THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE COLONIAL ECONOMY OF NSUKKA DIVISION, 1912-1960

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE COLONIAL ECONOMY OF NSUKKA DIVISION, 1912-1960

Abstract:

The focus of this study is the role of Women in the Colonial Economy of Nsukka Division from 1912-1960. The work is an analysis of the role which women played in the household economy and by extension the Colonial Economy. The work examined the culture and traditions of the people to be able to understand the roles the genders played before and during colonialism. The work is of the view that Colonialism was exploitative in all ramifications. It argues that women bore the burden of sustaining their families during the period under study as many of the economic policies were harsh leading to migrations of able bodied young men, leaving the responsibility of sustaining the families on the shoulders of women. The period saw an unprecedented division of labour in the household economy as men abandoned food crop production for trading. Most local industries suffered as they could not compete favourably with the cheap finished products of Europe and the West. Only very few industries survived the economic onslaught of western capitalism. The period also witnessed the invasion of the economic space which hitherto was the exclusive preserve of women by the men. Food crop production was abandoned by men who migrated to different parts of Nigeria in search of paid employment. The study concluded that women were the unsung heroines of the colonial economy in this period bestriding it as a colossus. The study uses historical research method. Primary, secondary and tertiary sources such as oral interviews, archival materials, journals, mimeographs, published and unpublished texts, were used as means of data collection for the historical reconstruction of the study.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE COLONIAL ECONOMY OF NSUKKA DIVISION, 1912-1960