Women’s education and socio-cultural injustice

By Ismaila Academician

Day in, day out, one will come across discriminatory remarks deadlier than plasmasonic missiles against educated women nowhere but in Northern Nigeria and, narrowly, among Hausa and Fulani people.

To begin with, every human deserves a better life that comes through development that comes through a civilisation that comes through education or knowledge. Like the solar system, our life as a system is made up of some fragments that are an integral part of the whole system syntagmatically. After existing in form and soul, education is the second most important thing. It provides us with other parts health, food, shelter etc.

In this regard, life at the superordinate level is the same as the sun, supporting the entire system. Education at the ordinate level is the same as oxygen on earth, our planet. Without life or the sun and education or the oxygen, we cannot survive. This emphasises the importance of education in human life.

However, 21^st century is considered the age of information. This is to say there’s no time more prevailing for one to get educated than now. Internet brings whole lots of information to our doorstep. Thus, knowledge becomes much easier to acquire. Probably, there is no field of inquiry that is yet to be digitalised. And, it seems this is just the beginning of things.

The above picture baffles me to see people, some of whom are educated, chastising women for being educated. And that is coming in a prime time when people worldwide are benefiting from products and by-products of education.

The theatre of operation

Now, coming to the bone of contention, Western Education, it’s apparent that these pseudo-critics, feeling dissatisfied with the autonomy women achieved by attainment of knowledge, and out of their chauvinistic attitudes to over-dominate the women-dome, keep barking up the wrong tree. They draw a series of comics that only reveal their disengagement with logic. Whether one is liberal, religious or inadvertent, I don’t think any law or logic is denying and limiting women from getting an education. Education is not gender-specific; it’s for all. It’s one of our distinctive features as humans to acquire knowledge.

A woman can be described as a permanent secretary in her matrimonial home. A secretary is someone entrusted with a secret; he is a confidant to the head of a government department or household. There is nothing worth protecting and entrusting than life and property. Man risks his life and property to his wife, both in his presence and absence.

 A woman is a manager that manages all the resources needed to run the organisation, her matrimonial home. She alone knows the input and output of the house family members that drive the house’s affairs forward. A manager is a person whose job is to manage something, such as a business, a restaurant, a house etc.

A woman is a human resources manager. An HRM is a person responsible for developing employees (or children) so that they become more valuable to the organisation (or family and society in general). She manages the entire people in the house, including the husband. For example, she assigns who to cook, go shopping, tidy the home, etc. At the end of this, the house becomes a real home.

Now, come one come all. Let’s think about this: for one to have a sound and efficient secretary overseeing the activity of his home, life and property, he needs an educated wife. For instance, children return home after school with lots of homework, assignments etc. And with the increasing rate of child abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence, the best and safest extra teacher your children can get is your wife, their first and best teacher ever.

Additionally, take this scenario as a case study: you work in Abuja, and your family live in Kano or Katsina. Definitely, your wife is in charge of the entire household, raising your children to the moral standards, making sure children attend school, and providing and taking care of their needs. She settles school fees; pays water, power, DSTV bills etc., on your behalf. Yes, that will best be carried out efficiently only if one is educated.

Clear of all doubts, we need more educated women than men since they are that vital pillar supporting our homes – by and large, our life entirely, because men move from the custody of their mothers to the custody of their wives.

Lastly, I am in no way downgrading the good image of uneducated women to the detriment of the educated ones, no and never!!!

May we get the best spouses, amen.

Ismaila Academician wrote via ismailaacademician@gmail.com.