Strategic Usage of Arts Activism: AFRICOM Policy Review – Student Writers’ Corner

• Joint Task Force Aztec Silence (JTFAS): In December of 2003, the U.S. European Command created this joint task force under the commander of the US Sixth Fleet (Europe) to share information with US intelligence agencies and African military forces. This program carries out counter-terrorism and surveillance operations in North and West Africa and coordinates U.S. operations with countries in those regions.

These facts, exemplifying pre-AFRICOM US military relations in Africa, add to the various protests against the implementation of AFRICOM, as it would increase an already alarming US military presence in the region. There is much speculation of the underlining motivations of AFRICOM coming into existence at this time – some of which include US interest in Africa’s oil and other resources. These speculations are not so farfetched if viewed from the broader historic context of African nations’ relating with Western nations as well as the pre-existing US military presence in Africa (both during and after the Cold War).

Strategic Incorporation of the Arts: A Case Study

Much of what is being witnessed in this contemporary issue of AFRICOM can be addressed from many historical angles. As stated in sections above, a review of colonial military presence in Africa is necessary in comprehending opposition toward AFRICOM, as noted by SADEC and other groups within Africa. It is also important to review the factors that have shaped US foreign policy in general as it relates to the Military Industrial Complex, in an effort to understand opposition to AFRICOM coming from organizations within the US such as TransAfrica Forum. In the case of strategic means of effecting change, as exemplified by sound and logical opposition toward such a policy as AFRICOM, it is also necessary to draw on some historical context. There are many ways to show opposition toward policies and, as this paper has exemplified, military means have been well exercised in the past century. However, there are other means of effecting change that do not result in arms struggles or in supporting the Military Industrial Complex. Around the world, there are many examples of non-violent efforts to show opposition that were effective in not inspiring or utilizing the sophisticated military technology we see in the development of guns, tanks and bombs. It is estimated that about 80% of war victims are women and children. With this in mind, it is essential that there be increased effort at incorporating successful means of opposing damaging policies without devastating those who are most vulnerable in conflict situations. In indigenous Africa, song, music and dance have been used in both violent and non-violent disputes – depending on the desired result of using such arts. The aim of highlighting the Aba Women’s Market Rebellion is not only to illustrate how African women have opposed colonial impositions but also to show alternate non-violent, yet effective, organizing strategies to achieve desired goals of change.

Policy Review: Riot or Rebellion? The Women’s Market Rebellion of 1929

The Aba Women’s Market Rebellion of 1929, also known as the Aba Women’s Riot, was a pioneering event of movement, remarkable for the ingenious organizing strategies that incorporated song and dance, was as militant as any liberation struggle before or after. The fact that it was organized by African women in times of European male colonial domination of the territory called Nigeria – one of the most lucrative colonies – is a credit to the courage and diligence it took to ensure the participants’ imprints on the pages of history. In addition to being respected for the biological role of childbirth, African women are also widely respected for their participation in agricultural production, trade and other economic pursuits for the sustainability of their communities. It is with this self-awareness of the their importance to the sustainability of enterprising efforts that these women organized and decided to revolt against the imposition of taxes, as was noted in the literature in review, Riot or Rebellion.

At the end of 1929, just when the government was congratulating itself upon the success with which the difficult task of introducing direct taxation into the provinces had been accomplished, rioting of a serious and unusual kind broke out in Calabar and Owerri. In Owerri province, in the heart of the Igbo country, where a particularly dense population inhabits the palm forest, there is a place called Oloko. Here, a warrant chief, Okugo, under instructions from the district officer, was making a reassessment of the taxable wealth of the people. In his attempt, he counted the women, children, and domestic animals. A rumor at once spread among the women that the recently introduced taxation of men was to be extended to them.

This report was documented by Margery Perham, a British woman who dedicated her career to studying British colonial administration and was concerned with moral and ethics of colonial rule. She was noted for being “fiercely critical of British rule and was the scourge of the Colonial Office. She wanted to know why the British had opposed the development of nationalism and how they might assist nationalists, especially in Africa, in building new nations.” An interesting discovery was that most of the primary sources used in studying the Aba Women’s Riot were compiled by the British, who were more interested in understanding how they could have miscalculated their “citizens” and hence began gathering intelligence information on the Igbo people. It is this quest for understanding the Igbo people, in general, and Eastern Nigerian women, specifically, that led to policy changes in the colonial structure – a temporary victory that would be characterized by the lack of support by the British during the Biafran War (1967-1970).

The question of calling it a rebellion versus a riot, while a worthy distinction not to be minimized by mere semantics, is not the focus of this paper. Rather, this paper aims at highlighting the causations of this women’s movement, rare in form yet very powerful, especially when reviewed with awareness of present day analysis of the role of women and development in Africa.

The causations were simple enough: the British policy on taxation of individuals was economically frustrating for these colonial ‘citizens’. As Perham reported, “…the price of palm-produce was falling, and new customs duties had put up the cost of several imported articles of daily use.” The British had first imposed taxes on the men, a case for controversy yet was tolerated, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was the further insistence that these taxes be extended to women, children and animals. The other important, and more complex, policy trigger to this movement was the creation of the loathed role of the warrant chief. This colonial role was extremely disruptive to the traditional system of governance used in the time prior to British rule. Particular to the Igbos, there was a de-emphasis on roles such as ‘chiefs’ and ‘kings’ and the few men who managed to acquire some level of prestige to be acknowledged as great men or chiefs, did so only after rigorous initiation that was difficult for most to complete successfully. Despite the rigor toward attaining this position, the role of the chief did not equate with a king or ruler but was more akin to spokesperson for the people in relation with neighboring tribes. In addition, Igbo women had their organizations that controlled certain spheres of community life such as priestesses that headed traditional spiritual orders. This role was also only attained after rigorous initiation. Igbo women, as most other African women, were able to attain social standing by successfully trading, farming and weaving and many Igbo sub-tribes are matrilineal. Though Igbo women generally did not engage in physical combat, they were key advisors in war strategies and their place in society was honored as such. With the implementation of these warrant chiefs, roles that were imposed by the British mainly to communicate colonial law, there was a power shift that displaced traditionally held roles by both women and men.

Perham documents the role of one particular warrant chief who went by the name Okugo. It was noted that, as a result of Okugo’s insistence that the women pay taxes, the women organized themselves in masses and went to all the houses of the chiefs to verify that this law, in fact, was to be mandated in all provinces. Perham reports an incident that followed the implementation of the new tax law: