MEMORY DOWN THE LANE. HER HIGHNESS,OMU OKWEI: THE NIGERIAN MERCHANT QUEEN OF OSSOMARI.

When Nigerian Merchant Queen, Omu Okwei, strode the streets of Onitsha, Nigeria, during her coronation as Omu (Queen) of Ossomari in August of 1936, she wore regalia of ivory bracelets and anklets, strings of coral beads, a gilt-edged crown, and a rich velvet gown with a floral imprint. The fortune amassed by Okwei, coupled with her stellar reputation as a fair-minded businesswoman, explained her ascension to the status she had achieved. By the time of her death, her wealth would be impressive, indeed: She was one of the first Nigerians to possess an automobile, she owned one modern house in her hometown (Ossomari, 1921), twenty-four houses in Ossomari, Onitsha, Aboh, Port Harcourt, and Atani, twenty-five plots of lands across the Niger Region, a private car and a chauffeur, in lorries and fleet of trade canoes, a wealth of coral, ivory, gold, and about £5,000 in the bank (in the 1920s). Okwei stood as a symbol of continued female control of the Nigerian economy, and by the 1920s, Okwei had become one of the wealthiest women in Nigeria, and one of the most powerful Igbo women.
Okwei's fortune represents the resilience of traditional tribal culture in Nigeria, where British tradesmen attempted to alter the primacy of women's roles in trade relations and transferred the power of the Council of Mothers to the Onitsha Town Council in 1916, and issued warrants to men that gave them the authority to sit in Native courts, Okwei used her wealth and influence to gain social recognition within the political and commercial circles of Onitsha. Okwei fought her way to the top and was appointed to the Onitsha Native Court in 1912 and held the position until the 1930’s, making her the first Nigerian woman to be granted a warrant to serve in the British-Nigeria Colonial Government (1912), a position that was later passed on to her first son, Francis. Okwei was elected Market Chairwoman of the Onitsha Council of Mothers, a political and economic powerhouse that determined trade relations, settled disputes, determined prices, and oversaw the general welfare of the Niger Region. In 1931, she became the chief of the Waterside Settlement of about 15,000 immigrants.
Born Okwei Osuna Afubeho (1972), in the bustling trade town of Ugolo in Ossomala/Ossomari, on the Banks of Niger River (Aboh), in present-day Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, South-Central Nigeria, to an Ibo (Igbo) regal family of potentates who had been successful traders for generations. Her father, Prince Osuna Afubeho, won admiration as a warrior, owned many war canoes as well as several hundred "bondservants" who fought and traded for him throughout Nigeria. Her paternal grandfather, King (Atamanya) Olisa Nzediegwu I of Ossomari (mid-18th century), had established trade relations and negotiations of commercial treaties with British traders between 1830 – 1854 and later invited Roman Catholic missionaries to Ossomari in 1854. Her mother was from a family of equal prominence. Okwei’s maternal grandfather, Prince Obi Aje was the son of King Obi Ossai of Aboh, an important king who had arranged treaties between the British traders and the village of Aboh in the 1830s.

Despite her formidable background, however, Omu Okwei rose from humble beginnings, primarily because of the ire her two marriages evoked among her family. Okwei's mother had no surviving male child who could lay claim to Okwei's father’s property; given that daughters were neither allowed to get formal education nor inherit the property of their fathers, Okwei’s mother ensured that Okwei had a solid background in trade. When Okwei was nine-years-old, her mother sent her to her maternal aunt among the Igala tribe to learn both trade and the important Igala Language (the Igala language was very important for trade at the time), and by the time Okwei returned home, she was successfully trading in food products. Following the death of her father, Okwei and her mother moved to Atani, on the Niger River, where she married Chief Joseph Alagoa Elemah, a native authority from the Ijo (Izon/Ijaw) tribe, Nembe-Brass, a city in the Oil Rivers State, in present-day Bayelsa State. Alagoa, an influential trader and one of the traditional middlemen that conducted business arrangements between Europeans and interior producers, was the son of the Great Chief Elemah of Bassambiri in Nembe. Alagoa’s mother, Yai Amain, was the daughter of King (Amayanabo) Kingboy Amain, MINGI V, a Nembe King who had ruled Nembe between 1832-1846. HRM Kingboy Amain was the son and successor of King (Amayanabo) Forday Kulo, MINGI IV of Nembe (1800-1932), the first King to invite the British Traders into the Nembe Kingdom. HRM Kingboy Amian had business transactions and political affiliations with Omu Okwei’s maternal grandfather King Obi Ossai of Aboh.

