Theorising the State and Patriarchy in Nigeria: A Feminist Institutional Analysis

The Nigerian state has been theorised extensively in political science and development studies literature, yet feminist analyses of the state as a patriarchal institution that actively reproduces gender inequality have remained marginal in Nigerian scholarship. This study develops a feminist institutional theory of the Nigerian state, examining how state structures, laws, and practices constitute and reinforce patriarchal gender order. A critical feminist institutionalism framework underpins a qualitative multi-case design, examining three institutional domains: constitutional law and personal law dualism, public sector employment and promotion systems, and state response to gender-based violence. Data were generated from 65 elite interviews, documentary analysis of 80 institutional instruments, and ethnographic observation of state practices across FCT, Lagos, and Kano. Critical discourse analysis and institutional ethnography guided interpretation. Findings reveal that the Nigerian state operates simultaneously through liberal equality rhetoric and patriarchal institutional practice, a contradiction that feminist institutionalism explains as the outcome of male-dominated rule formation processes and women's constrained access to state power. The state is shown to actively produce gender inequality through legislative inaction on discriminatory personal laws, male-biased public sector cultures, and inadequate GBV response resourcing. An original Patriarchal State Theory for Nigeria is developed, incorporating constitutional, administrative, and coercive state dimensions. Keywords: feminist institutionalism, patriarchy, Nigerian state, gender inequality, theory