Journal of Social Development in Africa (1994), 9,2,45-59 
Women's Education and the Use of Bank 
Credit in Nigeria: Challenges for the 
Twenty-First Century 
J C ANYANWU * 
ABSTRACT 
Women constitute a vital resource in developing economies: they account for over 
half the food produced in these countries; consist of one-fourth of the industrial 
labour force, additionally fetching most of the household's water and fuelwood, 
and are responsible for childcare and household chores. They could even contribute 
far more to the economy if their opportunities to do that were not so constrained. 
A particular example of this from Nigeria is that women suffer the disability of nonaccess 
to bank credit. Yet such credit removes financial constraints and poverty, accelerates 
the adoption of new technologies and national/personal incomes, apart 
from raising productivity and employment 
Unfortunately, in a recent survey by the author (1991), it was found out that the 
major reasons for the limited use of bank credit by Nigerian women include lack 
of awareness of the benefits of credit facilities emanating from limited education 
(as evidenced by low enrolment and literacy levels), few women in business, and 
dependence on their husbands as breadwinners. The author stresses the point that 
education, along with income generation capacity, is necessary to enable women 
to participate equally in the development process. 
The objectives of this paper can be identified as follows: exposition of the 
relationship between women's education and national development; highlighting 
the state of women's education in Nigeria and drawing from empirical work the 
negative effect of such state of education on their use of bank credit, and to proffer 
policy recommendations as a challenge for the twenty-first century. The connection 
between women's education and national development is examined and the 
significance of bank credit is explored. The paper concludes with policy implications 
and challenges for the twenty-first century. 
Introduction 
There has been increasing attention to the changing roles of women in most 
countries. In some nations there is evidence of concrete changes; in others change 
has been elusive, being little more than a heightened awareness of the circumstances 
of women's lives. 
* Head, Economics Department, College of Education, Nsugbe, Anambra State, Nigeria
46 JCAnyanwu 
Indeed, the reproductive function of women traditionally has been the primary 
basis for defining the roles of women, which has been associated not only with the 
bearing of children but with a multiplicity of other tasks, including child-rearing 
and a host of domestic activities. These have most often been seen to be 'naturally' 
the prerogatives of women (ie women's situation in society is seen as a function of 
their biology - see Oakley, 1981). Incidentally, all such activities take place in the 
confines of the household and the immediate family. This directly contrasts those 
activities which are generally associated with the roles of men. Such a division has 
been supported by the theoretical perspective of the traditional sexual division of 
labour, which posits a sharp segregation of roles according to sex: hence women 
are seen principally in the roles of wives, mothers and homemakers through which 
they are generally accorded the title "housewives". On the other hand, men are seen 
essentially as "workers" and the main supporters of the household. It is in this sense 
that Godelier (1981) notes that masculine supremacy has its roots in social arrangements 
which, in order to ensure reproduction, excluded women from the predatory 
and mobile activities of hunting and warfare. These activities had the power to 
regulate the domain of reproduction through kinship structures, symbolic representations 
and political institutions. Therefore in most countries, even those in 
which women's involvement in economic activity is quite evident, women's child 
bearingrole has been emphasised. Bothwomen'sactivity away from home and the 
economic importance of their roles within the family have been given only secondary 
recognition. 
In fact, explanatory metatheories, ranging from the putative determinants of 
psychic structure spun from the clinical genius of Sigmund Freud to the crude 
fantasies of others, see men as ultimately superior to women "by nature". These 
theories are grounded in the brute fact of women's reproductive function, that is, 
that women are evidently tied to nature by the a-human set of giving birth to 
humans. In other words, childbirth is seen as an inferior animal activity and the 
biological curse of femininity; hence Firestone (1971) proposes that if the subjection 
of women rests on the low value of the reproductive function, then the liberation 
of women depends on the capacity to evade this function, to rely on cybernetic 
technology to guarantee the survival of the human race. O'Brien (1981), while 
seeing the relianceon technology to advance reproductive development as suspect, 
suggests that men's domination of women arose through discovery of the link 
between sexuality and reproduction. While owing a great deal to Marx's historicist 
metatheory and Hegel's dialectics, she dismissed them as reflecting a misogynist 
attitude toward women that prevailed not only in their time but through 
recorded history, given that the oppression of women transcends class and some 
of their views were evasive, prejudiced and even wrong. Thus, through dialectics 
O'Brien suggests that the actual process of reproduction provides a theoretical
Women's Education and the Use of Bank Credit in Nigeria ATI 
framework from which we can view male historical praxis constructively. She also 
notes that men appear to have two natures as against women's single one (as 
women are inescapably entwined with nature). Man's second nature is the one he 
makes himself, the offspring of his fraternal historical praxis - a realm created in 
freedom. However, women's realm has been fixed theoretically and actually in the 
private realm, the realm of "Nature, Necessity, and Nonfreedom". 
