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were increasingly divided, and entered into negotiations towards ending the strike in early August. On August 3 a compromise was reached where the strike was ended, lawsuits against strikers dropped, and workers not fired. The strike essentially ended on August 4, though negotiations continued until
September when a commission was established to investigate the issues that had prompted the strike. It was the first of its kind in the nation, growing to comprise 200,000 workers and seventeen labor unions.
50:, a prominent labor leader who had been in prison since 1943, and the following week approved a small increase in the minimum wage—which the strikers rejected. Instead of placating the workers, Imoundu's release encouraged them and he became a leader of the strike. No agreement was reached, and the workers prepared to strike.
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Some strikers began attacking those who attempted to continue working. The strike, which was spearheaded by railway workers, spread from Lagos to the rest of the colony, where labor leaders on the local level played a major role in managing it. In
Eastern Nigeria, a leader, T. O. Okpareke, encouraged
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A coalition of workers known as the Joint
Executive of Government Technical Workers had demanded an increased minimum wage on March 22, 1945, which the government denied on May 2. In response, the workers issued a statement that should government not grant their demands by “Thursday, June 21, 1945,
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As a result of the strike, the majority of transportation between localities shut down, leaving biking and walking the most practical means of transport. It continued through July, unabated by a warning on the 26 that workers who continued striking into August would be fired. However, the strikers
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the workers of
Nigeria shall proceed to seek their own remedy with due regard to law and order on the one hand and starvation on the other”. A meeting between the government and labor leaders on May 30 did not resolve issues. In an effort to calm the workers, on June 2 the government released
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In 1946 the commission increased wages of workers. The strike served as a focal point for criticism of
British rule of Nigeria. Azikiwe became known for promoting the cause of the strikers. It has been cited as a "turning point" in Nigerian labor relations. An article on the strike in the
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by blowing train whistles at midnight and rams were sacrificed to the "gods of Mother Africa". Later in the morning of the 22, it became clear that not all workers intended to participate in the strike, considering it unconstitutional. Many nationalists supported the strikers, including
42:, Nigeria saw high inflation and price increases coupled with stagnant wage growth. Additionally, in contributing to the war effort many Nigerians felt overworked. Efforts by the government to control prices had proved generally ineffective.
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fundraising. The government used various means to encourage the strike to end, including spreading propaganda and enlisting labor leaders to mediate negotiations. These efforts were largely ineffective.
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public support for the strike to the point that goods were sold to strikers at low prices and many did not have to pay their rent. Strikers in the North turned to the general public for funds, conducting
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Coates, Oliver (Summer 2017). "Hubert Ogunde's Strike and Hunger and the 1945 General Strike in Lagos: Labor and
Reciprocity in the Kingdom of Oba YĂ©jĂdĂ©".
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318:"'His telegrams appear to be hysterical, but he is very astute': Azikiwe's spectacular self and the 1945 General Strike in Nigeria"
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declared its main legacy to be "the need for mutual sobriety." Nigeria did not have another general strike for nineteen years.
263:"Domesticity and Difference: Male Breadwinners, Working Women, and Colonial Citizenship in the 1945 Nigerian General Strike"
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236:The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News
36:From 1914 to 1960 Britain held Nigeria as a colony
232:"Can Nigeria repeat the 1945 general strike?"
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191:Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
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425:Labour history of World War II
267:The American Historical Review
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316:Coates, Oliver (2018-09-02).
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261:Lindsay, Lisa A. (1999).
185:Oyemakinde, Wale (1975).
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