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The Lagos strike of 1897 was a
The Lagos strike of 1897 was a labour strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
in Lagos Colony
Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS Prometheus who was accompanied by the Ac ...
(modern-day Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
in Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
) which has been described as the first "major labour protest of the colonial period" in African history
The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and — around 300–250,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans (''Homo sapiens''), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of dive ...
.
Lagos was one of the major ports in West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
and was a busy entrepot through which trade between the coast and the interior was processed. The city's economy expanded widely during the 19th century. At the time of the strike, Lagos was a colony under the governorship of Henry McCallum
Sir Henry Edward McCallum, GCMG (28 October 1852 – 24 November 1919) was a British colonial governor.
Biography
McCallum attended the Royal Military College in Woolwich and began his colonial service career in 1874.
He was Colonial Eng ...
. McCallum, who had held a number of important colonial posts in Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, decided to launch a major reform of the administration and economy of Lagos. Among these reforms was the driving down of wages paid to indigenous workers to increase the supply of labour.
The reforms led to unrest among workers in the Public Works Department (PWD). The final trigger for the strike was a decision to alter the working hours of employees of the PWD. The strike broke out on 9 August 1897 and involved nearly 3,000 workers. The colony's police, the Public Force, experienced a minor mutiny on 10 August, meaning that McCallum was unable to repress the workers by force. The strikers' demands were opposed by the indigenous, Europeanised middle-class.
During negotiations with the strikers, McCallum made notable concessions. The planned pay reductions were abandoned, while the working hours reforms were tempered by the introduction of a lunch break. The strikers returned to work and the strike is considered successful.
References
Bibliography
* *{{cite journal, last=Hopkins, first=A. G., authorlink=A. G. Hopkins, title=The Lagos Strike of 1897: An Exploration in Nigerian Labour History, journal= Past & Present, number=35, year=1966, jstor=649969, pages=133-155 History of Lagos 1897 labor disputes and strikes Labour disputes in Nigeria 19th century in Lagos 1897 in Nigeria August 1897 events