Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti: The Lioness of Lisabi

Nigerian women's rights activist and teacher Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a force to be reckoned with. From the work she did protesting taxes on women, to her efforts in educating children and women, to her opposition of British colonialism, she played a major role in mid-20th century Nigerian politics and society. There were people who sought to diminish her power, as she fought systems that privileged few and penalized many. But what she was doing wasn't about her. Whether one enemy or 1,000 -- if the fight is worth it, it's worth it. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello, Hello, who's speaking? Oh? Great, it worked? What worked?
Who is this? Oh? It's me? I mean you, I'm
Future Eaves. How are you? I mean? Am I doing
this right now? Oh? Don't worry about that. There are
more pressing matters to attend to. Like what I imagine

(00:27):
you're calling to tell me some massive news that's going
to change the course of my life, hopefully for the better.
Or maybe you're calling to say that climate change is real.
Earth is going to die sooner than we all thought,
and to save the world, I have to do a
lot better than just recycling. Well, no, that's not what

(00:47):
I was going to tell you, actually, so tell me
tell me. Okay, okay, there goes everything you want to happen,
and all the social progress you're anticipating, all the things
your faiths are working for, they're not all achieved. Not

(01:09):
everything works out like you wanted to, not by now
at least. Wait what that's what you have to tell me?
That all the world's problems won't be solved during my lifetime.
Oh my, what a waste of time in the past
and the future book. I just wanted you to avoid
the disappointment. Are you serious? I'm hanging up. That's how

(01:35):
I turned out. This can't be real. I'm your host,
Eve Jeff Cote here in the present. This is Unpopular
a podcast about the people in history who did not
let the threat of persecution keep them from speaking truth
to power. Y'all, I know that not every one and

(02:00):
is going to be able to turn the world upside
down in the short span of eighty or fewer years.
I'm realistic about the way systems work and are challenged.
Change takes time, and not every movie make is going
to be the right one. There will be missteps, there
will be decisions made that don't turn out quite how
we want them to. At some point, we may adopt

(02:23):
a philosophy that we later believe to be untrue or ineffective.
Mr X, I'm wondering if you still believe in a
segregated black nation. No North America. I don't believe in
any form of segregation or any form of racism. Is it?
Am I right in saying that the Black Muslim movement
which you have left diad believe in them? Well? Elijah

(02:43):
Mohammed taught his followers that the only solution was a
separate state for black people. But when I begin to
doubt that he himself believed that that was feasible. Then
I turned in a different direction. A perfect person is
a non existent person. A person who has all the
correct answers to the world's problems from the beginning is

(03:03):
not a human. There are plenty of people who thought
they were making the best choices for their communities but
ended up doing harm to the very people they were
trying to protect. There also have been plenty of people
who incited changes that seem to be for the greater good,
but later those changes were reversed or overridden. Progress is
not a straight line. There will be bumps along the way,

(03:26):
some aunt hills, some mountains. Sometimes we forget that we
can only do the best we can do with our
best intentions, turning to factual knowledge and the legacies of
our forebears as guides. Yes, sometimes we get things wrong,
but we can't see into the future. Science and worldly
knowledge are a faithful allies, but a degree of faith

(03:50):
is required to believe our actions aren't for not and
will be fruitful, to believe that what we're fighting for
will pay off. And we have to have that kind
of conviction if we're going to face the risk of
persecution for the sake of progress. Every week we'll penetrate

(04:19):
the consciousness of someone in history who went out on
a limb to change the things they thought needed changing.
These are people who envisioned better futures that they believed
they could help create in the present. They were dead
set on unsticking people who were stuck in their ways
and uprooting entrenched systems. They weren't clear buoyant, but they

(04:41):
did have the foresight to realize the danger and harm
certain structures could cause. They saw clearly the way systems
were regressive, corrupt, and ineffective, and they did something about
it in whatever way they felt they could contribute. A
lot of people hated them for it, put rope blocks
in their path, and sought ways to tear them down.

