JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies ISSN: 1530-5686 Issue 16 (2010) Rabi “Alaso Oke” of Colonial Lagos: A Female Textile Mer- chant Commemorated in a Yoruba Proverb Olufunke Adeboye, Tunde Akinwumi, Tosin Otusanya* Abstract This study illustrates how oral evidence, when properly situated within its social context, continues to provide information and a rich understanding of the Afric- an past. The commercial career of Rabi Alaso Oke, a female textile merchant in colonial Lagos, condensed in a Yoruba proverb, is analyzed in this work. This analysis of an oral text provides us with valuable insight, not only into the Yor- uba worldview and social values that informed the proverb, it also enables us to appreciate the active role of women in this milieu. In order words, this study un- derscores the economic independence of Yoruba women using the career of Rabi Alaso Oke as a case study. It argues that despite the limitations and restric - tions of the colonial period, African women, just like their male counterparts, demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness and ingenuity, to rise above socio-eco- nomic barriers and amass for great wealth, which in many cases translated to so- cial prestige. Keywords: gender; colonial economy; textile merchant, oral traditions, colonialism, late nineteenth century, twentieth century Olorun to da Rabi elewe, oun naa lo da Rabi alaso. The God who created Rabi, the seller of medicinal herbs also created Rabi, the textile merchant. Introduction The debate on the academic value of oral evidence is an old one, though its tenor has been modified from time to time. First, colonial historiography on Africa saw it as being of no value either as history or as sources of history simply because preliterate societies were denied a history or any past worth studying. Secondly, anthropologists and sociolo- gists who have had decades of experience working with oral data, denounced them as * Olufunke Adeboye is Associate Professor in the Department of History & Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos; Tunde Akinwumi lectures at the University of Agricul- ture, Abeokuta; and Tosin Otusanya teaches at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria. Copyright © Africa Resource Center, Inc., Publisher, 2010 RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 86 myths following the functionalist tradition of Malinowski. Even structuralists, in the tra- dition of Claude Levi-Strauss, emphasized instead their symbolic dimensions which ten- ded to render them timeless rather than historical. More recently, modern practitioners of oral history in western contexts (Portelli 1998) have admonished historians not just to ap- proach oral sources as a field from which to harvest empirical data on the past but also to be mindful of the context within which such oral histories were produced and to take seri- ously several other related issues of interpretation. In all of these, experts on African history (Dike 1956, Alagoa 1966, 1972, 1990, Stevens 1978, Miller 1980, Vansina 1985, Afigbo 2006) have insisted on the validity of oral evidence as veritable sources of African history. They have also mastered some of the ethnographic techniques of handling such sources and have gone ahead to produce immense volumes on various aspects of the African past through their judicious use of oral evidence. Their engagement and exchange with other users of oral data have helped a lot in this development. The shortcomings of oral evidence, notwithstanding, it has evolved as a source of historical reconstruction, as various techniques for handling it and mitigating such vulnerability were improved upon. Over the years, historians have learned to combine oral sources with other historical sources in order to have a more au- thentic picture of the past. This study illustrates how oral evidence, when properly situated within its social context, continues to provide information and a rich understanding of the African past. The commercial career of Rabi Alaso Oke, a female textile merchant in colonial Lagos, condensed in a Yoruba proverb, is analyzed in this work. The analysis of an oral text provides valuable insight, not only into the Yoruba worldview and social values that in- formed the proverb, it also facilitates an appreciation of the active role of women in this milieu. Dwelling on the active role of women brings us to the gender dimension of this study. Contrary to western discourses that portray African women as oppressed, voice- less, helpless and devoid of any socioeconomic and political agency in the precolonial and colonial periods, this study underscores the economic independence of Yoruba wo- men using the career of Rabi Alaso Oke as a case study. It argues that despite the limita- tions and restrictions of the colonial period, African women, just like their male counter- part demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness and ingenuity, to rise above socioeconomic barriers and amass for themselves great wealth, which in many cases translated to social prestige. We begin by providing a general framework of analysis through a discussion of the value of oral traditions in reconstructing the African past. Next, we provide a brief survey of several perspectives on gender in Yorubaland. This is followed by the life and career of Rabi Alaso-Oke as we explore the strategies she employed within the ambit of the op- portunities available to women in the colonial milieu. Finally, the proverb, which consti- tuted the main lead to “Rabi Alaso Oke” is analyzed. JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 87 Value of Oral Traditions in Reconstructing the African Past Perhaps, one of the greatest achievements