and helping members to know God through Bible studies.
“Every week we hold Women’s Week of prayer during which they are taught the word of God”.8
Similarly, in the Evangelical Church of West Africa, ECWA Zumuntar Mata followed with almost
the same aims and objectives, but under a different church denomination and umbrella. ECWA
belonged to the defunct Sudan Interior Mission, SIM, and protestant missionary organizations
mainly from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with the sole aim of converting
the Muslims of northern Nigeria to Christianity (Bunza 2007).
The women’s wing of the church known as Zumuntar Mata came into being around the 1950s and
operated under the guidance of the church. In the opinion of Mrs. Ether Andrew, ECWA Women
Fellowship exists at four levels. The highest leadership is at the National or General Church
Council Level (GCC), followed by the District Church Council (DCC), the Local Church Council (LCC)
level; and the Local Church Board (LCB) Women Fellowship. According to Esther Andrew,
The objectives of the fellowship are to ‘build women spiritually’ through Bible
Studies; annual women’s week of prayers is observed in each LCB, LCC and DCC
conferences are also organized to teach and encourage their members. They also
teach them the responsibilities of a Christian woman; provide assistance to the needy
ones among them; and provide financial, material and spiritual support to the sick
and those who lost their loved ones.9
McGarvey adds that,
When ECWA was established in 1956 the Women’s Fellowship officially changed its
name to ECWA Women’s Fellowship established by a SIM missionary, Miss E. Varley.
Although ECWA is much more stringent than other churches, the aims of the
8 Interview with Mrs. Salome Nehemiah Galadima, Church of Christ in Nigeria, Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria, on
Saturday, 14 September 2019 at Maiduguri.
9 Mrs. Ether Andrew, Woman Leader, ECWA, Borno State Chapter, Maiduguri, was interviewed in Maiduguri on 13
Friday September 2019. The same information was confirmed by Mrs. Sara Jibrin, ECWA woman leader, Kebbi State,
Northwest Nigeria on 17 July 2019 at Birnin Kebbi.
14
fellowship are quite similar. A married woman is only considered acceptable in the
Church if she has an ECWA Woman Fellowship [WF] Membership Card. Members are
expected to be buried in their ECWA WF uniform. A book written in the USA in 1977
by a male author is used as the textbook for all weekly meetings. The format for
conducting meetings is very clearly outlined in the ECWA WF Guide. Similar to other
Women’s Fellowships, conferences, workshops and seminars are held from time to
time at all church levels. The pastor’s wife is considered an advisor and must attend
all weekly programmes [McGarvey 2009: 223-224].
The Catholic Women Fellowship, as well as Baptists, Anglicans and other church denominations
all as a matter of necessity in fulfilling the need of the women members of the church established
the ‘Women Fellowship’, known as Zumuntar Mata in the northern parts of Nigeria at different
times and terms of reference. However, the aims and objectives are generally the same. In their
findings and appreciation of the Zumuntar Mata, Badejo et. al. sums up the powers, as well as the
inter-denominational spiritual and mundane functions of the Associations thus:
Zumunta Mata has great influence in the economic, social, political and religious lives
of northern Christian women, with ecumenical impact on the Church, breaching the
barriers between Christian denominations and enriching the litany through inclusion
of traditional music and instruments. These groups constitute a bona fide theological
community with significant contributions to evangelism, promoting Christian living
and inspiring religious vocation. In terms of agency, Zumunta Mata has redefined
women’s roles and given them a strong voice and platform within society. Zumunta
Mata is ‘very powerful’, able to exert considerable influence to gain security for women,
widows and girls through effective engagement with traditional, administrative and
political authorities. Zumunta Mata has successfully reduced the impact of many
negative cultural practices. Men acknowledge the power of this organization and
engage with it in various ways, some leveraging the influence of the organization to
mediate with women as a group in society or in individual marital disputes [Badejo et.
al. 2017, emphasis added].
In spite of its division into different church affiliates, the Zumuntar Mata provides a unifying shade
under its ‘Mother Church’ through which women vent their feelings and address or respond to
specific issues and problems that are central to women either in the church or in the wider societal
fabric. Today, to be a Christian woman from the north is to be a member of the Zumunta Mata, and
many observers believe that the future of Christianity in many parts of the north depends on
them. This is especially because the movement has become a focus of great ecumenical attraction
for many women who now have meetings and share one another's experiences, songs, and so on.
Undoubtedly, not only have they contributed immensely to the enrichment of the liturgy
in the Christian churches today, but they are most probably, we dare to say, the
energizing force behind the priestly and religious vocation boom in the Catholic Church
in the North [Enwerem 1995: 56, emphasis added].
Thus, both FOMWAN and Zumuntar Mata have developed specialized and focused programs and
initiatives for women’s upliftment and empowerment spiritually and materially in Nigeria.
15
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
4 Empowerment and Development Initiatives of the Zumuntar Mata
and FOMWAN
4.1 Education and Enlightenment
Education is the most important factor in societal transformation and development. It was under
this premise that religious women organizations under review have dedicated a lot of energy and
resources to be invested in education. It is with education, first and foremost, that orientation and
reorientation of society could be made possible. Therefore, both FOMWAN and Zumuntar Mata
pursued this factor with vigor and enthusiasm through the establishment of schools and
enlightenment classes.
