History Of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti As We Celebrate Her On International Women’s Day

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The West African Pilot Newspaper called her The Lioness of Lisabi. She was a Nigerian teacher, politician, activitist, and women’s rights advocate.

Born on 25th October, 1900 at Abeokuta, (Now in Ogun State), South-West, Nigeria. Her father was Chief Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas from the elite Jibolu-Taiwo Family while her mother was Lusretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosulu.

Funmi was born as Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas. She was the first female student to be admitted into Abeokuta Grammar School in 1914. 5 other girls joined her in class that same year. She later furthered her studies in London. That was where she dropped her English name ‘Frances’ and officiallly started to use the shorterned form of her Yoruba name, FUNMILAYO, as her first name.

On January 20th 1925 she got married to Rev. Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti who was from the prestigious Ransome-Kuti dynasty. They had 4 children in this order: Dolupo (daughter), Olikoye (Son), Fela (Son), Beko (Son). In 1935-36, she and her husband shipped a second hand car from England and she became the first woman to drive a car in Abeokuta.

In 1932 she founded the Abeokuta Ladies Club for elite women. They did charity work and taught women basic skills like sewing, Catherine and adult education. By 1946 it became a political force with a new name: Abeokuta Women Union (AWU), now involving all women including market women. She formed it alongside her husband’s sister, Grace Eniola Soyinka, mother of Prof. Wole Soyinka. They staged a protest against the Alake of Abeokuta for imposing a special tax on market women. She wrote to the British authority to remove the Alake from office and to cancel the said tax. She also demanded a representation of women in the Sole Native Authority System executive council. During this time she was banned from entering the Alake’s palace for political meetings. By 1947 authorities forbade women from holding protest and demonstration but she and the AWU went on and claimed they were only doing ‘picnics’ and ‘festivals.’ Sometimes they confronted police officers. She began to teach her members how to manage situations of tear gas canisters thrown at them. All these led to a temporary abdication of the Alake. Finally the said tax was abolished with all it’s troubles.

In 1949 she was the only woman in the NCNC delegation to London. There she told her ‘oyibo’ listeners the plight of the Nigerian woman. She later served as treasurer of the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroun (NCNC), also women leader of the party. She contested for the legislative seat and lost. She later formed another party: Nigerian Commoners’ Party.

In 1965 she was honoured with the Membership in the Order of the Niger (MON). Also the Lenin Peace Prize in 1970 in USSR. In 1961 she was Chairman of the Advisory Board of Education in Western Nigeria.

Also her spirit of advocacy and doggedness were well rested on her 3rd child, Fela Kuti. At her old age her 3rd child had become her husband and in fact her father. By this time her husband had died of prostrate cancer after a prolonged period of illness. In the early 70s her 3rd child Fela Ransome-Kuti officially removed ‘Ransome’ from his name claiming it was a slave name and replaced it with the Yoruba name ‘Anikulapo.’ so he became Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. When her son did this, that was when she also changed her name too from Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti to Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti. Although her case was unofficial since she was already an old woman.

She was in Fela’s house called Kalatuta Republic on 18th Feb 1977 when soldiers stormed the compound. Fela had earlier been arrested and rearrested with brutal flogging on several occasions for verbally criticizing successive military regimes. On that day the soldiers beat up and arrested several people in the house including Fela and his younger brother, Beko, who was also a vocal human rights activist. During the raid Funmilayo was thrown from a second floor window and sustained serious injuries. Fela recounted this incident in his song ‘Unknown Soldiers.’ The old woman died at the hospital on 13th April, 1978 from injuries. She was buried beside her husband at Abeokuta. Shops and market closed in her honour on the day of her burial.

At the one year anniversary of her death, her son, Fela, carried a coffin to the gate of Dodan Barracks, Lagos which was Nigeria Supreme Military Headquarters at that time to mock the military and the govt. He sang this in his song ‘Coffin For head of State.’

In August, 2012 the Central Bank of Nigeria included her picture in the proposed Five Thousand Naira Note. However her grandson, Seun Kuti who is Fela’s last child, described this gesture as ridiculous because the government had never apologized to their family for the wrong done to the said woman.


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