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Paper short abstract:

This paper tends to examine the impacts of British wartime economic policies on Lagos women, living and livelihood during the second world war. It will examine the role/contributions of this market women to the British war efforts, majorly in supplying foods to the soldiers and cash crops.

Paper long abstract:

Abstract

The role of women in the Second World War was investigated in this study. The exclusion of women in decision-making process has been identified recently as one of the major challenges for economic development. Apparently, a strong pillar of women’s groups for grassroots participation and a drive for more involvement of women in decision-making process at the local level is still confronting series of setbacks, thus making it a die-hard for them to combine available opportunities for economic development. Thus, the opportunity therein for more women’s participation in decision-making process is yet to be exploited. The involvement of women in anti-colonial struggle in the twentieth century and the parts they played in the social, economic and political domains still require further investigation. This present study, based mostly on archival sources, explores women's involvement during the Second World War, identifies their challenges and assesses their responses to the threat of the war on their social and economic status. Using historical analysis, primary and secondary sources were investigated to reveal how women were involved in the Second World War in colonial Nigeria. It focuses on women's opposition to British wartime policies during the Second World War, paying attention to those activities that were carried out and how they operated. Indeed, although women played significant public roles before the World War II period, their positions were altered by the British foreign rule through economic and political disenfranchisement. The introduction of new economic policies by the British imperial government which had implications on the economic climate led to unmitigated hardship for women resulting in their vociferous demands for justice and fair play during the war years, from 1939 to 1945. The paper concludes that the experience of the Nigerian women as necessitated by the foodstuff price scheme remains the turning point in the history of trade that later transpired the history of women in what was known as underground economy (black market).

Keywords: Woman, Nigerian Woman, Second World War