The Akwa Ibom state government has called for rewriting of the history surrounding the 1929 women’s war as it does not represent the truth.
It said there should be a change of the name given to the protest that led to the deaths of unarmed women popularly called Aba women’s riot.
The wife to the state governor, Dr Mather Emmanuel spoke during the commemoration ceremony of the 1929 women’s riot organized by ministry of women affairs and social welfare in collaboration with Ikot Abasi local government council and council of women societies, held at Ikot Abasi LGA, over the weekend.
Emmanuel represented by the Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr Ini Adiakpan said that the name in which the event was christened did not reflect the correct incidence and the place it occurred, stressing that it should be called Ikot Abasi Women’s War.
Adiakpan said that the history should be rewritten and riot must be excluded because women did not carry any arms to fight but only engaged in a peaceful protest to get reasons why things happened the way they did.
“The history of the war should be rewritten and Ikot Abasi should come first and riot should be excluded. The women were armless and were going to listen and ask questions only for the colonial masters.
She cautioned women in the state never to allow the effort of the heroines’ past to be in vain, adding that as they were resilient and dogged, they should also imbibe the same qualities.
Adiakpan, who urged women to become agents of change and developers of the society, warned them to purge themselves of all characteristics of pull down syndrome and support a woman aspiring for any political office.
“We must continue in that doggedness and be ready to elect other women into positions of authority.
On her part, the wife of the paramount ruler of Ikot Abasi LGA, Her Royal Majesty, Mrs U.J. Ntukubom urged the women to be submissive to their husbands even while demanding for their right, stressing that such virtue brought peace and harmony