(05:04):
But others believed in their vision, and today, in hindsight,
we can recognize them for their keen awareness and the
guts they had to act on it. One such visionary
was Fuomalayo Ransom Kuti, a Nigerian social and political leader

(05:26):
who never let a fear of failure or punishment distract
her from fighting for women's rights and Nigerian independence. Foomalaya
was a political leader, a nationalist, a democratic socialist, an
anti colonialist, and a tireless advocate for education and women's rights. Basically,

(05:48):
she's one of those people whose bios you really don't
want to read to a crowded room because it's liable
to spark an existential crisis and make you ask yourself
what am I doing with my life? But just listing
her titles, as many as she may have, still doesn't
do her work justice. It kind of beautifies her advocacy,

(06:09):
wraps it in a nice little bow, and that makes sense. Obviously,
we want to focus on the accomplishments of the leaders
we admire in history. But part of the reason she
was so successful was because she trudged through all the
mud to get to greener pastures. Yes, Fu Malaya had
a lot of supporters and people who looked up to her.

(06:31):
After all, she was helping women and girls who often
didn't get a chance to give voice to the issues
that affected them or were discounted when they did. But
to a lot of people, including a lot of people
in powerful positions, her views were way too radical and
she had to stand up against a lot of those
powerful people to fight for the things she cared about,

(06:53):
which meant that the road to all those titles was
a bumpy one. He might have already heard that Fumalaya

(07:14):
was the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria.
You might even know that Fumalaya was the first female
student to attend the Abbeokuta Grammar School, where she would
later teach. But these small, though honorable facts of her
life are just parts of her entire story. Fumalaya is
remarkable for what she achieved, but she defied traditional roles

(07:38):
and thought outside of the perimeters of contemporary practices and standards.
It took persistence, courage, and conviction for her to address
the issue she did in the climate that she did,
but that character was apparent early on in Fumalaya's life.

(08:06):
Francis Abigail Olafumilao Thomas was born in nineteen hundred in
Abiokuta in southern Nigeria. She was a member of the
egg Bo people, a subgroup of the europe Book Sarah Taiwo,
her great grandmother on her father's side, was sold into
slavery but soon released of it and eventually she returned

(08:27):
to her home Nigeria. On her mom's side, Fumilao's oldest
known relative is a man named Adi Boyer from Elie
Lucretia and Daniel Thomas. Fumilao's mother and father were devout Anglicans.
They were Western educated, war Western clothes, and spoke English,

(08:48):
but they didn't shun tradition. They also spoke and taught
their children their Euraba language, eight traditional food, and we're
in a polygamous marriage in the Thomas household after ken
and European values collided. This mixing of cultures would be
something that affected Fumi's principles and advocacy to She studied
in England and believed in the right to an academic education,

(09:12):
and she believed in women's rights to participate equally with
men and nationalist political parties, but she also remained true
to her Yoroba heritage. Fum Malayah was married to Israel
Olodotune Ransom Kuti, a clergyman, educator and administrator who founded
the Nigeria Union of Teachers and helped improve conditions for teachers.

(09:37):
At the time of her birth, Nigeria was under the
rule of the British Crown. Southern Nigeria was a British Protectorate,
which means it was a territory that was controlled by
the British government but still has some local autonomy and independence.
But in nineteen fourteen, the Northern and Southern Protectorates were

(09:57):
amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Britain
proceeded to extend the system of indirect rule throughout Southern Nigeria,
claiming the system would maintain the indigenous political and judicial
systems that were already in place. But what it actually

(10:20):
did in Nigeria was put power in the hands of
a small group of mostly men, like Adamola the Second
who was elected Alaka or king in ninety and it
stripped the power of many women who had previously been
involved in the political process. Women had a strong history

(10:40):
of leadership in Abiokuta, Nigeria before the advent of British rule,
but after female titles essentially became meaningless. In the nineteen
forty seven article titled we had Equality Till Britain came,
Fumlao wrote the following Before of the British adment in Nigeria,