Indeed, Rosaldo (1974) offered a model of female inequality by proposing that: 
(a) women are universally subordinate to men 
(b) men are dominant due to their participation in public life and their relegation 
of women to the domestic sphere; and 
(c) the differential participation of men and women in public life gives rise not 
only to universal male authority over women, but to a higher valuation of 
male over female roles. 
Rosaldo (1974) suggests, therefore, that egalitarian sex relationships can only 
develop in a society at a time when both sexes share equal participation in thepublic 
and domestic spheres. As Lewis (1977) notes, differential participation in the 
public sphere is a symptom rather than a cause of structural inequality. While 
inequality is manifested in the exclusion of a group from public life, it is actually 
generated in the group's unequal access to power and resources in a hierarchically 
arranged social order. 
Although women constititue a vital resource in the rural and urban economics 
of developing countries, their contribution is drastically under-estimated, partly 
due to the fact that much of it is home-based and unpaid/unpriced and partly due 
to the feeling that women's work often "does not count". ITie implication is that 
if policy-makers in these areas do not realise the extent of women's current contribution 
to national development, then they might also undervalue their potential. 
The fact remains that women (especially the poor ones) can contribute far more 
to the economy and even to their own welfare if their opportunities to do so were 
not constrained. Incidentally, the poor (both male and female) suffer the disability 
of limited and in some cases non-access to credit and other resources, quite apart 
from education, markets, health care, technology and information. Unfortunately, 
current reliance on market forces the world over (Nigeria inclusive, a la SAP) 
cannot help the process of economic development to bring greater earning, learning, 
better health, etc to women and their families since markets will maximise 
output for given inputs if, and only if, economic agents have full access to resources 
and information to permit them to respond to signals quickly and effectively. 
However, due to gender-related constraints, women are unable to respond well, 
resulting in economic loss. Some of these gender-related problems are rooted in 
tradition (sometimes codified into law and policy) and biology (the demands of 
multiple pregnancies) and the need to care for young children.
48 JCAnyanwu 
Thus, long-term improvements in economic productivity and incomes, as well 
as women's welfare, can only be achieved through a deliberate effort to open up 
access, giving equal or more equal chances to access resources (Herz, 1989a; 
UNCTAD, 1990). This does not necessarily mean formulating "women only" 
programmes, but should involve bringing women into the mainstream of development 
programmes. It was in the pursuance of this that the United Nations declared 
1975 to 1985 the UN Decade for Women. Since then efforts have been made by 
international/multilateral agencies, national governments, non-governmental organisations 
(NGOs) and donor groups to bring women into the mainstream of economic 
development. 
However, in the Nigerian context there have been complaints and reports of 
women's low and inadequate access to credit facilities, particularly from banks, 
yet credit is seen as a key element in the modernisation process. Not only can credit 
remove a financial constraint, but it may accelerate the adoption of new technologies 
as well as national and personal income, quite apart from increasing productivity 
(Miller & Radman, 1983; Mitchell & Still, 1979). Credit facilities are also 
an integral part of the process of commercialisation of the rural economy and a 
convenient way to redress rural poverty (Anyanwu, 1988). This, again, becomes 
pertinent during a period when the government is laying emphasis on, and taking 
measures to transform the rural communities or the grass-roots levels of the 
economy. 
