[1] During the Second World War, which the colony had participated in,[2] Nigeria saw high inflation and price increases coupled with stagnant wage growth.
In an effort to calm the workers, on June 2 the government released Michael Imoudu, 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.
[4] The railway workers announced its commencement in Lagos by blowing train whistles at midnight and rams were sacrificed to the "gods of Mother Africa".
[2] Many nationalists supported the strikers, including Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Adunni Oluwole, and Obafemi Awolowo.
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 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.
The government used various means to encourage the strike to end, including spreading propaganda and enlisting labor leaders to mediate negotiations.