An Appraisal of Political Beliefs and Trust-in-Government Among Market Women in Marginalised Communities in Ondo City

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65496/jssme.2025.10

Keywords:

Political belief, trust-in-government, market women, marginalised communities

Abstract

Women’s participation in Nigerian politics remains depressingly low. Also, Nigeria’s political history offers reminders that market women have not always been silent political actors. Market women’s beliefs about politics, are thus, not merely the product of personal experience but the outcome of entrenched gendered socialisation. Previous studies focused largely on women’s empowerment, interest in politics with little attention paid to assessment of market women’s political belief and trust-in-government. The study, therefore, investigated, an appraisal of political beliefs and trust-in-government among market women in marginalised communities in Ondo city. The study adopted descriptive research design. A total of 210 market women randomly selected for the study. Instrument used were Political Belief Scale (PB, r= 0.94), and Trust-In-Government (T-I-G, r= 0.81) scales. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Participants’ age was 52±1.05 years, and 21.1% were between 50-54 years of age. PB (x̄=2.95) was high, while T-I-G (x̄ = 2.47) was low against the threshold of 2.5. Political belief and trust in government is of paramount importance to in building market women political culture. It is recommended that there is need to establish permanent liaison committees between local government councils and market associations (Iyalojas, cooperative leaders) to enable two-way communication on policy priorities, infrastructure needs, and market regulations.

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Author Biography

  • Dr Timilehin Olayinka OMONIYI, University of Ibadan

    He is a member of staff in the Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria. Lecturer II. He is also an alumnus of the the African Centre for Career Enhancement & Skills Support (ACCESS) which was designed to trigger employability using service learning tripartite mechanism. He has published journal articles in impact-factor journals in both local and international journals as well as attended over ten local and international conferences (both online and on-site). His areas of teaching and research include Political Science, Social Studies, Civic Engagement, and associated Curriculum studies with specific research focus in Public Socialisation and Sustainability Education.

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Published

2025-09-01

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Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025)

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How to Cite

Omoniyi, T. (2025). An Appraisal of Political Beliefs and Trust-in-Government Among Market Women in Marginalised Communities in Ondo City. Journal of Social Science and Multidisciplinary Enquiry, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.65496/jssme.2025.10

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