of modern African historiography is the recognition of oral traditions as a valid source of history. Even where it is cross-checked and supplemented with other sources, “its acceptance as a valid source of information on the African past”, according to A. E. Afigbo, “should not solely or even mainly, depend on the support it derives from these other sources” (2006, 104). Rather, it should depend on its inherent value. This is partly due to the fact that other sources (such as document- ary data) have their own limitations, principal among which is the issue of authors’ bias and prejudice. Oral traditions thus remain a vital genre of oral evidence. Oral traditions are verbal testimonies or recollections about the past that are passed down from one generation to the other. The main characteristics of oral traditions include their orality, performative transmission, relative longevity and communal ownership. Again, there are various classifications of oral traditions. These range from traditions of origin to kinglists, genealogies, praise poems, songs, proverbs and sacred literature of divinatory cults. (Alagoa 1990, Biobaku 1973) All these have been used by historians to reconstruct the history of various African groups. Even where written sources abounded, oral traditions have been known to enrich historical studies by revealing the delicate con- tours of the social landscape as understood by the local populace. Closely related to oral tradition is another genre of oral evidence called oral history, though this is conveniently glossed as verbal eye-witness accounts by several scholars. Oral history is thus more of personal reminiscences because the time depth it covers is usually limited to the memories of events in which the one recounting it or his/her con- temporaries took part. The stories in this category are treated as “idiosyncratic memories” rather than as “oral traditions” (Cooper 2005, 192). Whether we are dealing with oral traditions or oral history, certain features are com- mon to both. They are both useful for historical reconstruction; they both belong in the oral mode, and their transmission is usually performative. Beyond these apparent fea- tures, scholars have also been alerted to the fact that there is more to these oral sources than the generation of empirical data. According to Bozzoli (1991:7), “oral historical sources need not simply provide us with “more history” to fill in gaps in other kinds of sources. Oral texts, because of their highly discursive character, can be unsurpassed sources for revealing otherwise hidden forms of consciousness.” These and more sensit- ive perspectives could be gained if one approached oral evidence through the lens of the social context within which it was produced. Proverbs constitute a significant variety of oral traditions. Together with songs, poems and chants, they are seen as being superior, in certain respects, to narrative oral traditions because their formal structure renders them less susceptible to alterations from generation to generation (Biobaku 1973:7). Proverbs have been defined as “self evident truths” that are communicated in a brief and condensed form (Delano 1973:77) The idea JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 88 behind a proverb is to drive home a crucial point in as few words as possible. They present ideas in a picturesque and more challenging way than ordinary speech could have done. Yoruba proverbs are conceived as the “horse of words;” vehicles of “expression, evocation and provocation” (Afolayan 2005, 176). While some proverbs are plain state- ments of fact or warnings, others recall particular events in the life of the community in which they are used. Such events could be wars, pestilences or particular social experi- ences (ibid). It is this latter type that is of historical value. In fact, information contained in some proverbs could be quite reliable especially where such relate to particular events, places and personalities. A major limitation of such proverbs, however, is that time may render them irrelevant. A proverb, which correctly described conditions in one genera- tion, may cease to do so in another generation as Delano (1973:78) has rightly demon- strated. What is needed therefore is for the historian to crosscheck information provided by proverbs with other types of oral traditions and documentary evidence, if available. This brings us to the issue of how to classify proverbs; as oral tradition, or as oral history. While many historians generally lump all proverbs together and regard them as oral traditions, there is need for us to examine proverbs individually to determine where they belong. The particular proverb examined in this study about Rabi Alaso Oke straddles the divide between oral traditions and oral history. As oral tradition, it is about two generations old. It has a wide usage (used outside Lagos and in other parts of Yor- ubaland) and as such cannot be seen as the product of an individual’s idiosyncratic memory. As oral history, it is of a relatively recent origin. Most of the people interviewed in the course of this study knew Rabi Alaso or somebody who knew her. A couple of the older informants even gave eye-witness accounts of Rabi Alaso’s commercial activities. A main argument here is thus that the particular proverb in which the career of Rabi Alaso Oke is encapsulated lies at an intersection between oral history and oral traditions. The implications of this are many. One, historians who use oral traditions should also master the technique of oral history because both grapple with similar issues of structure, interpretation and objectivity. Two, a closer study of oral history would reveal how such oral data are transformed, over time