VOL. 5, NO. 1March 2017

WORDOC N E W S L E T T E R

WOMEN’S RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTRE

INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

Editor: Sharon Adetutu Omotoso

Associate Editors: Seun Olutayo

Abiola Ayodokun

OD CR @OW

EDITORIAL It is amazing how time flies. The good news is that the little seed sown in recent past has grown and taken root. WORDOC is 30!

It's been thirty years of providing focus for Women's Studies, networking scholars across borders, as well as documenting and disseminating

women's research. These objectives have grown with time to encompass furnishing wider perspectives as indicated by the birthing of the

Gender Studies programme of the Institute of African Studies and allied Gender Units at the University of Ibadan. WORDOC members are

also dispersed across the globe, making positive impacts in various spheres.

As with all human endeavours, the road has not been easy. WORDOC has benefitted from vibrant years of massive support and goodwill

from international agencies, local and regional institutions, governments, as well as well-meaning individuals. WORDOC has also sustained

seasons of limited support from relevant quarters and has managed to survive through thick and thin. We were there when the struggles for

women's emancipation, rights, empowerment, recognition, participation and inclusion intensified in the early 1990s. We have seen the

situation improve, although other issues have emerged in the constant struggle for gender justice. Today, WORDOC is a well of wealth with

regard to information and approaches to a perfect understanding of women's research. The WORDOC Library has served and remains

invaluable to scholars and researchers across the globe. Indeed, we are grateful to our s/heroes who committed life and time to this worthy

cause, and to our matriarchs who made sacrifices in numerous ways so that women today enjoy the dividends of dedication.

We cannot ignore how political and economic conditions on the continent have affected the growth and expansion of WORDOC, thus

making it difficult for us to implement our programmes and produce our publications with regularity. Just as women do not give up on

families, WORDOC is forging ahead with bright hopes for the future. This thirtieth anniversary is a call to relive the visions of the Center so

that coming generations may live to preserve the treasures of beauty, thought and skill that WORDOC has been nurturing.

The WORDOC newsletters will henceforth leverage on online versions (with limited hard copies) and will be published in March and

October. We welcome short articles, reports and events of interest to women, as we shall be preparing the newsletters alongside other

publications, programmes and projects to provide value for membership. This issue of the WORDOC Newsletter brings you reports on

recent women focused events, upcoming programmes, research and funding opportunities.

While thanking those who have been on board since 1987, we also welcome our new members. This is certainly a flight into the glorious

future for all! Happy Anniversary!

WOMEN’S RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTRE (WORDOC)

INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

ANTECEDENTS Women are a proper category for research and analysis but have been much neglected in the past. Since 1970, Women's Studies has developed as a legitimate, respected field of study, replete with archives, libraries, presses, journals, institutes and research centres. In many countries of the world, including African countries, universities have established women's studies centres and introduced women-centred courses in their curricula. In developing nations in particular, these centres aim at integrating scholarship, social policy and action on women.

There has been more research done on women in Africa, and WORDOC has been a leading centre for gathering , publishing and documenting multidisciplinary studies and materials which have been of immense benefit to scholars and policy makers.

Objectives The objectives of the Centre include the following:

To provide a focus for women's studies in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general through co-ordination of research projects on women issues and promotion of new methodologies in the study of women. To set up a women's network and promote a more accurate understanding of the various roles and concerns of women in Nigeria, West Africa, and Africa through projects, publications, regular seminars and other activities, with a view to providing a basis for policy formulation on issues affecting women.

To maintain a documentation centre for the use of scholars, researchers and other interested persons.

To seek sources for funding research on women and to facilitate its implementation.

To provide a link with other women's research centres and international agencies across continents.

Activities Since 1987, WORDOC has been organizing activities for the collection and dissemination of information about women. Its offering includes:

i.) a biannual newsletter ii.) a journal to be published iii.) occasional publications in the form of books, pamplets, proceedings, working papers, etc.

With the establishment of the Gender Studies Programme at the Institute of African Studies, WORDOC activities has extended into multidisciplinary gender research.

WORDOC liaises with women in education and public life, and with the executive committee's of women's organizations in order to promote a two-way interaction between the Centre and the community. WORDOC offers affiliation to scholars from within and outside Nigeria, so that they can use the Centre's facilities and in exchange, contribute their findings to the Centre's research archive.

REPORTSA ONE-DAY ROUNDTABLE ON

GENDER AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA

On the 14th July, 2016, the Gender Studies Unit,

Institute of African Studies organized a one-day

roundtable themed "Gender and Survival Strategies in

Contemporary Nigeria. This was targetted at addressing

the widely acclaimed austerity in present Nigeria, due to

economic downturn, unpaid salaries, unimaginable rise

in foreign exchange rates, institutional crises and all

forms of instability. The event was chaired by Prof Stella

Odebode (Focal Person, Gender, Mainstreaming Office)

with Dr. Catherine Chowen, Prince Godswill Edward

Osim, ACP Sybil Akinfenwa, Wing Commander B.B.

Bolajoko and Ass. Prof. Omolara Campbell as

discussants.

The discussants proffered plausible survival strategies

from psychological, political, Security and economic

perspectives.

REPORT ON PUBLIC LECTURE ORGANIZED BY IFRA AND

INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES

On the on the 21st October, 2016, the Institut Français de

Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) and the Gender Studies

Programme, Institute of African Studies, University of

Ibadan, jointly held a public lecture tagged “Women on

the Move: in Nigeria and Beyond. Mobilisations of

Women, Mobilisation of Ideas”. The event which took

place in Drapers Hall at the Institute of African Studies

had Dr Seun Olutayo, Coordinator of the I.A.S. Gender

Studies Programme, Dr Jules Falquet, a Sociologist

from University of Paris and Ms Sara Panata, a doctoral

student at the University of Paris, as lead discussants.

The programme showcased how women collectively

have mobilized themselves in order to have their voices

heard in south-west Nigeria from the 1940s to

contemporary times. It also dwelt upon research

findings on women experiences of social movements,

revolutionary processes and neo-liberal governance in

Latin America (El Salvador, Mexico and the Caribbean

countries). Women mobilizations in those countries

were then comparatively assessed, as members of the

audience raised salient points and suggestions in relation

to tackling identified issues and problems.

ODÙ OSÉ ÔTURA:WOMEN'S SIGNIFICANT ROLE AS TYPIFIED IN YORÙBÁ THEOLOGY

The Odu Ose Otura speaks about the power of women. The

Odu teaches us not to undervalue women. Ifa says:

Ajuba Agberegede

A difa fun Osun Sengese

Olooya Iyun

Nijo tin be nipo Asiri

Ton ba Oun Ebo Awon Imole Iyoku je

Nje ta ni n be leyin tee fi tie se

Osun Ewuji ni n be nibe tee fi tie se

A wa n kunle

A n be O

E je Ka kunle fun Obinrin

Tori pe Obinrin lo biwa

Kawa to di eniyan

English Translation

Ajuba Agberegede

Divined for Osun Sengese

Owner of a hair comb decorated with Iyun

When she was in a secret place

She spoiled the sacrifice of other Divinities

Who is performing a sacrifice without involving the owner of

the sacrifice?

Osun Ewuji was the person whom you were not involving in

the sacrifice

We are all on our knees

We are begging you

Let us kneel and prostrate before women

We are all born by women

Before we became recognized as human beings.

This was when the Divinities tried to exclude Osun from the

work of creating the world and all the creation began to

crumble. When they reported their misfortune to Olodumare,

He said nothing can be created without the woman (Osun),

“for your creation to be manifested you must ask Osun to

work with you....”

The Odu says, if women are not given honour and respect

then they can be angered and they have the ability to destroy

the world. The lives of all males are in the hand of the

females. If a husband succeeds let us look at his wife. The

success of the family is in the hand of the woman.

yalorisa Omitonade Ifawemimo

omitonadeifawemimo@yahoo.com

WORDOC NEWS

CELEBRATION OF NWAPA'S EFURU @ 50

WORDOC Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 2 of November 1997 celebrated the 60th birthday of Flora Nwapa, whose first novel

Efuru, number 26 in the globally respected African Writers Series, is the first published book by a Nigerian woman. The

year 2016 marked 50 years of the publication of the novel. Nwapa was a Nigerian author, teacher, administrator, and the

herald of a whole generation of African women writers. But despite her numerous achievements, not much has been

done to celebrate her since her death 23 years ago. It was on this basis that the Flora Nwapa Foundation, in conjunction

with the Organizing Committee of Efuru @50, paid tribute to her book across five cities, including Lagos and

Maiduguri. The novel Efuru revolves around the life of its eponymous character, an enterprising Igbo woman of

independent thought who does not allow the constraints and misfortunes of patriarchal society to erode her capacity for

initiative and her sense of self-dignity. For its portrayal of the politics of gender relations in a traditional African society,

Efuru has been the subject of numerous studies, especially as some the themes it treats, e.g. marriage, divorce, female

agency, etc., remain the staple of gender discourse

PROF BOLANLE AWE @ 84

The founding chairperson and pioneer Coordinator of WORDOC, Prof. Bolanle Alake Awe marked her 84th

birthday on Saturday, 28th January, 2017. The newly appointed WORDOC Coordinator joined in the surprise

birthday visit to Mama Awe. Speaking at her residence where a few friends and well-wishers joined her to thank

God for health and well-being, the octogenarian expressed her disappointment at the way things have turned out in

Nigeria's political sphere. She, however, urged the younger generation not to lose hope, stressing that the country

would get it right when individuals lay good examples in their private and public lives.

