Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (25 October 1900- 13 April 1978) was a pioneering Nigerian educator, political activist, and women’s rights advocate whose fearless resistance to colonial rule and patriarchy helped shape modern Nigeria. Known as the “Lioness of Lisabi,” she was the first female student at Abeokuta Grammar School and later a teacher who championed education, particularly for girls.
In the 1940s, Ransome-Kuti founded the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU), one of the most influential grassroots organizations of its time. The union mobilized thousands of market women against unfair taxation imposed by British colonial authorities and traditional rulers. Her leadership led to the temporary abdication of the Alake of Abeokuta and set a precedent for women’s political agency in Nigeria.
A vocal anti-colonial advocate, she traveled widely—representing Nigeria at international conferences in Eastern Europe, China, and the Soviet Union—earning a reputation as a Pan-Africanist and socialist thinker. Her activism drew the ire of British officials, who labeled her a “communist threat.” Yet she remained undeterred, co-founding the Nigerian Women’s Union and the Federation of Nigerian Women’s Societies, which laid the foundation for later feminist and civil rights movements in the country.
Ransome-Kuti was also the mother of the Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti and had a profound influence on his political music. Her life embodied resistance, education, and empowerment, and her legacy endures as a symbol of courage and progressive change in Africa.