into oral traditions. Three, both oral tradition and oral history reveal a lot of the cultural practices of the people concerned. Perspectives on Gender in Yorubaland Various scholars have expressed diverse views on gender in Yorubaland. Some of such views emerged from empirical studies of Yoruba women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while others are attempts to conceptualize gender roles based on pre- vious empirical observations. Although Josephine Beoku-Betts ([1976] 2005: 20-25) at- tempted a survey of western perceptions of African women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an authoritative work on the historiography of Yoruba women is Marjorie McIntosh’s Yoruba Women, Work, and Social Change (2009). This came fifteen JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 89 years after LaRay Denzer’s “Yoruba Women: A Historiographical Study” (1994:1-40), another landmark publication. Other examples of empirical studies include Niara Sudar- kasa (1973), Bolanle Awe (1977, 1992), Simi Afonja (1981, 1986), Cheryl J. Johnson (1981, 1986), Nina Mba (1982), Kristin Mann (1985) and Sandra Barnes (1990) and Tola Pearce (2000). However, most of these studies rely heavily on documentary sources and to a lesser extent on oral sources. Those that focus on precolonial Yoruba women (Beoku Betts [1976] 2005, Awe 1977, 1992, Denzer 1994) cited sources such as Samuel Johnson’s ma- gisterial History of the Yorubas (1921), writings of nineteenth-century European ex- plorers such as Hugh Clapperton, Richard and John Lander; and missionaries such as Thomas Jefferson Bowen, William F. Clarke and Anna Hinderer. The information dis- tilled from all these sources points to the fact that Yoruba women played significant roles not just within the domestic sphere but also within the wider community. These women occupied important positions in the local and state economy as well as in the political arena. In the words of Denzer (1994, 3), In the political arena, traditions recall that women founded kingdoms and communities, occasionally wielded political authority as rulers, acted as re- gents, sat on the king’s councils, held political offices, intrigued in palace politics, helped to make and unmake kings, served as go-betweens in diplo- matic relations, and safeguarded their towns when their men-folk waged war elsewhere. They conducted key rituals to maintain the spiritual well-being of kings and kingdoms as well as of their own families and communities. But the studies would no doubt have been enriched if the authors had utilized a vast array of oral sources in addition to these documentary sources. Even McIntosh (2009) who offers a refreshing perspective on Yoruba women, fails to utilize oral evidence. Her study, which covers Yorubaland from 1820 to 1960, portrays women, not as passive victims of male power and authority, but as veritable social actors. Yoruba women responded to the changes around them, taking full advantage of available opportunities outside the home. Her emphasis is on women’s agency, defined as the abil- ity to act independently and exercise control over others. She uses decision making as a major indicator of agency even though most of her examples document personal agency. This could be because not many women exercised control over others in the public sphere. She argues that “Yoruba women’s adaptability, initiative and skill at working in groups enabled them to gain substantial public visibility and influence” despite the incur- sion of external forces such as international commercial capitalism, Christianity and western education and colonialism. A major strategy that Yoruba women used to distinguish themselves and further their own cause in the precolonial period was to combine opportunities offered by their unique double status as daughters in their father’s lineage and as wives in their husband’s JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 90 lineage. Marriage thus became a tool for translating social power into economic and political power (Barnes 1990). This was possible because marriage offered them “new frontiers for the exercise of power and influence in their communities” (Denzer 1994:5). Coupled with the rights they had in their natal homes, these marital opportunities af- forded some resourceful women the scope within which to advance themselves signific- antly. For instance, Toyin Falola (1991:115, 121) in a study of the Yoruba caravan sys- tem in the nineteenth century, notes that the majority of traders were women who ex- ploited family and marital connections to promote various aspects of their trade such as the recruitment of porters for which trusted hands were needed. However, this position appeared to have changed in modern colonial and postcolonial times when marriages, es- pecially among the educated middle class, are seen as constituting an obstruction to wo- men’s autonomy and aspiration. Perhaps, the most relevant finding about Yoruba women as far as this present study is concerned is their position in the economy. They played pivotal roles in the economy by establishing the local market system and organizing long-distance trade networks. Based on data generated from the abovementioned nineteenth century documentary sources, historians have been able to identify the activities of Yoruba women in local crafts such as cloth weaving and other related processes in the indigenous textile industry, pottery, bead-making, mat-weaving, soap-making, beer brewing, and the processing of palm oil and palm kernel oil. All these were in addition to their often far flung commer - cial activities. Falola’s study of the Yoruba caravan system in the nineteenth century has shown the leading role played by women traders, who