As enshrined in their constitution the Zumuntar Mata and the FOMWAN articulated and
synthesized a clear roadmap of operations and function. In both groups, education and health
services, followed by economic empowerment in terms of training in trade and craft are the major
initiatives embarked upon for the welfare of their members.
FOMWAN, for instance, in order to achieve its educational objectives established schools at
various levels from nursery, kindergarten, primary and secondary schools.
As of 2019, the Association had records located in over one hundred [100] schools in
the 36 states of the Nigerian federation. The schools were registered at different
phases by the government for authority to conduct the National and Regional West
African Examinations and to prepare their students for admission into universities
and colleges in Nigeria. Similarly, it opened opportunities to dropouts among the
married women or aged girls who had no opportunity of an education. In order to
provide harmony between western and Islamic education, FOMWAN established
Islamiyya Classes for all, especially in the evening, working women whose careers
could not allow the attendance of classes during working hours [FOMWAN Education
Demand 2007b: 1–9].
The major enlightenment activities of FOMWAN as interestingly appraised by Olarinmoye are,
principally pursued through peaceful persuasion propagated through coordination of
activities of existing Muslim women organizations, encouraging such organizations
where such does not exist, developing a national curriculum/guideline for women
and children of Islamic education, organizing congresses through suitable literature
for Muslim women and children and maintaining contact with the state and federal
governments and press as spokespersons for Muslim women in all matters affecting
them and most importantly through protection and promotion of the rights of Muslim
women and children [Olarimonye 2013: 62].
On the other hand, the Zumuntar Mata has issued under ‘Church Education Units’ of their
denomination, classes made specifically for women. This is with the sole aim of educating the less
educated as well as teaching hygiene, arithmetic, reading and writing to rural women, with which
to be able to understand the Bible, home management, knitting, soap and detergent making, etc.
An example of such rural operations is the Catherine F. Sullivan Center of the Catholic Church at
16
Malumfashi in Katsina State, Nigeria. Some women received certificates after graduation to
further their education in higher educational institutions.10 The specific Zumuntar Mata
organization may not necessarily own an independent school of its own, unlike the FOMWAN,
however, quite a significant number of beneficiaries of the church’s schools are women. Indeed,
different church denominations own over twenty universities currently in Nigeria.
On the other hand, FOMWAN has had a set of goals and objectives regarding its educational policy
and system, which include:
◼ Advocacy for retention of girls in schools
◼ Advocacy for continuing education for married women, because marriage should not be a
barrier to learning
◼ Promoting education as a means of poverty eradication
◼ Promoting the integration of Quranic schools to include vocational training
◼ Promoting the nomadic education and education for the handicapped and others in
difficult or exceptional circumstances
◼ Promoting market women’s education in basic literacy skills
◼ Implementing a Shari’ah and Women’s Right Project in the 12 Shari’ah implementing
states (FOMWAN 2015a: 3)
FOMWAN made it categorically clear that education was and is still the only vehicle that efficiently
empowers people and societies. In its declaration ‘FOMWAN EDUCATION DEMAND’, it succinctly
stated that:
Education is the process of physical and mental development. It is the cornerstone
and the foundation for the development of any community. The survival and destiny
of any human community are directly linked to education. Education, [therefore]
should be total, and should not aim at teaching a person how to read and write alone,
or how to survive economically alone. It must be an all-embracing system that
combines efficient literacy and professional proficiency, with fear of God, respect for
values, culture, patriotism and good governance [FOMWAN 2007b: 3].
It is therefore imperative for women who aim at libe rating and empowering women in a state like
Nigeria to use educational parameters in all ramifications to achieve the desired objectives.
10 Interview with Gideon Chukwu, Sokoto 13 September 2002. See also David Ambiam, A History of Catholic Dioceses
of Sokoto, M. A. History, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria, 2016. The dissertation provides general survey
of social, humanitarian activities of the Sokoto Diocese, including Malumfashi, Katsina State.
17
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
FOMWAN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS/CENTERS IN NIGERIA
S/N
STATE
No. of Nursery
Schools
No. of Secondary
Schools
No. of adult &
Continuing educ
Centers for women
Enlightenment Programs
1
Adamawa
Twenty-one (21)
Nursery Schools
in all the 21 local
government
areas of the state
known as Iqra’
Academy
Twenty-one (21)
Secondary Schools
in all the 21 local
government areas
of the state known
as Iqra’ Academy
Computer Centre and
Business Center in Yola,
and Islamiyya Schools
Annual Ramadan Tafsir,
lectures and conferences
2
Bauchi
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools,
Bauchi
FOMWAN Model
Secondary School,
Bauchi,
established Girl
Child Secondary at
Dagauda, Danbam
LGA
A number of adult
literacy classes, skill
acquisition and
empowerment
programs successful
Workshops, Tafsir,
advocacy and
collaboration with other
NGOs conducted
3
Borno
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools,
Kusheri ward
FOMWAN
Secondary
Schools, Kusheri
ward
6 Islamiyya schools
with about 3000
women studying
different fields of
knowledge
Rural and outreach
program for women
sensitization to enrol for
schools and IDPs due to
Boko Haram crises that
ravaged Borno State
4
Cross
River
Established one
Nursery and
Primary School
in Calabar the
State Capital
One secondary
School in the State
Capital
Training women in
knitting, sewing, &
poultry for economic
empowerments
Pamphlets and booklets
printing and distribution
5
Delta
Delta State
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary School
NOT YET
Skill acquisition
programs, soap making,
tailoring, baking and
others for women
Ramadan tafsir and
enlightenment activities
6
Edo
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
Multi-million Education
endowment fund,
providing bursaries and
scholarships to indigent
pupils in the state since
2012
Annual Ramadan Tafsir,
quiz and lecture series for
women
18
S/N
STATE
No. of Nursery
Schools
No. of Secondary
Schools
No. of adult &
Continuing educ
Centers for women
Enlightenment Programs
7
Ekiti
Established
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
in Ado-Ekiti
Not Yet
Qur’anic School in Ado
Local Government Area
Regular meetings and
teaching sessions in all
local governments
8
Gombe
Well established
Nursery and
Primary Schools
in all the Local
Government
areas of the
State
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
in Gombe
Education Crisis
Response (Special)
Program with 3
centers: Life Hope
Initiative, Kimishi and
Gaddi
Organized workshops
within and outside the
State for enlightenment.
Observes during the 2015
and 2019 elections
9
Jigawa
FOMWAN
Nursery&
Primary Schools
Dutse
FOMWAN
Secondary School,
Dutse
Lectures and teaching by
FOMWAN in all LGAs
10
Kaduna
FOMWAN Faisal
Nursery and
Primary Schools
FOMWAN Model
Institute, (for
secondary and
advanced studies)
FOMWAN School for
Deaf and School for
Qur’anic memorization
in Kaduna. Skill
acquisition detergent,
soap, spices, sewing,
knitting and others
taught to women
Youth Camp for career,
guidance and Counselling,
Ramadan classes & others
11
Kano
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
established in
Kano and other
areas within the
state
FOMWAN/TAWAL
Schools well
equipped with ICT
facilities in Kano
Trained 6000 women
in various skills such as
tailoring, beads making,
shoes and bags,
tomatoes preservation
etc
Periodic lecture series,
workshops, and Ramadan
tafsir for women.
Education Sector Support
Program on going
12
Katsina
Newly
established
Nursery and
Primary Schools
Yet to
No established center
in this regard
Ramadan tafsir and rural
dawah and enlightenment
programs
19
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
S/N
STATE
No. of Nursery
Schools
No. of Secondary
Schools
No. of adult &
Continuing educ
Centers for women
Enlightenment Programs
13
Kebbi
2 FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
in Birnin Kebbi,
and 1 in Zuru
FOMWAN
Secondary
Schools, Birnin
Kebbi
No much activities
Annual Ramadan lectures
held, workshops and other
classes for women
14
Kogi
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
Lokoja
FOMWAN Girls
Science Secondary
School, Lokoja and
1 school in Bassa
LGA.
FOMWAN Islamiyya
School in Dekina
Capacity building
workshops, election
monitoring and observers,
etc
15
Kwara
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
in Ilorin
FOMWAN
Secondary School
in Ilorin
Participant in
Education Sector
Support Program in
Nigeria (ESSPIN) in
collaboration with DFID
since 2010. Introduced
HALAL Cooperatives to
support women
financially
Engaged in Radio and
Television programs for
women enlightenment
16
Lagos
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
Engaged in Zakat
collection and
distribution and skill
acquisition programs
for women
Support for women
prisons in Lagos, as well as
publication of magazines,
radio and television
programs
17
Nasarawa
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
FOMWAN
Secondary School,
Lafiya
Azara FOMWAN School
for married women
established
Hijab use mobilization,
prisons visitation and
financial support for
women inmates
18
Niger
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools,
Minna
FOMWAN
Secondary School,
Minna. A total
number of 10
schools were
established in
LGAs such as
Mokwa, Edati, and
Rafi
A number of women
empowerment
programs held by
FOMWAN
Weekly tafsir, Thursdays,
& annual Ramadan,
guidance & Counselling etc
20
S/N
STATE
No. of Nursery
Schools
No. of Secondary
Schools
No. of adult &
Continuing educ
Centers for women
Enlightenment Programs
19
Ogun
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
at Ilisan and
Ogere
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
established
Women adult literacy
classes as well as
Quranic classes at
Gbogila and Ado-odo
Organized sporting
activities for girls in
schools, rural daawa and
Ramadan teaching
20
Ondo
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
Not yet
Computer Center,
Quranic center,
FOMWAN Garri
processing factory, and
water project
established
FOMWAN Cooperative,
Ramadan and weekly
lectures
21
Osun
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
in 5 LGAs
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
in 5 LGAs with
equipped
libraries,
laboratories and
ICT centers
FOMWAN Multipurpose
Halls in LGAs,
Orphanage and Adult
Quranic Centers, etc
Annual Ramadan tafsir,
lectures and workshops,
etc
22
Oyo
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
in many LGAs
Special School for
Orphanage home. A
storey building of 16
shops donated to
FOMWAN
Carried out annual tafsir,
adult literacy classes in
LGAs
23
Plateau
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools
in Jos
FOMWAN
Secondary
Schools, Jos
Weekend Islamiyya
classes for married
women
Part of peace and
reconciliation committee
of Government in Jos,
regular lectures and
awareness classes
24
Sokoto
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools,
Sokoto
FOMWAN
Secondary Schools
in Sokoto very
successful with
large number of
enrolments
Vocational skills and
apprenticeship
programs
Director Catholic Relief
Services visit for
collaboration, lectures,
literacy classes and
workshops
21
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
S/N
STATE
No. of Nursery
Schools
No. of Secondary
Schools
No. of adult &
Continuing educ
Centers for women
Enlightenment Programs
25
Taraba
FOMWAN Al-
Qalam Nursery
and Primary
Schools Jalingo
FOMWAN Al-
Qalam Secondary
Schools Jalingo
Alheri Orphanage
affiliates with
FOMWAN, Widows
receive special training
for empowerment
26
Zamfara
FOMWAN
Nursery and
Primary Schools,
Gusau in
progress
FOMWAN
Secondary School,
in progress
25 well-established
FOMWAN Women
Islamiyya schools, 10
Adult literacy classes, 2
Skills acquisition
centers
Advocacy to ulama and
emirs in the State for
sensitization about women
education and rights
Table 1: FOMWAN Educational Institutions/Centers in Nigeria. FOMWAN Quarterly Report, December 2015a, and FOMWAN 2015b, 30 Years Anniversary Review
4.2 On Health Care Support
Health is a concern of all; however, it is of special importance in developing countries and it is the
highest concern for women. They bear the pregnancy, childbirth and nursing which are thorny
and life-threatening due to low investment in the health sector by the government. The rate of
child mortality and death at birth has been on the increase in spite of the claims of intervention
by the government due to poor planning, corruption and population surge. The intervention of
FOMWAN and Zumuntar Mata is generally welcome as a supplement to what the government
provides. That also increases the bond of commitment and loyalty among members as
beneficiaries. The two organizations hold periodic sessions on health talks, distribute treated
mosquito nets largely provided by government and philanthropists, and conduct sanitation at the
church/ mosque and at home premises to ensure a healthy environment, which is a prerequisite
for healthy persons and families. In its recent publication FOMWAN at a Glance (2012), it has been
confirmed that the association has established four functional hospitals and a number of
maternity/welfare clinics, pharmacies and two orphanages under its control and care.
In health matters, provision and advocacy require a legal framework with which to pin and compel
the government to fulfill the needs of its citizens. Legislation to ensure access and availability of
health services has been sponsored by FOMWAN to the National Assembly for enactment. That
effort was appreciated since:
FOMWAN’s work on the maternal-health bill illustrates how organizations with social
capital have the ability to move women’s issues onto the political agenda with the
right framing. Although the passage of the bill has been delayed largely because the
healthcare facilities lack the capacity to provide the maternal care required, advocacy
efforts continue with the specific components of the bill proposing solutions to the
logistical challenges [Wallace 2014: 301].
22
Aysha Imam reminds us that,
Apart from other diseases associated with pre- and post-natal problems as well those
against children, HIV and AIDS is increasingly a burden for women and the poor, and
it has increasingly become a disease of exploitation and extortion. The majority of the
people you see in HIV clinics are women. And these are the same women in the
churches or mosques seeking healing [Imam 2016: 15].
In its reports of activities marking 30 years of FOMWAN, the Kano branch of the organization
highlighted some basic achievements in the health sector inter alia:
Polio eradication initiative intervention in partnership with SMOH, Kano, NPHCDA,
UNICEF, WHO and COMPASS polio program. As part of consortium of Nigerian
partners for USAID, funded COMPASS project, FOMWAN took the lead in achieving
reduction in number of children missed during immunization due to non-
compliance … applying the same strategies, FOMWAN broke down barriers and ended
silence surrounded by HIV/AIDS issues in rural communities … FOMWAN in
championing reduction of infant and maternal mortality through the Malaria Control
Program worked with DFID funded SUNMAP in providing community mobilization,
supervision and logistics for distribution of ITNs [FOMWAN 2015a: 52].
The Association through its numerous volunteers among Muslim women doctors, pharmacists,
nurses and other health professionals was able to establish dozens of hospitals, clinics, maternity
homes, and orphanages with free or highly subsidized services to women and children, especially
the less privileged such as widows and orphans across Nigeria.
Some of its major objectives of its’ health projects FOMWAN have achieved the following:
◼ Reproductive health training programs in 10 states in the northern parts of Nigeria
◼ Training of clinical health workers in HID/AIDS prevention and management
◼ HIV training for religious and community leaders in four states with sponsorship from the
National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA)
◼ Training of workers in post-miscarriage care in FOMWAN hospitals in Jos, Kaduna, and
other Muslim hospitals in Sokoto, Kano and Yobe States
◼ Training of 114 Muslim Health workers in Borno and Bauchi (north-eastern states of
Nigeria with additional care challenges due to Boko Haram terrorists’ attacks and IDPs)
(FOMWAN 2015a: 3).
Therefore, the commitment and investment of the Zumuntar Mata and FOMWAN on health and
related issues are aimed at providing succor and solace to the afflicted among women and
children.
23
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
List of FOMWAN Health Institutions for Social Services
S/N
STATE
HOSPITAL/CLINIC
OTHER HEALTH PROGRAMS
REMARK
1
Adamawa
Maternity Clinic in Yola
Provided humanitarian &
hygiene support to women
and children at the IDP camp
at Malkohi and other areas in
the State
2
Bauchi
FOMWAN Clinic with
equipment and doctors on
shift duties
Sensitized women on Ante
Natal Care and maternity
support
In partnership with Primary
Health Care run project for
Maternal and Child Health in
Africa(sponsored)
3
Gombe
Maternal and Neo Natal
Health project going on in
all LGAs
Prevention of mother to child
transmission of HIV/ Aids
Over 14,000 women were
recorded to have visited their
facilities in recent years
4.
Kaduna
FOMWAN Hospital &
Maternity, Kaduna with
both in and out patients.
Over 4000 received
treatment in a quarter of a
year.
Sensitization campaign
against breast cancer, as well
as environmental sanitation
and hygiene
High patronage and mass
response to their heath and
related appeals in rural
communities
5
Lagos
FOMWAN Hospital/Clinic
daily receiving patients
Health talk, medical screening,
and prevention campaigns
against infectious diseases
Health committee goes round
LGAs for mobilization and
enlightenment
6
Oyo
Participated in the smooth
running of Muslim Hospital
at Mosfala, Ibadan
Health talk, free medical
check, sugar and blood
pressure tests rendered in
localities
7
Kano
Provides health care
services, in hospitals and
clinics in the metropolis
and rural areas of Kano
engages in fight against
Pneumonia among children
and pregnant women through
the use Amoxillin DT, Zinc-LO-
ORSCO-pack, etc
Collaborates with DFID, USAID,
UNICEF, WHO, NPHCDA and the
Kano State Government. Had
secured through advocacy and
lobby upward increase of Kano
budget allocation to health sector,
particularly for women and
children
Table 2: List of FOMWAN Health Institutions for Social Services. FOMWAN Quarterly Report, December 2015a, and FOMWAN 2015b, 30Years Anniversary Review
4.3 Political and Enlightenment Roles
As the popularity of these movements is increasing by the day, women continuously appreciate
and identify with Zumuntar Mata and FOMWAN and their influence and voices are listened to and
respected by the team members on issues that are not directly connected with the church or
24
mosque. At a national level, the FOWMAN has committees such as the Committee on Good
Governance, Human Rights and Gender Issues, as well as the Education Committee. These
committees serve as representatives at various fora within the country and abroad on matters
relating to governance, human rights and gender issues, etc. (see FOMWAN Quarterly Report,
August to December 2015).
The Zumuntar Mata on the other hand also engages in enlightenment for women in the church
and at home to not be left behind in voter registration, elections and other empowerment and
development drives. These were achieved through the organization of public lectures, house-to-
house visits and persuasions. 11 Due to the wider acceptance and increased influence of the two
organizations, they participate in political development activities such as monitoring elections,
voter registration, and anti-corruption campaigns:
FOMWAN seeks to protect and promote the different rights of women and children under Islam.
It seeks to promote their general rights, which are the rights to life, worship, education, self-
respect, to choose a husband, fair treatment in marriage, divorce and expression. It promotes their
economic rights to a dower, maintenance in matrimony, right to property to enter into contracts,
to have a will, to inherit, to have a job and engage in economic activity; and their political rights to
a political view, to participate in politics and to vote. It also promotes their rights in difficult
circumstances that for a divorcee include the right to shelter, to a dower, to maintenance, and
support during maternity, for widows’ rights to maintenance, not to be inherited and to re-marry,
and for Muslim women refugees, the right to remarry and political rights (Olarinmoye 2010-2011:
142).
In order to carry out their activities, their source of funding has been largely from the members
through levies, donations, registrations, Zakat and grants from national and international donor
agencies. These groups are cautious about the types of funding they accept because they are
operating on the margins of both the development and faith-based communities. In my interaction
with the leadership of these organizations, they confirmed receiving and collaborating with
agencies like DFID, USAID, UNFPA, UNICEF, and the like in executing projects that are directly
under the funding provisions of these agencies. They do this without prejudice or compromise of
their principle and objectives. It is also interesting to note the level of cooperation and
understanding between the Muslim and Christian gender organizations even at a time of some
inter-religious conflicts. FOMWAN and Zumuntar Mata, especially in Sokoto, established a bond of
unity and technical support to one another in order to serve their members better and bridge the
gulf of misinformation, which breeds hatred and unwarranted suspicion.
11 Interview with Mrs. Eseme Cecilia, Woman Leader of the ECWA Good News Church Sokoto, through the
administration.