(11:02):
life there was mainly agricultural and there was a division
of labor between men and women. The men cultivated the
land and sewed, and it was chiefly the duty of
women to reap. Women owned property, traded and exercised considerable
political and social influence on society. But after the British arrived,

(11:22):
she went on to say women had little healthcare, poor education,
and they were stripped naked by taxation policies. Fumilia was
driven by her opposition to colonial rule and support of
Nigerian independence, as well as her embrace of Euryba culture.
In fact, Fumilaya found a role model in my Damn Tanubu,

(11:46):
an egg Ba woman who was a trader and anti colonialist,
an Eggba nationalist, a defender of Abiokuta, and the first
person to earn the title of Eld of All of
the egg Box Elod, which literally means mother of the town,
is a women's chieftaincy title. Fumlao looked up to Madam

(12:07):
Tanubu as a feminist and a nationalist, and many people
saw Fumlayo as another Tanubu. I know of throwing a
lot at you and trust me, There's much more to
the story of Abiokuta and Britain's fraught relationship with it.
But what's important to understand is that Britain's rule in

(12:28):
Nigeria and the resulting political systems, as well as Fumalayo's
love for women, Eggba people and culture and Nigeria were
some of the major catalyst for Fumalayo's activism. When we
get back from the break, we'll get into Fumalayo's fierce
opposition to colonial rule and her dedication to fighting for

(12:49):
women's rights and education, which, as you could imagine, got
some people to bring out their pitchforks and tiki torches.
I think life is always dangerous. Some people get afraid

(13:11):
of it. Some people don't go forward, but some people,
if they want to achieve their goal, they have to go.
What is it that makes some people go forward and
others prohibitively fearful or just plain indifferent. Science has tried
to offer some explanations as to why some people are

(13:34):
just so brave. How we respond to fear maybe written
in our biology, depending on how our amygdala developed. It
could be dependent on our environment, based on how much
violence or abuse we've been exposed to. It could have
something to do with the way the stress hormone cortisol
acts in different people or our choice to fight rather

(13:57):
than fleet could really just come down to whether we
think it's worth it in that specific situation. But in
the end, our nature, our experiences, and our circumstances combine
to determine how we choose to face battles. Fumilao had
to deal with a ton of antagonism and obstruction, and

(14:17):
when she found herself up against these challenges, she had
a choice. Does she let her doubts and fears keep
her from speaking out and taking action, or does she
keep fighting despite the obstacles. Fumilao always seemed to choose
the latter. Take Fumilao's advocacy for women traders. Fumalayo was

(14:40):
well educated, but she began to believe that, in her words,
we educated women were living outside of the daily life
of the people. She began to listen to the women
who worked in markets as traders, who generally weren't Western
educated and were often poor to learn more a out
their concerns. The colonial administration had imposed price controls and

(15:06):
food quotas to offset food shortages caused by World War
two and to make sure soldiers were taken care of.
So in nineteen, the government was seizing market women's rights
without compensation. The market women took this offense to the
Abeokuta Ladies Club later known as the Abyakuta Women's Union,

(15:27):
which was an organization Fumilayo founded that was initially focused
on learning handicrafts and social etiquette, but eventually became more politicized.
The Ladies Club protested the rice seizures by appealing to
the press. Not long after, an article was published about
the Abyacuta Ladies Clubs press conference, and the confiscations stopped.

(15:51):
As Fumilao continued to learn about the transgressions of the
government's relations with market women, she became incensed. Conditional sales
forced market women to buy unrelated goods with the goods
they bought of their own will. This placed undo economic
strain on them. Quotas on food to be sold to

(16:12):
the government also led police, private subcontractors, and representatives of
the Alaka or king of the Eggba to confiscate or
pay inadequate amounts for women traders goods. They would then
resell those goods to the government at higher than market prices.
So the Abyacuta Ladies Club became embroiled in a bunch

(16:33):
of other civic and community projects. It called for sanitation improvements,
financial aid to increase adult literacy, and the establishment of
health clinics and playgrounds at schools. But the taxation of
women became one of the key issues. The Abyacuta Ladies
Club or the a l C went up against The

(16:58):
women of Abyokuta were some of the first in Nigeria
who had a tax imposed on them by the British.
This taxation replaced inclusive systems of tribute payments and conscripted labor,
and it reflected British sentiments that colonies should bear the
cost of their development. The taxation was unfair from the beginning.

(17:20):
Girls were taxed starting at age fifteen, boys at sixteen
fives were taxed separately from their husbands, even if they
didn't have sufficient income, and the tax was a flat
rate on top of all the other fees women paid.
And to make matters worse, tax collectors sometimes invaded homes,
assaulted women and stripped them naked to supposedly determine their

(17:43):
age to see whether they were eligible for taxation. Women
were even jailed for not paying taxes, and the British
were paying local traditional authorities like the old bony chiefs
to collect taxes. Whereas before the alaka had been subject
to checks and balances, under the new soul native authority system,

(18:06):
the alaka had a lot more power. The British were
using the alaka, who had become a symbol of colonialism,
to enforce flat rate taxation. People in Abiokuta and the
surrounding townships grew increasingly dissatisfied with alaka autamola the sole
native authority system and the tax heights. So floom Alayo

(18:29):
and the newly minted Abyokuta Women's Union raised the bar
even more on their activism. Here's what Bole Sholanka said
in his memoir Okay about the women's meetings at the
Ransom Kuti residence. Women of every occupation, the cloth dyer's weavers,

(18:55):
basket makers and the usual petty traders of the markets.
They arrived in ones, twos and groups that came from
near and distant compounds, town sectors and far villages whose
names I had never heard. They smelt of the sweat
of the journey, of dyes, of dried fish, yam, flour
of latterite, and the coconut oil of their plats. Okay,

(19:20):
that quote was just too good not to share. I
mean coconut oil anyway, I digress. Fuma laos activism was
never just about her. Sure, she was often the only
woman in places and had an uncanny knack to connect
with women all over the world, but her organizing shows
the power of collective action. She put herself on the

(19:42):
line and in positions of leadership not to increase her
own political power, but to bring attention to and help
solve women's issues. The fight against unfair taxation, the s
n A system and the corrupt alak was protracted. Women
called for no taxation without representation and leaders, including Fumalayo,

(20:05):
were imprisoned for refusing to pay taxes. Fumalayo and the
movement became more radical, organizing sit ins, mass demonstrations, and
market closures. Fumalayo always led the demonstrations and she even
trained women on mass resistance in her home. In November
of nineteen seven, Fumalayo led a march of around ten

(20:29):
thousand women to the Alakas Palace, protesting the authorities and
their taxation without representation. They repeated the demonstration a little
over a week later calling for the alla Ka to
step down, and in nineteen forty nine, the tax on
women was abolished, the tax on men was increased, and

(20:49):
four women, including Ransom Kutie, were named to a new
interim Council. The alla Ka was charged with corruption and
usurpation of powers that weren't his and he addicated, though
he was later reinstated and eventually the Abokuto Women's Union
expanded to become the Nigerian Women's Union, which would gain

(21:11):
twenty thousand members and mobilize tens of thousands more. We're
going to take a short break, so collect your feelings
about corrupt politicians and imperialism. Take a breath, and prepare
yourself to dig deeper into fumilaos progressive but often controversial
philosophies and actions. When we come back, we'll find out

(21:33):
how Fumalaya's dedication to social justice was a lifelong one.
Fumilao's campaigns for women's rights weren't limited to Nigeria. She

(21:55):
was committed to issues like universal adult suffrage and full
self government it in Nigeria, but she was resolute about
the ideas that women shouldn't be treated as second class citizens.
That rights shouldn't be based on ethnicity or race, and
that people who are impoverished are just as entitled to
the benefits of citizenship as everyone else. But no matter

(22:18):
where in the world she was, she was resolute about
the ideas that women shouldn't be treated as second class citizens,
that rights shouldn't be based on ethnicity or race, and
that people who are impoverished are just as entitled to
the benefits of citizenship as everyone else. In nineteen forty seven,

(22:39):
Fumlaya was the only female member of a Nigerian delegation
that the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons sent
to London to protest the Richards Constitution. The Richards Constitution
was drafted by the British without Nigerian's input and intensified
regionalism and disunity based on ethnic divisions. While she was

(23:00):
in England, she visited factories in daycare centers and addressed
several women's organizations, including the London Women's Parliamentary Committee. She
also talked about the issues of women in Nigeria and
the Cameroons at a reception held by the Lord Mayor
of Manchester. Fomilia was active elsewhere on the continent of

(23:20):
Africa to engaging with other human rights activists and organizations
in pursuit of her ideals. Years later, Fomilaia was elected
a vice president of the Women's International Democratic Federation, a
Soviet inspired international organization that espoused communists and socialist philosophies,

(23:42):
and though she wasn't a member of the Communist Party,
she visited communist countries and sometimes praised their efforts. In
the nineteen sixty one article in the Journal of Human Relations,
she said this about China's literacy campaigns. When we visited
a Chinese women's adult education class, we were greatly impressed

(24:04):
by the women's zeal. They were so absorbed in their
lesson that they hardly took their eyes from their books.
Every one of them was keen because they wanted to
equip themselves with the weapon of liberty. There was to
be a total eradication of a literacy in their country.
But then five years after their liberation, and no woman

(24:25):
wanted to be left behind, We Nigerian women should be
ready to emulate them and set to work vigorously. Fumilao
didn't subscribe to nor was she against communism. During the
Cold War, but Fumilao was pragmatic willing to take into
consideration varying ideologies. That said, she was still punished for

(24:50):
her identification with international socialist organizations and radical feminism. She
met contacts in the Eastern Bloc and even met with Malzadan,
a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the first chairman of
the People's Republic of China. These links led to the
Nigeria government refusing to renew her passport until after Nigeria

(25:12):
gained its independence in nineteen sixty. The United States had
even denied Fumilayo's visa application because of her connections to
communism in nineteen fifty eight. In her later years after
her husband died, Fumi Layo dedicated a lot of her
time to school she'd established, but they had a lot

(25:33):
of financial trouble and she later closed her school after
governmental changes. In nineteen seventy seven, Fumi Layo was thrown
out of a window when there was a raid on
her outspoken son Phela's compound, the Calicutta Republic. After the raid,
the foot she'd injured never healed completely. She soon went

(25:55):
into a coma and on April thirteenth, nineteen seventy eight,
Fumilao died. We can't do everything, and we definitely can't
do it all in one lifetime. But Fumilao Ransom coutis

(26:17):
work is proof that we can absolutely leave a lasting
effect on the communities we care about when we take action.
She used her voice to mobilize women, so her motivation
and principles could resound throughout the world and build a legacy.
Fumilia was able to stay a passionate, authentic, and politically
savvy leader. Iabo mcinday said in an article on Fumilayo

(26:44):
she was continually fighting one authority or another, and it
wasn't for her own fake but for someone else's. Fumilao
was willing to be the number one enemy and even
take losses as long as it meant sticking to her guns.
She was for the people and she was willing to
put in the work to prove it. She wrote a

(27:07):
song with her husband that went like this, it is
time to work. It is time to work. Children of Africa.
Prepare yourselves. There is much to be done. A good
person does not run away from work. A good person
is not fearful, get down a lift the load. God
is with us. There is no more fear. Let's get

(27:28):
to work. Let's get to work. Our producer is Andrew Howard.
Holly Fry and Christopher Hasiotis are our executive producers, and
you can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, the

(27:48):
I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcast.
We'll be back next week with another episode of Unpopular
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