1.
Abeokuta
–
Abeokuta is the largest city and state capital of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a savanna,77 kilometres north of Lagos by railway. As of 2006, Abeokuta and the area had a population of 449,088. Abẹokuta lies in fertile country of wooded savanna, the surface of which is broken by masses of grey granite and it spreads over an extensive area, being surrounded by mud walls 18 miles in extent. Palm oil, lumber, natural rubber, yams, rice, cassava, maize, cotton, other fruits and it is a key export location for cocoa, palm products, fruit, and kola nuts. Both rice and cotton were introduced by the missionaries in the 1850s and have integral parts of the economy. Abeokuta lies below the Olumo Rock, home to several caves and shrines, the town depends on the Oyan River Dam for its water supply, which is not always dependable. The dam is situated in the Abeokuta North local government area of Ogun State in the West of Nigeria, the dam crosses the Oyan River, a tributary of the Ogun River. Abeokuta is the headquarters of the federal Ogun-Oshun River Basin Authority, which is responsible for development of land and water resources for Lagos, Ogun, included in this are irrigation, food-processing, and electrification. Local industries include but not limited to fruit canning plants, plastics, breweries, sawmills, south of town are the Aro granite quarries. Abeokuta is connected to nearby Lagos by a railway that was completed in 1899, roads connect it to Lagos as well as Ibadan, Ilaro, Shagamu, Iseyin, and Ketou. Sodeke first settled Abeokuta in 1825 as a place of refuge from slavehunters from Dahomey, the village populations scattered over the open country to take refuge among the rocks surrounding the city. Here they formed a confederacy of many distinct groups, each preserving the traditional customs, religious rites. The original settlers of Abeokuta were of the Egba nation, fleeing from the Oyo Empire, later, some members of other Yoruba tribes came to the settlement. Baptist and Anglican missionaries from Great Britain began to serve the area in the 1840s, because Abeokuta was in a key location for the palm oil trade and because it was the so-called capital of the Egbas, Dahomey soon became hostile. In the 1851 Battle of Abeokuta, the Egba, with assistance from missionaries and armed by the British, defeated King Gezo and they again beat back the Dahomey military in 1864. The 1860s also saw problems arise with the Europeans, namely the British in Lagos, which led to the Egba first closing trade routes, followed by the expulsion of missionaries and traders in 1867. Between 1877 and 1893 the Yoruba Civil Wars occurred, and Abeokuta opposed Ibadan and this occurred in 1893, which formalized the Egba United Government based in Abẹokuta which became recognized by the United Kingdom
2.
Nigeria
–
Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. It comprises 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Nigeria is officially a democratic secular country. Modern-day Nigeria has been the site of numerous kingdoms and tribal states over the millennia, the modern state originated from British colonial rule beginning in the 19th century, and the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914. The British set up administrative and legal structures whilst practising indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms, Nigeria became a formally independent federation in 1960, and plunged into a civil war from 1967 to 1970. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa, owing to its large population, with approximately 184 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria has one of the largest populations of youth in the world, Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Christians, who live mostly in the southern part of the country, and Muslims in the northern part. A minority of the population practise religions indigenous to Nigeria, such as native to the Igbo. As of 2015, Nigeria is the worlds 20th largest economy, worth more than $500 billion and $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP and it overtook South Africa to become Africas largest economy in 2014. The 2013 debt-to-GDP ratio was 11 percent, Nigeria is a member of the MINT group of countries, which are widely seen as the globes next BRIC-like economies. It is also listed among the Next Eleven economies set to become among the biggest in the world, Nigeria is a founding member of the African Union and a member of many other international organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations and OPEC. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country and this name was coined in the late 19th century by British journalist Flora Shaw, who later married Lord Lugard, a British colonial administrator. The origin of the name Niger, which applied only to the middle reaches of the Niger River, is uncertain. The word is likely an alteration of the Tuareg name egerew n-igerewen used by inhabitants along the middle reaches of the river around Timbuktu prior to 19th-century European colonialism. The Nok civilisation of Northern Nigeria flourished between 500 BC and AD200, producing life-sized terracotta figures which are some of the earliest known sculptures in Sub-Saharan Africa, further north, the cities Kano and Katsina have a recorded history dating to around 999 AD. Hausa kingdoms and the Kanem-Bornu Empire prospered as trade posts between North and West Africa, the Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo people consolidated in the 10th century and continued until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911. Nri was ruled by the Eze Nri, and the city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture, Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umeuri clan. Members of the clan trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure Eri, in West Africa, the oldest bronzes made using the lost-wax process were from Igbo Ukwu, a city under Nri influence. The Yoruba kingdoms of Ife and Oyo in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th and 14th centuries, the oldest signs of human settlement at Ifes current site date back to the 9th century, and its material culture includes terracotta and bronze figures
3.
