A historical novel about a women's revolt in 1929 in British colonized Nigeria, which ended when fifty of the women were felled by machine guns
In November of 1929, Igbo women in Owerri Province of then British controlled Nigeria staged a revolt against the imposition of taxes on women by the colonial administration. For one month, these women stood up to the colonial government and protested, not only the taxation of women which was alien to Igbo culture, but also an administrative structure which empowered individuals known as warrant chiefs to rule the people under the supervision of white British officials. Many of these warrant chiefs were corrupt and committed egregious acts against women. As the revolt spread and became violent, the colonial government deployed army and police units to quell it. Firing machine guns and rifles, the soldiers and police men killed 50 women.
In Women of Steel, historical facts are blended with a compelling story about the people, places and events that shaped the revolt. Woven into the narrative are the complex but interesting dynamics of the political issues involved and early Twentieth Century life in pre-modern Igbo land of southeastern Nigeria under colonial British rule. In the story, the fictional town of Umuloko is where the revolt is launched.