SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AMONG WOMEN IN JOS, PLATEAU STATE: THE PLACE OF SKILL ACQUISITION

OKOYE, Ngozi
National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, Plateau State
meetngee@gmail.com
AMEHOJO, Daniel
Department of Public Administration
Nasarawa State University, Keffi
amdan59@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Women are noted globally as the main support for socio-economic development; and in Nigeria, women
constitute a large portion of the population. However, women have been continually marginalized from
many spheres of life, even as they face challenges of lack of education, low financial empowerment, and
cultural norms that limit their participation in economic activities. This is seen in the visible disparity in
socio-economic and political status of women in the country. Although some progress has been recorded
in the last decade on efforts to address the challenges faced by women in Nigeria, more is still desired in
the fight for women’s skill acquisition and inclusion in key decision-making processes. This has often
sparked insightful debates across Nigeria, as advocates call for involvement of more women in the
country’s socio-economic development affairs. Consequently, this paper probed the problem of skill
acquisition and socio-economic development of women in Jos, Plateau State, including challenges and
prospects. Using the Rostow theory, which advocates for gender equality in socio-economic participation
to enhance growth, this paper analyzed the challenges and achievements of women in socio-economic
development, using secondary data sourced from journals, books, the internet, etc. The study concludes
that women inclusion in socio-economic development will promote socio-economic dividends and growth
in Jos in particular, and Nigeria in general.
Keywords: Rostow’s theory, self-sufficiency, socio-economic development, skill acquisition