Prominent Nigerians

FullFull Name: Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti
State of Origin: Abeokuta.(Former Abeokuta Southern Nigeria)
Ethnicity: Yoruba.
Date of Birth: October 25, 1900.                                       
Died: 13 April 1978 (aged 77)
Profession: Teacher
 Marriage status: Married
Spouse(s): Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti
Children: Olikoye Ransome-Kuti (son)
Beko Ransome-Kuti (son)
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (son)
Dolapo Ransome-Kuti (daughter)
Parents: Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu.
Residence: Lagos, Nigeria
Language: Yoruba and English
Religion: Christainity
Alma mater: Abeokuta Grammar school and Wincham Hall School for Girls, Cheshire, England,
Occupation: Teacher,Politician,Women's Rights Activist and Educator            

INTRODUCTION
Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas popularly known as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was born on October 25, 1900, in Abeokuta, Ogun State of Nigeria. Her father was a son of a Nigerian slave who returned from Sierra Leone, and traced his ancestral history back to Abeokuta in what is today known as Ogun State, Nigeria. He later joined the Anglican faith church and become one of their members as soon as he returned to the homeland.

EDUCATION
She Went to Abeokuta Grammar school; from there she went to Wincham Hall School for Girls, Cheshire, England, for further studies. Later she returned to Nigeria and became a teacher.
She was one of the first women to attend Abeokuta Grammar School in 1914, later she became a teacher in the school.

CAREER 
She was the founder of the Abeokuta Ladies’ Club( in 1944 which was the most impressive women’s organizations of the twentieth century (with a membership estimated to have reached up to 20,000 women),Her organization fought to protect and further the rights of women.
She also became associated with some of the most important anti-colonial educational movements in Nigeria and West Africa, and fought tirelessly to further women’s access to education and political representation.

LOVE, MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN
She found her husband in year 1924 and On 20 January 1925; she got married to her love Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti. She was blessed with four children, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti (son), Beko Ransome-Kuti (son),Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (son) and Dolapo Ransome-Kuti (daughter)
Her children Beko, Olikoye and Fela, played important roles in education, healthcare, the arts and political activism.

THE DAYS OF YOUTH:
The iron lady Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was born to Yoruba parents, Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu. She was named Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo. Her father was a son of a repatriated slave from Sierra Leone, who traced his ancestral history back to Abeokuta in what is today Ogun State, Nigeria. He became a member of the Anglican Faith, and soon returned to the homeland of his fellow Egbas, Abeokuta.

She attended the Abeokuta Grammar school for secondary education, and later went to England for further studies. She soon returned to Nigeria and became a teacher. On 20 January 1925, she married the Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome Kuti. He also defended the commoners of his country, and was one of the founders of both the Nigeria Union of Teachers and of the Nigerian Union of Students.Well educated with a colonial education and a Christian background, she was radicalized through the actions of the British occupation of Nigeria: its racism, sexism and economic violence. Ransome-Kuti received the national honor of membership in the Order of Nigeria in 1965. The University of Ibadan bestowed upon her the honorary doctorate of laws in 1968. She also held a seat in the Western House of Chiefs of Nigeria as an oloye of the Yoruba people.

Traditionally, Yoruba society was divided into male and female administrative sections. Although men in Nigeria held the position of clan chiefs, women had traditionally held political authority which was shared with men, particularly concentrated in areas of trade. With the coming of formal colonial rule through the Berlin Conference of 1884, the British authorities occupying Nigeria restructured the governance of the society: establishing the position of “Warrant Chiefs” as middle men to act between the traditional authorities and those of the colonizers, elevating the traditional and largely symbolic position of clan chief to a political power broker and created the Sole Native Authority, to which only the men holding local political power were admitted.

INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT FUNMILAYO RANSOME KUTI
She was also the first woman in the country to drive a car
During the period of the Cold War between the West the former USSR, and before the independence of Nigeria, Funmilayo Kuti traveled widely around the world, and this got the Nigerian as well as British and American Governments angry because they believed that she maintains contacts with the Eastern Bloc, as she traveled a lot to the former USSR, Hungary and China where she met Mao Zedong. In 1956, the government refused to renew her passport because it was assumed that she intended to influence the Nigerian women with communist ideas and policies. Almost at the same time, the United States refused her visa because the American government alleged that she was a communist.

AWARDS, HONOURS, LAURELS AND RECOGNITIONS
What she was known for:
Educator             
"Lioness of Lisabi"
She was also the first woman in the country to drive a car
The most prominent leaders of her generation
“The Mother of Africa."               
Traditional aristocrat of Nigeria
Women's rights activist
Women's Rights Activist