Women and Political Office Holding In Cross River State of Nigeria: A Study of Cultural Barriers

This study investigates whether cultural factors play a significant role in the low number of women in political positions in Cross River State of Nigeria. Stratified random sampling was used in this study for the purpose of separating the respondents into educated (HND/B.Sc. and above) and less educated. Responses from educated respondents were used in this study. Equal number of questionnaire was distributed to male and female respondents in each senatorial district. Data were collected by distributing 1223 questionnaire across the three senatorial districts of the state (407 the northern senatorial district, 408 in each of the south and central senatorial districts). Likert-scale ranking ( of 4, 3, 2, 1) was used in the questionnaire to measure the respondents views on how certain cultural views affect the number of women in political office holding duties. T-test statistical technique was used to analyze data obtained. It was found that culturally, women are deemed to be inappropriate for such duties, which account for their very low number in political office-holding duties considering their number in the population of Nigeria (about half of the population).