The Mastermind Behind the Aba Women’s Riot; Madame Nwanyeruwa
Even though not much is known about Nwanyeruwa apart from her role in the Aba Women’s War, her voice was fundamental for the construction of the anti-colonial movement, which extended to all of Nigeria and culminated with the country’s independence in 1960.
Madam Nwanyeruwa from Ngwa led the Aba women's protest that started on November 18, 1929, after rumours that Igbo women were being assessed for taxation. Her biography is an important piece of history because it acted as the starting point for the Women’s War.
Here's why we consider her a woman giant;
In the 1920s, Nigeria was ruled through warrant chiefs. As a widow, Ms Nwanyeruwa learnt that the women may be taxed when a man, Mark Emereuwa, who was helping to make a census of the people living in the town controlled by the Warrant, Okugo came to her home.
However, since the men were already heavily taxed and the women had been silenced concerning the government, Ms Nwanyeruwa refused. This led to a dispute between Nwanyeruwa and Emereuwa, they exchanged angry words, and Emeruwa grabbed Nwanyeruwa by the throat.
Ms Nwanyeruwa went to the town square to discuss the incident with other women who happened to be holding a meeting to discuss the issue of taxing women. And soon a movement was born, they gathered nearly 10,000 women from other areas in the Bende District, as well as from Umuahia and Ngwa who protested at the office of Warrant Chief Okugo, demanding his resignation and calling for a trial.
Ms Nwanyeruwa and the women went to Emeruwa’s compound to protest, eventually driving him out while drawing in larger crowds. After, the large group of women “sat on” Okugo’s compound and were physically attacked. The intention of “sitting on” them was to stand up against the injustice of being taxed as a woman.
The women demanded the abolition of taxation and the dismantling of the Warrant Chiefs system, as well as the chiefs’ prosecution.
On March 12, 1930, Ms Nwanyeruwa testified against warrant Chief Okugo before the Aba Commission of Inquiry. Before the Commission, Ms Nwanyeruwa took the initiative to confront Mark Emeruwa in which word of her confidence spread throughout the grassroots of Igbo land and so many women joined her in the fight against inequality.
Ms Nwanyeruwa represented Igbo women’s roles as political leaders, challengers of male authority and most importantly, market women.
Due to her contribution to the Women's War, Madame Nwanyeruwa is and remains the name that comes up when bringing up the history of militancy of women in Nigeria, and has been said to be linked to the history of the emergence of African nationalism.