Abstract
The woman as an entity has garnered a lot of sociopolitical, cultural, economic, and literary discourses. This study aims at evaluating research and scholarly opinions on the existence and status of the Nigerian woman, past and present. It will interrogate Nigerian women’s inclusion in precolonial, colonial, and current political affairs in the country, while exploring the various responses and agitations instigated and championed by women in relation to policies that affect women favorably and otherwise. This will illuminate women’s political history as well as their relationship with traditional Nigerian men and colonialists. The work further argues that a greater number of the scholars appraised believe that women enjoyed more autonomy and authority during precolonial times, and that surprisingly, colonialism diversified and expanded women’s economic ventures in Nigeria culminating in the start of women’s financial independence in some regions. Further studies also reveal that Nigerian women engaged in physical protests and movements like the Women’s War of 1929 and the Egba tax revolt, both responses to political and economic policies that were not in the women’s best interests.
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Falola, T. (2019). Writing Nigerian Women’s Political History. In: Yacob-Haliso, O., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77030-7_168-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77030-7_168-1
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