WOMEN'S ECONOMIC AGENCY IN PRE-COLONIAL OKPELLA, EDO STATE NIGERIA (C. 1400–1904)

Abstract

This study examines the economic agency of women in pre-colonial Okpella, a Benin-derived clan in northern Edo State, Nigeria, from the foundational migration of c. 1400 to the eve of British colonisation in 1904. Drawing on oral traditions, colonial records, and archaeological inferences, it traces women’s pivotal roles across shifting cultivation, food processing, craft production (pottery, mat-weaving, and ritual masks), livestock rearing, and intra-regional trade via head porterage and periodic markets. Gendered divisions of labour, guild organisation, and inheritance patterns enabled women to control resources, expand household production, and sustain inter group exchange networks with Nupe, Esan, and Ebira neighbours. The analysis establishes a pre-1904 baseline for understanding subsequent colonial transformations in women’s economic status.