Chief (Dr.) Folashade Tinubu Ojo, the Iyaloja General and first daughter of Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has accepted an invitation to attend the Conference on the Aba Women’s Revolt of 1929.

The conference, which will commemorate the 96th anniversary of the historic Revolt, will take place in Owerri on December 18 and 19, 2025, at Rockview Hotel.

Mrs. Tinubu-Ojo conveyed her acceptance and her intention to come to the Igbo heartland, during a meeting in her Abuja office with Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji, the convener of the conference, on Wednesday, November 5, 2025.

Ugorji was the former Commissioner for Homeland Security in Imo State and now serves as President of OFO Educational Foundation.

He said that the Iyaloja General will present a keynote speech at the conference and participate in other activities that are being worked out.

Chief (Dr.) Folashade Tinubu Ojo, the Iyaloja General, with former Commissioner for Homeland Security in Imo State, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji

According to the press release from the OFO Educational Foundation, Mrs. Tinubu-Ojo holds a significant position as the Iyaloja General of Lagos, Nigeria.

Hers is a remarkable career, with several traditional and Chieftaincy titles to her name, including Iya Oba of Awori land and Yeye Oba of Ogudu.

She has made notable contributions to the market community in Lagos and beyond.

Ugorji told reporters in Owerri that Tinubu-Ojo is actively involved in efforts to empower women, including better representation of women in political and corporate leadership in Nigeria.

From establishing recreation centers and primary healthcare facilities, to empowering market women and men through business loans, Iyaloja has made remarkable improvements to the lives of Nigerians within her sphere of influence.

The conference will be jointly chaired by His Excellency Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, former governor of Imo State, and Professor Chinwe Obaji, Nigeria’s first female Minister of Education.

Ex-governor of Imo State, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim | Nigeria’s first female Minister of Education, Professor Chinwe Obaji

About Aba Women’s Revolt of 1929

The Aba Women’s Revolt of 1929 was also known as the Aba Women’s War or Women’s Riot of 1929.

It was a major anti-colonial uprising led by thousands of Igbo and Ibibio women in southeastern Nigeria against British colonial authorities.

Background

In the late 1920s, British colonial rule in Nigeria introduced “Indirect Rule” through local male chiefs (Warrant Chiefs).

The Indirect Rule replaced traditional systems in which women had strong political voices.

The colonial administration also conducted taxation and censuses, raising fears that women would be taxed — something unheard of in local custom.

Economic hardship and abuses by some Warrant Chiefs added to widespread resentment.

Causes

Imposition of Warrant Chiefs: Undermined women’s traditional authority in village governance.

Rumors of women’s taxation: A census being taken was believed to precede a new tax on women.

Economic hardship: Colonial economic policies favored exports and taxed local produce, deepening poverty.

Abuse of power: Some local chiefs used their positions for personal gain, exploiting women traders.

The Revolt (November–December 1929)

It began in Oloko, near Aba (in present-day Abia State), when a woman named Nwanyeruwa argued with a local tax officer about counting her livestock and household members.

Thousands of women mobilized through a traditional communication network called “sitting on a man”.

“Sitting on a man” is a form of organized protest involving singing, dancing, and shaming corrupt officials.

The protests spread rapidly across the Igbo, Ibibio, and Andoni areas — covering over 6,000 square miles.

The women stormed Native Courts, destroyed warrant chiefs’ offices, and demanded political reform.

Aba Market Women’s Riot in 1929

Outcome

British troops opened fire on protesters in several places, killing about 50 women and injuring many more.

The revolt forced the colonial government to suspend plans for women’s taxation and to reform the system of Warrant Chiefs.

It was one of the first major anti-colonial and feminist movements in West Africa.

Legacy

The Aba Women’s Revolt is remembered as a landmark in Nigerian history, symbolizing women’s resistance against oppression and colonial injustice.

It is celebrated today as part of Nigeria’s national heritage and a precursor to later independence and women’s rights movements.

The Igbo Community Association in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has called on the president of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to see the threat issued by the President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump, to attack Nigeria, as an opportunity to act.

The Igbo Community made the call in a statement issued by the President General of the Association, Engineer Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe.

The statement was entitled “Trump’s Threat on Nigeria is opportunity for President Tinubu to act“.

Engineer Ellis-Ezenekwe noted that the designation of Nigeria as a country of special interest is an embarrassment.

Trump’s Threat

President Trump had made the designation over allegations that Christians suffer genocidal killing in Nigeria.

Trump followed the designation up with threat to use military action against Nigeria, unless the killings stop.

Reacting to the threat, Tinubu insisted that Nigeria, as a democracy governed by constitution guarantees religious liberty.

He condemned characterising Nigeria as religiously intolerant, holding it does not reflect the country’s national reality.

He stressed that Trump did not “take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs” for Nigerians.

“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so.

“Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.

“Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths,” said Tinubu in a statement.

President General of the Igbo Community Association in FCT, Engineer Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe

Igbo Community: “Christians have suffered genocidal killing in Nigeria”

The Igbo Community, however, held otherwise.

Ellis-Ezenekwe pointed out that Nigeria has had a history of religious violence.

According to him, such violence has seen Igbo people persecuted and killed in thousands in Northern Nigeria.