Women's Education and National Development 
In its broadest meaning, education is any process by which an individual gains 
knowledge or insight, or develops attitudes or skills. In its strict sense: 
"...it is a process to attain acculturation through which the individual is 
helpedtoattainthedevelopmentofhispotentialitiesandtheinnwdmumactivation 
when necessary, according to right reason and to achieve thereby 
his perfect self-fulfillment" (Okafor, 1984:16). 
Education is concerned with the cultivation of "the whole person": ie their intellectual, 
affective, character and psychomotor development 
It is the human resources of any nation rather than its physical capital and 
material resources, which ultimately determine the character and pace of its 
economic and social development Harbison (1973: 3) agrees with this when he 
notes that:
Women's Education and the Use of Bank Credit in Nigeria 49 
"...human resources ... constitute the ultimate basis for the wealth of 
nations. Capital and natural resources are passive factors of production; 
human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural 
resources, build social, economic and political organisations, and carry 
forward national development. Clearly, a country which is unable to develop 
the skills and knowledge of its people and to utilise them effectively 
in the national economy will be unable to develop anything else". 
It is the formal educational system that is the major institutional mechanism for 
developing such human skills and knowledge. 
The need for a sound education in Nigeria can hardly be over-emphasised. 
Education makes for a proper development of the innate endowments of an individual. 
The greatness of any nation - political, economic, social and cultural - to 
a large extent, depends on the standard of education her citizens have been able to 
attain. 
In an era of transition, education serves the purposes of social reconstruction, 
economic efficiency, cultural change, rural regeneration, social integration, political 
efficiency, social philosophy, creation of modern men and women, development 
of manpower resources and the development of individual excellence. 
As an instrument for civic responsibility, social reconstruction and economic 
development, it is the role of education to promote participation in social improvement; 
to influence people's ways of doing things; to be in accord with the changing 
times; to improve standards of living; to show ways of preventing sickness and 
practising sound habits of health, sanitation and nutrition; to develop the attitudes 
and habits necessary for adjustment to technology; to develop inquiring minds; to 
teach about, inspire, and make available new ideas; to seek ways of adapting the 
new to the old so as to avoid disruptive consequences. In short, it is the role of education 
to adapt the changes to the local conditions and to give the pupil the best 
grasp of his environment so that he can improve both his own standard of living and 
that of the society (Ukeje, 1978). 
One can see therefore that education determines in such an important way the 
roles that individuals (both men and women) are able to play in society. In fact, as 
Herz (1989a) emphasises, evidence from developed and developing countries 
suggests that education may well be the single most effective way to enhance 
women's economic productivity and promote family well-being. Worldwide, increased 
education for women is associated with improvements in child health and 
reductions in family size. In other words, education is probably the single most 
important way to enable women to break out of old moulds and increase their 
options. Indeed, the social returns from female education - notably better health for 
future generations and slower population growth - far exceed the private benefits
50 JCAnyanwu 
to the parents who pay (Herz, 1989b). Forexample, in Kenya, the evidence on child 
health is startling: among uneducated women aged 35-39 in 1989, above 25% of 
children had died, compared to 2% of the children of mothers with at least primary 
education. Educated women below age 35 also tend to prefer smaller families: by 
1989, of Kenyan women below age 35, those with at least five years of education 
have had, on average, fewer than three births, while women with no education have 
had four to six. The same is generally true in the Nigerian case today - as confirmed 
by arecent study by Mbanefoh (1991). She found out that education is a factor that 
gives women more power than their uneducated counterparts in making decisions 
regarding spacing of births, whether ornotto use birth control devices, and the type 
to use. With these three variables, more educated than illiterate females make a sole 
decision as to use. 
Indeed Michael (1975a) has empirically shown that the educational level of the 
wife has a significant negative association with the number of children. To him, 
education influences fertility through a number of different channels - income, the 
value of time, contraceptive efficacy, and the incentive to invest in human capital 
in children. Also, the role of formal schooling has an additional influence via its 
effect on the efficiency with which families practice contraception. The argument 
rests on the relation between education and efficiency in processing information. 
Since a variety of contraceptive devices are available in the market and since 
innovation and technological changes have been relatively rapid in this area, it 
ought to be true that different levels of formal schooling result in a differential efficiency 
factor in "producing" children. 
