A writer and renowned communications strategist, Ogochukwu Eloike, has addressed gender inequality in her new book titled ‘Ichabod’.
Eloike in a statement on Friday in Lagos called for societal change and a pivot from gender stereotypes.
The book is a narration of the feminine experience and how these experiences are being trivialised by society, thus widening the gender gap.
It provides practicable roles the society and individuals can play in entrenching equity and ameliorating gender wariness which has been on the rise in recent times.
To launch the book, the author kick-started hashtags campaign #Ichabod and #ImEnough to give women a voice and platform to share their life experiences in relation to manifestations of gender inequity and shortfalls.
According to her, through the hashtags, women and girls can share their experiences as girls and young adults living in patriarchal societies and how these experiences have shaped their life decisions thus far.
“The term Ichabod has biblical connotation which means lost glory and it is used as the book title to allude to various ways we have gotten the training and raising of the girls wrong by paying much tribute to male children across various touchpoints.
“Understandably, in recent times, we have a series of activities designed to celebrate girls and women, but, our socio-cultural foundation remains patriarchal.
“For instance, in the Nigerian political environment, the senate unanimously voted against a gender-balanced house in 2021.
“The action clearly depicts the perception of women as unequal and undeserving of leadership positions even when existing and emerging data shows that women, in some contexts are better leaders.
She said the book was a direct and honest analysis of current gender disparity situations, not just in Nigeria but across the globe.
The author revealed that she used real-life data garnered online and offline to measure various drivers of abuses, dissatisfaction, and perceived/established differences amongst both genders.
She said the insights from the book allow for a direct call to action for women as emerging data depict a rapid increase in gender-based violence especially by spouses or close family members.
“It is my hope that this book will trigger some sort of paradigm shift in various societies so that as people, we would pay more attention to the needs of each other instead of trying to subjugate and exert authority over one another,” she added.
The book also highlighted the imperative for various stakeholders starting from families to look beyond the status quo and become more involved in addressing foundational causes of misogyny.
“Unhappy mothers are most likely to raise unhappy children.
“Institutions like government parastatals and religious establishments are also required to put in place structures that would test and allow for equity and help in actively bridging the gap created by gender disparity,” the statement read.
Eloike is an astute and established communications strategist, a radical feminist, an audacious Christian and an education reforms advocate with over a decade of experience as a communications consultant for both local and multinational brands.
Her book, Ichabod, was published by Parresia Publishers Ltd, under the Origami imprint.
