Accountability for gender inequalities by organisations in Nigeria and the role of NGO activism in promoting gender equality

This study examines gender inequality practices across organisational sectors in Nigeria, focusing on accountability dynamics and the role of NGO activism in promoting gender equality. It explores employees’ perceptions of gender inequality practices across organisational sectors in Nigeria, including private, public, professional and NGO sectors; how institutional environments shape organisational gender-related practices; how organisations report on or account for those practices; and how external actors, such as NGOs, hold them accountable for those practices. Drawing on insights from gendered organisation theory, accountability theory and surrogate accountability theory, this study develops a complementary framework explaining how gender practices, institutional pressures and accountability mechanisms interact. The study adopted an interpretive multi-sectoral qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews with 97 participants and documentary evidence. It analysed interview data through thematic analysis and documentary evidence through textual analysis. The thesis systematically compared corporate narratives with employees’ lived experiences to determine whether organisational claims about their commitments translated into substantive gender equality. The findings suggest that Nigeria’s institutional environment, characterised by deep-rooted patriarchal norms, gender-stereotypical beliefs, and gendered cultural and religious practices; inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks; and limited implementation, enforcement, and accountability mechanisms, significantly shapes organisational gender-related practices through coercive pressures (laws and regulations), normative expectations (professional bodies), and cultural practices. The study also finds a significant misalignment between employees’ lived experience and organisational narratives, indicating a policy-practice gap. Concerning NGO’s role in promoting gender equality, this study finds that they use soft or indirect accountability to mobilise, including advocacy, monitoring, and counter-accounting, which have achieved only incremental gains because of significant institutional constraints. This study contributes to the social accounting, accountability, and reporting literature by challenging the disclosure-centred evidence of accountability and showing how comparing organisational narratives with employees’ daily workplace experiences can reveal gaps between official commitments and substantive gender equality.