Inyama, Rosemary (1903—)

Nigerian educator, politician, business tycoon, and community developer who championed the cause of women in Igboland. Name variations: Mrs. Inyama. Born Rosemary Ike on November 11, 1903, in Arochukwu, Igboland, Nigeria; incapacitated since 1996 due to old age and sickness; daughter of Mazi Okoronkwo Ike (a soldier in the First World War) and Madam Otonahu Ike (who played an instrumental role in the relocation and "cleansing" of the famous Ibiniukpabi oracle after the 1901–02 attack on it); married P.K. Inyama (a grade 11 teacher), in 1934; children: Hycientha Inyama Nwauba (consul-general of Nigeria in New York); Nnenna Inyama; Jennifer Inyama; Okoro Inyama.

Taught in primary schools (1923–35); established a Domestic Science Business Training Center at Ikot Ekpene; dealings in the gold business took her on several business trips to Ghana (1940s–50s); went into trading partnership with 19 women and men across the country, buying and selling foodstuffs; active in Nigeria's politics (1940s–50s); played a key role in community development at Arochukwu; started motherless babies home; honored several times by women's organizations such as the National Council of Women Societies, Nigeria, Imo state branch; incapacitated by advanced age and illness (1996).

The 20th century in Igboland, Nigeria, was characterized by British colonial rule (1891–60), international trade, the Second World War (1939–45), the Great Depression (1929-39), achievement of political independence in 1960, and the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70). Other features on the landscape included the introduction of direct taxation, Christianity, Western education, new technologies, and urbanization. These changes and the Western presence which accompanied them brought new economic opportunities and modern politics to Igboland, and these had an effect on the role and status of Igbo women. One positive result was the opening of new avenues for status enhancement and diversification of women's economic activities. A number of Igbo women who were hitherto subsistence farmers and local petty traders rose to the status of great merchants and traders, acquiring wealth in cash and landed property, taking titles, and investing in their children's education. Literacy spread among some previously illiterate local women, and some women, like Rosemary Inyama, worked as educators of other women.

Igboland was a British possession when Inyama was born on November 11, 1903. She was the first child of Mazi Okoronkwo Ike and Madam Otonahu Ike of Igboland's Ujali village, Arochukwu. Her father fought on the side of the British forces during the First World War, and her mother played an instrumental role in the relocation and "cleansing" of the Ibiniukpabi oracle after it was attacked in 1901–02.

Between 1917 and 1922, Rosemary acquired the necessary teaching credentials; she started teaching in 1923. After her marriage to P.K. Inyama (1934), with whom she would have four children, she resigned her teaching position in 1935 unable to effectively combine the family responsibilities with her school work. However, later that same year she established a Domestic Science Business Training Center with two sewing machines and less than £5. Here she taught her apprentices and students—who were mostly young girls, married and unmarried women—home management, including activities such as sewing and bread making. Those in her charge paid fees ranging from ten shillings to £1 depending on the type of skills they were working to acquire and on the duration of the training (usually 3 to 6 months). In 1940, with more than 20 in attendance, Inyama made an average profit of £40 per month from the fees they paid and sales of the center's products.

Due to government regulations, it was not easy to start in the gold business especially as an international trade, but Inyama obtained a government license at Aba in 1942 which authorized her to deal in gold. During the 1940s and 1950s, she made several business trips by steamship to Ghana, where gold was mined, buying up to £3,000 worth of gold in a trip. Then back home in Nigeria a local goldsmith fashioned the raw gold into various designs which Inyama sold to such affluent women as Mary Nzimiro and Margaret Ekpo . Rosemary Inyama was one of the first Igbo women to operate bank accounts and did her banking with African Continental Bank in Aba, the town where she conducted most of her business. (She lived, however, in Ikot Ekpene and later Uyo, towns 30 to 40 kilometers from Aba.)

In addition to running the domestic science center and working in the gold trade, Inyama participated in a trading partnership with 19 Nigerian businesswomen and men (14 women and 5 men), dealing in foodstuffs at various times before 1967. The partnership operated between Eastern and Northern Nigeria, buying and selling products such as palm oil and garri (in tins and bags) from the East and selling them in the North, and buying wholesale onions, potatoes, calcium and groundnut oil from the North and selling them in the East. A portion of the annual profits was shared equally among the members at the end of the year, and the remaining sum was put back into the enterprise. The partnership ran a successful business until the Nigerian Civil War ended their efforts in 1967.

Inyama acquired landed property, cars, and a gun for her husband. She also helped in the education of their children, all university graduates. Playing an active part in Nigeria's politics of the 1940s and 1950, she was an energetic member of the NCNC party, women's wing. Inyama took a leading role in organizing women at Ikot Ekpene and Uyo to support and vote for NCNC candidates. Her contemporaries were Mary Nzimiro (Port Harcourt), Margaret Ekpo (Aba), and Mrs. Edede (Calabar). The efforts of these women in mobilizing and organizing the women in Eastern Nigeria enabled the NCNC control of the Eastern regional government and seats in National Assembly.

Rosemary Inyama played her greatest role in community development at Arochukwu where in 1965 she convinced the Aro women to start a motherless babies home. Although disrupted by the civil war, the project was completed after war's end. She also led Aro women to several meetings with the district officers at Arochukwu during which they demanded the improvement of the urban facilities in order to better living conditions.

In 1970, Inyama traveled to the United States on the invitation of her children, one of whom, Hycientha Nwauba, was then consulgeneral of Nigeria in New York. On Inyama's return in 1974, she was honored by Aro women for the role she played in the improvement of Arochukwu and the betterment of Aro women. On November 28, 1985, she was given a National Certificate by the National Council of Women's Societies, Nigeria, Imo state branch, for having "shown profound love for, and rendered selfless services to the Council for many years."

sources:

Chuku, G.I., "From Petty Traders to International Merchants: A Historical Account of Three Igbo Women of Nigeria in Trade and Commerce, 1886 to 1970,"1998.

——"The Changing Role of Women in Igbo Economy, 1929 to 1985," Ph.D. Dissertation, History Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, 1995.

Gloria Ifeoma Chuku , Ph.D., Lecturer in History, School of Humanities, Imo State University, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria