20th June, 2013
The demise of Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, MFR, MON, president-general, Association of Nigerian Market Women and Men, on 15 June, is, indeed, a colossal loss. The outpouring of encomiums on the woman who bestrode the commerce and political landscape of Lagos, as well as the defunct Western region like the Amazon that she was, attests to this fact.
As a businesswoman, Mogaji was upwardly mobile, industrious, determined, focused and highly successful. She abhorred slothfulness and espoused the belief that hard work was an antidote for poverty. This explained why she loomed large in the informal market sector in Lagos State and Nigeria. Her dominance as a market leader, spanning several decades, was a testimony of her uncanny leadership qualities. She gave direction, as well as ensure structural organisation in the sector.
As an apprentice learning the art of trading, Mogaji cut her teeth under the tutelage of famous wealthy pro-colonial businesswomen, women leader and political activist, Alimotu Pelewura. Madam Pelewura, a fish merchant, who could neither read nor write, led the Lagos Market Women’s Association in its struggles against women’s taxation and for woman suffrage.
She was also a politician who worked with several nationalist parties of the early twentieth century, including the Nigerian National Democratic Party and the Nigerian Union of Young Democrats. This however provided the empirical basis for a clear appreciation of life and time of Pelewura’s protégé, Mogaji. The late Iya Oloja (market leader) through her ingenuity, entrepreneurial acumen and organisational savvy inspired, mobilised and led other women to be successful business women. Mogaji’s ability to listen made her a beacon of hope, as well as fortress for support to many young traders.
As a politician, Mogaji’s sagacity and mastery of the game, even where men failed, definitely had its roots in her time with Pelewura. History is replete with her exploits, courage and deft political moves in advancing the fortunes of the Action Group, AG, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Her closeness to the late sage was not in doubt. In the thick of the AG crisis, Mogaji wouldn’t sell out. She resisted every reactionary move to blunt the party of its revolutionary edge. Her political inclination was not only fostered by deep-seated understanding of progressive politics and the creed of the AG, but the correctness of her own ideological conviction.
It was well-known how Mogaji rejected overtures from the late Chief Ladoke Akintola to abandon Awo. She replicated the commitment and doggedness in the Second Republic under the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN.
It is not in doubt that Mogaji found a seat in the company of great women in the moulds of late Olufunmi Ransome-Kuti and Lady Olayinka Abayomi. Adieu, Abibat Mogaji.