What did the women before us do?

We don't know enough about them because Nigerian history has habitually underrepresented women. They are rarely the main characters in the stories that make it into Nigerian classrooms and popular culture. Even when they are, their stories are often watered down—like a fearless organiser and political leader remembered primarily as the first woman to drive a car.

The erasure is more pronounced for Nigerian women who were not political disruptors, but they have always played crucial roles in their communities, shaping economic and political progress. Some fought openly—leading protests, advocating for social justice, defying colonial rule, and challenging patriarchal structures. Others fought just as powerfully—quietly resisting and dismantling systemic barriers, building businesses, and holding communities together.

You probably know Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Margaret Ekpo, and Gambo Sawaba as some of the most famous women in Nigerian history. The fact that many more like them remain unknown or mostly overlooked reminds us that Nigerian women have always had to fight for their place.

What would we discover if we traced Nigerian history through the women who have shaped it? From a 19th-century trader who became one of the wealthiest people of her time, to a 20th-century artist reclaiming Nigerian identity on canvas, to a former child bride fighting for her life against a brutal sentence in the early 21st century, each of them reflects the Nigerian woman's experience in different ways.

Their stories deserve to be told, retold, and never forgotten.