Tax and Women: A Review of the 1929 Owerri Province Insurrections in Colonial Nigeria

Abstract

The present study examined the causes, course and consequences of the Aba Women revolts in colonial Nigeria (West Africa). Using a combination of primary and secondary historical sources, the study found that a multiplicity of remote and immediate factors were responsible for the revolt. While taxation of men and rumored extension of same to women was the immediate cause of the revolts, the factors such as low price of palm produce/high cost of imported goods, discontent arising from persecution and corruption from native courts system, and change in the method of buying produce (from buying by measure to buying by weight) were also significant. The study revealed that the well organised women's revolts were targeted at the native courts, warrant chiefs and foreign business interests. The study also found that the seat of the revolts was not Aba, but Oloko, and women from many parts of the province participated. Lastly, the study established that the revolts changed the dynamics of colonial administration in Owerri Province as it led to changes in administrative modalities. The study concluded that women were not passive victims of colonial oppression but active collaborators in the resistance to oppressive and repressive colonial policies.