WOMEN, DEVELOPMENT AND THE IDEOLOGY OF NSHIKISM

Résumé

This article makes an analysis and examination of how the ideology of nshikism affect the growth, development and wellbeing of women in the society. The ideology of nshikismsimply portrays the crab mentality, as the crab is called nshiko in Igbo language. This crab mentality expresses a selfish behaviour and narrow-minded way of thinking, where a member of a group attempts to reduce the self-confidence of its member, who achieves success beyond others. It could be out of envy, conspiracy, rumour, competitive feeling, so as to halt her progress. This ideology simply says “if I can't have it, neither can you.”Women occupy a higher percentage of the human population and they are also seen as the most disadvantaged. This is evident in the mission and vision of some contemporary groups/sects. Based on that, this paper revolves on the issue of crab mentality. It burdens itself with these and the related questions: Are women actually ready to develop themselves? Do they believe in themselves? It therefore concludes that the crab mentality is one of the major factors affecting the development and wellbeing of women in the society. The society will only record growth and sustainable development until women let go of this mentality