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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Nigeria Civil Service Union, 1919-1922
Author:Okonkwo, RinaISNI
Year:1993
Periodical:International Journal of African Historical Studies
Volume:26
Issue:3
Pages:609-622
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:trade unions
civil service
History and Exploration
Labor and Employment
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/220480
Abstract:The Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) was founded in Lagos in August 1912, and from 1912 until 1922 it was the only major union in Nigeria. Labour historians have castigated the NCSU for its elitism and conservatism. In their view, African civil servants did not belong to the proletariat but were classified as 'salariat' or nascent middle class. The present author argues that these critics may be guilty of applying standards of the post-World War II era in judging the World War I period. As members of the educated elite, African civil servants adopted constitutional methods of voicing their grievances, methods which were in keeping with the other protest movements of the early 20th century. The author deals in particular with the NCSU battle for equal pay for African workers and higher posts for Africans in the period 1919-1922. Their fight continued until independence and had a nationalist flavour which won the support of political movements and the press. App., ref.
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