Nigerian women and World War One (1914-18), By Tayo Agunbiade

Several war relief funds such as the Nigerian Overseas Contingent Comforts Fund, Cameroons Meat Fund, Nigeria Aeroplane Fund, Prince of Wales War Fund, King George’s War Fund, Queen’s Star and Garter Hospital Fund for Permanently Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, Merchants Seaman’s Fund, Nigeria Railway War Relief Fund, Belgian Fund and the British Red Cross Society etc, benefitted from women’s agency.

During World War One, also known as the Great War, women in Nigeria did not take a back seat. Just as men were recruited as soldiers and carriers to the German Cameroons and German East Africa as “Defenders of the Empire,” women on the Home Front organised and participated in fund-raising events to help sick and wounded soldiers, as well as the war effort in general.

Several war relief funds such as the Nigerian Overseas Contingent Comforts Fund, Cameroons Meat Fund, Nigeria Aeroplane Fund, Prince of Wales War Fund, King George’s War Fund, Queen’s Star and Garter Hospital Fund for Permanently Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, Merchants Seaman’s Fund, Nigeria Railway War Relief Fund, Belgian Fund and the British Red Cross Society etc, benefitted from women’s agency.

In December 1914, Mrs Augusta Spencer Savage, a daughter of the Lagos merchant, RB Blaize, performed a vocal solo, Handel’s “Lord to Thee We Pray,” during an organ recital at St Paul’s Church, Breadfruit Street, Lagos, for the Prince of Wales War Fund.  The event was well-attended and an article about it was syndicated in the Nigerian Pioneer and the Lagos Weekly Record.

But Augusta was not the only one in her family to become involved in what in effect became a fundraising movement for the period of the Great War. Her sisters, Charlotte Obasa, the owner of a fleet of buses (Anfani Motor Company) and Abimbola Ethel Gibson, as well as their sister-in-law, Mrs Charles Olufemi Blaize (Gwendolyn Labisi Moore), were also active participants.

In June 1915, Charlotte planned the Patriotic Concert at the Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos and raised a sum of £21. 3s. 6d on behalf of the Prince of Wales War Fund. When the Cameroons Meat Fund was created in June 1915 for Nigerian troops, a “Committee of Ladies’ at Ebute Metta” planned an evening of entertainment and distributed placards to publicise the event. In its report under the headline “Entertainment at Ebute-Metta”, the Nigerian Pioneer said: “An entertainment in aid of the above-mentioned Fund, promoted by a committee of ladies’ resident in Ebute-Metta was held in St Jude’s Schoolroom on 2^nd July. The net proceeds amounted to £26. 10s has been handed over to His Honour, the Administrator and duly acknowledged by his secretary.”

Women were also invited to meetings with the colonial administrator, Mr FS James, at Glover Memorial Hall to discuss how to raise money and sell merchandise like badges and medals for British Red Cross Society. When in October 1915, a concert and ball were held to support the Nigeria Aeroplane Fund, Charlotte Obasa and Mrs Ayodeji Oyejola were commended by the Lagos Standard for their roles.

In September 1917, Madams C Adeneye Titcombe and NT Williams participated in an evening of entertainment in Ibadan, to raise money for the Nigerian Overseas Contingent Comforts Fund, and the following month at the Lagos Bar Association Concert and Dance, in aid of the British Red Cross Society, Madams Lucretia Ajasa, R Adekunle Wright and Miss L Wright, were acknowledged for their contributions to the night.

At other fund-raising events, several young ladies described as newly-arrived from their studies in England, displayed their musical talents. They were named as Miss Bola Pratt, who sang “When you come home”; Miss Bafunke Coker – “Star of Bethlehem”; Miss Remi Savage, Augusta S. Savage – “Promise of Life”; and Miss Layinka Wright who performed as a solo pianist.

In September 1917, Madams C Adeneye Titcombe and NT Williams participated in an evening of entertainment in Ibadan, to raise money for the Nigerian Overseas Contingent Comforts Fund, and the following month at the Lagos Bar Association Concert and Dance, in aid of the British Red Cross Society, Madams Lucretia Ajasa, R Adekunle Wright and Miss L Wright, were acknowledged for their contributions to the night.

