Beko Ransome-Kuti

Dr. Bekolari Ransome-Kuti (2 August 1940 – 10 February 2006) was a Nigerian physician known for his work as a human rights activist.

Early life Ransome-Kuti was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria. His mother Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti opposed indiscriminate taxation of women by the British colonial government. She helped negotiate Nigerian independence from Britain and is said to have been the first Nigerian woman to drive a car. His father Oludotun Ransome-Kuti was an Anglican priest and co-founder of the Nigeria Union of Teachers.

Ransome-Kuti attended Abeokuta Grammar School, Coventry Technical College, and Manchester University, where he became a physician. 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, Fela was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison by the government of General Muhammadu Buhari. He was released in 1985 when Buhari was deposed by General Ibrahim Babangida; Babangida then invited him to participate in the government.

Ransome-Kuti helped to form Nigeria's first human rights organisation, 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. and freed in 1998 following the death of Sani Abacha. The state government honoured him with a statue in 2010 and a park, the Beko Ransome-Kuti Park, was named in his honour.