Presenting Prof. Bolanle Awe's 84th

birthday card in Ibadan are

WORDOC Coordinator, Dr Sharon

Adetutu Omotoso[left], Dr Tunji

Olaopa of ISGPP and Ifeoluwa

Adeagbo

WOMEN AND WORK RESEARCH GROUP COLLABORATES WITH WORDOC

In the light of the similarities in the aims and objectives of both organizations, the Women and Work Research

Group (WWRG) of the University of Sydney, Australia has shown interest in collaborating with WORDOC. This

discussion came up on the 20th of February 2017 when the WORDOC Coordinator visited the group at the

University of Sydney. The collaboration will span research, exchange programmes and funding supports to focus on

women in leadership, in business, the not for profit and public sectors. It will provide a bridge between academic

work and policy work in matters pertaining to women, work and family. The WWRG is the leading academic

research group on women and work in Australia.

BOOK DONATION

The WORDOC team gladly received two sets of books sent to the WORDOC Library by the Mba Family. The late Dr

Nina Mba was an Australian author, historian and editorialist who was based in Nigeria for most of her career. She was a

founding member of WORDOC and an early contributor in the study of Nigerian women's history.

Books donated by the Mba family. At the occasion were the WORDOC Librarian, Mrs Helen Ezekwem (left); the

Mba Family representative; the WORDOC Coordinator, Dr Sharon Omotoso; and the WORDOC Secretary, Mrs

Judith Oluwakoya.

Alexander Heron, Sharon Omotoso and Margaret Mutanda exchanging

WORDOC and WWRG materials recently in Sydney.

2017 NWSA Annual Conference: 40 YEARS AFTER COMBAHEE: Feminist Scholars and Activists Engage the Movement for Black Lives

November 16-19, 2017

Baltimore, Maryland

NWSA is an organization of feminist scholars and scholar-

activists that emerged out of the social movements of the

1960s and 70s. It is fitting then that since our 40th

anniversary conference will take place in Baltimore, the site

of the massive Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests of 2015,

and in the year that marks the 40th anniversary of the Black

feminist manifesto, the Combahee River Collective (CRC)

statement, that the theme of our annual gathering will be:

“40 years after Combahee: Feminist Scholars and Activists

Engage the Movement for Black Lives.”

VISIT HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 2017 CALL FOR PROPOSALS -

http://www.nwsa.org/Files/2017/CFPFinal2017.pdf

Main Grants – The African Women's Development Fund (AWDF)

AWDF is a grantmaking foundation that supports local, national and regional organisations in Africa working towards women's empowerment and the promotion and realisation of women's rights. By specialising in grantmaking and tailored capacity building and movement building programmes, we work to strengthen and support African women's rights organisations.

Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World

TWAS also manages the OWSD Postgraduate Training Fellowships at Centres of Excellence in the South for Women Scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa or Least Developed Countries (LDC). This programme is for female students from Sub-Saharan Africa or Least Developed Countries (LDCs) who wish to pursue postgraduate training in a field of the natural sciences leading to a doctorate degree at a centre of excellence in the South outside their own country. http://owsdw.ictp.it

Beatrice Bain Research Group Scholars in Residence Program

Scholars In Residence Program

Call for Applications, Academic Year 2017-2018

(Deadline: March 15, 2017)

The Beatrice Bain Research Group (BBRG) is the University of California at Berkeley's critical feminist research center, established in 1986 to support and coordinate feminist scholarship across disciplines. The BBRG is particularly interested in enabling research on gender in its intersections with sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, nation, religion, postcoloniality, globalization and transnational feminisms. The BBRG Scholars-in-Residence Program is open to scholars who meet UC Berkeley's visiting scholar definition, from any country, whose work is centrally on gender and women. Applicants must have received their Ph.D. (or its equivalent) at least one year prior to the projected start of their residency at BBRG. For fields in which a Ph.D. is not required for senior-level scholarship, please include a short explanation in your application cover letter describing your qualifications to conduct doctoral level research.

