Aba Women Riot, Day 50 women were shot dead
for protesting against women taxation
EMEKA IBEMERE
When
the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan rolled out
drums recently to celebrate the Centenary years of the Nigerian women in Lagos State, it never
occurred to the organizers of that Billions- of- Naira-event- making -jamboree
that it doesn’t require such elaborate and colorful event to bring the
affirmative action of Nigerian women to
relevance.
What
Nigerian women needed was the spirit of oneness with which the famous
rural-illiterate women of Bende District in the present day Abia State employed
to become relevant in the polity.
Such
affirmative action was never imported from Benjin
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Recently,
Nigerian women have been clamoring for relevance in the scheme of polity in
Nigeria; asking for gender equality, an end to marginalization of Nigerian
women and other sundry demands.
The conference which held on Thursday, 18th
of April 2013 at Eko Hotel and Suite, Lagos, was used to celebrate the
milestones and achievements of Nigerian women. It also served as the avenue to
produce the framework of the Nigerian Country Report on Women. One of the
highlights of the event is the first lady’s remark; stating that the National
Assembly should pass into law legislation on affirmative action to empower the
Nigerian woman with 30 per cent political participation in the leadership of
the country.
According to the organizers, the objectives
of the celebrations include: to reinforce the role of women in nation-building,
reiterate pre-existing calls for action in gender equality and women’s rights,
display through exhibition documentaries and presentations the contributions of
women in arts, sciences, corporate Nigeria, small business, leadership and
development.
Others are to salute outstanding women,
provide a window in the Nigerian centenary calendar for actualizing activities
dedicated to women and women activities, and advocate for legislation to
support girl-child education.
In his own remarks, the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, informed participants that
one of the objectives of this Conference was to evolve a Country Report on
issues concerning women which would include recommendations. He said that the
report, which was to be coordinated by the Minister of Women Affairs and Social
Development, Hajia Zainab Maina would be formally presented to President
Goodluck Jonathan at the Centenary grand finale on January 1st, 2014.
The National Women Conference of the
Centenary Celebration with the theme, “Celebrating
100 Years of the Nigerian Woman,” ended in Lagos with the First Lady, Dame
Patience Jonathan, calling on Nigerian women to take advantage of the
opportunities provided by the Government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
to further improve the lives of Nigerian women for effective national development.
While recalling the accomplishments of some of Nigeria’s illustrious amazons,
she maintained that the emergence of modern Nigeria has taken as much of the
sweat and sacrifices of the Nigerian woman as that of the man.
According to the First Lady, the sacrifices
of Nigerian heroines imposed a duty on women to uphold the letter and spirit of
the National Anthem, “which says the labours of our heroes past shall never be
in vain.”
She noted that the Conference had provided a
platform for robust deliberations on gender-centric issues and affirmed that
the lesson to take away from the discussions is that the Nigerian woman is
sufficiently patriotic and has both the capacity and the will to make a
difference in the life of the nation.
But one thing that was not mentioned in that
three days event was recognition of Aba Women affirmative action which the colonial
historians and government out of jealous called Aba
Women Riot of 1929.
The 84 years old event which reshaped the
history of Nigerian women and gave them platform today has come to be the
encouragement on which the present day Nigerian women stand to make demand for
gender equality. The women of Bende in 1929 never demanded gender equality from
the colonial masters; they fought for it with share determination not to
compromise their rights.
The roots of the riots evolved from January
1, 1914, when the first Nigerian colonial governor, Lord Lugard, instituted the
system of indirect rule in Southern Nigeria. Under this plan British
administrators would rule locally through "warrant chiefs,"
essentially Igbo individuals appointed by the governor. Traditionally
Igbo chiefs had been elected. Within a few years the appointed warrant chiefs became increasingly oppressive. They seized property, imposed draconian local regulations, and began imprisoning anyone who openly criticized them.
Although much of the anger was directed against the warrant chiefs, most Nigerians knew the source of their power- British colonial administrators.
Colonial administrators added to the local sense of grievance when they announced plans to impose special taxes on the Igbo market women. These women were responsible for supplying the food to the growing urban populations in Calabar, Owerri, and other Nigerian cities. They feared the taxes would drive many of the market women out of business and seriously disrupt the supply of food and non-perishable goods available to the populace.
In November of 1929, thousands of Igbo women congregated at the Native Administration centers in Calabar and Owerri as well as smaller towns to protest both the warrant chiefs and the taxes on the market women.
Using the traditional practice of censoring men through all night song and dance ridicule often called-sitting on a man, the women chanted and danced, and in some locations forced warrant chiefs to resign their positions.
The women also attacked European owned stores and Barclays Bank and broke into prisons and released prisoners. They also attacked Native Courts run by colonial officials, burning many of them to the ground. Colonial Police and troops were called in.