Nigerians
–
Nigerians or Nigerian people are citizens and/or people with ancestry from Nigeria. Nigeria is composed of ethnic groups and cultures and the term Nigerian refers to a citizenship-based civic nationality. Nigerians derive from over 250 ethnic groups and languages, the English language is the lingua franca of Nigerians. About 50 percent of Nigerians are Muslims and the other 50 percent are Christians, northern Nigeria has been culturally influenced by Islamic influence including several major historic Islamic states in the region. The Kanem-Bornu Empire and the Sokoto Caliphate were major historical Islamic states in northern Nigeria, southern Nigeria historically held several powerful states, including the Benin Empire and Oyo Empire, Ife Empire and several other Yoruba states. Nigerian culture was profoundly affected by the British colonial rule, such as British colonial authorities denouncements and attacks upon polygamy, trial by ordeal, and certain types of sacrifices. At the same time, British colonial authorities maintained and promoted traditional Nigerian culture that strengthened colonial administration, the British replaced unpaid household labour with wage labour. Prior to colonization in the century, Nigerias tribes usually possessed the land as a community. Colonization brought the notion of individuals owning land and commercialization of land began and these villages compose members of the ethnicity related through ancestry as well as strangers who have been assimilated into the ethnicity. Since the time prior to colonization to the present it has been common practice of Nigerias tribes to adopt strangers into the tribes, a male elder commonly serves as a village chief. In Nigerias large cities, there is intermingling of Nigerians with foreigners, especially Europeans, Lebanese. The economic importance of Nigerias cities has resulted in migrations of people from their ethnic or cultural homeland to cities outside those territories. Ethnic, religious, and regional disputes and tensions have commonly divided Nigerians on political issues, in particular, cultural and political divisions between the Muslim north and the Christian south has politicized religion and caused significant political disputes in Nigeria. Ethnic-motivated and religious-motivated violence by extremists has increased tensions as well. Although there are cultural divisions amongst Nigerians, Nigerians commonly use the English language as their primary language, also, most Nigerians share a strong commitment to individual liberties and democracy. Even during periods of rule, such military governments were pressured to maintain democratic stances by the Nigerian people. Nigerias political figures commonly know multiple indigenous languages outside their own indigenous language, culture Media related to People of Nigeria at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Education
–
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, but learners may also educate themselves. Education can take place in formal or informal settings and any experience that has an effect on the way one thinks, feels. The methodology of teaching is called pedagogy, in most regions education is compulsory up to a certain age. Etymologically, the education is derived from the Latin ēducātiō from ēducō which is related to the homonym ēdūcō from ē-. Education began in prehistory, as trained the young in the knowledge. In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation, story-telling passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be learned through imitation. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of the Middle Kingdom, plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe. The city of Alexandria in Egypt, established in 330 BCE, there, the great Library of Alexandria was built in the 3rd century BCE. European civilizations suffered a collapse of literacy and organization following the fall of Rome in CE476, after the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the sole preserver of literate scholarship in Western Europe. The church established cathedral schools in the Early Middle Ages as centres of advanced education, some of these establishments ultimately evolved into medieval universities and forebears of many of Europes modern universities. During the High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated the famous, founded in 1088, the University of Bologne is considered the first, and the oldest continually operating university. The Renaissance in Europe ushered in a new age of scientific and intellectual inquiry and appreciation of ancient Greek, around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press, which allowed works of literature to spread more quickly. The European Age of Empires saw European ideas of education in philosophy, religion, arts, the Enlightenment saw the emergence of a more secular educational outlook in Europe. In most countries today, full-time education, whether at school or otherwise, is compulsory for all children up to a certain age, formal education occurs in a structured environment whose explicit purpose is teaching students. Usually, formal education takes place in a environment with classrooms of multiple students learning together with a trained, certified teacher of the subject. Most school systems are designed around a set of values or ideals that govern all educational choices in that system, such choices include curriculum, organizational models, design of the physical learning spaces, student-teacher interactions, methods of assessment, class size, educational activities, and more
5.