At the same time, Leibowitz (1975) empirically shows that the rearing and 
training of children is a relatively highly productive activity for married women 
and that their productivity in this activity is enhanced by formal schooling. A significant 
part of the total return accruing from female schooling may be in the 
subsequent building of skills, knowledge, etc, that they transmit to their own 
children. This result was complemented by Solmon's (1975) finding that the coefficient 
of savings plans, which represents the degree to which such plans are 
carried out, is generally higher for women with higher levels of educational 
attainment, a result consistent with the notion that one of the effects of formal 
schooling is to expand the time horizon of the household and to increase its awareness 
of the future relative to the present 
In addition, Benson (1978) views education as contributing to political democracy. 
Thus, in a free society, education helps women to develop greater awareness 
of, and ability to participate effectively in, the democratic process - as evidenced 
in the number of women seeking elective posts as well as participating in voting 
exercises.
Women's Education and the Use of Bank Credit in Nigeria 51 
There is also the view that women's educational attainment and participation in 
paid employment positively correlates with increased status. Indeed, women's 
education has apositiveeffecton their feelings of self-esteem; the value they attach 
to their personality. They not only learn their worth by observing how others react 
to them, praise them and blame them, but the higher their social status the more 
likely they evaluate themselves positively. Such self-esteem also constitutes part 
of other goals such as increased equality, social justice and cultural consciousness. 
In the final analysis education increases women's self-esteem in relation to work, 
family and friends (Willen, 1988). 
Mbanefoh (1991) also confirms that women's educational qualifications are 
positively correlated to their participation in decision-making and hence educated 
women are more in control of their domestic activities than their less qualified 
counterparts. She also confirmed that the more education women have the more 
they are willing to spend on their children's education and feeding. This has 
implications for human resource-building in terms of nutritional intake and educational 
training. The findings suggest that the literate appear to appreciate more 
the value of education and the need for good nutrition. This also underscores the 
importance of maternal education for the future development of human resources 
for national development. Furthermore, as Mbanefoh's results revealed, women's 
education and their income positively correlate. Most educated women with good 
employment and salary levels contribute almost equally with their husbands to 
household expenditures. Such a phenomenon lessons the financial burden on the 
man, improves standards of living and increases the decision-making power of the 
women. 
The State of Women's Education in Nigeria and Their Use of 
Bank Credit 
UNESCO notes that approximately two-thirds of the world's illiterate adult population 
are women, and even in countries with a high literacy level women are 
significantly under-represented in positions of educational authority (UNESCO, 
(1984). In most nations, curriculum development, instructional design and methodology, 
administration and textbook authorship are conducted primarily from the 
perspectives of male educators. Also, at the primary school level 52% of the 
world's teachers are female (Taylor, 1985), but principals, superintendents and 
others in decision and policy-making positions, at all levels of schooling, are predominantly 
male (Shakeshaft, 1986). In the same vein, school enrolments and 
educational attainment levels indicate a continuation of the biases against females 
with a disturbing rise in the imbalance: in 1950 there were 27 million more boys
52 JCAnyanwu 
than girls enrolled in primary and secondary levels of education; by 1985 there 
were 80 million more boys than girls enrolled at the same levels, while in 
developing nations two-thirds of the women over the age of 25 (and about half the 
men) have never been to school (Sivard, 1985). 
In addition, in most nations, females are still undereducated - relative both to 
males and to their own needs. Even in nations which show a commitment to 
providing more access to education for women, much work remains to be done to 
improve the quality of education. The question has been posed by Kelly & Elliot 
(1982) in this way: 
"Does education enable women to widen their roles beyond the household, 
mitigating the impact of marriage, child bearing, and child rearing on 
women's participation and status in social, economic, and political life?". 
Despite the rhetoric towards equal opportunity in education, Fennema & Ayer 
(1984) have argued that equal access to a male-biased education cannot be 
construed as an advance for women. Thus, instead of calling for equality in education, 
we should be seeking equity - allowing for curriculum diversity which addresses 
the needs of various student constituencies and which takes socially 
inherited inequities into account. In other words, we should be concerned with the 
planning of curricula which not only respects female interests and experience, but 
also challenges gender-dichotomous role and value systems, which place defacto 
limitations on women's aspirations and expectations. Education in many nations 
so far has demanded that women shall ha ve the same learning opportunities as men. 
