The document is a keynote speech given by Dr. Adepeju Oti at the 55th North-South Conference of the Soroptimist International comparing gender-based barriers faced by women in Nigeria and Ireland. It discusses barriers to women's education, employment, and political leadership that exist due to social and religious factors in both countries. While some progress has been made towards achieving gender equality goals, women in Nigeria and Ireland continue to face significant barriers in overcoming discrimination and achieving their full potential. The speech calls for concerted efforts to dismantle barriers, support women's empowerment, and create a more equal society for both women and men.

1. KEYNOTE
AT THE 55TH NORTH-SOUTH CONFERENCE OF THE SOROPTIMIST
INTERNATIONAL
(NORTHERN IRELAND/UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND.
MAY 21, 2022; IRELAND
Women Without Barriers: Nigeria and Ireland
Adepeju Oti, PhD.
Department of Arts and Social Science Education
Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria

2. PROTOCOL
 The National Association President Miriam Murphy Wood
(Soroptimist International, Republic of Ireland).
 The Regional President Violet Bowler (Soroptimist Northern
Ireland), distinguished Club Executives, the academic
community, University College, Cork, Ireland, Lead City
University, Ibadan, Nigeria, distinguished ladies and
gentlemen.
 I am greatly delighted to give the keynote titled: “Women
without Barriers” at this 55th North-South Conference of the
Soroptimist International (Northern Ireland/United Kingdom
and Ireland.

3.  Adepeju Oti, graduated with honours in French from
University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria (1991).
 She holds a PGDE, Master’s and Ph.D. Degrees in
Sociology of Education from the University of Ibadan,
Nigeria (1999, 2001, 2012)
 She served as a consultant with the World Bank, Abuja, on
the FADAMA II Project (2006-2007)
 She taught at Early Childhood as well as 3 tiers of
education and occupied leadership roles in for profit, non-
profit and faith-based organisations (1998-2011).
 She is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Arts and
Social Science Education, Lead City University, Ibadan,
Nigeria.
 She founded the Global Youth and Girl Child Foundation
(GYLGF) RC. 71641 in August 2014.
 Dr Oti is a Fellow of the Pan African Institute for
Development, Buea, Cameroon (1997)
 A certified Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation
Trainer (2014;2019;2020) and Fellow of the University of
Rhode Island, Kingston, USA.
 A Fellow of the Council for the Development of Social
Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).
 Facilitator of the British Council Active Citizens Program
 She is an Author, a Teacher, Speaker, Life coach,
Biographer, Publisher, a wife and Mother.

Dr. Adepeju Oti

4. OUTLINE
 The International Women’s day 2022: Break the
Barriers/Bias
 The concept of Barrier
 A look at the Bible: why do women and girls
experience social barriers worldwide?
 Types of gender-based barriers in Ireland and
Nigeria: 8 years to SDGs realization; any progress
 Overcoming barriers; creating an equal society
 Breaking boundaries: The Narratives of a
Quintessential Woman
 Recommendations
 Conclusion

5. THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2022: BREAK THE BIAS/BOUNDARY

6. THE CONCEPT OF BARRIER
 Literarily speaking, a barrier is something material that
blocks or is intended to block passage (Merriam Webster,
2022).
 A very good example of a physical barrier known to us all;
is a door which permits or denies entry. I remember a song
my Mum thought me while I was a little child;
“One door and only one;
But, yet the sides are two
Inside and outside
On which side are you?” (C.J.A., Aderogba, 1982)
 We all have doors in our homes, some having locks and
some don’t depending on the activities that go on behind
those doors. Therefore barriers are neither good nor bad
depending on the context.
 Barriers can be erected to prevent accident, hurting of
one’s self and other people and sometimes to create space
and differentiate between insiders and outsiders.
 In most establishments if you are an insider, you’re given a
code, a card, a pin, or a key for entry.

