The Contributions of the National Council of Women Societies to Women Empowerment in Abuja, Edo and Kaduna States

Abstract

Only few developed countries appreciate and empower their women in order to contribute their quota to the development of their societies. The study assessed the nature of the activities of NCWS in empowering women by determining the urban concentration of activities/programmes and elitist nature of the organisation. The study hypothesised that: the concentration of NCWS activities in urban centers does not significantly affect women empowerment. The study adopted the survey research design and purposively selected a sample of 153 respondents out of a total population of 247 persons using the Yaro Yamane formular for sample size determination. Data for the study was collected from primary and secondary sources and analysed using tables, frequency counts, percentages and regression statistics. The study found that the activities of NCWS is all encompassing catering for the needs of all indigent women irrespective of career or position. But, these activities of NCWS were concentrated mostly in urban areas and elitist in nature, which affected the suitability of their programmes and performance. It is therefore recommended that the programmes and activities of NCWS should be less elitist in nature and more rural based for it to be effective.