Post by Ayodeji Josh (@STORM)
The Market Queen Who Said "No" (April 21, 1944)
April 21, 1944. Lagos, Nigeria. 🇳🇬
A British official walks into the Ereko market to enforce a new price control law. He expects compliance.
What he gets instead is a wall of thousands of women, led by a grandmother who didn't spend a day in a Western school, but knew more about economics than the Governor. 🧵
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Alimotu Pelewura was the leader of the Lagos Market Women’s Association (LMWA).
She represented over 10,000 women. In 1940s Lagos, if the market women didn't move, the city didn't eat. Pelewura was their voice, their banker, and their General.
Alimotu Pelewura was the leader of the Lagos Market Women’s Association (LMWA).
She represented over 10,000 women. In 1940s Lagos, if the market women didn't move, the city didn't eat. Pelewura was their voice, their banker, and their General.
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During WWII, the British introduced the "Pullen Scheme"—a series of strict price controls on food.
To the British, it was "war effort." To the market women, it was a direct attack on their livelihoods. On this day in 1944, the tension boiled over as the women organized a mass pro...
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Pelewura didn't use guns; she used the economy.
She organized strikes that emptied the markets and refused to pay unfair taxes. She even partnered with Herbert Macaulay to take the fight to the colonial courts.
She famously told the authorities: "We are the owners of the...
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The "Pullen Scheme" eventually collapsed under the weight of the women's resistance.
Alimotu Pelewura proved that the road to Nigerian independence wasn't just paved by men in suits, it was built by women in wrappers who knew the value of their labor. ✊✨
Which Nigerian woman from his...