in the development process, to promote healthey and resphonsible motherhood, to enhance womens civic, political and socio-economic education, and to eliminate socio-cultural practicies that dehumanise and discriminate against women. Abullah states that the roles played by government and non-governmental organisations in the mobilisation of women have not addressed the issues of gender subordination in society, such as sexual division of labour and womens subordination to men at home and in the workplace (Abdullah, 1993). Hussaina asks the question why not? She explains that it is not possible for a regime such as the Federal Military Government which is implementing the structural adjustment programme (SAP) of the IMF and the World Bank to mobilise or politicise women for genuine liberation and development (Abdullah, 1993). Abdullah concisely states: Such an objective would contradict the governments economic restructuring agenda. The structural adjustment policies in Nigeria have had extremely adverse effects on the population, especially low income earners in cities and the rural poor, of which women are the majority. The drastic cut in state welfare servieces, the introduction of user charges for health services, the decline in real incomes, the reduction in education facilities, the fall in the fuel subsidy, the retrenchment of employment, have all led to massive deterioration in the living standard of the poor. This has created additional burden for owmen as managers of the domestic unit (p. 41).Abdullah also states that, "Military regimes are by their nature repressive and undemocratic and cannot therefor undertake responsibility for the liberation of any sector or group in society" (Abdullah, 1993). Abdullah concludes that many non-governmental orgainsations such as the the Nigerian Association of University Women (NAUW) and the National Council of Womens Socitites (NCWS) cannot be expected to work for the mobilisation ...
