Dr. Ransome-Kuti, born on August 2, 1940, was a Nigerian medical doctor known for his work and human rights activism.
Human rights activist and President, Women Arise and Centre for Change, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has celebrated the late Beko Ransome-Kuti on his 82nd posthumous birthday, describing him as someone who exhibited bravery in the face of tyranny.
Dr. Ransome-Kuti, born on August 2, 1940, was a Nigerian medical doctor known for his work and human rights activism.
In 1984, Fela was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison by the government of General Muhammadu Buhari. Ransome-Kuti was also jailed, and his medical association was banned. 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. He was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and freed in 1998 following the death of military dictator Sani Abacha.
Ransome-Kuti was a fellow of the West African College of Physicians and Surgeons, a leading figure in the British Commonwealth's human rights committee, chair of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance.
He died from complications of lung cancer on February 10, 2006, aged 65, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Nigeria. The state government honoured him with a statue in 2010 and a park, the Beko Ransome-Kuti Park, was named in his honour.
In a statement on Tuesday, Okei-Odumakin said it was necessary to remind the youths of the struggles of heroes whose legacies lived, especially now that the country was bedevilled with the plagues of corruption, election fraud, insecurity, and the collapse of the economy.
The statement reads: "Beko would have been 82...as Fela elected to transit on Beko's birthday.
"He died on August 2, 1997.
"In this extraordinary family, this joins the death anniversary of one to the posthumous birthday of the other. As if to declare the continuation of that bond beyond the borders of life.
"We recall the exploits of Beko in the Civil Society. His bravery in the face of tyranny. How he made sacrifice so simple even at great risk to his health and life. They certainly don't make them like that anymore.
"And Fela, who passed on on the day was a global phenomenon. Nothing came close by miles as an authentic African export. Fela was a philosopher and prophet among many other attributes. The prints of these giants from a single womb will be eternal.
"My meeting with these titans happened on the same day. The day I was baptized at the shrine with fire, in bales of smoke. An unforgettable day."