ased on sex (Rights of Women, 1998).Unfortunatley, these conventions mean little to the military government and the Hausa, Ibo, and even Yoruba people, whose culture have already established rules and norms that are not easy to change, especially if not enforced. Men still hold the power in Nigeria. Even though all women can by law vote in Nigeria, if, for example, a husband does not allow his wife to vote, she has little choice but to obey him. International law regarding womens right to own property also has little effect on the reality of female ownership of land in Nigeria.On a more positive note, the Beijing Conference created a positive stir in the womens movement in Nigeria. When women returned from the conference, similar national conferences were held in Nigeria, and since then, womens voices are beginning to be heard. As more and more women cross typical gender boundaries, and run for politics, for example, other women are given a positive example of the roles women can and should hold in society.The critical areas of concern reported in the follow up to Beijing are as followed: 1. Poverty: establish income generation activities, link formal banking sector, micro-credit initiatives, provide youth counselling and training initiatives, target women farmers, provide training on new skills for food processing, form trade groups. 2. Education : train female teachers, achieve computer literacy, introduce adult education, capacity building, establish girl's schools, provide scholarships for science and technology, basic primary education, recruit drop-outs, establish day care centres. 3. Health: reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by 50 per cent of 1990 level, provide vaccination, training of health workers, provision of infrastructure, improve health through functional literacy, nutrition, breast feeding, etc. 4. Violence: reduce violence by 80 per cent, addre...
