WOMEN'S REVOLT

"Koko- the law you passed is bad, unfair and discriminatory, being directed against women because of our stance. We will not accept it"
J.P Clark's Wives Revolt

Violence and inequality of women is all too familiar in my country Nigeria. The most common acts of violence and oppression against women in Nigeria include sexual harassment, physical violence, harmful practices, emotional and psychological violence, socio-economic inequality and violence against non-combatant women in conflict situation. In recent times, women activist have staged and held protest against violence, harassment and oppression of women in Nigeria. Women-led revolt are mass protests that are initiated as an act of resistance or rebellion in defiance of an established system of political and economical suppression and disenfranchisement.  Pre-colonial era, women have played crucial roles in national development, they handled the economy and built the nation through thier influence in the home and society.

During colonialism, women's influence on the economy was snatched from thier grasp and handled by power drunk colonial stooges who played the game as pawns loyally doing the queens bidding even at the detriment of thier own people in order to eat bread from their master's table. The system the British created was solely patriarchal so women had little or no say in the society, they couldn't vote neither were they given positions in the British administration, to surpress the women even further, they placed elevating taxes upon the women which wasn't supposed to be so given that they had no say in social and economical affairs so why should they contribute to such a society. This economic maltreatment of women became a symbol of British colonialism in Nigeria; women expressed thier woes bitterly to ignorant ears who did nothing to ease thier plight. Pushed hard to the wall, they began to seek alternative means to make things right. To bring about this change women began to revolt, starting from their households to staging public protests, women were able to transform "traditional methods for networking and expressing disapproval" into powerful mechanisms that successfully challenged and disrupted the local colonial administration. Two prominent, women's revolts impacted the struggle of women in my nation's history, they are: the Aba women war (riot) of 1929 and the Abeokuta Women Union's protest.

The Aba Women's Riot featured women rebelling against economic and socio-political oppressions in Bende, Umuahia, and other regions of Igboland. The Aba Women's War was built on the ripple effect of systematic sidelining and over taxing of women, in those days, the women owned lots of investments in the society, they owned livestocks, farms and they refined Palm kernels into palm oil. Since women were  making a ton of money from thier trade, The queen's men decided to tax them for all they own. They began to tax women from the age of 15 against the taxing of men from the age of 18, These and other irregularities and unfair treatment of women was the catacies  that ignited a dispute between a woman named Nwanyeruwa, who was a palm oil refiner and a man, Mark Emereuwa, who was a civil servant undertaking a census of the people living in the town controlled by the Warrant, Okugo. Madam Nwanyeruwa was in the palm oil pit refining palm oil when Oga Mark strolled into the compound and began to take inventory of the livestocks and all he was seeing with his eyes, during this unwelcomed visit, words were said, bitter insults and anger filled the air and palm oil was poured on oga Mark, I am certain that he wore the white overstached shirt with white shorts, and white helment. That same  day, The congregation of women assembled at the village square and a protest began, to quell this protest, the British Governor sent his army, in the scuffle women were killed and the protest became a war. The rebellion saw a union of women from six ethnic groups (Ibibio, Andoni, Ogoni, Bonny, Opobo, and Igbo).  It was organised and led by the rural women of Owerri and Calabar provinces. At the aftermath of this  battle, 51+ women were killed by thr British armed forces; many Warrant Chiefs were forced to resign and 16 Native Courts were attacked, most of which were burnt down.

The Abeokuta Women's Revolt (also called the Egba Women's Tax Riot) was a resistance movement led by the Abeokuta Women's Union (A.W.U.) under the leadership of Madam Funmilayo Ransom Kuti  and her sister-in-law, Madam  Grace Eniola Soyinka in the late 1940s against the imposition of unfair taxation by the Nigerian colonial government. Taxation was imposed on the citizens of Egbaland in 1918. From the start, the system of taxation was unfair to women. Women were forced to pay taxes from the age of 15 which was considered the marriageable age, while men did not have to pay till they were eighteen. The women of  A.W.U. were effective organizers, who protested viciously against the colonial government, with different types of resistance tactics. Many women refused to pay the tax and either ended up in jail or fined. In order to end the taxation regime, the AWU wrote proposals to replace the flat rate tax on women, the flat-rate taxation placed on women, this action favoured the British administrators so they supported and enforeced it. All thier petitions were not fruitful It was then that the AWU began their mass protests, such as marching outside the king's palace and demanding the abolishment of direct taxation.  Consequently, the British empire responded harshly by deploying tear gas and brutally beating  the women. Our mothers were resolute they poured out emass, a troop of over 10,000 women gathered and set up camp in front of the Alake's palace.  At the end of the protest, the women came out victorious, incarcerated women were realsed, the Alake abdicated his throne and went on exile, the Sole Native Authority (SNA) was changed and women were included in the governance of the Egba people.

Fast forwarding to recent neo-colonist times, in July and August 2002, a wave of protests by women from the Niger delta region against oil
 companies erupted mainly in Delta and Bayelsa States, in southern Nigeria. These protests
 constituted a landmark in the quest to ensure women’s rights, women from
 several ethnic groups in the Niger delta region put ethnic differences aside and joined to claim
 better living conditions, proper compensations for the communities living on lands that host
 oil exploitation and a sustainable means of living for their families. women from the Ugborodo local community occupied for eleven days the Chevron
Escravos crude oil export terminal in Delta State, operated by Chevron Nigeria Ltd. The
 unarmed women, seeking jobs for their sons and local investment, initially retained over 700
 Chevron workers by blocking sea and air accesses to the facility. The workers were gradually
released when the company agreed to thier terms by signing a MoU which was of course nothing but a written document fit only to be used to wipe the arse with.

Nigerian women are taking to the streets in cities across the country to protest against rape and sexual violence against women, this protests were born as a response to the recent rape and killing of two young sisters and also the pent up anger from rape that went by without the victims getting justice. Nigerian media regularly carry stories of gruesome violence against women and girls, and an ensuing lack of justice. According to Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, an estimated two million women, ladies and girls become victims of rape annually, but few of these cases are reported, let alone prosecuted, due to the stigma associated with being a rape survivor, fear of reprisals, and distrust of the authorities.
As a symbol of thier revolt, sisters began to call out men who have raped them, they began to share stories of mutual rape experiences to support those who  can't speak out andey have taken to the streets in protest. As a response, the Nigerian Police intensified thier investigation, they reported that through DNA analysis one of the rapist of the Victim that was raped and killed in a church was caught and others would soon be caught as well.  Women have also began to enlighten themselves on the need to push the fear of stigmatisation aside and report any attempt of rape to people that would respond swiftly and adequately to it.

These testimonials and many more recorded in the cause of the history of humanity, show that when women who attain a realization of political and social consciousness  come together for a cause to defend it, they can bring down any wall of Jericho set against thier advancement and take charge of thier own destiny. A coven of women can bring down a great nation or an adamant king.

"I fought against a war of
Inferiority because I was
Never born to be inferior.
I fought to illuminate my world
Because I was not born to be in the dark.
I have come to realise that failing to
Fight for what you want is
The worst form of suicide
And self-destruction"

 Ben Binebai’s Karena’s Cross