Beko Ransome-Kuti

Dr. Bekolari Ransome-Kuti (August 2, 1940 – February 10, 2006)

Early life

Ransome-Kuti was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria on August 2, 1940.

His mother Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, battled against indiscriminate taxation of women by the British colonial government. She was the first Nigerian woman to drive a car and was part of the team that negotiated Nigerian independence.

His father Oladotun Ransome-Kuti was an Anglican priest and founded the Nigerian Union of Teachers.

His brother Fela Kuti was a famous musician and activist who founded Afrobeat.

Career and activism

Ransome-Kuti returned to Nigeria in 1963 upon obtaining a medical degree at Manchester University. He was radicalized in 1977 after soldiers under orders from Olusegun Obasanjo's military government marched into his brother's (Fela Kuti) nightclub, destroyed his medical clinic and killed his mother. He became chairman of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Medical Association and its national deputy, campaigning against the lack of drugs in hospitals.

In 1984, his brother, Fela Kuti was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison by the government of General Mohammed Buhari. Ransome-Kuti was also jailed and released in 1985 when Buhari was deposed by General Ibrahim Babangida.

Ransome-Kuti helped to form Nigeria's first human rights organization, the Campaign for Democracy, which in 1993 opposed the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. In 1995, a military tribunal sentenced him to life in prison for bringing the mock trial of Olusegun Obasanjo to the attention of the world. He was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and freed in 1998 following the death of Sani Abacha.

Ransome-Kuti was a fellow of the West African College of Physicians and Surgeons, a leading figure in the British Commonwealth's human rights committee, chair of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance.

Death

Ransome-Kuti died February 10, 2006, at approximately 11:20 P.M. at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria at the age of 65 years from complications of lung cancer.

External links

* [http://www.afrobeatmusic.net/html/fela_bio.html Biography of Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938-1997)]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1709720,00.html Obituary in The Guardian]
* [http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f112022006.html Obituary in Vanguard]

Persondata
NAME=Ransome-Kuti, Beko
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Nigerian doctor and human rights campaigner
DATE OF BIRTH=August 2 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH=Abeokuta, Nigeria
DATE OF DEATH=February 10 2006
PLACE OF DEATH=Lagos, Nigeria