dominated the caravans, not as wives or consorts to some male traders, but on their own account as full-fledged traders (1991). However, it has been noted that, unlike their counterparts in eastern Nigeria and some other parts of West Africa, Yoruba women did not engage much in cultivation, al- though evidence abounds that they harvested, transported and processed palm produce to- gether with their men folk. (Denzer 1994:7). It is important to note that some Yoruba women were able to amass great wealth from their economic activities which they translated into political power and social prestige. Right from the precolonial period, Yoruba women had always been industrious. Nearly all adult women had a means of livelihood; their income was used as they wished and not appropriated by their spouses (McIntosh 2009). They were free players in the economic sphere. Such women include Madam Efunroye Tinubu of Abeokuta (Biobaku 1966), Efunsetan Aniwura and Omosa of Ibadan (Awe 1992; Morgan n.d. vol. 2, 93, 95; Johnson 1921,391, 394) The impressive achievements of these women show that “astute, industrious, and talented women leaders attained high status and office in the fluid polit- ics of Yorubaland in the last half of the nineteenth century” (Denzer 1994:12). This trend also continued into the twentieth century as the careers of women like Iyalode Bisoye Te- juosho of Abeokuta, Alhaja Hunmoani Alaga, Hunmoani Alade and Suliat Adedeji of Ibadan show. JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 91 The experience of Yoruba women in the colonial period was “neither wholly good nor wholly bad” (Denzer 1994:15). It all depended on “the nature of the particular society in which they lived as well as their intellectual and economic capacity to take advantage of new opportunities” (Ibid). Generally, women’s political roles declined but they ac- quired substantial legal rights and exploited widening economic opportunities especially in wholesale and long-distance trade. The political structure established by the British limited the role formerly played by “people other than kings and male chiefs, thereby ex- cluding the women” (McIntosh 2009: 23). On the other hand, new marriage and divorce laws allowed wives greater freedom to order their lives as they wished. Nina Mba (1982: 54) writes about the Marriage Ordinance of 1884, first applied to the Lagos Colony and later to the Protectorate in 1914. This ordinance increased women’s legal status and im- proved their rights to marital property. Under the new legal system, “women’s rights in marriage and divorce were made more secure, and their de facto property rights were made de jure”(ibid, 67). From the economic perspective, trading remained the most important activity for women. While a vast majority of women operated at the level of petty trading, a few of them became big-time traders by tapping into the credit system provided by European firms located in the urban centers. In addition, “enterprising female entrepreneurs in La- gos, Abeokuta and Ibadan continued to expand the long distance trade in textiles (both in- digenous and imported), kolanut, palm oil and imported commodities” (Denzer 1994:25). Meanwhile, indigenous crafts gradually declined due to stiff competition from imported goods. Educated women (depending on their level of education) took up new jobs either in government establishments as teachers, nurses, clerks, typists etc or set up their own business as seamstresses in the bourgeoning local garment industry. There was no dearth of outstanding women during the colonial period too. Many of them emerged as successful traders, politicians, and later distinguished professionals in their chosen careers. The most notable were, however, the successful traders. For this cat- egory of women, their economic acumen and shrewdness, more than western education helped them to succeed. No doubt western education conferred certain advantages, but the most distinguished of these women had just elementary Koranic education and in- formal business training acquired through the traditional apprenticeship system. Their most important strategy was: . . . expertise in handling the new trading institutions, having capital to in- vest, creditworthiness, the ability to hire trained clerks and perhaps lawyers, and well-placed allies – both women and men – among the western educated elite who advised on political and economic strategy, helped to write peti- tions, and backed market women’s protest through vigorous press campaigns (Denzer 1994:35) JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 92 In conceptualizing gender roles in Yorubaland, anthropologist Niara Sudarkasa (1973, [1996] 2005) has proposed a viable model. First, she kicks against the idea of presenting the domestic terrain as the exclusive world of women and the public domain as belonging solely to men. Instead, she recognizes two domains, “one occupied by men and another by women – both of which were internally ordered in a hierarchical fashion and both of which provided personnel for domestic and extra-domestic (or public) activit- ies” (Sudarkasa 2005, 26). She also maintains that there was considerable overlap between the domestic and public domains in precolonial Africa. In addition, the division of labor along gender lines was not to be seen as construction of social boundaries that were not to be crossed. Rather, such specializations promoted “reciprocity of effort.” For example, where men were farmers, women processed their proceeds. Again, among the Yoruba, male and female weavers produced different types of cloth on different types of looms. Therefore, a “neutral complementarity rather than subordination and superordina- tion more accurately describes