At the age of sixteen, Okwei married Joseph Alagoa Elemah (1888). Under Igbo custom, women may not inherit property except through the dowry, which they used as capital in trading their ventures. However, Okwei’s family did not approve of Alagoa, they reasoned that Alagoa’s family was not of equal royal stock compared to Okwei’s family. Okwei’s family withheld her dowry and she began her adult life with no capital. Okwei ignored her family and married Alagoa and they produced one son, Francis Ossamade Joseph Allagoa (1889). ‘Alagoa’ was later corrupted to ‘Allagoa’, the latter was exclusively used by Francis and his descendants – descendants of Omu Okwei.
A year after the birth of their son, Alagoa returned to Nembe-Brass (1890) when the British-owed Royal Niger Company seized control of trade along the Niger River. Okwei refused to return to Nembe with Alagoa, she remained in Atani and took custody of their son, Francis.
Left with no inheritance, Okwei made the best of a bad situation by starting a business on her own. Through Alagoa and his influential friends, she made valuable contacts with European traders and African agents; she bought an assortment of food items in exchange for imported goods that she bought on credit from the agents of the Royal Niger Company (1890). She sold the food to consumers at premium prices making good on the loan in addition to securing a tidy profit for herself. Thus, began one of the most illustrious business careers in Nigeria.

In 1895, Okwei married Opene of Aboh, son of Okwenu Ezewene, another wealthy female trader from Aboh. Again, Okwei's family did not approve of the match; Opene was not of royal stock, they maintained, and he had no means of making a living. Nevertheless, the marriage proved beneficial to Okwei’s business aspirations. Okwei and Opene had a son, Peter Opene. The couple settled in Onitsha, a growing center of trade in the 1800s. Okwei partnered with her mother-in-law in 1896 and immediately expanded her contacts and merchandise to include local goods, tobacco, cotton, and imported goods.

In June of 1904, Okwei dissolved her partnership with her mother-in-law and set up an independent trading unit, and became an agent of the Royal Niger Company, a position that gave her an enviable opportunity to buy in bulk imported goods from the company which she distributed to other wholesalers and retailers. Okwei extended her merchandise to palm produce (palm oil and kernels). And by September of 1904, Okwei had supplied 20,000 gallons of palm oil to the Royal Niger Company at the price of 5s per 10-gallon container, which amounted to £500 (1904). Okwei accumulated 400 tickets, which she used to procure yet more palm oil and made enormous profits

During the World War I in 1914, when the palm trade slummed, Okwei switched to Indian madras textiles, she exported gunpowder, alcohol, gold and ivory, coral beads, and also gathered a large selection of ceremonial ivory jewelry which she rented out for a profit.
By 1915, Okwei had overcome her initial lack of capital and began carefully reinvesting her profits. She acquired a cadre of maids and servants, apprentices and pawns who were brought by their relatives and her debtors. By 1916, these persons started going to inland markets to buy produce while Okwei stayed at Onitsha.

In 1918, when the British government abolished the ticket system, Okwei built up trading links with powerful men: Chief Quaker Bob Manuel, an important trader; Jack Cooper, the Royal Niger Company manager; and John Windfall, the bank manager at Onitsha who was useful at reserving goods for her. As her profit grew, she set up a business as a money lender to traders in exchange for commissions. In 1920, Okwei invested in real estate and owned many houses and lands, some of which she rented out. Okwei provided business loans to local businesswomen and invested in the local market. She established commercial associates at major ports on the River Niger: Oguta, Ndoni, Old Calabar, Nembe-Brass, Port Harcourt, Lokoja, and Warri. Okwei adopted her female servants and gave them to businessmen in marriage. Through these arrangements, she gained “most-favored” status in business transactions she conducted. By the 1930s, Onitsha, too, gained similar "most-favored” status as a trade center, largely through Okwei's empire.

Okwei was crowned the Omu (Female King) of Ossomari in August of 1936, in recognition of her contribution to the development of Ossomari Society. In the traditional dual-sex government, as it then was, the Omu was co-equal to the King, overseeing women’s needs and settling disputes. Her first son, Francis, was crowned His Royal Majesty Francis Ossomade Joseph Allagoa, MINGI X, Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom (1954-1967). He became a district interpreter in Okigwe, a Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (1934-1946), and a magistrate in 1950.
Okwei’s grandson, Ambrose, was also crowned His Royal Majesty Ambrose Ezeolisa Francis Allagoa, MINGI XI, Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom (1979-2003). He joined the Lincoln Inn, United Kingdom, in 1944, and was called to the English Bar in 1950, he was appointed the First Indigenous Chief Judge of the Oil Rivers State in 1978; he was convened the Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON in 1978; Grand Knight of Saint Sylvester, conferred on him by Pope Paul VI in 1977; Knight of St. Gregory conferred on him by Pope John XXIII in 1978.

Okwei was a respected member of the Onitsha community. Okwei's title has never been awarded to another woman out of respect for her legacy. A major street in Onitsha was named after her and two full life-size marble statues of her were erected in Onitsha and in Ossomari to mark her death in May of 1943.

Credit:

Lucille Allagoa