Copyright by Saheed Adeniyi Aderinto 2010 The Dissertation Committee for Saheed Adeniyi Aderinto Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Sexualized Nationalism: Lagos and the Politics of Illicit Sexuality in Colonial Nigeria, 1918-1958 Committee: ________________________________ Oloruntoyin O. Falola, Supervisor ________________________________ Juliet E.K. Walker ________________________________ Emilio Zamora ________________________________ Ruramisai Charumbira ________________________________ Omoniyi Afolabi _________________________________ Aderonke Adesanya Sexualized Nationalism: Lagos and the Politics of Illicit Sexuality in Colonial Nigeria, 1918-1958 by Saheed Adeniyi Aderinto B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2010 For Olamide Aderinto Abstract Sexualized Nationalism: Lagos and the Politics of Illicit Sexuality in Colonial Nigeria, 1918-1958 Publication No___________________________ Saheed Adeniyi Aderinto, Ph.D The University of Texas at Austin, 2010 Supervisor: Oloruntoyin O. Falola In this dissertation, I argue that historians of Africa have overlooked the intersection between nationalism and sexuality, despite the fact that these two themes are related. In addition, instead of focusing on the now stale paradigm which emphasizes the importance of race and class in the discourse of sexuality, I offer a revisionist idea that stresses the importance of age. Hence, I contend that the contrast between underage and adult sexuality largely informed the pattern of reformist condemnation of casual sex work in colonial Lagos. A clash between tradition (crudely defined as African traditional customs, values and ethos) and modernity (the so-called ideals of “modernization” and “civilization” imported by the British colonialists) was inevitable as the reformists vied to establish favorable legislation and combated laws that threatened their belief system and practices. What is more, debates around prostitution went beyond casual sex work to involve more complex matters such as the protection of soldiers, marriage, and cultural nationalism; the place and role of women and children in African society; and African or v colonialist conception of morality/immorality. Because of the complex nature of the politics of sex in colonial Nigeria, it was effectively impossible to reach common ground on dealing with the alleged medical and social nuisance caused by prostitutes. Indeed, while the ostensible subject of the popular debate was “prostitution,” the issues contested concurred with cultural nationalism and the protection of individual and group interests. Prostitution became a camouflage for negotiating issues that threatened the social, political, and sexual ideologies and orientation of a wide range of people—Africans and Europeans alike. vi Table of Contents Abbreviation…………………………………………………………..………...…x List of Tables………………………………………………………………………xii Introduction...………………………………………………………………...1 The Main Arguments…………………………………………..…………………..3 Pathology, Disease and the African Body……………………………………....…8 Women, Mobility, and Conflicting Nationalism………………………………......11 Sources and Methods………………………………………………………………12 Organization…..…………………………………………………………………....12 Chapter 1: Sexualized Crime: Sexuality and Criminality in Colonial Urban Lagos Introduction………………………………………………………….…………..…15 This is a City of Bubbles…………………………………………….………….......17 The West African Frontier Force………………………………………….……......27 The Girls in Moral Danger………………………………………………………….37 Sexual Mysticism…………………………………………………………………...50 Prostitution, Crime and Public Order……………………………………………. ...52 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..57 Chapter 2: Sexualized Law, Criminalized Bodies: Anti-Prostitution Law and the Making of a new Sexual Order Introduction………………………………………………………………………....58 vii VD Laws…………………………………………………………………………….62 Adult Prostitution and Vagrancy Laws……………………………………………..73 Child Prostitution Laws……………………………………………………………..80 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………....……...83 Chapter 3: The Colony Welfare Office: Sexuality, Race and the Politics of African Cultural Difference Introduction………………………………………………………………………….85 The CWO…………………………………………..……………………………...…88 Politics of Establishment……………………………………………………………..95 The Social and Legal Construction of Child Prostitution……………………………105 The CWO and African Culture………………………………………………………114 Tradition or Modernization…………………………………………………………..120 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………123 Chapter 4: Sexualizing Nationalism: Lagosians and the Politics of Sexual Control Introduction……………………………………………………………………….….124 Contesting the Undesirable Advertisement Ordinance………………………….