Remembering the 1945 General Strike in Nigeria

The first General Strike in Nigeria was called off on 6 August 1945, which was eighty-one years ago. This suspension was done by the African Civil Service Technical Workers’ Union (ACSTWU).

The strike lasted 45 days in Lagos. In the Northern and Southern regions, it lasted at least 53 days, while in the “British” Cameroons, it went on for 74 days.

Despite this, the strike was seen as mainly a Lagos issue at first. Then it was viewed as a Southern affair, and finally, it was labeled a strike by Southerners. So how general was the 1945 General Strike?

While the strike was mainly in Lagos, it made sense because Lagos was Nigeria's capital. It was the center of the national government, the heart of the economy, and the hub of trade unionism. It was also the center of nationalist politics and had an active civil society.

The strike was so effective in Lagos that even workers not in unions took part. Non-strikers faced boos from Lagos residents. Army personnel who were called to help were said to be “reluctant to work owing to the jeers and insults of crowds.”

Many people in Lagos felt the strike was their own. They provided support to the strikers, and daily paid workers received free food. In the Western provinces, the situation wasn't much different from Lagos.

The General Strike began in the Eastern provinces at midnight on 21 and 22 June 1945. Enugu, the capital of the Eastern Province, was “principally affected” as almost everyone except clerical workers “came out” for the strike.

In Aba, the strike mainly affected the railways. In the Onitsha Division, Railway and P&TD workers fully participated. There was “widespread bewilderment that Government did not accede to the strikers’ demands in full or in part. Government being the source of all money should not have found it difficult to make a little more and save the general public the not inconsiderable inconvenience of ceasing its postal orders and drawing on its Savings accounts. After all, a little more money to the workers would mean better prices for the farmers, and who would deny the farmer a few more pence?”

In Port Harcourt, workers from Railways, Marine, Public Works, and Post & Telegraphs joined the strike, except for a few supervisory officers. The commercial workers at Dempster’s coal and wharf laborers also stopped working. The Township Conservancy workers “struck for days, during which the work was done by prisoners.”

The strike was so popular that the Resident of Onitsha Province, Captain DPJ O’Connor, noted: “There can be little doubt that the strike weapon will make its appearance periodically henceforth and… it is none the less proper to record here… that in all future General Strikes there will be an increasingly Black versus White, racial atmosphere.”

In Yola, the Resident said the strike was “being conducted in an extremely friendly way and there is not the least likelihood of any trouble.” In Plateau province, the strikers were reported to “have been well-behaved.”

Zaria had a similar situation, where the atmosphere was described as “one of cheerful resignation.” There was “no violence, no any picketing and few threats.” The strike leaders warned strikers not to damage government property, stating that “anybody caught damaging anything will be responsible for his action.”

In the Northern provinces, traditional leaders worked with colonial authorities to break the strike. They feared that “the apparent success of the agitators may draw further recruits to their ranks from disgruntled elements in the North.”

The Magajin Gari of Jos worried about the impact of the “continued defiance of Government [on] the minds of the general public, especially the Northern elements.” He added, “every day longer that the strike lasts is increasing the deep underlying bitterness, is hardening public opinion against all Europeans, and is creating a situation which will be more and more difficult to clear up afterwards.”

Even after the strike was suspended by the trade union movement, leaders in Niger, Zaria, and Plateau provinces delayed calling it off. They suspected that telegrams and airmail letters were tricks from the government to break the strike.

By 13 August, the strike spread to all plantations in the “British” Cameroons, except for UAC Plantations in Bwinga, near Tiko. Four main reasons explained the delay in Cameroonian workers joining the General Strike. First, they were not unionized and lacked trade union experience. Second, most were agricultural workers with little or no education and lived in rural areas.

Plantation workers in the “British” Cameroon first joined the General Strike on 11 July. About 1,500 rubber tappers in Kumba Province “struck without warning.” By 7 August, around 1,450 workers in Moliwe, 1,100 workers in Bota, and 700 workers in Likomba also stopped working, causing “all transportation to a standstill.”

The General Strike continued on an “on” and “off” basis in the Cameroons until September 1945. In Nigeria, it had been suspended since 4th August 1945.

The 1945 General Strike was the first nationwide action by Nigerians. It helped create a sense of national unity and awareness.