National Association of Philosophy Students (Nigeria)

Dr. Bekololari Ransome
Kuti a doctor, democracy activist and a foremost Nigerian atheist-humanist died
on February 10, 2006
at the age of 65 of long cancer at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in
Lagos Nigeria.

He was the last of the
famous Ransome-Kuti family of Abeokuta, south western Nigeria; his life was
marked by distinctive service to humanity and he showed great exemplary
promethean spirit for us new generation of Africans to follow. His simple but
precocious lifestyle served as a standard for the budding African minds as
different from the general superstitions front portrayed by the gullible
majority in Africa largely influenced by the scientifically illiterate and near
irrational preachers those innocent minds are exposed to on a day to day basis.

Influenced by the
liberal spirit of his parents who nurtured him in a manner that is quit
different from the absolutely dogmatic teaching style of the missionary 40s;
this influence had a lot of impact not only on Beko but also his siblings. The
Kutis are known for their non-conformist straightforward attitude, a trait which
is hard to come by in Africa, they were really a rare gem. It is worthy of note
that Beko is a cousin to our own noble Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.

His father was the late
Reverend I.O. Ransome-Kuti, that great Spartan principal of the legendary
Abeokuta Grammar School
in Ogun State, Nigeria. Reverend

Kuti was the founding
president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), a platform established to
fight for the rights of the underprivileged poor teachers of the colonial era.
He was reputed to have become an Anglican priest not as a matter of interest but
as the only means to gain western formal education back the, as he could not
afford education otherwise.

Mrs Funmilayo
Ransome-Kuti

Beko’s mother, Mrs.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti that fearless Nigerian Nationalist, whose organization,
the Abeokuta Women’s Union, fought for the rights of women to vote. She was
described in 1947 by the West African Pilot as the “Lioness of Lisabi;” she led
the Egba women on a campaign against arbitrary taxation of women, that struggle
led to the abdication of the Egba King Oba Ademola II in 1949; Soyinka’s mother,
Eniola, was also very active in that struggle. She was the doyen of female
rights in Nigeria
and she was regarded as “The Mother of Africa” as she was a very powerful force
at a time when it was a taboo for women to be heard. She was the first woman to
drive a car in Nigeria, a tradition which was the exclusive preserve of the men
back then.

Beko shared the
simplicity of Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, the straightforwardness of their
sister Dolupo, and the resoluteness of his beloved elder brother the famous
afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

Bekololari Ransome-Kuti began schooling at age 4, he then proceeded to the
Abeokuta Grammar School
for his secondary education; Beko later went to the University of
Manchester
for his medical studies, in 1963 at 22 he qualified as a doctor.

He has been harassed,
arrested, detained and imprisoned by successive repressive government of Nigeria
as he never failed to keep mute at the face of tyranny and oppression and for
standing by the side of the oppressed Nigerian Masses. He was simple but fiery,
his no non-sense attitude led him to have constant friction with the military
dictators of the day, in 1977, Beko’s clinic was burnt, his leg was broken by
the military junta led by the then Head of State

Fela Anikulapo Kuti (Beko’s brother)

General Olusegun
Obasanjo. The travails of Beko was vividly captured by Shola Adeneye in the
Guardian Unlimited of Wednesday February 15, 2006 thus:

“After Abeokuta grammar school, he spent a
year at the former Coventry Technical
College before studying medicine at Manchester
University.
From 1964 to 1977, he worked in several government hospitals in
Nigeria before establishing his own private
practice.

He came to prominence after soldiers under
orders from Olusegun Obasanjo's military government marched into Fela's
nightclub, Kalakuta Republic,
in 1977: Ransome-Kuti's clinic was also razed; his mother was thrown out of a
window and later died from her injuries. Suddenly, the quiet, urbane,
corporately attired doctor, known to many Lagosians as the man who was always
around to get Fela out of a police cell or prison, became a fervent radical,
taking on the establishment along with Fela and Soyinka.

He soon became chairman of the Lagos
branch of the Nigerian Medical Association and later its national deputy. His
campaigns focused on the lack of functional mortuaries and of drugs in
hospitals.

In 1984, Fela was arrested at the airport
as he was preparing to leave for a US tour, on what Amnesty International
described as spurious charges of illegally exporting foreign currency. Using the
new draconian decree that allowed for indefinite detention of political
opponents, the government of General Mohammed Buhari sentenced Fela to 10 years
in prison.

Ransome-Kuti, using the medical
association platform, began a campaign to get the decree revoked and get Fela
and all those detained released. But in fact he himself was jailed and only
released in 1985, when Buhari was overthrown by General Ibrahim Babangida, who
freed Ransome-Kuti but did not escape the former prisoner's criticism. In
subsequent years, Ransome-Kuti helped form the Campaign for Democracy, which was
Nigeria's first human rights organisation.

When a return to civilian rule was aborted
in June 1993, and the winner of the election, Chief Moshood Abiola, was jailed,
the Campaign for Democracy was at the forefront of opposition against the new
dictatorship of General Sanni Abacha.

Ransome-Kuti and others were repeatedly
arrested and detained. In 1995, a military tribunal took just 15 minutes to
sentence him to life imprisonment for alerting the world's media to the mock
trial of Olusegun Obasanjo. The sentence was later commuted to 15 years. Amnesty
International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience.

After the death of Abacha in 1998,
Ransome-Kuti was released and continued his activism, helping to ensure the
return of civilian rule to Nigeria. This happened in 1999, but it did not
satisfy Ransome-Kuti's idea of democracy and he continued to attack the new
politicians for gambling with the principles of democracy.

As rumours spread about Obasanjo seeking
to change the Nigerian constitution to allow himself a third successive term in
government, Ransome-Kuti, along with Wole Soyinka and Gani Fawehinmi, campaigned
against such a move. He told the Chinua Achebe Foundation that he defined good
governance as less corruption in Nigeria.”

Richard Bourne writes of Beko thus:

“ Beko was central to a major development
in the modern Commonwealth, the suspension of the Nigerian dictatorship in 1995,
and the introduction of membership rules that accord significance to human
rights. As a member of the international body for the non-governmental
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) since 1989 he was constantly urging
the Commonwealth to take action on Nigeria, while the CHRI was just as
constantly trying to get him out of prison.

In 1995, he was fortunately out of prison
and able to help a CHRI fact-finding group led by the former Canadian foreign
minister, Flora Macdonald. The group's explosive report, Nigeria: Stolen by
Generals, demonstrated that the Abacha dictatorship was riding roughshod over
all rights. So governments were already prepared at the Auckland
Commonwealth
summit in 1995, when Abacha committed the provocative act of executing Ken
Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders.

Beko's health suffered grievously from his
imprisonments, and his heavy smoking was exacerbated by stress. He deserves to
be remembered not only for his unwavering opposition to abuse, graft and
dictatorship in Nigeria,
but for his contribution to a modern commitment to human rights within the
Commonwealth.”

The Biblical “an eye for
an eye” dictum never appealed to the humanist doctor as he refused to allow the
fact that the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo that killed his
mother and destroyed his property to prevent him from standing by the latter
when he was framed up in a fathom coup plot by the late Nigeria Head of State
General Sanni Abacha who was bent on having Obasanjo executed 3 decades later.

Beko was an atheist till
death; his wife Bosede and his daughter Nike believe that Beko is too good to go
to hell. Bosede is reported to have said that Beko has gone to heave. This is
common in Nigeria
because it is generally believe that no one can be good without God, the same
was said of Dr. Tai Solarin. A preacher was even quoted to have said that though
Tai never believed in God, but God believes in him for his good deeds.

His atheism cum critical
inquiring mind often led to several intellectual disputation with his Trinity
College, London trained musician brother Fela who was an Ogun worshipper (Ogun
is the Yoruba God of Iron); Fela believe so much in African traditional religion
that he renamed himself ‘Anikulapo’ which means, “the one who has death in his
pouch.” Fela believed himself to be immortal that he led a carefree unprotected
sexual lifestyle. It was surprising that the man who has death in his pouch
should die of AIDS. Fela regardless of hi superstitious believe is a
straightforward, say it the way it is person, Africa
will peace him.

His believe often led to
disagreement with the humanist Beko; on one occasion according to Bamidele
Johnson: His biggest chance to laugh at Fela’s belief was offered in the 1980s.
One day, Fela got an amulet and traditional waistcoat soaked in some concoction.
Fela told Beko and their elder brother Olikoye Ransome-Kuti that he was
convinced the items would make him bullet-resistant. He then boasted he was
going to confront soldiers and policemen. His brothers did not share his faith
and suggested that they test the efficacy. For the test, they invited Dr. Ore
Falomo, a good marksman and got two fat goats. One after the other, they put the
charm on the goats for Falomo to shoot at. The outcome? The goats died, but not
instantly. Olikoye was said to have jokingly described Fela as a foolish boy.”

Beko is cynical of
Marxist philosophy, this stance often brought him in confrontation with his
fellow activist particularly Femi Falana. But his attitude is typical of all
humanists as they are neither slave to ideologies nor to deities; simply put,
Beko was a skeptical Inquirer. All beliefs must be tested.

Beko was simple in his
fashion taste, he loved French suits, and he slept sparsely; ate parsimoniously
and he preferred lots of fruits and coffee. Apart from alcoholic beverages and
Gold leaf cigarettes, chess and books were his companions. He has led a lot of
protest against bad policies of the government Wole Soyinka and Tai Solarin have
the same ways has his.

Beko was a fellow of the West African College of Physicians and was for many
years a leading figure in the British Commonwealth human rights committee. He
was the chairman of the Campaign for Democracy,.Bekololari was also the
president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights and executive
director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance.

He was born August 2, 1940;and he on died February 10, 2006 at age 65. Beko
is survived by a wife, three daughters and two sons.

The Legacy of Beko shall not be forgotten
by African Humanists.

 Good Bye Beko!

© February 25, 2006
Peter Adegoke is the founding president of the Ibadan University Humanist
Society and he is an African humanist and democratic activist.