Aba women's Riot (November-December 1929)

Aba women's Riot (November-December 1929)

 The Aba women’s riot of 1929 is said to be an unrest era in colonial Nigeria, November 1929. The protest involved thousands of igbo women from the Bende District in today’s Abia state, south eastern Nigeria and within the south eastern region. They travelled down to the town of Oloko to protest against the warrant chiefs, whom they accused of restricting the role of women in the government. The protest started by the Igbo women and was joined by other ethnic groups ( Igbo, ibibio,Andoni,Ogoni, and Efik).

The protest was led by the rural women of Owerri and Calabar provinces, the warrant chiefs were forced to resign, 16 native courts were attacked and destroyed. This was the first protest of women in West Africa. In 1930, the colonial rulers abolished the system of warrant chiefs and appointed women to the native court system. This reform was established by African women and has been seen as a prelude to the emergence of advanced African nationalism.

Research made it known that there was a long history of collective actions by women in Nigeria before its emergence. In the early 20th century, women in Agbaja left their homes for the protest due to some information that some men had secretly been killing pregnant women. Their collective absence pushed local elders to take action to address their concern. In 1924, 3000 women in Calabar protested a market toll that was forced by the colonial masters. In southwestern Nigeria, there were women organisations like the Lagos Market Women Association, Abeokuta Women Union, and Nigerian women party. There was also an "elaborate system of women’s market networks” practised by the Igbo and Ibibio to communicate information to organise and coordinate during the riot.

Actually, the Aba women riot didn’t just happen overnight when Nigeria was still under the British colonial control, it changed the role of women in the society. Traditionally, women had a say in local governance and played a major role in the marketplace. They worked together with men in their household and had important individual roles. Women even participated in political movements because of their marriage to elites. But the colonial authorities didn’t recognise these practices and excluded women from political power. They believed that a patriarchal and masculine order would bring order to the colony. As a result, the women became increasingly unhappy with colonial rule due to things like high fees in education, corruption and forced labour.