NOUN Don Advocates Gender-sensitive Policies

A professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Yemisi Ibiwunmi Ogunlela, has called for gender-sensitive public policies and transformative administration to address inequality and ensure equitable opportunities for men and women to contribute to national development.

Ogunlela made while delivering the university’s 44th inaugural lecture, titled “She Is a Beautiful Baby Girl, He Is a Bouncing Baby Boy: Implications for Public Policy and Development Administration”.

The professor, of the Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, argued that gender inequality extends beyond cultural beliefs and individual discrimination to the structures and practices of public institutions.

She noted that policies and institutional arrangements often translate biological differences into unequal access to education, healthcare, employment and leadership opportunities.

According to her, everyday expressions used to describe newborns reflect societal expectations that can shape their lives from childhood. While girls are commonly associated with beauty and domestic responsibilities, boys are linked to strength and achievement.

She explained that when these descriptions become entrenched expectations, they can influence educational and career choices, professional advancement and access to leadership positions.

Highlighting Nigeria’s gender-related development challenges, Ogunlela identified maternal mortality, women’s limited participation in decisions about their reproductive health and their underrepresentation in political leadership as issues requiring urgent attention.

She stressed that these challenges should be addressed through effective public administration, institutional reforms and respect for human rights, alongside cultural and healthcare interventions.

Ogunlela warned that policies presented as gender-neutral could perpetuate inequality if they failed to account for the different circumstances of men and women.

She cited promotion systems that reward uninterrupted career progression, explaining that such arrangements could disadvantage women, who often bear a disproportionate share of unpaid caregiving responsibilities.

To address these disparities, she urged governments and public institutions to collect and use gender-disaggregated data to identify inequalities and design policies that respond to the needs of different population groups.

She also advocated a shift from what she described as “reproductive administration”, which sustains existing practices, to “transformative administration”, which critically examines established systems and seeks fairer and more effective outcomes.

Her recommendations included integrating gender considerations into development plans, investing in the girl child, improving maternal and reproductive healthcare, and strengthening collaboration among ministries responsible for health, education, infrastructure and finance.

She further urged policymakers to move beyond treating everyone identically and provide support that reflects differing needs while removing the structural barriers that sustain inequality.

“The goal,” she explained, “is not to make men and women identical but to ensure that a child’s sex does not determine the quality of opportunities available to them.”

In his remarks, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, described inaugural lectures as important platforms for sharing knowledge, examining national challenges and contributing to policy development.

He noted that the lectures provide scholars with opportunities to present their research findings and propose solutions to problems affecting society.

Mafiana commended Ogunlela for highlighting the relationship between gender relations, public policy and national development. He described the issues raised as relevant to Nigeria’s development priorities and emphasised the need to translate research findings into practical measures that improve governance and institutional performance.