Nwanyeruwah

Nwanyeruwa was an Igbo woman in Nigeria who started the Women’s War —often referred to as the first major challenge to British authority in West Africa during the colonial period. After she was asked about her property by a census collector, Nwanyeruwa began to protest about paying taxes with other women. Over the course of two months, over 25,000 women came together to protest tax changes and the unrestricted power of the Warrant Chiefs. Nwanyeruwa played a key role in keeping the protest non-violent. The women protested with song and dance, “sitting” on the Warrant Chiefs until they eventually resigned. In the end, the British dropped their tax plans and the Women’s War triumphed.