Women’s Nationalism in Colonial Nigeria

This book considers the contribution made by Nigerian women activists to the development of African nationalist thought.Focusing on the Federation of Nigerian Women’s Organizations, the book demonstrates how women in the 1950s articulated a non-political ideology as a means of achieving empowerment guided by indigenous principles of gender equity, accountability, and social responsibility rather than seeking change through colonial political structures. At a time when mainstream political activity was proving divisive and harmful to the goal of self-determination, Nigerian women developed a non-political ideology as a means of placing gender solidarity and social responsibility over political party allegiance and other non-indigenous mechanisms of governance and empowerment. Instead of viewing women as supporters in politically elite male led anticolonial movements, this book presents women as authoritative leaders who actively developed nationalist theory and practice.One of very few extant intellectual histories of African women, this book will be of interest to researchers of African Studies, Gender Studies, Political Science, and Black History.