They fired into the crowds that had gathered at Calabar and Owerri, killing more than 50 women and wounding over 50 others. During the two month old protest, at least 25,000 Igbo women were involved in protests against British officials. How the protest started:
the story of Aba Women Riot:
The Aba Women's Riot started in November 1929, when thousands of Igbo women from the Bende District of Nigeria, the nearby Umuahia and other places in eastern Nigeria
traveled to Oloko to protest against the Warrant
Chiefs, whom they accused of restricting the role of women in the
government.
This incident becomes known
as the Igbo Women's War of 1929
(or "Ogu Ndem," Women's War, in Igbo). It was organized and led by the rural
women of Owerri and Calabar provinces. During the events, many
Warrant Chiefs were forced to resign and sixteen Native
Courts were attacked, most of which were destroyed.
The women's revolt of 1929 was sparked by a dispute
between a woman named Nwanyereuwa and a man, Mark Emereuwa, who was helping to
make a census of the people living in the town controlled by the Warrant,
Okugo. Nwanyeruwa was of Ngwa ancestry, and had been
married in the town of Oloko.
In Oloko, the census was related to taxation, and women in the area were
worried about who would tax them, especially during the period of
hyperinflation in the late 1920s.
On the morning of November 18, Emereuwa arrived at
Nwanyereuwa's house and approached Nwanyereuwa, since her husband Ojim, had
already died. He told the widow to "count her goats, sheep and
people." Since Nwanyereuwa understood this to mean, "How many of
these things do you have so we can tax you based on them", she was angry.
She replied by saying "Was your widowed mother
counted?" meaning "that women don't pay tax in traditional Igbo
society. The two exchanged angry words, and Nwanyeruwa went to the town square
to discuss the incident with other women who happened to be holding a meeting
to discuss the issue of taxing women.
Believing they would be taxed, based on Nwanyeruwa's
account, the Oloko women invited other women (by sending leaves of palm-oil
trees) from other areas in the Bende District, as well as from Umuahia and Ngwa.
They gathered nearly 10,000 women who protested at the office of Warrant Chief
Okugo, demanding his resignation and calling for a trial.
The Oloko Trio
The leaders of the protest in Oloko are known as the
Oloko Trio: Ikonnia, Nwannedia and Nwugo. The three were known for their skills
in speaking, their intelligence and their passion. When protests became tense,
it was often these three who were able to deescalate the situation, preventing
violence. However, after two women were killed while blocking colonial roads as
a form of protest, the trio was not able to calm the situation there; the
police and army were sent to the town.
The legacy of Nwanyeruwa
Nwanyereuwa played a major role in keeping the
protests non-violent. She was advanced in age compared to many who led the
protests. Under her advice, the women protested in song and dance,
"sitting" on the Warrant Chiefs until they surrendered their insignia
of office and resigned. As the revolt spread, other groups followed this
pattern, making the women's protest a peaceful one. Other groups came to
Nwanyeruwa to get in writing the inspirational results of the protests, which,
as Nwanyeruwa saw them, were that, "women will not pay tax till the world
ends and Chiefs were not to exist anymore.
Madam Mary Okezie
Madam Mary Okezie (1906–1999) was the first woman
from her Igbo clan to gain a Western education, and was teaching at the
Anglican Mission School in Umuocham Aba in 1929 when the women's revolt broke
out. Although she did not participate in the revolt, she was very sympathetic
to the women's cause. She was the only woman who submitted a memo of grievance
to the Aba Commission of Inquiry (sent in 1930).
Today, the major primary source for studying the
revolt is the Report of the Aba Commission of Inquiry. After the revolt, Madam
Okezie emerged as founder and leader of the Ngwa Women's Association and
working for the rest of her life to support women's rights in Nigeria.
Other major figures in the Women's War: Mary of Ogu Ndem (Mary of the Women's War), Ihejilemebi Ibe
of Umuokirika Village, Ahebi Ugabe of Enugu-Ezike: famously known as ‘The
Female Leopard" who was appointed as a Native Court Member in 1930.
Sitting
A major tactic in the protests was what is known as
"sitting". Along with singing and dancing around the houses and
offices of the Warrant Chiefs, the women would follow their every move,
invading their space and forcing the men to pay attention. The wives of the
Warrant Chiefs were often disturbed and they too put pressure on the Warrants
to listen to the demands of the women. This tactic of "sitting on the
Warrants," i.e. following them everywhere and anywhere, was very popular
with the women in Nigeria, and used to great effect.
Aba commission of Enquiry Results
As a result of the protests, the position of women in
society was greatly improved. In some areas, women were able to replace the
Warrant Chiefs. Women were also appointed to serve on the Native Courts. After
the Women's war, women's movements were very strong in Ngwaland, many events in
the 1930s, 40s and 50s were inspired by the Women's War, including the Tax
Protests of 1938, the Oil Mill Protests of the 1940s in Owerri and Calabar
Provinces and the Tax Revolt in Aba and Onitsha in 1956 .
On two occasions British district officers were called and security
forces forced to break up protests. During these occasions, at least 50 women
were shot dead and 50 more wounded. The women themselves never seriously
injured anybody against whom they were protesting, nor any of the security
forces who broke up those protests.
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