British colonial rule transformed Nigeria’s gendered political order. Through indirect rule, the British empowered male chiefs and sidelined precolonial women’s political institutions such as the iyalode among the Yoruba and the omu among the Igbo. These offices, once vital in local governance and trade regulation, were reduced to ceremonial roles.
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Colonial economic policies also disrupted women’s livelihoods. Taxation, market price controls, and licensing systems particularly affected women traders who dominated local markets. Markets were more than places of exchange they were centres of communication, solidarity, and political discussion. When colonial policies threatened these networks, women responded with organised resistance, laying the foundation for future political activism.
The Aba Women’s War of 1929: From Protest to Political Consciousness
The Aba Women’s War of 1929 (also known as the Women’s Market Revolt) was a landmark in twentieth-century women’s resistance. It began in Oloko, in southeastern Nigeria, after a confrontation between Nwanyeruwa, a widow, and a colonial census official over taxation. The protest soon spread across Aba, Owerri, and Calabar provinces, involving over 10,000 women.
Women employed both traditional and modern tactics “sitting on a man” (collective shaming and singing), petitions, and mass marches to challenge colonial authority. They demanded the withdrawal of taxation plans and protested against abusive warrant chiefs. The colonial government was forced to investigate and modify its administrative system. The uprising revealed women’s capacity for mass organisation and collective political voice, inspiring later generations of activists.
Market Women and Urban Mobilisation
In Nigeria’s southern cities, market women became formidable political actors. In Lagos, Madam Alimotu Pelewura, leader of the Lagos Market Women’s Association, led campaigns against unfair taxes and price controls during the 1930s and 1940s. Under her leadership, market associations acted as both economic unions and political networks, mobilising funds for nationalist movements and providing community welfare.
These urban market organisations linked grassroots activism to nationalist politics. The NCNC and AG later depended on these networks for voter mobilisation and local legitimacy, particularly in southern urban areas.
The Rise of Coordinated Women’s Unions
From the 1940s onward, women’s activism became increasingly organised. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti united market women and educated elites in Abeokuta under the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU), founded in 1946. The AWU fought unjust taxation, corruption, and poor social services. After mass protests between 1947 and 1949, the Alake of Egbaland, the paramount ruler temporarily abdicated. The colonial government subsequently reviewed local administrative practices, marking a rare example of women forcing direct political change.
By the late 1950s, regional unions and professional women’s associations converged to form the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS) in 1959. The NCWS coordinated women’s demands for education, health, and suffrage, representing Nigerian women in pre-independence constitutional talks and early postcolonial debates.
Prominent Leaders and Regional Movements
Women’s activism during this period was both regional and diverse:
- Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Abeokuta) – Combined grassroots mobilisation with constitutional advocacy; a leading nationalist figure.
- Madam Alimotu Pelewura (Lagos) – Represented market women and urban traders in economic protests.
- Margaret Ekpo (Aba/Eastern Region) – Organised women’s political associations, later served in the Eastern House of Assembly (1960–66).
- Hajiya Gambo Sawaba (Northern Nigeria) – Advocated for women’s education, voting rights, and social reform; repeatedly arrested under colonial rule.
Though these women came from different cultural and class backgrounds, they shared methods: petitions, boycotts, marches, and alliances with sympathetic male nationalists.
Women, Political Parties, and the Road to Independence
By the 1950s, women’s organisations were embedded in nationalist party structures. Women’s wings within the NCNC and AG mobilised voters, ran charity drives, and provided vital logistical support. However, their influence in party decision-making remained limited, reflecting enduring gender hierarchies.
In the Eastern and Western Regions, women gained partial voting rights by 1954, but in the Northern Region, franchise for women did not come until 1979. Despite this, women’s associations participated in constitutional conferences, demanding universal suffrage, education, and social reform.
Legacy and Continuing Challenges
At independence in 1960, women’s representation in formal politics remained low; no woman held a federal cabinet post. Yet their impact was profound: they had redefined the scope of nationalist politics by linking economic survival with political freedom.
The NCWS provided a permanent institutional voice, while market associations and local unions continued to influence public life. Nonetheless, post-independence politics re-entrenched male dominance. Electoral financing, cultural norms, and party patronage limited women’s advancement. Still, the legacy of early activists endures in today’s movements for gender equality and social justice.
Author’s note
Women were not bystanders in Nigeria’s road to independence they were central organisers, educators, and reformers. From the Aba Women’s War to the Abeokuta Women’s Union, and through national platforms like the NCWS, women challenged both colonial authority and patriarchal structures. Their efforts broadened Nigerian nationalism to include economic justice, social inclusion, and gender rights legacies still relevant in contemporary Nigeria.
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References
Awe, Bolanle. Nigerian Women in Historical Perspective. Ibadan University Press, 1992.
Johnson-Odim, Cheryl & Mba, Nina Emma. For Women and the Nation: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria. University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Falola, Toyin & Heaton, Matthew M. A History of Nigeria. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Van Allen, Judith. “Sitting on a Man: Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 6, no. 2 (1972): 165–181.
Achebe, Nwando. The Female King of Colonial Nigeria. Indiana University Press, 2011.