In a report about the oratorio and concert by Christ’s Church Choir to raise money for the Merchant Seaman’s Dependants Fund in October 1917, the names of Madams SH Pearse, R Adekunle Wright, (Arabella) EO Moore, Abimbola Gibson, Augusta Savage, TKE Phillips, and Miss Bafunke Coker, were published as part of the team of volunteers who had sold tickets in and around Lagos on behalf of the Fund. Similarly, at the Lagos Red Cross Day, that same month, Madams Lucretia Ajasa and Henrietta Carr were amongst the women tasked with selling tickets for the event.

In 1918, a committee under the secretaryship of Augusta Savage was set up to raise funds for the King George’s Fund Day. Members embarked on a woman-to-woman collection round Lagos, and visited offices, business premises and private residences with subscription lists and collection boxes. On the day of the event, they congregated at the venue to sell flags to bring in extra cash.

Some events were two-fold: during the day, gymkhanas were held at Race Course and Railway Compound, Ebute-Metta, while in the evenings, there were concerts and dances at the Glover Memorial Hall.

However, fundraising activities for the war effort on the Domestic Front were not limited to middle class women in the Colony of Lagos. In the neighbouring rural province of Abeokuta, women supported the “Red Letter day” on behalf of the British Red Cross Society. In October 1917, they performed traditional dances such as kete, kriboto, efe gelede and gelede at Ake Square and according to lists submitted by Mr JC Patrick, treasurer of the Red Cross, funds from “native dances” fetched £49. 13. 7d.

It is also on record that in October 1914, women farmers and labourers in Abeokuta worked at the Cereal Mill Factory, where maize was milled and bagged into corn meal and flour for the British Expeditionary Force in the Cameroons and German prisoners in Lagos. Indeed, in the absence of the menfolk, women farmers and traders kept the food supply chain going.

Groups of women in church societies, mosques, community associations etc. also engaged in acts of philanthropy towards the War Relief Funds. In December 1916, women in Abeokuta donated £284. 8s. 2d to the Queen’s Star and Garter Homes Fund for Permanently Disabled Soldiers and Sailors. The women requested that a cot with the inscription “Abeokuta” be purchased with their donation. According to the subscription list published by JC Patrick, women from over twenty townships such as Ijeun, Kemta, Ake, Itoku, Ikereku, Ikija and Owu donated to the charity. When the list was revised in February 1917, the funds had increased to £302 18. 8d. Similarly, households within the jurisdiction of Prince Eleko in Lagos District, contributed to the Nigerian Comforts Fund for troops arriving and departing for the battle front.

It is also on record that in October 1914, women farmers and labourers in Abeokuta worked at the Cereal Mill Factory, where maize was milled and bagged into corn meal and flour for the British Expeditionary Force in the Cameroons and German prisoners in Lagos. Indeed, in the absence of the menfolk, women farmers and traders kept the food supply chain going.

Although not specifically named, but women in Warri, Forcados, Ijebu, Shagamu, Lokoja and Calabar were also active participants in fund-raising activities, especially on Red Letter Day.

Returnee soldiers, including the sick and wounded, also benefitted from the organisational skills of Nigerian women. When the hospital ship Wandilla, the S.B. Attendant and the Guildford Castle sailed into the Custom Wharf with troops from East Africa, the Nigerian Overseas Forces Comforts Fund recorded the activities of teams of women volunteers who cooked and packed hot meals for the soldiers:

It speaks so much for the energy of the band of helpers that the arrangement were carried through so successfully. Mrs Obasa and Mrs Pearse have well-earned the thanks of the community for their valuable assistance- for there can be no denying that the peoples of Nigeria, whatever their race, are in honour bound to “do their bit” by the troops sent out to maintain the credit of Nigeria and its freedom and prosperity.

Tayo Agunbiade is the author of Untold Histories of Nigerian Women: Emerging from the Margins.

Sourced From Nigerian Music