Social construction of manhood and male prerogatives in fertility decision-making within Northern Nigeria: development implications

Abstract

Social and economic development of nations had been conceived to be connected to the
size of national populations. In the past few decades, the population of states within
northern Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented growth in manners that set social and
economic development in reverse within the region. Persistent high fertility rate had
been identified as a major determinant of population growth in northern Nigeria.
Within the northern Nigerian society, there are normative principles, institutions and
beliefs that determine decisions concerning who resolves: when to have sex, to use
contraceptives, spacing of children, and the number of children to have. Data for this
paper was generated in a survey involving 1000 households across communities of
Kibiya Local Government Area of Kano State Nigeria. The paper examines the
overbearing role of men in fertility decision-making and how this has influenced
persistent high-population rates within northern Nigeria. Findings confirmed that men
dominantly decide where, when, and how to have sex, use contraceptives, space
children; and the number of children to have. Thus, majority of women within northern
Nigeria have remained economically poor and marginalized, with stroppy access to
power, wealth and prestige. The paper concludes that the drive towards improving
maternal and reproductive health within northern Nigeria depends largely on the active
co-operation and participation of men - as household heads and sex determinants, they
occupy a strategic place in restructuring institutional power relations relating to
reproductive health. Thus, non-formal educational programmes that foster men’s
commitment and joint responsibility in all areas of sexual and reproductive health
should be organized by governmental, non-governmental and community-based
organizations for men within northern Nigeria.

Keywords: Reproductive health, maleness, SDGs, gender inequality, population growth