VISIT HERE FOR THE COMPLETE GUIDE

http://bbrg.berkeley.edu/scholars-residence-program

APPRECIATION

We are grateful to the following for their support (finance

and / logistics) towards the 2017 International Women's

Day:

1. The Postgraduate School, University of Ibadan

2. The Institute Français de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA)

3. The Distance Learning Center, University of Ibadan

4. The Nigerian Society for Information Arts and Culture

(NSIAC, American Corner)

5. The Gender Mainstreaming Office, University of

Ibadan

6. Tope Ojo (Visual Arts, I.A.S.)

7. Adejoke Adetoro (Department of History, U.I.)

8. Mercy Kolawole (Cultural and Media Studies, I.A.S.)

9. Benson Eluma (Institute of African Studies)

OBITUARIES

With deep sense of loss, we announce the passing of two very vibrant members of WORDOC, Prof Mosunmola Ayinke Omibiyi-Obidike and Prof Olufemi Bamigboyega Olaoba, both of whom were there when it all started thirty years ago and remained very active in WORDOC in the ensuing years.

LIST OF ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

1. Prof. Bolanle Awe Founding Chairperson

2. Prof. Bola Akanji

3. Prof. Abiola Odejide

4. Prof. Bola Udegbe Dept. of Psychology

5. Dr. Senayon Olaoluwa Institute of African Studies (I.A.S.)

6. Dr. Yinka Egbohare Dept. of Comm. and Lang. Arts

7. Mrs. Sade Taiwo

8. Prof. Janice Olawoye King's International College, Ibadan

9. Prof. Ify Abanihe University of Ibadan

10. Prof. O.B.C. Nwolise Dept. of Political Science

11. Prof. Oka Obono Dept. of Sociology

12. Mrs. Victoria Ajegbomogun University of Ibadan

13. Prof. Dele Layiwola I.A.S.

P r o f O l u f e m i Adegboyega Olaoba, historian and poet, was e d u c a t e d a t t h e University of Ibadan where he taught African History at the Institute of African Studies for many years. He was also a specialist in traditional conflict management and peacebuilding processes, and published works on

issues in culture history and Yoruba legal system. He had a number of poetry collections to his name. Prof Olaoba died May 15, 2016 at the age of 58.

Prof Omibiyi-Obidike, born January 20, 1943 in Ibadan, Oyo State, was in the first rank of Africanist music scholars.Admitted as the first female student to the Fela Sowande College of Music, University of Nsukka, she obtained her bachelor's, m a s t e r ' s a n d d o c t o r a l degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her academic specialism was in African Musicology and Music Education, and she was the first female professor of music in sub-Saharan Africa. Prof Omibiyi-Obidike was a champion of the preservation and continuation of the folk traditions of African music and dance, and she emphasized in her scholarly and other interventions the need to make indigenous musical forms and practices the bedrock of an education in music. She was Director of the Institute of African Studies. She died on May 6, 2016.

LIST OF ORGANISING COMMITTEE

14. Dr. Chinyere Ukpokolo Dept. of Archeology & Anthropology

15. Prof. Helen Osinowo Dept. of Psychology

16. Dr. O.I. Pogoson I.A.S.

17. Dr. Irene Pogoson Dept. of Political Science

18. Dr. Demola Lewis Dept. of Linguistics

19. Prof. A. O. Olorunnisola Dept. of Agric. Engineering

20. Prof. O. Odeku Office of International Programme

21. Dr. Beatrice Laninhun Dept. of Comm. and Lang. Arts

22. Mrs. Abiola Ayodokun I.F.R.A./Nigeria Watch

23. Dr. Bose Ipadeola Dept. of Philosophy

24. Dr. Alero Akeredolu Faculty of Law

25. Dr. Mary Osuh Faculty of Dentistry

26. Prof. J. O Babalola Dept. of Chemistry

27. Prof. Oyedunni Arulogun Faculty of Public Health

28. Dr. Veronica Adetunji Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

29. Dr. Airen Adetimirin LARIS

30. Dr. Rose Ilesanmi Dept. of Nursing

31. Dr. Seun Olutayo Gender Studies I.A.S.

32. Prof. Ajibola Falaye Dept. of Guidance and Counseling

33. Dr. Sharon A. Omotoso Coordinator, WORDOC

34. Mrs. Judith O. Oluwakoya Secretary, WORDOC

35. Mrs. Ijeoma Ladele Peace and Conflict Studies, IPSS

36. Mrs. Helen Ezekwem Librarian, WORDOC

37. Mr. Benson Eluma I.A.S.

38. Mrs. Bisi Ogungbesan Department of English

39. Prof. Nkiru Meludu Dept. of Agric. Extension

40. Prof. Stella Odebode Dept. of Agric. Extension

41. Mrs. Biola Lameed Archeology & Anthropology

42. Dr. Kemi Adesina University of Ibadan

CONTACT

WORDOCW O M E N ’ S R E S E A R C H A N D D O C U M E N TAT I O N C E N T R E

Institute of African StudiesUniversity of Ibadan,NigeriaEMAIL: wordocias@gmail.comLIKE US on www.fb.me/wordocias