25
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
5 Conclusion
This study explored the necessity for the establishment of women’s gender organizations in
religious folds in Nigeria, primarily identifying the important and indispensable position and role
of women in religion(Islam and Christianity) and society. That was further supported by the fact
that in most of the social and economic interventions targeted at the society, women are the most
desperate due to family burdens and associated responsibilities. The emergence of these two
faiths’ gender-based organizations, the Muslim FOMWAN and Christian Zumuntar Mata, has gone
a long way in the eclipse of the hitherto unfounded but widespread religious and cultural beliefs
and superstitions against women’s involvement and participation in religious as well as temporal
public engagements. Similarly, collaboration and cooperation with other agencies governmental
and non-governmental, national and international has opened the horizon and scope of
understanding and tolerance among the two organizations and hence among their wider
membership. This work found out that the two women religious organizations, though from
Muslim and Christian perspectives, contributed significantly to societal developments albeit at the
grassroots. In a more crystal form, they support women and society at large through the provision
of education and enlightenment, health and social support, economic empowerment, tradecraft
and increased professionalism among women for self-reliance and productivity. Indeed, their bold
contribution through their gender appeals yielded positive results as women generally are
emerging to be in control of their destinies and future in religious and societal loops, away from
harmful traditions and cultures and in consonance with the teachings of the religions. This
research recommends more government and non-governmental support and encouragement to
these organizations for sustainable development, gender balance, and to fight extremisms from
both sides of Islam and Christianity and to ensure more peaceful coexistence and empowerment,
which are the most needed initiatives by all religious, ethnic and regional divides in Nigeria and
beyond.
26
6 Sources
The publications of FOMWAN, of Zumuntar Mata, and Shehu’s Irshad were published without
indication of the publisher, without pagination, and in some cases without date. They were
nevertheless used for this article as they are key to the topic. The author has his own copies, which he
can make available as required.
FOMWAN. 2007a. Constitution, Code of Conduct and Guidelines.
FOMWAN. 2007b. FOMWAN Education Demand.
FOWMAN. 2015a. FOWMAN@30 Years: 30 Years of Service to Islam.
FOMWAN. 2015b. Quarterly Report of the Activities of the Federation of Muslim Women
Association In Nigeria.
FOMWAN. 2015c. Muslim Women Scholars. The Muslim Woman: Magazine of the Federation of
Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria, Issue, No. 9.
FOMWAN. 2018. Al-Haadi: The Guide: The Newsletter of FOMWAN National Committee on
Education.
FOMWAN. FOMWAN at a Glance, 1985-2012.
Shehu, Danfodiyo. Irshad al-Ikhwan ila ahkam jawaz khuruj al-Niswan, (Guidance for The Brothers
on The Legality of Women Out-Door Activities).
Zumuntar Mata. Constitution of the National Council of Catholic Women Organization.
Zumuntar Mata. Handbook of the Women’s Guild (Zumuntar Mata).
7 References
Abbas, U. 2017. The Position of Women in the Social and Political History of Ghana. Journal of
Turkish World Studies 17 (2): 141–162.
Abdullahi, Fodio. 1963 [1786]. Tazyin al-waraqat, ed. and trans. Hiskett, M. Nigeria: Ibadan
University Press
Abdul-Rauf, M. 1977. The Islamic View of Women and the Family. New York: Raber Speller & Sons
Publishers.
Adamu, Fatima L. and O.J. Para-Mallam. 2012. The Role of Religion in Women's Campaigns for
Legal Reform in Nigeria. Development in Practice 22 (5-6): 803–818.
Adamu, H. A. 1973. The North and Nigerian Unity: Some Rejections on the Political, Social and
Educational Problems of Northern Nigeria. Zaria: Gaskiya Corporation.
27
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
Alidou, O. 2005. Engaging Modernity: Muslim Women and the Politics of Agency in Postcolonial
Niger. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press
Alidou, O. 2006. Muslim Women in a Multilingual Context: Orality and Literacy in Francophone
Afro-Islamic Societies. In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference on African Linguistics:
African Languages and Linguistics in Broad Perspectives, eds. Mugane, J., J.P Hutchinson, and D.A
Worman. Somerville, MA, USA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Awe, Bolanle, ed. 1992. Nigerian Women in Historical Perspective. Ibadan: Bookcraft.
Badejo, Adedamola F., et al. 2017. The impact of self-help groups on pastoral women’s
empowerment and agency: A Study in Nigeria. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 7
(28): 1–12.
Barkow, J. H. 1972. Hausa Women and Islam. Canadian Journal of African Studies 6 (2): 317–328.
Bawa, A. B. 2019. Women in the Corridors of Power: Nigerian First Ladies in Governance. Kaduna:
Joycee Publishers.
Beanvior, S. 1979. A Plea for the Emancipation of Women. In Western Civilization Condemned by
Itself, ed. Jameelah, M. Lahore: Kazi Publications, Incorporated.
Bergstrom, Kari. 2002. Legacies of Colonialism and Islam for Hausa Women: An Historical
Analysis, 1804-1960, Working Paper #276. Michigan State University.
