Abeokuta Women's Revolt

Origin and nature of colonial taxation in Abeokuta

Located in southwest Nigeria and inhabited by the Yoruba, Abeokuta was established in 1830 and was primarily home for the Egba and Owu people. Around 1850, the British colonial government began to extend its control into Abeokuta and negotiate treaties with the native Egba. The treaty agreement granted the British open trade routes through the Egba territory "in exchange for the Lagos government’s recognition of the town’s independence and borders." This treaty had given the Egba people relative autonomy over their own economics, but ultimately, the British government found a means to intervene in the autonomous structure after a political crisis 1897. The British government demanded a reorganization of the town’s political structure, and thus, the Egba United Government (EUG) was created. Under the new structure, the former councils and kings that rule each township in Abeokuta were incorporated into one dominant council that was headed by the Alake, the senior oba (king).The new government structure, the EUG, began developing Abeokuta political and economic infrastructure and invested in the building of roads and markets. Abeokuta produced and exported several items for the international economy: palm oil, palm kernels, cocoa and the regional economy: kola nuts and indigo-dyed cloth. It also imported items such as cloth and spirits. By the late 1800s, Abeokuta had emerged as economic center in colonial Nigeria and remained relatively independent.

It was not until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 that the colonial government gained really grounds in the disruption of Abeokuta’s relative independence. The town became fully incorporated into the colonial state. After the incorporation of Abeokuta, colonial officials faced difficulties with a significant decline in revenue. The war spurred the increase of import duties so to offset the cost the government increased export duties. After a while, the export duties became insufficient so colonial official requested the colonial office to allow the imposition of direct taxation but they refused. In order to alleviate decline revenue, local official began imposing sanitary fines, which largely affected farm and market women. Eventually, the fines were abolished and replaced by taxes on women. On 1 January 1918, Abeokuta residents began paying taxes. From the tax proposal’s inception, Egba women were considered separately from the men. The taxation of women was not within the standard model of taxation first used by the colonial government in the Northern region. But this model of taxation was very much informed "by Yoruba cultural practice that expected women to work and have independent incomes. Since most women were involved in trade of manufactured goods or foodstuffs and predominated in the markets across Yorubaland, Yoruba and European men shared the perception that women often had money." In Abeokuta, colonial taxation emerged as an unfair practice that predominantly targeted women. Six months after the imposition of the tax, a revolt occurred in Abeokuta known as the Adubi war. The revolt consisted of thirty thousand rebels destroying much of the railway and telegraphs lines south of Abeokuta along with the murder of a European trading agent and a high-ranking Egba chief. After the colonial government quelled the revolt, "although some compromises were made to the governance structure and methods of collection, the tax on women remained in place. By the late 1940s, the burden of the taxation was becoming unbearable as the colonial authorities squeezed more and more from its protectorates in the aftermath of the Second European War"

Women’s revolt

As a result of the oppressive tax conditions, the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU) emerged under the leadership of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a headteacher of a local school, who had head of the struggles of the market women. The AWU, "an explicitly political organization uniting the working class market woman and the middle class women, was designed to challenge both colonial rule and the patriarchal structure." In order to end the taxation regime, the AWU wrote "proposals to replace the flat rate tax on women, on with taxation on expatriate companies, investment in local initiatives and infrastructure including transportation, sanitation and education and the abolition of the Sole Native Authority and its replacement with a representative form of government, including women." The women of the AWU were effective organizers, who fought 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.

However, the Abeokuta Women’s Union did not relent in their efforts and continued to send out several petitions to the Alake between August 1946 and May 1947. On 5 October 1946, an AWU delegation met with the Alake but there was still no result. The situation actually took a turn for the worse when the Alake increased "the flat-rate tax on women, an action supported by the British resident." It was then that the AWU began their mass protests, such as marching outside the chief’s palace and demanding the abolishment of direct taxation. "In mid- October 1946, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti led nearly a thousand women in a march to the Afin to protest the increase." The response from the colonial authorities was brutal. They deployed tear gas and administered beatings on the women.

Despite the dangerous circumstances, the AWU continued to protest and released a document called the AWU’s Grievances in 1947 that detailed all their accusations against the Alake and the SNA. Following the list of grievances, the women once again held a demonstration on outside the Alake’s palace from 29 November 1947 until the morning of 30 November. There were over ten thousand women in attendance.

"During the protest, the women used songs such as the one translated below to ridicule Alake: Idowu [Alake], for a long time you have used your penis as a mark of authority that you are our husband. Today we shall reverse the order and use our vagina to play the role of husband on you… O you men, vagina’s head will seek vengeance."

The protest resulted in the government authorities promising the women that "taxation would be suspended and the final decisions on the issue communicated to them within three days." Unfortunately, this turned out to be another empty promise "as more assaults were committed and more arrests made" so the women organized another protest. Once again on 8 December, "over ten thousand women camped outside the palace, refusing to leave until all the women who had been arrested were released. They left the palace on the 10th when the incarcerated women were released." After this incident, the AWU continued to send their petitions to the British administration and eventually they claimed victory. On 3 January 1949, "the Alake abdicated from the throne and the SNA system was changed and four women had positions in the new system of administration." The Abeokuta Women’s Union had won a great victory in colonial Nigeria but they did not stop there. The women continued to advocate for women’s rights in Nigeria and play a role in Nigerian nationalist movements. The group was in fact extraordinary and emerged as one of the first proto-nationalist feminist activist groups in Nigeria.