ABSTRACT
In Africa, the colonial and neocolonial structures and influences imposed parochial and inappropriate Western notions of development and gender roles on the indigenous societies. The attendant conceptualization of development as an urban phenomenon, the concentration of modern infrastructural facilities in the urban centers and the adoption of Western social habits eroded the indigenous all-involving and gender-inclusive ideas and structures that worked toward the sociocultural, political, and economic development of the societies. Even though the colonial and postcolonial periods in Africa transformed the composition and orientation of the urban centers in favor of the men, this chapter argues that the women were indispensable in and remained committed to the development of their various communities since the precolonial period. It elaborately shows how the Umuada (“lineage daughters”) groups eventually overcame the initial debilitations of the Westernized urban centers in Nigeria and beyond in their traditional obligation toward the overall development of their natal communities in Igboland. In favor of the recognition and encouragement of women’s development efforts, the author further argues that such resilient and unsung women’s traditional networks are poised and can become veritable allies in the general effort toward national and rural development in Nigeria and Africa generally.