Boyd, J. and Mack, B. B. eds. 1997. Collected Works of Nana Asma'u, Daughter of Usman 'dan Fodiyo
East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
Bunza, M. U. 2007. Christian Missions Among Muslims: Sokoto Province, Nigeria, 1935-1990. NJ,
USA: Africa World Press.
Bunza, M. U. 2016. Gwandu Emirate: The Domain of Abdullahi Fodiyo since 1805. Kaduna: Amal
Press
Bunza, M. U. and A.M. Ashafa. 2010. Religion, and the New Roles of Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa:
The Hausa and Ebira Muslim Communities in Northern Nigeria 1930s-1980s. Journal for Study
of Religions and Ideologies 9 (27): 302–331.
Bunza, M. U. and A.A Kware. 2015. A Critical Study of the Cultural Impact of Western Imperialism
among the Muslim Hausa Women of Northern Nigeria. The International Journal of Religion and
Spirituality in Society 5 (2): 47–58.
Callaway, B. J. 1987. Muslim Hausa Women in Nigeria. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
Callaway, B. J. and L. Creevey. 1994. Heritage of Islam: Women, Religion and Politics in West Africa.
Boulder: Lynne Reinner Publishers.
28
Chaibu, A. O. 1994. Marriage, Tradition and Womanhood in Hausa Society: Women’s Perspective.
Ufahamu Journal of African Studies, 22 (3): 63–75.
Cole, C. 1983. Muslim Women in town: Social Change among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria. Thesis,
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin.
Cooper, B. M. 1997. Marriage in Maradi: Gender and Culture in a Hausa Society in Niger, 1900-1989.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Cooper, B. M. 1998. Gender and Religion in Hausaland: Variations in Islamic Practices in Niger and
Nigeria. In Muslim Women in Muslim Societies: Disunity within Unity, eds. Herbert, L. B. and N.
Tohidi, 21–37. Boulder: Lynne Reinner Publishers.
Enwerem, I.M. 1995. A Dangerous Awakening: The Politicization of Religion in Nigeria. Ibadan:
IFRA.
Fahm, A. O. 2017. Muslim Women and Social Responsibility in Nigeria: Contributions of the
Federation of Muslim Women’s Organization in Nigeria (FOMWAN). Alternation Journal 19:
175–191.
Gwarzo, T. H. 2003. Activities of Islamic Civic Associations in the Northwest of Nigeria with
Particular Reference to Kano State. Africa Spectrum 38(3): 289–318.
Hogben, J. S. and A. H. M. Kirk-Greene. 1966. The Emirates of Northern Nigeria: A Preliminary
Survey of their Historical Traditions. London: Oxford University Press.
Imam, A. 2016. The Devil is in the Details: At the Nexus of Development, Women’s Rights and
Religious Fundamentalisms. Toronto and Mexico City: Association for Women’s Rights in
Development (AWID).
Kani, A. M. 1985. The Intellectual Origin of Sokoto Jihad. Ibadan: Iman Publications.
Kaura, J. M. 1990. Emancipation of Women in Sokoto Caliphate, In State and Society in the Sokoto
Caliphate, eds. Kani, A. M and K.A. Gandi, 75–99. Usmanu Danfodiyo University: Sokoto, Press.
Kendhammer, Brandon. 2013. Islam and the Language of Human Rights in Nigeria: ‘Rights Talk’
and Religion in Domestic Politics. Journal of Human Rights 12 (4): 469–490.
Koziel, Patycja. 2014. Hausa Women’s Right. In Hausa and Chadic Studies, eds. Parlak, Nina, Izabela
Will and Ewa Siwierska, 215–229. Warsaw: DON Wydavniczy Elipsa.
Last, M. 1971. Some Economic Aspects of Conversion in Hausa land. In Conversion to Islam, ed.
Levtzion, N., 236–246. New York: Holmes & Meier.
Lesko, B. S. 1991. Women’s Monumental Mark on Ancient Egypt. The Biblical Archaeologist 54 (1):
4–15.
29
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
Lovejoy, P. E. 1988. Concubinage and State of Women Slaves in Colonial Northern Nigeria. The
Journal of African History 29 (2): 244–266.
Mahdi, H. 2009. The Hijab in Nigeria: The Women’s Body and the Feminist Private/Public
Discourse. Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA) Working Paper Series.
Working Paper No. 09-003. Northwestern University.
Maududi, A. 1972. Purdah and the Status of Women in Islam. Lahore: Islamic Publication.
McGarvey, Kathleen. 2009. Muslim and Christian women in dialogue: the case of northern Nigeria.
Oxford: Peter Lang.
Muhammad, T. 1967, The Legal Status of Muslim Women in Northern States of Nigeria. Journal of
the Centre of Islamic Legal Studies 1 (2): 1–39.
Niamh Reilly. 2009. Fundamentalisms and Women’s Human Rights. Working Paper No. 1, Gender,
Empowerment and Globalisation Research Cluster, National University of Galway, Ireland.