the relationship between certain female and male roles in various precolonial African societies” (Sudarkasa [1996] 2005, 29). Another sociologist, Oyeronke Oyewumi (1997) in “de-gendering” Yoruba society, reinforces the active role of women in the community as she highlights the pivotal role of seniority as the main factor for ordering relationships. Her interrogation of the way west- ern feminists concepts have been applied indiscriminately to Africa studies warns schol - ars against the dangers of interpreting African realities based on western oppositional male/female binary and its attendant privileging of male categories (Oyewumi 2004:7). Her main concern is that analyses of gender in Africa, should be based on a thorough un- derstanding of African cultural realities and local contexts, and not on ill-suited, imported models and ideas (ibid. 8). Matching the insight generated by empirical data with the conceptualization of gender, one could see that the average Yoruba woman was not an oppressed individual who was stripped of socioeconomic agency in the precolonial period. Rather, the picture emerges of a society where men and women had ample opportunities to distinguish them- selves, even up till the colonial period. Several women certainly seized these golden op- portunities as the case of Rabi Alaso narrated below illustrates. Rabi “Alaso Oke” Background Rabiatu, popularly known as Rabi was born into a Muslim family. Her parents were Nowoola and Saramota Ikeoluwa both of who hailed from Ado-Ekiti. The exact date of birth of Rabi is not known, but since her parents migrated to Lagos at the end of the nine- teenth century it could be safely assumed that as their first child, she was born before the end of that century. She had two other siblings, namely, Sabitiyu Ayinke (a girl) and JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 93 Yahaya (a boy). Her father was a successful cocoa farmer who acquired landed property in Lagos. Two houses on Nos. 3 & 4, St. John’s Street, Ita Faaji, Lagos Island belonged to him.1 Rabi’s mother, Saramota, went into the textile trade in Lagos. This was probably at the beginning of the twentieth century. As she honed her skills and mastered the trade, she gradually entered the class of successful female traders discussed by Johnson (1981). Saramota operated from the houses on Nos 3 and 4, John’s Street, Ita Faaji. She amassed immense wealth from the textile trade part of which was used to establish separate textile business for her daughters before she died in 1948.2 Training Rabiatu and her siblings did not acquire any formal education. The reason for this is not clear because their parents were quite wealthy and could easily have afforded to send them to school. In fact, surviving relations reminisced that the education of the children of close family and even grandchildren was sponsored by Saramota and her husband (Ibid). It would thus appear that the couple chose to apprentice their children and train them in their own lines of trade so they could take over from them by inheriting the fam- ily business. This perhaps, explains why the children were not sent to school. Rabi and her sister, Sabitiyu learned the trade from their mother, who had several other shops on Victoria Street (the present Nnamdi Azikiwe Street), Lagos Island, apart from the headquarters located in Ita Faaji. The main fabric, which they handled was the tradition- ally woven material known locally as Aso Oke. A strip of aso oke cloth is about four and half inches wide. Aso Oke were made of various fibers, colors, shades, weaves, patterns and finish in order to meet with the de- mand of diverse buyers. The prestige fabrics of the period included sanyan, alaari and etu. Sanya, once only woven within the palaces before the twentieth century, was made from spun silk. Sanyan is naturally beige (light brown) with a white central warp band in each strip. Alaari is a dyed silk crimson cloth mixed with a central warp band of sanyan. A typical alaari used as a bridal cloth combines strips of green, black and white. Etu can be described as dark indigo dominated pin-stripe pattern speckled with white pin-stripes. The indigo yarns used for weaving etu are said to be dyed sometimes over a three-year period to ensure most perfect quality (de Negri 1962:10). Sanyan, alaari and etu fabrics were worn by older people, royalty and the rich, such as observed of the Alaafin (monarch) of Oyo in the third decade of the nineteenth century (Lamb and Holmes 1980, 46), Bashorun Oluyole of Ibadan in 1847 (Ayorinde 1973, 64- 5), famous Ibadan warrior Bale Oyesile in the 1850s (Morgan nd: 5), Ijaiye General Kur- umi (Stone 1900:60) and Ibadan General Bashorun Ogunmola (Johnson 1921, 372-3). As sumptuary laws restricting the production and wearing of those prestige fabrics were non- JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 94 existing in the twentieth century, many people desired owning them in Lagos. Rabi had regular stocks of these fabrics from Iseyin, Oyo and Ilorin in order to meet their demand. Other prestige fabrics of the period included the eyelet fabrics (aso oniho or aso eleya), having hole decoration. Aso onjawu, a type of oniho, had loose weft threads on top as decoratives. The brocaded fabrics (aso olona) had woven representational pictures such as animals, birds, objects and geometric shapes. These were created on alaari and sanyan to make the fabrics exquisite. Intensive supplementary weft inlay floats were ma- nipulated to obtain those patterns. Rabi stocked these new designs and her patrons were drawn mostly from political and educated elite of the time.3 Rabi, in addition, marketed the aso alaro category which was customarily worn for performance of rites and