Activism
–
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society. One can also express activism through different forms of art, daily acts of protest such as not buying clothes from a certain clothing company because they exploit workers is another form of activism. One view holds that acknowledging privileges and oppressions on a daily basis ranks as a form of activism, research has begun to explore how activist groups use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action. The Online Etymology Dictionary records the English words activism and activist from 1920, Activists can function in roles as public officials, as in judicial activism. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. introduced the term judicial activism in a January 1946 Fortune magazine article titled The Supreme Court,1947, some activists try to persuade people to change their behavior directly, rather than to persuade governments to change or not to change laws. Other activists try to persuade people to remain the same, in an effort to counter change, the cooperative movement seeks to build new institutions which conform to cooperative principles, and generally does not lobby or protest politically. Activism is not always an action by Activists, every year more than 100 environmental activists are killed, in 2014116 environmental activists were assassinated, in 2015185 activists were killed around this planet. Since the 1990s, the Internet has been a tool used by activists for mobilization and communication of causes, specific platforms like MoveOn. org, founded in 1998, allow individuals to establish petitions and movements for social change. Protesters in Seattle in 1999 used email to organize protests against the WTO Ministerial Conference, throughout the 2000s, protesters continued to use social media platforms to generate interest. The power of Internet Activism came into a lens with the Arab Spring protests. They use different means to political persecution, such as Tor Browser. The activism industry consists of organizations and individuals engaged in activism, Activism is often done full-time, as part of an organizations core business. Many organizations in the industry are either non profit organizations or non-governmental organizations. Most activist organizations do not manufacture goods, the term activism industry has often been used to refer to outsourced fundraising operations. However, activist organizations engage in activities as well. Lobbying, or the influencing of decisions made by government, is another activist tactic, many groups, including law firms, have designated staff assigned specifically for lobbying purposes. In the United States, lobbying is regulated by the federal government, many government systems encourage public support of non-profit organizations by granting various forms of tax relief for donations to charitable organizations. Governments may attempt to deny these benefits to activists by restricting the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, randy Shaw, The Activists Handbook, A Primer for the 1990s and Beyond
6.