Nyhagen, Line and Beatrice Hilsea. 2016. Religion, Gender and Citizenship: Women of Faith, Gender
Equality and Feminism. Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Ogunbiyi, I. A. 1969. The Position of Muslim Women as Stated by Uthman Bin Fodio. ODU Ife
Journal of African Studies 2: 43–60.
Olarinmoye, O. O. 2010 – 2011. Muslim Women Reformers in Africa: The Nigeria Case. Afrika
Zamani, 18 – 19: 133–150.
Olarinmoye, O. O. 2013. Negotiating empowerment: Women and identity in Nigeria. International
Journal of Sociology and Anthropology 5 (3): 59–65.
Omar, S. 2017a. Modibbo Kilo, 1901-1976: Rayuwata da Ayyukanta (Woman Scholar Kilo: Her life
and works). Kaduna: ZEETMA Press.
Omar S. 2017b. Yantarun Nana Asma’u Danfodiyo: Tsarinsu da Taskace Wakokinsu (Women
Association of Nana Asmau (the Yantaru): Their Structure and Compilation of their Songs).
Kaduna: ZEETMA Press.
Onuigbo, Wilson I.B. 2018. Women Empowerment in Christendom in St Luke’s Gospel. Journal of
Religion and Theology 2 (4): 24–28.
Para-Mallam, O. J. 2006. Faith, Gender and Development Agendas in Nigeria: Conflicts, Challenges,
and Opportunities. Gender & Development 14 (3): 409–421.
Pereira, Charmaine and Jibril Ibrahim. 2010. On the Bodies of Women: The Common Ground
between Islam and Christianity in Nigeria. Third World Quarterly 31 (6): 921–937.
30
Smith, A. 1983. The Legend of the Seifuwa: A Study in the Origin of a Tradition of Origin. In Studies
in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno, eds. Usman, Y. B. and N. Alkali, 15–25. Zaria: NNPC.
Smith, M. F. 1981. Baba of Karo: A Woman of the Muslim Hausa. New Haven, London: Yale
University Press.
Suda, C. 1996. The Centrality of Women in The Moral Teachings in African Society. Nordic Journal
of African Studies 5 (2): 71–82.
Sulaiman, M. A. 2015. Muslim Women’s Organization and Islamic Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Paper presented at the Department of Islamic Studies. Nasarawa State University, NSUK.
Usman, Y. B. 1983. A Reflection of the History of Relations between Borno and Hausaland before
1804. In Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno, eds. Usman, B. and N. Alkali, 204. Zaria:
NNPC.
Vaughan, O., and S.Z Banu. 2014. Muslim Women’s Rights in Northern Nigeria. The Wilson Center,
Occasional Paper Series, 1–8. DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Wallace, Adryan. 2014. Agency through Development: Hausa Women's NGOs and CBOs in Kano,
Nigeria. Feminist Economics 20 (4): 281–305. doi:10.1080/13545701.2014.963636
31
GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers (LIII)
8 Latest Publications in the Academy reflects Working Paper Series
Title
Editor(s)
Year
of
Publication
Issue
Circulations,
decolonizations,
unbalances. Anticolonial networks
and links between the literary
reviews
Mensagem,
Présence
Africaine and Black Orpheus
Noemi Alfieri
2024
44(11)
Modalities of Forgetting : A Refusal
of Memory Among Post-Conflict
Samburu and Pokot, Kenya
Jon Holtzman
2023
36(10)
Ọ rúnmìliàn Film-Philosophy: An
African
Philosophy
throught
Cinematic Storytelling
Saheed Adesumbo Bello
2022
35(9)
Media Transnationalism and the
Politics of ‘Feminised Corruption’
Sharon Adetutu Omotoso
2022
34(8)
Future Africa?! Timescapes and the
Flattening of Time in the Modern
Era
Susanne Lachenicht
2022
31(7)
Disputed Meanings of Women's
Liberation: Social Tensions and
Symbolic Struggles During Angolan
Independence
Fábio Baqueiro Figueiredo
2022
30(6)
The
Committee
and
the
Uncommitted Material: Assistance
to
Members
in
Need
at
a
Pentecostal Church in Western
Kenya
Lena Kroeker and Yonatan
N. Gez
2022
28(5)
The Kenya we want! From the post-
colonial Departure to recent Hopes
Dieter Neubert and Achim
von Oppen
2018
20(4)
32
NGO Visions of Development in the
Changing Contexts of Ethiopia:
1960s-2015
Aychegrew H. Hailu
2018
19(3)
Themenfelder
sozialanthropologischer
Mittelschichtsforschung: Eine
Vorstellung Bayreuther Projekte
Lena Kroeker and Maike
Voigt
2017
16(2)
Socio-Cultural Diversity of the
African Middle Class: The Case of
urban Kenya
Dieter Neubert and Florian
Stoll
2015
14(1)
Bunza, Mukhtar Umar. 2024. GENDER, RELIGION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT
IN NIGERIA: DIAGRAMING THE ROLE OF THE FEDERATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN
ASSOCIATIONS (FOMWAN) AND THE CHRISTIAN ZUMUNTAR MATA. University of
Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 53, Academy Reflects 12. Bayreuth: Institute
of African Studies.
