ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the emergence of wifeism and the bureaucratization of women's concerns in Nigeria through state involvement, especially since the early 1980s. It analyses the relations between state-sponsored women's programs and autonomous groups in the women's movement. The chapter explores the implications all these issues have for developing and moving forward a truly emancipatory feminist agenda in Nigeria. Two well-known examples of women's activism are the Aba women's riot of 1929 and the Egba women's protest of 1947. The government influences every sector of Nigerian life through layers of administrative structures that reach far into rural areas. Throughout Nigerian history, numerous individual women have gained national prominence in their own right. It is also the case that wives of men in certain occupations have had ceremonial responsibilities. In Nigeria there is general agreement that there is a women's movement comparable to other social movements with a visible presence around the country.