Clergy
–
Clergy are some of the main and important formal leaders within certain religions. The roles and functions of clergy vary in different religious traditions but these usually involve presiding over specific rituals, some of the terms used for individual clergy are cleric, clergyman, clergywoman, clergyperson and churchman. In Islam, a leader is often known formally or informally as an imam, mufti. In Jewish tradition, a leader is often a rabbi or hazzan. Cleric comes from the ecclesiastical Latin clericus, for belonging to the priestly class. This is from the Ecclesiastical Greek clericus, meaning appertaining to an inheritance, Clergy is from two Old French words, clergié and clergie, which refer to those with learning and derive from Medieval Latin clericatus, from Late Latin clericus. Clerk, which used to mean one ordained to the ministry, in the Middle Ages, reading and writing were almost exclusively the domain of the priestly class, and this is the reason for the close relationship of these words. Now, the state is tied to reception of the diaconate. Minor Orders are still given in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and it is in this sense that the word entered the Arabic language, most commonly in Lebanon from the French, as kleriki meaning seminarian. This is all in keeping with Eastern Orthodox concepts of clergy, which include those who have not yet received, or do not plan to receive. A priesthood is a body of priests, shamans, or oracles who have religious authority or function. Buddhist clergy are often referred to as the Sangha. This diversity of monastic orders and styles was originally one community founded by Gautama Buddha during the 5th century BC living under a set of rules. The interaction between Buddhism and Tibetan Bon led to a uniquely Tibetan Buddhism, within which various sects, similarly, the interaction between Indian Buddhist monks and Chinese Confucian and Taoist monks from c200-c900AD produced the distinctive Chan Buddhism. In these ways, manual labour was introduced to a practice where monks originally survived on alms, layers of garments were added where originally a single thin robe sufficed and this adaptation of form and roles of Buddhist monastic practice continued after the transmission to Japan. For example, monks took on administrative functions for the Emperor in particular secular communities, again, in response to various historic attempts to suppress Buddhism, the practice of celibacy was relaxed and Japanese monks allowed to marry. This form was then transmitted to Korea, during later Japanese occupation, as these varied styles of Buddhist monasticism are transmitted to Western cultures, still more new forms are being created. This broad difference in approach led to a schism among Buddhist monastics in about the 4th century BCE
7.
Freetown
–
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leones major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political centre, the city proper had a population of 1,050,301 at the 2015 census. The citys economy revolves largely around its harbor, which occupies a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one of the worlds largest natural deep water harbors, the population of Freetown is ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse. The city is home to a significant population of all of Sierra Leones ethnic groups. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language is Freetowns primary language of communication and is by far the most widely spoken language in the city. The city of Freetown was founded as a land for freed African American and West Indian slaves, Freetown is the oldest capital to be founded by African Americans, having been founded thirty years before Monrovia, Liberia. The city of Freetown is locally governed by an elected city council municipality, known as the Freetown City Council. Members of the Freetown City Council and the Mayor are elected every four years, the current mayor of Freetown is Franklyn Bode Gibson, of the APC, who was elected mayor with 68. 25% of the votes, in the 2012 Freetown municipal mayoral election. The City of Freetown is divided into three regions, the East End, Central, and the West End. The East End is both the most populous, and the most densely populous of the three regions within Freetown, the East End is home to the countrys harbor. Central Freetown is home to the State House, the House of Parliament, the Supreme Court, the National Stadium, the Bank of Sierra Leone, the West of Freetown is the least populous of the three regions within Freetown. The West End is home to the countrys Lumley Beach, Fourah Bay College, and these blacks were African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Africans, Southeast Asians, and blacks born in Britain. They established the Province of Freedom and the settlement of Granville Town on land purchased from local Koya Temne subchief King Tom, the British understood the purchase was to mean that their new settlers had the land for ever. King Toms successor, King Jimmy, burnt the settlement to the ground in 1789 and these 1787 settlers did not formally establish Freetown, even though the bicentennial of Freetown was celebrated in 1987. But formally, Freetown was founded in 1792, in 1791, Thomas Peters, an African American who had served in the Black Pioneers, went to England to report the grievances of the black population in Nova Scotia. Some of these African Americans were ex-slaves who had escaped to the British forces who had given their freedom. Land grants and assistance in starting the settlements had been intermittent, during his visit, Peters met with the directors of the Sierra Leone Company and learned of proposals for a new settlement at Sierra Leone
8.