He affirmed that Christians have suffered genocidal killing in Nigeria, and have continued to suffer such killings till date.

Ellis-Ezenekwe stated: “The designation of Nigeria as a country of special interest is definitely an embarrassment to the giant of Africa.

“Nigeria has had a history of religious violence dating back to the days, when people of Igbo extraction were prosecuted and killed in thousands in Northern Nigeria.

“It is not untrue to say that Christians have suffered genocidal killing in Nigeria and continues to suffer such killings till date.

“The people of the north central Nigeria, particularly the people of Benue and Plateau State, including the people southern Kaduna, have suffered the latest brunt of religious killings by religious terrorists.

“It has been a sad and embarrassing ordeal that remains an albatross.

“[It’s] exacerbated by the inability of the Federal Government of Nigeria to checkmate the killings over the years.”

Opportunity for Tinubu to Act

Ellis-Ezenekwe, however, noted that Trump’s threat “serves as an opportunity”, especially for Tinubu’s administration.

He urged Tinubu to “wipe the religious terrorists out” to save the lives of Nigerians and prove Trump wrong.

He stated further: “It is on this note that the President of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is called to step up to the plate and grab the opportunity to eradicate the menace.

“President Tinubu should ask the American President, Donald Trump for help towards eradicating the menace.

“Too many innocent lives have been lost to marauding bandits and religious terrorists.”

Ellis-Ezenekwe ended the statement on a, rather, positive note, saying: “Nigeria can be made great again.”

Dr. Ikedi Ohakim And Prof. Chinwe Obaji have agreed to serve as co-chairmen of the forthcoming OFO Educational Foundation Conference on the 1929 Aba Market Women’s Riot.

OFO Foundation made the announcement on Saturday, November 1, 2025, in a press release made available to Diaspora Digital Media (DDM).

The conference will commemorate the 96th anniversary of the 1929 Aba Market Women’s Riot.

The event will take place on December 18 and 19, 2025, at Rockview Hotel, Owerri, Imo State.

The Foundation disclosed that the former Imo State governor has accepted the invitation.

Nigeria’s first female Minister of Education, Professor Obaji, has also accepted the invitation.

The statement reads in part: “The OFO Educational Foundation has announced that the former Governor of Imo State, His Excellency Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, and Nigeria’s first female Minister of Education, Professor Chinwe Obaji, have accepted to Co-chair the International Conference on the historic and consequential Eastern Nigerian Women’s Revolt of 1929.

“The conference, which will commemorate the 96th anniversary of what is also known as the Aba Market Women’s Riot in Eurocentric circles, will take place on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 of December, 2025, at Rockview Hotel Owerri.”

The Founder of OFO Educational Foundation, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji, briefed journalists in Owerri on Friday over the event.

Dr. Ugorji said that he is organizing the conference in collaboration with the African American Studies Program of Marquette University, Wisconsin, USA.

According to him, the conference has Professor Chima Korieh as the co-organizer.

Other universities in Nigeria and abroad will be added as co-sponsors of the conference as they respond to invitations to participate, he added.

Ex-Imo State Commissioner for Homeland Security and Vigilante Affairs, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji

Significance of the event

From November 1929 to January 1930, women in virtually all major towns in Eastern Nigeria came together.

They protested their limited roles in the colonial government and the taxation levied on them by the same colonial government.

The results of the Aba Market Women’s Riot, among others, was the elimination of the following:

• Warrant Chief System,
• the withdrawal of the illegitimate tax, and,
• increased respect and role of women in leadership.

It also resulted in inspirations for future generations of women and men alike.

“We want to remember this historic event and remind the younger generation about the roles women played in the struggles against the colonial experience,” Ugorji said.

Ugorji pointed out that another aim of the conference is to celebrate the heroic women.

He emphasised that the courageous women organized and carried out Africa’s first revolt against colonialism.

He said: “We will present these women as role models in the universal human struggle for equality, equity and justice.

“We hope that the generations of today and tomorrow will be inspired,” he opined.

The organizers of the conference also seek to advance the ideals these African women fought for in 1929.

Several of them paid with their lives as the British colonial forces shot at them.

“Our hope is that the conference would result in additional and reinvigorated organized efforts to facilitate women’s presence and input in leadership in all professions and activities,” Ugorji said.

Aba Market Women’s Riot in 1929

The conference

The two-day Aba Market Women’s Riot conference will start on Thursday, December 18th, with an Opening Plenary Session.

It will feature keynote speeches, goodwill messages, creative arts performances, and panel discussions.

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and the Iyaloja General of Lagos, Mrs. Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, were invited as the Special Guests of Honour.

Mrs. Chioma Uzodimma, Imo State First Lady, was invited as the “Mother of the Day” and a keynote speaker.

The second day of the conference will feature academic paper presentations from scholars around the world.

A “call for papers” published by the OFO Educational Foundation and Marquette University of has already generated tremendous interest and submissions.

Attendance at the conference will be free to the general public.

Several women leaders in the state have declared their readiness to mobilize thousands of women and men to the conference.

Ugorji assured that a list of speakers and performers will be published later.

Meanwhile, additional information about the conference is available on the OFO Educational Foundation’s website.