In this inaugural episode of WAH-Pod, historian Nwando Achebe—joined by co-hosts Henry Fagan and Emmanuel Ankomahene—examines the Women’s War of 1929, one of the largest anti-colonial uprisings in African history. Often misnamed the “Aba Women’s Riot,” the Women’s War was a coordinated, strategic resistance led by tens of thousands of Igbo and Ibibio women against British colonial rule in southeastern Nigeria. Drawing on oral histories, colonial archives, and African political systems, the episode reframes the uprising not as spontaneous disorder but as a deliberate defense of women’s economic power, political authority, and moral governance. It explores women’s use of song, dance, collective action, and ritual sanction to challenge taxation, warrant chiefs, and colonial extraction—revealing how African women mobilized deep systems of accountability to confront imperial violence.
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You can view the transcript here: Transcript
Credits: written by Dr. Nwando Achebe; hosted by: Dr. Nwando Achebe, Emmanuel Ankomahene, and Henry Fagan; produced by Mike Green and Marissa Knaak.
In the second episode of WAH-Pod, Achebe, Fagan, and Ankomahene tells the story of The Golden Stool of the Asante people. This is a story that reminds us that objects contain meaning beyond the physical and that imperial power has limits. Finish blurb about episode 2
Listen here: [link to where to listen or embed player]
You can view the transcript here: Transcript
Credits: written by Dr. Nwando Achebe; hosted by: Dr. Nwando Achebe, Emmanuel Ankomahene, and Henry Fagan; produced by Mike Green and Marissa Knaak.
This episode tells the story of the Punitive Expedition, Britain's invasion of the Kingdom of Benin (in present-day southern Nigeria) in 1897. We explore how Benin's autonomy, stable political order, and wealth made it ia target of British imperialism. We then unpack how Acting Consul James Phillips disregarded warnings not to interfere wit hthe sacred festival of Igue, sparking violence. British porpagandists sieze on the tensions as a pretext to invade. Following Benin's defeat, British officers began lootin the city to cover the expenditure of the invasion. The essence of Benin's sacred kingship was thus commodified. This eipsode grapples with what happens when an empire doens't just conquer land and people but seizes the very treasures through which a civilization remembers and governs itself. It also speaks to British imperial strategy, whereby presistent colonial intrusion (both in terms of territorian and economic sovereignty) elicited resistance that could then be used to justify fully-fledged invasion and subsequent wealth extraction. Notably, Britain utilized similar strategies across Africa and the world.
Listen here: [link to where to listen or embed player]
You can view the transcript here: Transcript
Credits: written by Dr. Nwando Achebe; hosted by: Dr. Nwando Achebe, Emmanuel Ankomahene, and Henry Fagan; produced by Mike Green and Marissa Knaak.
Blurb about episode 4
Listen here: [link to where to listen or embed player]
You can view the transcript here: Transcript
Credits: written by Dr. Nwando Achebe; hosted by: Dr. Nwando Achebe, Emmanuel Ankomahene, and Henry Fagan; produced by Mike Green and Marissa Knaak.