MBEH OCHIRO JOHN

190104532
HISTORY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES
HSS331
NIGERIAN WOMEN IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
With specific examples discuss the contribution of women to education in Nigeria in
the colonial period
Education has played a key role in the development of a society, therefore it is important
to know the definition of the term education. According to the American English
Dictionary, it defines education as “the process of imparting knowledge, skill and
judgment...”
In my own view I will define education as the acquisition of knowledge, skill, training,
through formal and informal learning. Having looked at the meaning of education it is
also important to know the meaning of a ‘woman’. A woman is an adult female.
Over the years during the colonial period and up to today, women’s education has
contributed largely in the impact of knowledge, skills, values, training and preservation of
moral ethics and conduct in the aspect of economic development in Nigeria and the entire
world.
In order to exarchate women’s contribution to education in the colonial era, it is pertinent
to make mention of some key female personalities who have contributed immensely to
education in Nigeria during the colonial era.
One of such personalities is Chief Olufunmilayo Ransom-Kuti(1900-1978), Chief
Margaret Ekpo (1914-2006), Mrs Charlotte Olajumoke Obasa (1874-1953), lady Oyinkan
Abayomi (1897-1990) and others.
The achievements of this great women during the colonial period cannot be overlooked
owing to the fact that they were able to acquire formal education and therefore gave in
return training, knowledge, skills to their fellow women of this period and even till today
their contributions has remained the talk of the day.
Therefore, in this research I will be classifying women’s contribution to education into
five categories which includes contribution to knowledge, training, skills acquisition,
leadership, and empowerment of women in the society today.
In the aspect of knowledge, examples can be cited from Chief Olufunmilayo Ransome-
Kuti who after her primary, secondary, and tertiary education came back to impact
knowledge into her fellow women, thereby establishing a primary school which was
named ‘Mrs Kuti's School’ which contained a double stream of six classes up to standard
6 as of then. Later on after the death of her husband she founded an evening Secondary
school which was named the Reverend Kuti Memorial Evening School. By 1976 the
school was further extended to become the Reverend Ransome-Kuti Memorial Grammar
School in which Mrs Ransome-Kuti was the proprietor and also a principal until 1976.
Thus, spanning from 1923-1976, she had invested over 56 years in active educational
service to the Nigerian society, thereby impacting knowledge on her fellow women and
younger ones.
Another example is Lady Oyinkan Abayomi who in England, had joined the Girl Guides.
At her return to Nigeria, she connected with the local Lagos Nigerian Girl Guides
Association, which was founded by an English woman. Abayomi joined the group and
was the first Nigerian woman to serve as a supervisor. She also became active in the
education of women and girls in Nigeria, which was not equal to that of men and boys.
She joined the Lagos Women's Organization. She did fundraising and promoting for
Queen's College through the West African Educated Girls' Club, an organization she
founded which was opened in 1927. She was a founding teacher at the school. She was
the only Nigerian to work there. Around this time, she became one of the first women in
Lagos to drive a car after Mrs Ransome-Kuti. This figures and others contributed
generously to knowledge impartation.
On the aspect of training, Mrs Ransome-Kuti was actively involved in the training of
young women and girls, through providing training centres for their fellows, thereby
training them to become instructors like her. Also, Margaret Ekpo did the same for her
Aba people, where she established training centre for women to develop themselves, not
forgetting to mention Charlotte Olajumoke who’s contribution to training of women has
been of great value, today women can have become great entrepreneurs and owners of
establishments.
In the aspect of skill acquisition, Margaret Ekpo who was opportune to study abroad
in now what is called Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin Ireland. She earned a
diploma in domestic science and on her return to Nigeria she established a Domestic
Science and Sewing Institute in Aba. Through this many women were trained how to sew
and the likes. Likewise with the training given by Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti many of
the women were able to develop interpersonal skills through writing and making of crafts.
On the aspect of leadership, women such as Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Margaret
Ekpo, Oyinkan Abayomi, through their education contributed to the formation of some
union like Abeokuta Women’s Club (1944), Nigerian Women’s Party(1944) all of which
were actively involved in the fight for women’s right to education, political office
position and the right to vote, another example is the 1929 Aba women’s riot which
Margaret Ekpo was actively involved to stop the idea of women paying taxes, and to put
an end to women’s marginalisation.
The last aspect of women’s contribution to education was in the aspect of empowerment,
having received formal Education, the likes of Margaret Ekpo, Olufunmilayo Ransome-
Kuti, Oyinkan Abayomi, and the rest have contributed to women empowerment through
their education, not only that, they have in turn used that medium to serve the people of
Nigeria.
Therefore, it is important to conclude here that women have contributed immensely to
education in Nigeria during the colonial period and even after that their legacies still lives
on.
References
Martin, Christa (2002). Abayomi, Oyinkansola (1897–1990). Farmington Hills: Gale
Research, Inc. Archived from the original
Olajumoke Obasa: The Selfless Social-Worker who established first bus service in Lagos
to ease pain of commuters". Neusroom.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020
"Empower Women - Margaret Ekpo: An Amazon of Women Economic Empowerment in
Nigeria". EmpowerWomen. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
Johnson-Odim, Cheryl; Mba, Nina Emma (1997). For Women and the Nation:
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06613-8.