Women's War

The Women's War was a 1929 anti-colonial uprising in southeastern Nigeria, in which Igbo women protested taxation, colonial rule, and the authority of warrant chiefs.

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Warrant chiefs: Warrant chiefs were African intermediaries appointed by British colonial authorities to exercise local administrative and judicial power. Women challenged their authority as imposed rulers who abused colonial powers.
Sitting on a man: Sitting on a man was a protest practice in which women surrounded and shamed a person through singing, dancing, and public criticism. Women used this established sanction against warrant chiefs and other officials.
Aba Commission of Inquiry: The Aba Commission of Inquiry was a British investigation into the 1929 uprising and its causes. Its findings documented abuses by warrant chiefs and failures in colonial administration.
Oloko: Oloko is a community in southeastern Nigeria where a dispute over colonial census procedures helped trigger the 1929 uprising. A colonial census official’s questioning of women there sparked the first major protest.
Women’s taxation in colonial Nigeria: Women’s taxation in colonial Nigeria was a colonial policy proposal to assess women directly for taxes. Rumors of a new tax on women helped ignite the uprising.
Market women in colonial Nigeria: Market women in colonial Nigeria were women who traded goods and organized economic activity in local markets. Markets connected women across towns and helped protests spread.
Warrant chief system reform: Warrant chief system reform refers to changes in colonial governance that reduced reliance on appointed chiefs. The uprising helped force officials to reconsider the system women had challenged.
Nwanyeruwa: Nwanyeruwa was an Igbo woman whose dispute with a colonial official in Oloko helped set off the 1929 uprising. Her confrontation over the census became a catalyst for collective action.
Indirect rule in Nigeria: Indirect rule was British colonial administration through selected local authorities and institutions. Its use of warrant chiefs provided the political structure women opposed.
Women’s councils in Igbo society: Women’s councils in Igbo society were collective bodies through which women addressed community affairs and disputes. Women drew on collective institutions to coordinate resistance beyond individual villages.