However, both the overt and the hidden curricula have issued clear messages that 
it is men, not women, who are being trained to conduct the world's business 
(Chisholm & Holland, 1986); women only need to learn how to cook, clean and 
care for babies and other people. The basic premises of education continue to 
reflect patriarchal imperatives. Indeed, since it has been primarily men who have 
determined the parameters, who have decided what would be problematic, significant, 
logical and reasonable, not only have women been excluded from the process 
but the process itself reinforces the "authority" of men and the "deficiency" of 
women (see Spender, 1981). 
In the Nigerian context, the male-female imbalance, particularly at the tertiary 
education level, is reflected not only in the numerical strength in participation in 
selection examinations, but also in admission, and subscription into science and 
science-related disciplines. For example, with the exception of Anambra, Enugu, 
Imo, Abia and Akwa Ibom States, the female enrolment into Nigeria's tertiary institutions 
falls below expectations. Even in these states it is not a deliberate attempt, 
nor an encouragement for women's education that yielded that result
Women's Education and the Use of Bank Credit in Nigeria 53 
In the states indicated above, after primary (in a few cases, secondary) education, 
the male children prefer to go into business or to learn trade skills for early 
gainful employment while the women further their education. However, as Mustapha 
(1991) notes, none of the Nigerian states have even a 40% female participation 
in the Joint Matriculation Entrance Examinations - some states like Sokoto 
only have 11,3% of female candidates seeking university admission through the 
JME examinations. Even with states that can boast of about 40% female participation 
in these examinations, only about 25% of them actually gain admission. Also, 
most of the female entrants participate in the Humanities and very few of them 
subscribe to science and science-based disciplines, not to mention technologybased 
subjects. 
Equally the rate of dropouts for females from primary to secondary school is 
alarming, ie less than 30% of girls move from primary to secondary school. This 
high rate of drop-outs is attributable to lack of finance, early marriage, improper 
counselling, inadequate facilities, cultural beliefs/practices, etc. There are social 
pressures that militate against the progress of women educationally. When there is 
financial crisis in the family, girls are the first to be forced to leave school. In a 
gender-structured society (like Nigeria) education is crucial in ensuring that males 
achieve positions of greater economic rewards, power, prestige and authority 
(than females). 
Although literacy levels had improved with the percentage of age group enrolment 
in primary schools rising from 32% in 1965 to 97% in 1980, a significant 
proportion of the rural unemployed labour force who are completely illiterate are 
women (Awoseyila, etal, 1990). Also, the proportion of females per 100 males of 
the population in primary and secondary schools were 63 and 51 in 1965, a situation 
which improved marginally to 79 and 80, respectively, in 1987. 
Despite the Better life Programme, adult literacy programmes and vocational 
training, preliminary estimates showed that these ratios only improved to 81 and 
83, respectively, in 1989. 
Also, most existing training, unhappily, accentuates gender inequality, as the 
only training to which Nigerian women often have access are in the so-called 
"feminine occupations" of health, nutrition, serving, handicrafts, childcare and 
home economics. Though these are necessary skills they do not enable women to 
participate equally in the development process. Thus, women need to be helped to 
develop their income-earning capacity; trained in business acumen leadership, 
technological development, and decision-making. 
A recent survey by the author (Anyanwu, 1991) confirms the educational disadvantage 
of women with respect to their use of credit from commercial banks in 
Nigeria. The results of the study show that Nigerian women are not really discriminated 
against on the basis of gender in approving credit applications. There are
54 JCAnyanwu 
actually few women applicants due mainly to lack of awareness of the benefits of 
credit facilities - emanating from limited education (as evidenced by low enrolment 
and literacy levels), few women in business, and dependence on their 
husbands as breadwinners.Out of five selected banks, for example, there were 
1,277 male credit applicants in 1988 and 1989 while there wereonly 31 femaleapplicants 
within the same period. To further show that gender discrimination is not 
the main problem, out of 378 women surveyed, only 38 women applied for credit; 
yet 23 of them received credit (some twice or more) on their own merit. 
Another important theme emerging from the study is the role of existing 
education in socialising women into passivity and the acceptanceof a conventional 
female role. The other theme is the emphasis by women on education for intrinsic 
results such as personal development as opposed to perceiving education as a path 
to material and occupational mobility. Both of these aspects may be seen as potentially 
weakening rather than strengthening female status. 
Policy Implications and Challenges for the Twenty First Century 
The above analysis has far-reaching implications generally. An important insight 
gleaned from it is that contrary to popular belief, Nigerian women do not have 
limited access to Commercial Bank credit facilities; rather few of them are aware 
of, ready and willing to avail themselves of the benefits of such facilities in the 
banks. The implication is that education, along with income generation capacity, 
is perceived as the key to the golden door of success and equal participation in development 
process. It is not only true that women need education to be able to participate 
in Nigerian society, but it is also true that the nature of that education must 
be changed as we see in the recommendations below. 
Another implication is that gender analysis and restructuring eligibility criteria 
and delivery systems are central to increasing women's participation in credit programmes, 
and to the productive activities those programmes support. 
The analysis also has implications for monetary and financial policy in a number 
of respects. Firstly the monetary authorities should be in a better position to know 
what might be the likely real effects of their monetary policies geared towards encouraging 
women in development Secondly, analysis of how women make use of 
bank credit facilities might permit some assessment of the relative effectiveness of 
various financial instruments in personal/group financing, and how the longerterm 
development of the money market might be best served in an economy that 
is apparently predominantly female, population-wise. Thirdly, government can 
then formulate and implement policies to be incorporated in the operational 
guidelines of banks and development plans, which will ease women's access to 
banks' credit facilities. Fourthly, the Central Bank of Nigeria can subsequently
Women's Education and the Use of Bank Credit in Nigeria 55 
formulate and implement monetary and credit policies and guidelines that will not 
only raise women's access to credit but will also raise their overall participation in 
the development process. 
Also, both bank promotional planners and Government planners may have to 
develop target market segments or specific marketing mix designs and programmes 
meant to attract more women customers/borrowers. The author, therefore, 
proffers the following recommendations: 
(a) The Federal Government must spearhead an educational campaign to teach 
all women that their financial survival may depend on their ability to use their 
credit rights. In fact, of high priority in increasing women's access to credit 
facilities is education and information, since most women are not just uninformed 
but ill-informed about credit facilities. Many women are notknowledgeable 
about the technicalities employed by banks, hence this information 
would empower them to prepare good feasibility reports which would better 
qualify them for bank credit. 
Also, it is only education and information that can prevent misappropriation 
of funds, ensure that women make appropriate returns and teach them 
proper accounting procedures as well a furnish them with better ways of reinvesting 
profits, which would result in expansion for greater effect. Since 
little will be achieved without strong Government backing given the sensitivity 
of the issue, sustainable efforts require continued official support from 
Finance and Economic Development, and line Ministries, as well as institutions 
specifically dealing with women such as the National Commission on 
Women. 
In the process, therefore, government and women's organisations should 
provide training for and administrative support to women in accounting and 
economic planning, and minimise bureaucratic requirements. 
(b) A corollary of the above is the need for curricula review/change to make 
room for real literacy or acquisition of critical consciousness. In most 
advanced nations, education can be a stepping stone to economic selfsufficiency, 
but the Nigerian educational system (like other developing 
nations) is a relic of her colonial past, and irrelevant to the needs of most 
people, especially women. The education is too general in which case women 
have access only to the lowest paid jobs. Economically, even such education 
is beyond the means of most Nigerians especially in an era of SAP. 
Today, if a child has to be educated, preference is given to the male child, who 
is considered a better asset in terms of financial returns. For the affluent, 
educating women is an exercise that will raise their price in the marriage 
market 
Thus, if education is to have any value for women, it must be a means to 
raise their consciousness about the structures that keep them in a position of
56 JCAnyanwu 
powerlessness. Our educational system must provide a climate for such 
thinking skills to develop, and provide women with the tools to understand 
and analyse the true nature of the social, political and economic systems that 
govern their lives. If our women are to be change agents in society the 
education offered them must be a tool for consciousness-raising and action. 
