Aba riot, woman and African economy Research Paper

Aba riot, woman and African economy - Research Paper Example Nigeria provides such an ideal opportunity to study the contribution and state of African women. It is one of the most populated nations in Africa with varied ethnical groups. People of all economical classes are present and education levels also vary. The nation has a lot of resources though it still has economical downturns. Therefore the study of Nigerian women provides a good basis for understanding the difficulties experienced by other African women as they go through their economic activities. In this regard, I agree with Chuku that women were formidable in their contribution to the economic, political and social development1 During the 1920s, women of Ngwa community experienced increased burdens and threats towards their sovereignty in the market and their use of earnings. Despite this situation, women struggled to retain their status. Men somehow got despaired while the women remained closely focused to maintaining the production of food and palm. Martin says that â€Å"at a time when the adoption of cassava was increasing their farming and cooking duties, they managed to increase their production of kernels and to retain their control of the income obtained from selling them†2. In addition to this, they began to trade in oil and kernels. Despite their hard work, social responsibilities prevented them from spending their income on other investments such as joining enterprise opportunities and other trading activities. In fact, they were denied opportunities to own property such as bicycles. While all these were happening, the European firms decided to increase their pricing and new measuring arrangements among the traders. Women were the most affected since they had ventured into trading activities more than their men. By this time, women relied most on trades so as to make their livelihoods. The situations became unbearable for them as they were not able to offset their losses with the little gains that they could manage;