ceremonies. It was characterized by “hand-spun cotton dyed dark blue with, perhaps, ikat warp patterns in varying blue shades and, in the case of mar- riage cloths, some red warps as well.” As many as five different striped patterns were sewn as a wrapper, the latter serving as the groom’s bridal cloth gift to wife-to-be. Anoth- er period fabric marketed for similar purpose was one known as kalakinni. Though very expensive and prestigious, it had multi-colored stripe patterns dominated by red.4 A wide range of cheap aso oke patterned with vertical and plaid (check) stripes were separately stocked in her shops for the less affluent buyers. The price of this set of mer- chandise was kept low for the average people. It was also possible to obtain imitations of certain prestige fabrics in her shops. Such fabrics, although cheap and inferior, were pro- duced to meet the need of those who could not afford the much better quality. 5 For whichever purpose an item was intended, many strips of aso oke were sewn together to make wrappers (iro), head-tie (gele) and shawl (ipele/iborun) for women; and trousers (sokoto), tunic (esiki), various types of cloaks, gowns, robes (agbada, gbariye, dandogo) and caps (ikori, abetiaja) for the men (Akinwumi 2006, 49-73). As earlier noted, Rabi had a robust and large market network with which she reached the consumers of aso oke within and outside Lagos. Part of her customer – out- reach included some members of the Lagos educated elite. In a study conducted among five generations of a Lagos educated elite family spanning the 1900-1974 period, the choice made between Western and Yoruba dress was analyzed (Wass 1979, 331-48). It was shown that family members progressively patronized indigenous Yoruba dress (aso oke) starting with 18 percent in the 1900-1940 period, rising to 42 percent in the 1940- 1960 period, and after 1960 this climbed to 72 percent (ibid). It was also indicated that nationalistic feeling fueled by the independence movement prompted Nigerians’ increas- ing patronage of indigenous dress. In essence, this analysis additionally provides a “glimpse” of the encouraging consumption and ready market for aso oke, which Rabi be- nefited from. She eventually became a very wealthy and major aso oke merchant in La- gos during the colonial period. A lot has been written on the traditional apprenticeship system, details of which need not concern us here, but the main aspects of the textile trade which Rabi and her sis- JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 95 ter had to master are briefly discussed below. First was the stage of making orders for local weavers in Iseyin, Oyo and Ilorin; giving them specific instructions on designs and negotiating with them to ensure that the textile merchant maintained a convenient profit margin. Secondly, there was the stage of finishing off the woven fabric. Usually, aso oke was woven with strong and bulky yarns which made it difficult to iron. The finishing touches required beating the fabric with mallet (oolu) after it has been laid out on a mat and sprinkled with water. This was to relax the fabric and bring out the shine in it. 6 Next was the maintenance of proper storage facilities for the now finished fabrics. Many of the shops used by these merchants had special spaces reserved for storage purposes. The main shop (commercial headquarters) also had additional space for storage. The stock stored in these spaces had to be regularly monitored so that depleting items could be promptly replenished.7 Another important aspect of the textile trade was the distribution of the finished products. There were two lines of distribution: the local and the international. For the loc- al distribution, there were several sales outlets apart from the main shop on Lagos Island where the fabrics were displayed for customers to come and buy. Secondly, street hawkers were trained to peddle the aso oke on Lagos Island, Obalende, Ikoyi and other parts of the neighbourhood.8 All these hawkers were females. Thirdly, there were also ar- rangements for special home deliveries to important customers who had previously placed their orders. The international dimension of the distribution had to do with the ex- port of the aso oke to other parts of West Africa such as Ghana and Sierra Leone. The main avenue for this export was the General Post Office at Marina.9 This says a lot about the efficiency of the colonial postal system. It also saved the lead merchant the additional cost and stress of personally travelling with the goods to their desired destination. In the course of their training, apprentices in the textile trade also needed to improve their socialization skills. They learned to mix freely with people, attend important social functions in order to keep abreast of new styles and tastes in textile consumption. They also learned early in their training the importance of maintaining cordial links with their special customers such as the royalty, members of the traditional elite, and the commer- cial elite. This category of people, more than other members of the public, invested a sig- nificant proportion of their income on conspicuous consumption of luxury items which included expensive clothing (cf. Adeboye 2003). It was after an apprentice was adjudged competent, having mastered all these intricacies that the she was encouraged to set up her own independent textile trade.10 Therefore, having undergone this training, Rabi eventu- ally ventured out on her own in the 1930s with the financial assistance of her mother. Career The highlight of Rabi’s commercial career was between the 1930s and 1960s. Her commercial base, which most contemporaries recollect, was her personal house on No JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 