Nigerian women in historical perspective.

Date
1992
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Publisher
Victoria Island Lagos: Sankore Publishers Ltd
Abstract

■ Saviours of their societies; ■ Queen Amina of Zaria; ■ Queen Kambasa of Bonny; ■ Nana Asma’u; ■ lyalode Efunsetan Aniwura (Owner of Gold); ■ Heroines of the women’s war; ■ Omu Okwei of Osomari; ■ Charlotte Olajumoke Obasa; ■ Olaniwun Adunni Oluwole; ■ Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti; ■ Lady Oyinkan Abayomi;

Description
This collection of essays has a very long history. It is a story that needs to be told in order to shed more light on the predicament of the Nigerian woman in trying to gain recognition in her society. The writing of these essays was mooted in the early 1970s, before Women’s Studies became a legitimate pursuit of the Nigerian academic. The effort to get them published has been a tortuous one, and in its own way epitomizes the struggles of Nigerian women to achieve acknowledged status in various sectors in the country. First attempts to get the essays published locally met with failure. Publisher after publisher declined to take on the manuscript because they decided that the time was not ripe for the publication of a book on Nigerian women and that such a book would not have much market value. No Ministry of Education would, at that time, adopt it as a textbook for schools. Attempts to publish abroad were also not successful. Overseas publishers raised queries which would have necessitated a veering away from the initial orientation and a drastic revision of the essays. This would have spelt the death of the project as most of the contributors had taken on new responsibilities in new locations and would have had difficulties in starting the exercise anew. However, within the last few years, local publishers have shown a new interest in publishing books on women. The study of women’s history and their contribution to the development of their society has gained recognition as a genuine and significant area of study and therefore worthy of its own literature.
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