Aba Women Riot: Remembering 'Nwayereuwa, Nwannedia, Ikonnia & Nwugo' - ITREALMS

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'Nwayereuwa, Nwannedia, Ikonnia, Nwugo and yet another'

I am sure 90 per cent of Africans, Nigerians and mainly people of Igbo origin who read the headline of this post will be like who the hell are these people? 

Yes, we wouldn’t know them because we’ve been busy learning about their Mother Theresa and the fraudulent story of Mary Slessor.

On this day  89 years ago, in the morning of November 18th 1929, a man called Emereuwa upon the directive of his boss Okugo the warrant chief, walked into the compound of a widow called Nwanyereuwa, ordered her for a census of all her livestock and household.

The widow Nwanyereuwa knowing the census will determined how much she will be taxed by the British colonial government, embittered, shouted on Emereuwa “was your widowed mother at home counted?” An angry exchange ensued. Nwanyereuwa resentfully rushed down to the town and market square, consulted other disgruntled women; they with palm fronds quickly mobilised other women. 

And that marked the beginning of one of the greatest resistance, rebellion and uprising the British imperial colonial rule ever faced in Nigeria 🇳🇬and Africa in general, Called “#The_Aba_Women_Riot” otherwise known as “#The_women_who_went_to_war” 

While the men were subdued, while the man died in the men in the face of oppression and tyranny of colonialism. The women stepped up and in. Record has it that over ten thousand women were involved in this revolt, and about 50 women lost their lives in the war/riot. This resistance was orchestrated by:

1) Persuasive #Ikonnia
2) Intelligent #Nwannedia
3) Passionate #Nwugo and
4) Wise, Counselling and strategic #Nwanyereuwa these were the women that led the famous #Aba_Women_Riot.

Women from across Six ethnic groups were involved, the Igbos, Ibibio, Andoni, Ogoni, Bonny and Opobo

Hundreds of British colonial courts were burnt down and destroyed, hundreds of warrant chiefs were ostracised and banished. On the aftermath of the revolt, the British were forced to abandon the proposed plans to impose tax on the market women, powers of the warrant chiefs were considerably curbed and more robust room was created for women’s inclusiveness in the grand scheme of things. 

The Aba women’s riot was on the scale never seen before. It prompted, encouraged and inspired subsequent agitations like;

1) The Tax protest of 1938
2) The Owerri and Calabar oil mill protest of the 1940s
3) The Onitsha Aba Tax revolt of 1956
Then consequently the Nigeria 🇳🇬 independence in 1960. 

But unfortunately sad, when you drive through Aba today, you will see Faulks road, in owerri you will see Wetheral Road and Douglas road all of them are colonial relics. Imo state government house is called Douglas house, named after Harold Morday Douglas, a brutal British colonial district commissioner who orchestrated the Ahiara expedition of 1905 that saw villages wiped out. 

Today one deranged governor of Imo State is busy moulding status of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia 🇱🇷 and Jacob Zuma of South Africa 🇿🇦, that has no connection or historical relevance to the people of Imo State. We’ve seen streets, roads, government buildings and and schools named after strangers, monuments raised for people of little or no importance to our history and future. But the real heroes, heroins and legends have been relegated to obscurity, sent to oblivion in a complete sheer and crass negligence. 

I hope that one day, the Igbos, Ibibios, Andonis, Ogonis, Opobos and Bonnis will have a leadership that will remember these women, the fifty that lost their lives and all that paid the ultimate price, immortalise them. I hope one day I shall see Nwanyereuwa road, Ikonnia hospital, Nwannedia secondary school and Nwugo shopping plaza. I hope to see us name our children after these legendary women and mothers and tell them the story. 

Today 18th November 2018, I remember the women who didn’t only fight against an oppressive British colonial rule, but also had to fight their own men (Warrant chiefs) who chose the side of the Oppressor because of crumbs that fall from the table of master. 

Aba women’s riot, the women who went to war. We remember.''

*Contributed by Mazi Uba Acho/GEE

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Ref: Ogbuefi N' Malasia

A year after: Remembering Amb Adebowale Adefuye

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One year ago to this day, Adefuye's heart stopped beating, leaving the world of time. If Nigeria is still the indispensable nation in Africa, he was the indispensable A Nigerian diplomat.

When the news of his death got to me this day last year, it was unbelievable Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye, that great, pulsing, vital frame quiet at last.

To countless numbers around the world, that was how things felt with the death of Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye, Nigeria's diplomat extraordinary. On August. 26, Adefuye was rushed to a hospital in Washington, D.C., and notwithstanding hours of constant care, died, aged 68, on the evening of August 27.

In every way, Adefuye was a big man — handsome, broad-shouldered, with a capacious mind and a generous heart.

He was a skilful actor in the international arena whose imaginative skills and unyielding resolve, won for the country plaudits globally.

Restoring honour was something of a Adefuye skill.  Adefuye’s posting to the United States of America (USA) came on the heels of the international infamy caused by the action of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who attempted to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight headed from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25, 2009. This development earned Nigeria the odious membership status of America’s terrorism watch list. The consequence was that the US authorities had to subject Nigerians to all sorts of humiliations and indignities at the major United States airports.

In his drive, his boldness, his determination to do anything he could to get Nigeria off that ignoble list, he demonstrated the best of Nigerian policy — actually, more than that, the best of the Nigerian character and diplomacy.

His doggedness paid off when the then Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, announced the good news that Nigeria was removed from ignominious list. This became the first achievement of Adefuye.

That same big spirit was evident in a part of the Adefuye’s résumé that, I would guess, will be little noticed in most obituaries: his dynamic leadership role used in strengthening the US-Nigeria Bi- National Commission bringing investment worth over $15 billion to Nigeria.

He was one of the kindest man I know. I only saw him get angry once. The genesis of the anger stemmed from U.S Republican Senator John McCain’s comment in U.S newspaper the Daily Beast when the Boko Haram Schoolgirls kidnapping story gained traction in 2014.

McCain had in a statement said that the U.S Military should invade Nigeria and free the girls without waiting for permission from Nigeria’s president, whom he referred to as “some guy named Goodluck Jonathan.”

Coincidentally, I was with him and I noticed the visibly anger signs, within a couple of minutes he had written a response which he shared with me.

He wrote, “The ranking Arizona Senator and former Republican presidential candidate has inexplicably seized on the pain of a distressed nation not only to show contempt to our country but also denigrate the office and person of His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

“One wonders what could have happened if the 2008 elections have gone the other way and McCain became the President of the most powerful nation in the world,” he said. “The good Lord has a better plan for the people of the world.”

“We will like to call on his well paid staff to brief him properly on Nigeria and accord our country as well as the Office of the President the respect they deserve,” Adefuye wrote.

He did everything to make America help Nigeria in the fight against terror, at time he was frustrated. He once said that the United States is letting down an old ally in its hour of need, and Nigeria's people and government feel abandoned.

It was evident in the way he brought together State Department officials and the diplomatic community in Washington, even a known, once inveterate opponent of Nigeria in the U.S Congress.

It was evident in the days and months he laboured long and often thanklessly in what I think he regarded his most difficult task of all, bringing a measure of peace, stability and security to Nigeria.

Adefuye’s last major assignment was to receive President Buhari with his delegation during the official visit to the United States last July. The late Ambassador facilitated Mr. President’s several meetings with US leader, Barack Obama and his Vice President, senior state officials and representatives of America’s business community. The success of this visit was largely attributed to Ambassador Adefuye’s skills as a diplomat and a great of Washington.

President Buhari was so happy that he extended his tenure for another month with feelers that Adefuye would be called upon to serve the country in another capacity.

Adefuye was a friend of mine.  He was a father, brother and a confidant.

Just two weeks before he passed, I saw him — and his devoted aides at his office, where he sent me on errand to his relation at First Bank, Folake Ani—Mumuney, the Head Corporate Communications.

I also had the opportunity of meeting him at a dinner event where he proposed a toast with generosity, affection, self-deprecation and the sort of comic timing that made you think he had missed his true profession.

I liked him enormously. But for all that he did over nearly 40 years of service to his nation, and indeed to all humankind, I admired him much, much more. A great hush, indeed.

*Femi Soneye, is the Publisher of PerSecond News

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Pix: Amb. Adebowale Adefuye