Abstract:
There is a growing awareness among the rural women of the need to contribute to the progress and development of their communities. Efforts aimed at developing the rural communities can no longer be undertaken alone by the government, it therefore becomes imperatives that the people for whom rural development interventions are meant should be made to be actively involved in the development process. Against this background, the study focused on the analysis of factors associated with women participation in rural leadership activities in Ondo State.
A total of one hundred and twenty copies of questionnaire were used to collect data from one hundred and twenty women randomly selected from twelve communities in the two local government area(being Ilaje and Akure North LGAS) of the study area. Purposive random sampling method was used and data were analyzed using descriptive (Percentages and Frequency Distribution) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test Pearson Product Movement Coefficient).Results of the study showed that 37.5% of the respondents were of the middle age range of 41-50years and 54.2% of them were married. Also 58.3% of the respondents had household size ranging between 6-10.Literacy level was high, 3.3% had no education while about 31.7% had a tertiary education. It was revealed further that 78.2% of the respondents were aware of the existence of associations of which 77% were member. Also 56.3% became member through registration and qualification for membership ranges from education to number of year spent. While 65.5% of the respondents were of the opinion that women were contacted before programmes were initiated and the highest contact ( 35.6%) made through meeting.
The empirical result using chi-square test revealed that the household size, awareness of the activities of the association and being a leader in the group were significant factors associated with the performance as leader. These were tested at 0.05% significant level. The result of the correlation anaylsis showed that community development not being left for men alone, women being less empowered to play leadership role and women who aspire to lead usurping men’s authority were significant factors associated with the performance of women as leader tested at 0.05 significant levels.
It was therefore concluded that the performance rating of leader in the study area was average and the level at which their needs were met was also average .It was therefore recommended that registered associations should be encouraged both at the rural area and urban centre to further stimulate the interest of women in becoming members.
