Margaret Ekpo
WOMAN WARRIOR ON WEDNESDAY; MARGARET EKPO
• Fearless Women Right Activist. She was the first woman in Aba to become a member if the Regional House of Assembly in 1945. She took her stand at political rallies and established the Market Woman Association in Aba to encourage women in Aba to participate in political activities which unionized the women in the city and promoted female solidarity in the fight for the economic and political rights of women.
•Unable to further education after the loss of her father. But her determination led her to obtaining a degree in domestic economics at the Rathmine School of Domestic Economics in Dublin, Ireland, in 1948. This led her to establish the Domestic science institute in Abia State where she trained young girls in dressmaking and home economics at the institute.
•She played a major role as a politician in the eastern Nigerian city of Aba. Making her one of three women appointed to the House of Chiefs, in the 1950s. She stood at the forefront of the fight against injustice in Nigeria and joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) to fight for decolonization.
•Fought for the decolonization of Nigeria and championed protests alongside Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, against the killings at the Enugu coal mine in the 1950s.
Served her nation relentlessly in several other capacities. The Calabar Airport was named after her in 2001.