…...127 Venereal Disease Ordinance…………………………………………………………133 The Lagos Press………………………………………………………………....……140 The Chiefs and the Native Authority Child Betrothal Ordinance (NACBO)…....….155 Ethnicity and the Politics of Sex………………………………………………….….159 viii Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….167 Chapter 5: Protecting the Girls in Moral Danger: Lagos Elite Women and the Politics of Sexual Control Introduction………………………………………………………………………..169 Educated Elite Women and Politics in Twentieth Century Lagos…………...……171 Elite Women and Criminalization of Prostitution………………………......…..…177 Elite Women, the NPF, and the Women Police Debate………………...……..…..183 Elite Women, the Colony Welfare Office and the Girls Hostel Controversy.…….189 Conclusion………………………………………………………………...……….203 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………205 Bibliography……………………………………………………….…………...207 Vita……………………………………………………………..………………….237 ix Abbreviations AVS Anti-Vice Squad CCO Criminal Code Ordinance COMCOL Commissioner of the Colony CWO Colony Welfare Office CYPO Children and Young Persons Ordinance DMSS Director of Medical and Sanitary Service ENG Eastern Nigerian Guardian LCN Legislative Council of Nigeria LLN Ladies League of Nigeria LWL Lagos Women’s League NACBO Native Authority Child Betrothal Ordinance NAE National Archives Enugu NAI National Archives Ibadan NAK National Archives Kaduna NPF Nigeria Police Force NAS Nigerian Apothecary Society NLC The Nigerian Legislative Council NPS Nigerian Pharmaceutical Society NWP Nigerian Women’s Party NYM Nigerian Youth Movement x RWAFF Royal West African Frontier Force SND Southern Nigeria Defender UGO Unlicensed Guide Ordinance UAO Undesirable Advertisement Ordinance VD Venereal Disease VDO Venereal Disease Ordinance WAFF West African Frontier Force WAP West African Pilot WWC Women’s Welfare Council xi List of Tables Table I: Social Welfare, General Questions………………………………………44 Table II: Oged Macaulay Suggests Licensing of Prostitution…………………….51 Table III: Boma Boy Menace in Lagos………………………………………...…101 Table IV: Venereal Disease Treatment at V.D Clinic…………………………….137 xii Introduction On February 17, 1947 Justice Adetokunbo Ademola of the Lagos magistrate court sentenced Lady Welfare Officer Ayodele Potts –Johnson and Joel Toviho to six months in prison (each without the option of fine) for demanding and receiving a bribe of £5:30 from two prostitutes, Elizabeth Agadagwu and Alice George, in order not to repatriate them from brothels located at Nos. 80 & 82 Idoluwo Street, Lagos.1 FRA Williams, noted in a 1945 directory of prominent Lagosians as “an influential politician and Barrister-at- law of good standing,” led four other African and European attorneys in defending Potts- Johnson who pleaded guilty to extortion, but not the charges of official corruption.2 May and June 1947 appeals at the Supreme Court of Nigeria and West African Court of Appeal (WACA), the apex court in British West Africa, respectively, upheld the ruling of the lower court on the ground that the convicts were guilty of corruption not extortion,3 as Potts-Johnson’s counsels and supporters which comprised “privileged persons many of whom are friends, co-workers and relatives”4 maintained. Few cases of this character 1 Ademola was an Egba prince who would later become the first Chief Justice of Nigeria. While Johnson was a supervising officer attached to the Colony Welfare Office, Joel Toviho was an ex-soldier, described variously as Potts-Johnson’s tout and cousin. See The Daily Service, “Lady Welfare Officer Potts-Johnson and tout gets 6 months each: Eager Crowds Fill Court Precincts,” February 18, 1947, 1. 2 Williams would later in life become the first Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The other four attorneys were E.A. Akerele, J.A. Kester, N.O.A. Morgan and V.O. Munis. See The Daily Service, “5 Lawyers Appear for Mrs. Ayo Potts Johnson in Corruption Case” January 21, 1947, 3 and 4. 3 “Selected Judgments of the West African Court of Appeal, 1946/1949, vol. XII, Compiled by The Hon. Mr. Justice Abott,” (Published by the Grown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administration), 198-201. 4 The Daily Service, “Lady Welfare Officer Lodges Appeal against Conviction for Corruption: Decision is Reserved by Judge,” May 17, 1947, 3. 1 lasted more than a single trial at the magistrate court, and fewer still received appeals both at the Supreme Court and WACA. Throughout the trial, “the court premises were packed full with spectators.”5 Besides the involvement of prominent legal officers, Lagos elites and front page newspaper coverage (The Daily Service christened the trial “sensational celebrated official corruption”), Potts-Johnson’s trial proved important for a number of