96 17, Ali Street on Lagos Island.11 However, it is most probable that she started out from a more humble setting before she amassed enough wealth to build a house of her own later. In her business, she followed basically the same processes she had learned from her mother, namely, making order to hinterland weavers, meticulously supervising the finish- ing of the fabrics, provision of adequate storage facilities, maintenance of an efficient sales network and nurturing cordial relationships with special customers. A major differ- ence in her own enterprise was that she operated on a much larger scale as her business expanded. This caused her to significantly modify her business strategies. First, she began to look outside the family setting for apprentices. Most of the girls she trained were “outsiders.” And as the business further expanded, she hired additional staff to aug- ment the services of her trainees.12 Secondly, she expanded the exportation of her goods beyond Ghana and Sierra Leone to Benin Republic and the Upper Volta (Burkina Faso).13 At this point, it is not impossible that she must have hired educated staff, such as book- keepers to oversee her accounts and coordinate the export arm. As Rabi became more popular and wealthy, she gradually played a leadership role among Lagos market women as many of them looked up to her as a role model. From this level, she became an activist in the political parties of her days. First, she was active in the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) women’s wing and later became one of the leaders of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) women’s wing.14 Many of the leaders of market women’s associations in Lagos who had been in the NNDP were also part of the inaugural meeting of the NCNC Market Women’s Asso- ciation set up in 1958 (Mba 1982: 209). Like other women discussed by Nina Mba (1982), Rabi provided leadership, not just within the market stalls, but also within the formal structures of political parties, thereby able to negotiate with policy makers and political leaders on behalf of the women. Very little is known about her husband and it appears her popularity eclipsed that of the man. Rabi also trained her daughters and nieces in the cloth business, although, they combined this with western education. One of her surviving relatives, Alhaja Iyabo Oseni, a niece, is also in the cloth business. The Proverb The proverb cited at the opening of this paper was what led to the “discovery” of Rabi Alaso by the present authors, and it has a remarkable story behind it. It was said that in the vicinity of Lagos Island where Rabi Alaso lived was another Rabiatu, popularly known as “Rabi Elewe.” Rabi Elewe sold traditional herbs and medication.15 Her neigh- borhood shop (operated from her home) was like a “community pharmacy.” Because she was widely patronized in her neighborhood, she was also quite popular but not as wealthy and as “connected” as her namesake “Rabi Alaso.” It was alleged that on a particular occasion, the children of the two Rabis got in- volved in a brawl and began to argue over whose mother was more popular, more power- JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 97 ful, and wealthier. This event reportedly took place before Alhaja Saramota (Rabi Alaso’s mother) died in 1948. Eventually the case was taken to her for adjudication. She scolded the children (especially her own grandchildren) sternly and told them in very clear terms that they had no reason to be flaunting and boasting about the wealth of their mother to others in the public. After all, the same God who created Rabi Elewe also created Rabi Alaso, and on that score, none was greater than the other (ibid). It appears that the statement “Olorun to da Rabi Elewe, oun naa lo da Rabi Alaso” (The God who created Rabi the seller of medicinal herbs created Rabi the textile mer- chant) was made in public because it immediately gained wide currency in the neighbor- hood and later spread into other Yoruba speaking areas. The popularity of this saying, which later acquired the status of a proverb, was due to two factors. First, because the statement was made by an elder, it carried the stamp of authority and traditional wisdom. According to Michael Afolayan (2005,167), among the Yoruba (as in other African soci- eties), the “true meaning of life can only be established when an elder legitimizes it”. Thus the Yoruba would say: “Enu agba l’obi tii gbo’ (the kolanut is considered ripe [ma- ture] only when the elders declare it so). Alhaja Saramota, already a grandmother at this time, therefore, had the full weight of tradition behind her when she made that declara- tion. Secondly, the very idea represented in that saying, that of equality was, and is still central to Yoruba thought. The Yoruba believe that God, Olodumare, created all human- kind equally. Therefore, the worth of a person should not be put on material acquisition or success in life. Being a human being should confer some measure of dignity on every- body. One is no less human because of poverty. After all, the same God made the rich and the poor. Even slaves, who occupied the bottom of the societal ladder were still re- garded as possessing human dignity (how much of this was practicalized is another issue entirely). Other Yoruba proverbs that convey this idea are: Ibi ki i ju’bi, b’aa ti b’eru la b’omo. [The process of coming into the world (natural birth) is the same for both the slave and freeborn]. Ona l’o jin, eru ni baba. [The slave too has a father even though his home might be far] The proverb about Rabi Alaso and Rabi Elewe later became a metaphor used to cau- tion anybody that was becoming too arrogant and looking down on others because of his or her material acquisitions. The lesson in it is that seemingly unimportant individuals de- serve other people’s respect too as long as they have an honest means of livelihood, and are contributing their own quota to the development of society. Conclusion JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 98 This study demonstrated two important points. The first is the value of oral sources in the reconstruction of the past. We probably would not have heard about Rabi Alaso despite all she did and achieved if not for the proverb that mentions her and commemor- ates her career. This type of proverb has also been located at the intersection between oral traditions (as stories of the past processed through several generations) and oral history (as more recent recollections by eye-witnesses). The implication of this is that rather than post oral sources into either of these two genres, scholars should be aware of a middle ground between the two where several other examples would readily fit. Secondly, the gender dimension of this study has shown the role of women in the economic development of the colonial period, and also illustrated their rise to promin- ence. Just like their male counterparts, a few ingenious women were able to overcome the constraints of the colonial environment by harnessing vital resources to make a success of their own individual enterprises. They amassed considerable wealth which they later translated to social prestige and in some cases, political power. A pertinent question now arises, what about Rabi Elewe, the other woman in the proverb? Her identity as a woman who was also engaged in an important profession that benefited members of her community shows that women proved their mettle irrespective of the vocations/professions they pursued. However, the point still remains that in her time, she did not enjoy the same type of popularity that her namesake, Rabi Alaso had. This points to the significance of ready cash and material acquisitions in a monetized eco- nomy such as that of the colonial period. It also proves the point generally made by scholars that the ultimate purpose of material wealth was to transform it into personal al - legiances (Guyer 1995,23). Although this was also challenged by the belief that reputa- tion was also an asset that leveraged credit (ibid., 24). On the whole, it appears wealth and social prestige weighed more on the social recognition scale than good reputation that was not backed up with material acquisition. In fact, the Yoruba view of money, as of other vital issues in their collective thought, presents certain contradictions. Akanmu Adebayo (1999) has demonstrated aspects of this contradiction. For example, it is said that “Owo fun ni ko to eniyan” (Having money is not everything – being a person of good character is of greater value). But in a different context, “Owo ko si, eniyan ko sunwon” (without money, there can be no good character) is emphasized. This contradiction (like others) has been explained in various ways, which include the heterogeneity of Yorubaland, inherent inconsistencies in Yoruba thought, so- cial class distinctions and changing historical contexts. These contradictions also apply in the case of the idea of equality embedded in our Rabi Elewe/Rabi Alaso proverb. There is the idea that “Ika owo o d’ogba, t’ese o f’orikori.” (Fingers are not equal just as toes do not share the same height). Also, Iru esin ’o se deedee, bakan naa ko la m’ori waye. (The strands in the house’s tail are not equal just as our destinies are diverse).16 Therefore, despite the fact that God created people equally, the vicissitudes of life ensure that individual do not all turn out equally success- JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 99 ful. This is where social class distinctions are further enhanced by changing historical cir- cumstances. 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JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies NOTES ON: RABI “ALASO OKE” OF COLONIAL LAGOS 102 1 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni (Rabi Alaso’s niece) on July 12, 1999. 2 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni as cited above; and also with Alhaja Saratu (Rabi Alaso’s niece) on June 17, 1999. 3 Oral communication with Madam Rhoda Johnson (Retired Chief Education Officer in La- gos State Ministry of Education, and Rabi’s neighbor) on April 22, 1999; with Alhaja Kofoworola Dabire (Mama Adinni of Obadina Mosque, Lagos Island, and Rabi’s neighbor) on July 7, 1999; and with Alhaja Saratu earlier cited. 4 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni and Alhaja Saratu as cited earlier. 5 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni as cited earlier. 6 Oral communication with Alhaja Kofoworola Dabire as cited earlier. 7 Oral communication with Alhaja Oseni as cited earlier. 8 Oral communication with Alhaja Saratu and Alhaja Iyabo Oseni as cited earlier. 9 Oral communication with Alhaja Saratu as cited earlier. 10 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni as cited earlier. 11 Oral communication with Madam Rhoda Johnson and Alhaja Kofoworola Dabire as cited earlier. 12 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni as earlier cited. 13 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni and Alhaja Saratu as cited earlier. 14 Oral communication with Alhaja Saratu and Madam Rhoda Johnson as cited earlier. 15 Oral communication with Alhaja Iyabo Oseni as earlier cited. 16 We are grateful to Mr. Dimeji Ajikobi of the Yoruba Unit of the Department of African and Asian Languages of the University of Lagos for drawing our attention to these proverbs. JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies