The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ransome-Kuti

  • Group remembers Ransome-Kuti

    Group remembers Ransome-Kuti

    Women Arise for Change Initiative says the greatest tribute Nigerians can give to the late Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, 11 years after his death, is to continue to imbibe the virtues he lived and died for.
    Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, President of the group, made the remark in a statement to pay tribute to Ransome-Kuti, who was a board Chairman of women arise in his lifetime.

    She recalled that the late Beko, as he was popularly known, was a consistent fighter, defender of the cheated and ardent critic of all forms of oppression.

    “Through his doggedness and uncommon commitment to the fight for freedom and justice, he left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s social and political landscape.

    “His numerous battles against irresponsible leadership, both military and civilian, earned him a special place among profiles of democratic and human rights defence.

    “His death left a huge gap within the civil society circle in Nigeria, a country in dire need of men and women who can stand up in defence of the mass of people,” Okei-Odumakin said.

    According to her, the death11th anniversary of Beko’s coincides with the resurgence of social mobilisation in the country.

    She said people were asserting themselves with new enthusiasm towards demanding better governance.

    Okei-Odumakin urged Nigerians to continue to resist all unjust policies, demanding that democracy, rule of law and good governance must prevail in Nigeria at all times.

    The late Beko Ransome-Kuti, a human rights campaigner, died on Feb 10, 2006, when he gave in to lung cancer at 65.

    During his lifetime, his criticism of government policies, especially during the military era, saw him in and out of prison, but he remained undeterred.

    His brother, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, popular Afro beat maestro, and also a critic of the military, also suffered similarly during his lifetime. (NAN)

  • Ransome-Kuti old students reunite

    The ’94 set of Ransome-Kuti Memorial Grammar School, Surulere has planned a re-union of members for next Monday, which falls on Boxing Day.

    A statement by Dele Owolabi, a member of the set, noted that the event is scheduled to hold at Inglesias Hotels, Yaba by 12noon

     

  • ‘Restore Ransome-Kuti’s rank’

    Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka and activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buahari and the army authorities to restore Brig.–Gen. Enitan Ransome-Kuti’s rank.

    The Nigerian Army Council quashed Ransome-Kuti’s conviction by a Special Court Martial for cowardice but commuted his dismissal to demotion from the rank of a Brigadier-General to Colonel.

    But Soyinka and Falana said it amounted to an act of injustice for Ransome-Kuti to be punished after it emerged that he did no wrong.

    At a joint briefing in Lagos, they called for the restoration of his rank in the interest of justice.

    Soyinka said what the army did was to “offer half a loaf to the demands of justice.” He described Ransome-Kuti’s experience as a very painful episode for him (Soyinka).

    “Cowardice is an ugly word in the military; it’s a fatal word. In this case, I think full justice should be done. He’s been acquitted virtually on almost all the counts he was charged with. So, why this sting at the end of supposed conveyance of justice? Why this scorpion sting of reduction, humiliation?

    “There’s nothing worse than a serving soldier of any rank being stripped of his rank. It’s an unwarranted humiliation.

    “So, we’re appealing to the military command and to the president to restore this man to his rank,” he said.

    Soyinka said the fight against Boko Haram requires better support to the military, both materially and morally. “Let them understand that we know the sacrifices that they are making,” he said.

    He said if anyone should be punished, it should be those who stole the money meant for arms purchase. To him, the sentence innocent soldiers got should be added to that to be handed to “the thieving generals.”

    “Let these soldiers leave absolutely clean. Their records should not be besmirched. That is the essence of justice,” Soyinka said of Ransome-Kuti and others convicted for mutiny.

    Falana said it was wrong for the Army to have imprisoned Ransome-Kuti for six months without first reviewing his case.

    “We are rejecting in the first place the illegal imprisonment of General Kuti. The Army Council ought to have met as soon as the judgment was handed down, but when the man had completed his jail term, they said: ‘Sorry, we shouldn’t have jailed you in the first instance.’

    “In the circumstance in which he found himself, he couldn’t have done any other thing than to withdraw his men.

    “It’s a case of injustice to demote him from the rank of a Brig-General to colonel. He performed his duty within the ambit of the law and the circumstances he found himself.

    “There is no justification for humiliating him by reducing his rank while he was serving his father land. All those who stole our country’s money are still wearing their ranks and their national honours.

    “In the case of Gen. Ramsome-Kuti, there can be no justification for the treatment meted out to him,” Falana said.

  • Falana rejects demotion of Maj. Gen. Ransome-Kuti

    Counsel to Ransome-Kuti, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) said Wednesday night ‎that the demotion of his client from the rank of a Major General to that of a Colonel is “totally unacceptable”.

    Falana, maintained that there was no justification whatsoever ‎to warrant the demotion of the former Army General.

    “That is my first reaction. But I am holding a meeting with my client Thursday for further direction on the matter,” he said.

     

  • Ransome-Kuti’s example

    He died as he lived: a hero

    He has been silent for a decade, and his silence is a loud statement on the need for a reinforcement of human rights activism in the country. Dr. Bekolari Ransome-Kuti was until his death at 65 on February 10, 2006, a vigorous voice that could not be ignored in the struggle for a better society.

    His work as a human rights activist was a labour of love, for he could easily have taken another path considering his training as a medical doctor. In the end, he was better known for his passionate and consistent expression of social conscience than for his practice of medical science.

    A telling tribute by Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode captured the dimensions of his exertions. Ambode said:  ”Beko will forever be remembered because he lived a selfless life even when he had the opportunity to live and dine with the rich; he chose to stand in the struggle for the masses.” He also noted that Beko “used his medical facilities to save lives for free, and when he had the opportunity of enriching himself, he never did but stood for justice, humanity and became a hero and motivator for the masses.”

    It is a testament to Ransome-Kuti’s recognition that the Lagos State government erected a public statue of him in 2010. Ambode said: “He will forever remain a role model to us because he followed the path of honour and believed that evil done against one is an evil done against all.”

    It is noteworthy that others who spoke at ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of Ransome-Kuti’s death stayed on the same track as eulogy after eulogy testified to his remarkable service to the cause of the oppressed. Two major events, a public lecture at Airport Hotel, Lagos, and the laying of wreaths at the Beko Ransome-Kuti Cenotaph in Anthony Village, Lagos, highlighted the remembrance.

    Significantly, Ransome-Kuti played a key role in the formation of what is regarded as Nigeria’s first human rights organisation, the Campaign for Democracy (CD), which was at the forefront of the opposition to the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha in the 1990s.  He was also a major figure in the British Commonwealth’s human rights committee, chair of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights and executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance.

    Ransome-Kuti demonstrated the courage of conviction, particularly in that dangerous era of military absolutism when voices of opposition were brutally silenced by government agents and many social critics fled into exile. Ransome-Kuti’s 1995 trial by a military tribunal that controversially sentenced him to death for alleged anti-government activities reflected the potency of his opposition to the then government of the day. His adoption as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International at the time showed his relevance and underlined the correctness of his stance against unpopular methods of rule. When in 1998 another military regime freed him following Abacha’s death, it was a victorious liberation.

    A striking observation by writer Odia Ofeimum underscored Ransome-Kuti’s legacy of resistance to anti-people governments. In a tribute, Ofeimun said: “I wish it were possible to have a good video of his movements, we need to have the video clippings of where Beko performed as an activist; I believe such clippings will help the younger generation on how to deal with tyrants when they come across one”.

    The example of Ransome-Kuti in the fight for progressive ideals is enduring and recommends itself. The country still needs committed fighters for the public good, even in the context of democracy. His type is necessary to keep the government on its toes for the people’s benefit.

     

  • Ransome-Kuti: Falana seeks review

    Ransome-Kuti: Falana seeks review

    Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Minister of Defence, General Mansur Mamman Dan-Ali, for a review of the conviction of Brig. General E. A. Ransome-Kuti by the special court-martial, which tried him at the Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja.

    The request, contained in a letter addressed to the minister dated December 7, 2015, was made pursuant to Section 149(1) of the Armed Forces Act (CAP A20) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    According to him, the act stipulated that “an accused may, within three months after being sentenced by a court-martial and before the sentence is confirmed, submit to the confirming authority any written matter, which may reasonably tend to affect the confirming authority’s decision whether to disapprove a finding of guilt or to approve the sentence”.

    He explained that it became expedient for the military authority to review the conviction of Gen. Ransome-Kuti since the subordinate officers in HQ MNJTF charged and tried for the same offences were discharged and acquitted.