#abeokuta

[travelella]

Abeokuta, Nigeria

NIYI OKEOWO

[islandnaturals]

I swam in a 400 year old stone cut natural pool at Abeokuta Paradise Nature Park (1st pic). It was built by the Spanish, taken over by the British and is now owned by a Rastafari family. It is a beautiful property with an amazing view of the cane fields in Westmoreland. I felt a little uneasy swimming in it…the water is fresh, the air is clean but energy never dies….if you know what I mean and I think ya do! See more in my recent Vlog on YouTube. Link to channel in bio. 👆🏾 #abeokutaparadisenaturepark #westmoreland #jamaica #naturalpool #freshwaterpool #river #rivermumma #nature #abeokuta https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm65wdQO0G0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[freshthoughts2020]

Long May He Reign by J.Harry

Album · 2020 · 16 Songs

[kemetic-dreams]

Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh (meaning, "God Speaks true") was a leader of the Dahomey Amazons. In 1851, she led an all-female army consisting of 6,000 warriors against the Egba fortress of Abeokuta, to obtain slaves from the Egba people for the Dahomey slave trade.

Her age and date of death is unknown. She could have been in her late teens, 20s or early 30s when mentioned in 1850, since she was a leader of the Amazons and was pictured in her physical prime. Many Amazons were enlisted as small girls of between 8 or 10 years of age; a number of them would have been killed early in any battle that they fought in. An inconclusive guess would be that she could have been born sometime between 1815 and 1835, assuming she was aged between the late teens and the early 30s in 1850.She was not mentioned by the French army during the Dahomey-French wars, so she might have died in battle or retired at any time between 1851, 1874—the year of the first skirmishes with the French army—, or 1889—the year of the First Franco-Dahomean War.

She was portrayed in a hand drawn, partially colored portrait in her uniform, armed with a musket and holding a captive's severed head, in the 1851 book "Dahomey and the Dahomans" by Frederick Edwyn Forbes, a British Navy Commander and member of the Royal Geographical Society. As a deeply convinced abolitionist, he traveled to the Dahomey kingdom in 1849–50 with the mission of convincing king Guezo to stop the African slave trade. He described the female Dahomeyan army in detail, commenting on their lifestyle and behaviour as inserts in his negative descriptions and observations of the Dahomey wars that serviced the slave trade.

F. E. Forbes was not the only naval officer trying to end the slave trade in West Africa that mentioned the Dahomey female army.

As quoted from the book about her king, commander and ceremonial husband, the Dahomeyan king Guezo, in the years 1850–1852:

In order to bring an end to slave dealing, the British Navy went in search of the final traders and offered them large sums of money in exchange for firm promises to give up their lucrative business. Guezo, King of Dahomey had an army of 3,000 women, to each of whom he was married, having sold all the menfolk as slaves. For entertainment he indulged in the sacrifice of trespassers from neighbouring West African countries. He welcomed the approach of the naval officers, declaring Victoria and Albert as his closest friends

[naijamemory]

photograph 1: Funmilayo-Ransome Kuti in her twenties

Abeokuta Women’s Union (1947)

In the early 1940s, the British government tried to implement a series of price controls and confiscation of food goods as a way to offset shortages due to World War II. In Abeokuta, the government was seizing rice from market women. In September 1945, three members of the Abeokuta Ladies’ Club (ALC, an organization led by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti), and three members from the National Union of Teachers (NUT) went to the district officer for Abeokuta to demand an end to the seizure of women’s rice. Following this action, several protest delegations were sent to the district officer (DO), assistant district officer, and the Egba Native Administration Council and nothing changed. Eventually, the ALC held a public press conference. Daily Service, a publication, wrote an article about the demonstration, quoting AWU leaders: “We the members of the Abeokuta Ladies’ Club, on behalf of all Egba women, appeal to the press of Nigeria to help to bring the seriousness of the position [of the market women] to the attention of the authorities before it is too late.” Shortly after the article was published, the confiscation of rice ended. The victory brought about more membership to the ALC. And in March 1946, the Abeokuta Ladies Club became the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU).

The AWU continued to apply pressure by putting together a list of demands which included the end to flat-rate taxation of women, the abdication of the Alake (the head of traditional local authority, put in place by the British), the end to the Sole Native Authority (SNA) and a more representative system of government that included women. As time went on, the AWU documented the current Alake’s, Ademola II, abuses of power ranging from his leasing of land that did not belong to him to expatriates, his support of food and price control, the violent enforcement of regulations, and inappropriate sexual relations within the dipeomu system—a system whereby women can leave their husbands and reside in the Alake’s palace. The AWU also demanded for better public services such as proper sanitation, medical and educational facilities.

Throughout 1946, the AWU sent several petitions to the Alake and hosted many meetings and demonstrations. However, in late 1946, the Alake decided to increase the flat-rate tax on women. In response, the AWU relentlessly held a series of mass demonstrations, sent petitions to colonial authorities, and letters to editors of major newspapers throughout 1947 and 1948. This resulted in multiple arrests, a lot of harassment, and a variety of bannings (of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti) as retaliation. Eventually on January 3,1949, Ademola II abdicated as Alake. Nonetheless, the struggle wasn’t over.

On January 15, 1951, Ademola was reinstated as Alake and in 1952, the Central Council voted to restore the water rate tax on women. In return, the AWU continued to send petitions and hold protests. Finally in 1960, the water rate tax was abolished. In conclusion, the Abeokuta Women’s Union has an impressive and extensive history of political demonstrations for women’s rights and power.

Highly Recommended Reading/Sources: Johnson-Odim, C., & Mba, N. E. (1997). “Lioness of Lisabi” The Fall of a Ruler. In For women and the nation: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria (pp. 66-94). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

[awesomesallysoulla]

Kuto Road in Abeokuta, Nigeria

[cosororadio]

A Youth Without a VOTE is a Youth without PROTECTION. Vote WISELY... Vote ANRP. Let together Vote ADEWALE OMONIYI as the Next OGUN STATE GOVERNOR. He’s got plans that will benefit Every Ogun State Resident and Citizen. Checkout is Manifesto and Bio @adewale_2019 Let together VOTE “ANRP” come 2nd of March in Ogun State. The CHANGE Ogun needs is @adewale_2019. Every Vote COUNTS‼️ #ANRP #OgunState #abeokuta #ijebu #OOU #Mapoly #SayNoToAPC #SayNoToPDP #SayNoToPoliticalThuggery #Nigeria #Adewale4Gov #Cosoro #Ogun2019 #OgunDecides (at Ogun, Nigeria) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt1JsA0HP4H/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=w3dpu598jxyy

[soliloquyinthedark]

Abeokuta, Ogun, Nigeria