Women, Political Corruption and First Ladyship in Nigeria

Despite the international campaigns and conferences held on the need to enhance gender equality in every facet of human endeavor, there is still a wide gap between the level of women's and men's participations in politics and decisionmaking positions in Nigeria. One of the ways women participate in politics is by playing the role of first ladies. This paper, therefore, examines women's participation in politics, political corruption vis-à-vis first ladies' roles in Nigeria. Anchored on feminist theory as its theoretical framework, the paper made use of secondary sources of data, such as textbooks, journals, reports on international conferences, conventions and agencies, internet sources, magazines and newspapers. Findings revealed that the first ladies initiate pet projects to showcase themselves in public, use the office for personal aggrandizement and promote the agenda of their husbands in power. These projects serve as means of looting the state treasury, thus having negative implications on the socio-political development of Nigeria. This paper concluded that, although the pet projects are aimed at achieving developmental objectives, they are means of official looting of the state treasury, thereby having debilitating implications on national development of the Nigerian state. It is therefore recommended among others that the culture of good governance be practiced to check the malfeasance of the first ladies in governance in Nigeria.