PGR Folusho hosts seminar on women's activism history in Nigeria

Enterprising postgraduate researcher Folusho Oladipo is hoping that new research on a tragic period in the history of her country of origin, Nigeria, will offer lessons for the country’s present and future direction.

Folusho, pictured second from the right above, has focused on the Eastern Women’s Protest of 1929, when Nigerian market women – a significant part of Nigeria’s economy and social life – protested against inhibitive British colonial authorities’ policies that threatened their survival. 

Dozens of unarmed women were killed by colonial officers, while more were hung extra judicially after a subsequent Commission of Inquiry by the British government which Folusho has found to be a whitewash.

Two years into a PhD, Folusho called out for interest in a seminar on the subject of Nigerian history and development and was delighted with a response from a wide range of scholars working across different disciplines and a variety of institutions.

One researcher from the University’s School of Computing and Engineering, Omolola Hastrup, shared knowledge on how AI could be used to inform policy on women’s issues using historical data including on market women. Another, Salwa Podgorica, from the School of Human and Health Sciences, shared their knowledge of mentoring and coaching women in Nigeria.

“By using oral histories of family descendants of the protesting women, I’ve uncovered some really interesting archival material that’s not on the public record,” says Folusho. “This sparked an interest in what to do with what I’ve discovered and how this can inform contemporary Nigeria, or with expat Nigerians.”

The Eastern Women’s Protest – sometimes mischaracterized as a ‘riot’- saw women in the south and east of Nigeria hold forth against an unfair burden on their families. Market women continue to have influence in Nigeria, organizing and controlling the street markets that are a huge part of Nigeria’s day-to-day life in large swathes of the country.

'Britain needs to recognise colonial era mistakes'

Nigeria became independent from Britain in 1960, but Folusho feels that a proper acknowledgement of the injustices from the colonial era is due.

“We discovered the obvious silencing of the market women’s history through multiple levels of suppression,” she continues. “We discovered that women were misrepresented as being illiterate, which started with colonial-era records. This was done deliberately to invalidate their activism, because of racism, and to see them as a disturbance to society.

“It’s important to give these women a proper identity so that they can assume their proper place in the history of activism in post-colonial Nigeria, where they could be included in developmental discussions. It is important to see that these women were not illiterate, and that they could make tremendous contributions to the country’s development. There is a need for justice, and for the British government to address this injustice.”

As well as the University of Huddersfield, Folusho’s seminar welcomed researchers from universities in London, Manchester, York and Leeds.

“It was fascinating to see how AI and climate change research can inform historical research and vice versa,’ says Dr Rebecca Gill, Folusho’s supervisor in History. ”The seminar was also incredibly useful on how tools like blogs, social media and even websites like The Conversation can be used to inform development policy.” 

Folusho adds, “My work will work towards the proper definition of what democracy is in Nigeria. Women should not be ostracised, they should be able to express their feelings and that can help inform policies that will bring everyone together.”

Seminar attendees:

*Difference Chuku - University of Huddersfield International Study Center. 

*Luqman Muraina - University of York

*Ismail Inuwa - University of Manchester

*Raymond Adu - Department of Economics, University of Huddersfield Business School.

*Ezenwa Olumba - Royal Holloway, University of London

*Ayodeji Ibitoye - University of Greenwich

*Yinka Ajala - Leeds Beckett University

*Emmanuel Odera Igwebuike - Huddersfield Business School

*Adewale Owoeye - School of Engineering, University of Huddersfield

*Omolola Haastrup - Computer Engineering, University of Huddersfield

*Rebecca Gill - Dept. of History, University of Huddersfield

*Folusho Oladipo - Dept. of History, University of Huddersfield

*Bashir Thierno - Huddersfield Business School

*Salwa Podgorica - University of Huddersfield

*Morgan Jones - Dept. of History, University of Huddersfield

*Prof Sophia Price - Birkbeck, University of London