7. A LOOK AT THE BIBLE: WHY DO WOMEN AND GIRLS EXPERIENCE SOCIAL BARRIERS
WORLDWIDE?
 Genesis 2:22 Woman created from Adam's rib
 3:16 Woman cursed: maternity a sin, marriage a bondage
 19:1–8 Rape virgins instead of male angels
 Exodus 20:17 Insulting Tenth Commandment
 21:7–11 Unfair rules for female servants, may be sex slaves
 22:18 "Thou shall not suffer a witch to live"
 38:8 Women may not enter tabernacle they must support
 Leviticus 12:1–14 Women who have sons are unclean 7
days
 12:4–7 Women who have daughters are unclean 14 days
 15:19–23 Menstrual periods are unclean
 19:20–22 If master has sex with engaged woman, she shall
be scourged
 Numbers 1:2 Poll of people only includes men
 5:13–31 Barbaric adulteress test
 31:16–35 "Virgins" listed as war booty
 Deuteronomy 21:11–14 Rape manual
 22:5 Abomination for women to wear men's garments, vice-
versa
 22:13–21 Barbaric virgin test
 22:23–24 Woman raped in city, she & her rapist both stoned
to death
 22:28–29 Woman must marry her rapist
 24:1 Men can divorce woman for "uncleanness," not vice-
versa
 25:11–12 If woman touches foe's penis, her hand shall be
cut off
 Judges 11:30-40 Jephthah's nameless daughter sacrificed
 19:22–29 Concubine sacrificed to rapist crowd to save man
 I Kings 11:1–4 King Solomon had 700 wives & 300
concubines
 Job 14:1–4 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
not one . . ."
 Proverbs 7:9–27 Evil women seduce men, send them to
hell
 11:22 One of numerous Proverbial putdowns
 Ezekiel 16:45 One of numerous obscene denunciations
 Matthew 24:19 "[woe] to them that are with child"
 Luke 2:22 Mary unclean after birth of Jesus
 I Corinthians 11:3–15 Man is head of woman; only man in
God's image
 14:34–35 Women keep in silence, learn only from husbands
 Ephesians 5:22–33 "Wives, submit . . ."
 Colossians 3:18 More "wives submit"
 I Timothy 2:9 Women adorn selves in shamefacedness
 2:11–14 Women learn in silence in all subjection; Eve was
sinful, Adam blameless

8. A LOOK AT THE BIBLE: WHY DO WOMEN AND GIRLS EXPERIENCE
SOCIAL BARRIERS WORLDWIDE? CONT.
 But the man and woman, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. God gave
each of them punishments before evicting them from the Garden:
 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will
give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which
I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and
thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you
will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust
you are and to dust you will return." (NIV, Genesis 3:16-19)
 It is not clear in what sense the husband was to rule over his wife, and this been the
subject of much debate. Regardless of how Eve's punishment was originally intended,
this passage is key to understanding later Biblical teachings about women. The
punishments on both Adam and Eve were clearly imposed by God Himself; God did
not reduce women to inferior status, nor did He command men to rule harshly over
their wives.
 However, in the course of history, it has sometimes been thought that God's
punishment of Eve was justification for degradation and subjugation of women.
 While the wife was commanded to defer to her husband; the husband was
commanded to love his wife and even die for her; if the need arises (Ephesians 5: 28-
33).

9. JESUS BROKE SOME BARRIERS
 Jesus related publicly with women and even discussing theological ideas
with women. „
 Jesus Broke gender taboos. †
 The women who anointed Jesus (Matt 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8;
Luke 7:36-50).
 The woman who had menstrual bleeding for 12 years (Luke 8: 43-48); „Syro-
Phoenician woman (Matt 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-39)
 Samaritan woman (John 4:7-12)
 Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42; John11:20-33)
 Ephesians 5:21 – “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
faith, … There is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
 “For as the woman [is] of the man, even so [is] the man also by the woman;
but all things of God.” — 1 Corinthians 11:12
 "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has
destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility..." — Ephesians 2:14
 "Love your neighbor as yourself, there is no greater commandment than
this." Mark 12:31

10. INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE: SDGS: 2030

11. GENDER-BASED BARRIERS TO EDUCATION IN IRELAND

13. EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
 Literacy UNESCO defines a literate person as one who
can with understanding both read and write a short,
simple statement on his/her everyday life, and an
illiterate person as one who cannot with understanding
both read and write a short simple statement in his/her
daily life.
 Percentage of literacy rate among female and male
age 15-24 years was 59.3 per cent and 70.9 per cent
respectively.

14.  Table 2: Percentage of Women and Men age 15-24
years who are literate (2016-17) Zone Female Male
North West 38.0 57.5 North East 41.9 53.1 North
Central 62.0 76.4 South West 92.6 93.7 South-
South 94.8 95.0 South East 95.4 94.3 Source: NBS
(2018). Statistical report on women and men in
Nigeria. National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja,
5(7),13-23

15. POLITICAL LEADERSHIP, NIGERIA

16. POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
 Currently only seven out of 109 senators and 22 of
the 360 House of Representatives members are
women.

17. BARRIERS TO WOMEN’S WORK
 In every country around the world women face multiple barriers
and gender-based discrimination in the work place. The
discrimination sets in early—from the kind of education girls get
or till which age, to the kind of work they are channeled into. In
both private and public spheres, women face occupational
segregation, and multiple barriers—such as lack of access to
land, capital, financial resources and technology, as well as
gender-based violence—due to cultural mindsets and
stereotypes. These obstacles make it harder for women to get on
an equal footing with men in the world of work. Legal barriers
further compound gender inequalities.
 While legal frameworks covering sexual harassment in
employment do exist in 114 economies, enforcement and access
to justice is still slow and challenging.
 In 155 out of 173 economies, at least one gender-based legal
restriction exists on women’s employment and entrepreneurship.

18. WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

19. WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT IN IRELAND

20. SDGS REALIZATION- 2030: ANY PROGRESS?
 Nigeria has a population of over 200 million according to the UNFPA.
 According to The World Poverty Clock, Nigeria has over 90 million poor people
and has overtaken India as the world’s poverty headquarters.
 This figure translates to over 50 per cent of Nigerians suffering from extreme
poverty.
 The National Bureau of Statistics says 22.64 million youths aged 15 and 35
bracket are unemployed while yearly the number is increasing considering the
number of youth passing out from higher institutions without a ready job.
 Areas needing attention include poverty, health, power, and security.
 However, Ending Poverty (SDG-1), health and well-being (SDG-3),
education (SDG-4), and an inclusive economy (SDG-8), gender equality
(SDG-5); enabling environment of peace and security (SDG-16) and
partnerships (SDG-17) appear to be given greater priority by the Government
as outlined in the 2nd Voluntary National Report (2020); (LIP SERVICE)
 Gender equality bill presented to Senate for the 2nd time was struck out by the
majority Nigerian male dominated Senate. It was first presented in 2015.

21. SDGS REALIZATION- 2030: ANY PROGRESS?
IRELAND

22. SDGS REALIZATION- 2030: ANY PROGRESS?
IRELAND

23. OVERCOMING BARRIERS
 1. Talk to women and girls
 2. Mentorship
 3. Stop child marriage and sexual harassment
 4. Make education gender sensitive
 5. Raise aspirations of girls and their parents
 6. Empower mothers
 7. Give proper value to ‘women’s work’
 8. Get women into power
 9. Encourage women into non-traditional vocations
 10. Work together
 11. Stop the violence
 12. Beware the backlash
 13. Mainstream gender equality in school system
 14. Affirmative actions/quota system
 15. Women supporting women

24. REFLECTION

25. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Boundaries-
Adepeju-Aderogba-Oti-ebook/dp/B08XC2B1V9
These narratives remind of stories we are all too
familiar with: stories of our mothers, aunties, sisters
and many a female we know. It celebrates the
highs, lows, joys, frustrations, set backs, and
accomplishments of the author, events which also
mirror the experiences of womanity.
Unabashedly, funny sometimes and butting when it
comes to calling out patriarchy and socio-cultural
barriers against women, this autobiography is a
celebration of and a triumph for the indefatigable
spirit of womanhood.
The writer reminisces and takes us on a journey:
her Jamaican-Nigerian pedigree her appreciation of
her father's role as the first positive male figure in
her life, her pride in her mother's entrepreneurial
and go getting spirit which she inherited, her early
motherhood and marriage and her determination to
be much more than a wife and mother.
There stories will inspire young women everywhere
to aspire to be the best version of themselves and
to be unafraid to high standards all round.
Join me in getting this book into the hands of 5000
Nigerian girls and 2000 Irish women and girls.

26. CONCLUSION
 From where we stand; we should purse, re-think reflect on where we had
been, where we are and where we ought to be.
 Gender inequality and barriers are man-made, and it is in the interest of the
society at large to dismantle the barriers. Development of every society is
the responsibility of both male and female. If creation wanted it otherwise; it
could have made us single sex.
 To sum it all up; we are not here we ought to be as humanity, for as long as
girls are denied education, married off as child brides, sexually violated,
women take unequal pay for equal job, women are denied equal citizenship
rights, women are denied rights over their bodies and are rarity in the
boardroom and leadership positions. As long as the Taliban stop secondary
education and enforce women to cover their faces in public. As long as girls
have to go to SECRET SCHOOLS.
 It is high time women are compensated for unpaid job and forbearing the
burden of raising future generation.
 The integration of gender issues into all aspects of policy and planning and a
mix of legislative change, advocacy and community mobilization is needed.
 None compliant nations need to be sanctioned.