The end-result cannot be brought about by learning the 3Rs or being drilled 
in nutrition and family planning. Goals should be established to eradicate 
illiteracy and raise consciousness during the decade for women and development, 
1991-2000. 
(c) The commercial banks also need to move out to meet and inform the people 
instead of waiting for women who are too shy to seek professional advice on 
credits. This will also help to short-circuit the dynamics of gender-based 
dualism and allow the productivity of both women and men to contribute to 
the economy as a whole. 
(d) Currently, the pedagogical/didactic theories underlying the development of 
most course materials are characterised by an unexamined assumption of 
sex-neutrality, and a differentiation in learning styles between women and 
men is virtually ignored. Therefore, the introduction of a more womencentred 
pedagogy will have to come from educators experienced in and 
committed to feminist teaching styles, drawing on knowledge gained from 
involvement in women's affairs and applying that knowledge to evolving 
curriculum and methodologies of women's education. 
(e) Also, for equity in the educational enterprise, it is not merely a question of 
improving the chances of women to compete in a man's world but there is 
need for a radical change in the nature of what is being offered. This implies, 
at least an equal share in its control, at least an equal share in the determination 
of what counts as valuable knowledge within it, and at least an 
equal recognition that what is important about women's experience of the 
world is as valid as men's. In fact, without this, notions of "equity of 
opportunities" are essentially rhetorical. 
(f) Faculties/Schools of Education and the Social Sciences must continue to 
contribute in the quest for practical solutions to the problems affecting 
women and their roles. In this sense, they can serve as catalysts for research 
by identifying areas in need of further explorations. They can, through 
experimentation develop new methodologies and conceptual frameworks 
which can more realistically deal with gender issues affecting the lives of 
women in the country. Such new approaches should incorporate revised or 
new assumptions more adequate for the study of the situation of women vis-
Women's Education and the Use of Bank Credit in Nigeria 57 
a-vis men. The objectives of such research should include: to pursue applied 
research based on needs specified by relevant groups/ people/women to 
generate teaching data and materials; to develop research which can beused 
to influence policy and planning and to encourage people's participation in 
their communities which will ultimately help them to change their situation; 
and to encourage experimentation with innovative research methodologies 
and dissemination methods. 
Also, the Faculties/Schools can contribute to curriculum development by 
designing courses or teaching modules which focus on issues peculiar to 
women and their roles. They can continue to build up a data base on 
Nigerian women, as well as on women from contrasting or comparative 
cultures, which will support teaching in the area of women. Thus, both in 
curricula design and teaching and in research development, women's 
studies programmes would contribute to the understanding of their role in the 
economy. In fact the area of women's studies presents a great challenge 
to all the Social Sciences and Education disciplines, hence engendering a 
recognition of the value of interdisciplinary approaches to a complex topic. 
It certainly has implications for both men and women, as the roles of women 
can hardly be changed without a corresponding change in the roles of men. 
(g) There is also the need to set up separate "Women and Development Studies 
Programmes" in all our tertiary institutions. The objectives of the programme 
should include: to help build and increase an awareness of women and development 
issues throughout the country; to promote active collaboration 
between all groups and agencies concerned with the integration of women in 
the socioeconomic development of the country; to provide opportunities for 
training and sensitising people outside of the institutional system, as well as 
through the formal education system through curriculum development and 
training of trainers; to forge links with women's organisations in the 
community and disseminate information through these organisations; to 
develop special courses on women's issues to meet the needs of special 
groups; to provide short-term technical assistance in development programmes 
for women in the country; and to assist in the development of pilot 
projects. It needs to be emphasised that such studies on women must avoid 
the luxury of narcissism - they must be neither limited nor self-reflexive. 
Indeed, it must be seen as a means to the end of an accurate understanding of 
men and women, of sex and gender, of large patterns in the social context. 
It is hoped that with the adoption of these recommendations, women's overall 
position within Nigerian society, and their contribution to development, will 
improve significantly.
58 JCAnyanwu 
References 
Anyanwu, J C (1988) "The Contributions of Merchant Banks to Agricultural 
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