University of Ibadan
–
The University of Ibadan is the oldest Nigerian university, and is located five miles from the centre of the major city of Ibadan in Western Nigeria. The university has residential and sports facilities for staff and students on campus, in September 2016, it became the first Nigerian university to make the top 1000 in Times Higher Education rankings. Prior to that, it had made the top African 10 in Webometrics Rankings. Its management envision the UI becoming on of the top 100 universities in the world in the nearest future, the origins of the university are in Yaba College, founded in 1932 in Yaba, Lagos, as the first tertiary educational institute in Nigeria. Yaba College was transferred to Ibadan, becoming the University College of Ibadan, the university was founded on its own site on 17 November 1948. In late 1963, on the university playing-fields, with a marked by talking drums. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria, the first Nigerian vice-chancellor of the university was Kenneth Dike, after whom the University of Ibadans library is named. The College of Medicine is located five kilometres from the main university. It has a dormitory for students who are in their years of study in the college. It became a college in August 1980 and the provosts have been Oluwole Akande, Isaac Folorunso Adewole, there is provision for the accommodation of post-graduate students. There are internet cafés, Knowledge Hubs, cafeterias, laundry centres, mini-marts, press boards, common-rooms, gymnasia, kitchenettes, there is impressive water and electricity supply. Electricity supply is also augmented by the inverter system, football, table tennis and lawn tennis are sports often played and watched by students. The Halls of Residence are semi-autonomous, each Hall of Residence has a Management Committee, which is responsible for matters of general policy for the social, cultural and intellectual activities of the Hall. Accommodation in the Halls range from one to four persons per room, location, to the North of the University Court. The first residential hall in the university, named after Kenneth Mellanby, Mellanby has a characteristically cool and serene ambience. It was formally opened on 17 November 1952, and has a capacity for well over 400 students. The hall is essentially the smallest in the school, the A block is primarily for freshmen while the D block houses students in their final year. The hall is the most centrally located, and hence sees a daily traffic of people. It has a cafeteria, a room for relaxation, a small football field
9.
Fourah Bay College
–
Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighborhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, is the oldest university in West Africa and it is a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone and was formerly affiliated with Durham University. The college was established in February 1827 as an Anglican missionary school by the Church Missionary Society with support from Charles MacCarthy, Samuel Ajayi Crowther was the first student to enroll at Fouray Bay. Fourah Bay College soon became a magnet for Krio and other Africans seeking higher education in British West Africa and these included Nigerians, Ghanaians, Ivorians and many more, especially in the fields of theology and education. It was the first western-style university in West Africa, under colonialism, Freetown was known as the Athens of Africa as an homage to the college. The first black principal of the university was an African-American missionary, lamina Sankoh was a prominent early academic, Francis Heiser was principal from 1920 to 1922. Abioseh Nicol was the first Sierra Leonean administrator in 1966, the first Director was Michael Crowder with J. G. Edowu-Hyde as secretary. The journal Sierra Leone Studies was also relaunched at this time, as of 1998/1999, the student enrollment was around 2,000 in four faculties and five institutes. It had consistently expanded in the 10 previous years, see also Category, Fourah Bay College alumni Alexander Babatunde Akinyele Zainab Bangura Kojo Botsio Edwin Carpenter Henry Rawlingson Carr Samuel Ajayi Crowther J. B
10.
Fela Kuti
–
He has been called superstar, singer, musician, Panafricanist, polygamist, mystic, legend. During the height of his popularity, he was hailed as one of Africas most challenging. Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti on 15 October 1938 in Abeokuta, Ogun State and his brothers, Beko Ransome-Kuti and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, both medical doctors, are well known in Nigeria. Fela is a first cousin to the Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and he attended the Abeokuta Grammar School in Abeokuta. Later he was sent to London in 1958 to study medicine but decided to study instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed the band Koola Lobitos, playing a fusion of jazz, in 1960, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun Taylor, with whom he would have three children. In 1963, Fela moved back to Nigeria, re-formed Koola Lobitos and he played for some time with Victor Olaiya and his All Stars. In 1967, he went to Ghana to think up a new musical direction and that was when Kuti first called his music Afrobeat. In 1969, Fela took the band to the United States where they spent 10 months in Los Angeles, while there, Fela discovered the Black Power movement through Sandra Smith, a partisan of the Black Panther Party. The experience would heavily influence his music and political views and he renamed the band Nigeria 70. Soon afterwards, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off by a promoter that Fela, the band immediately performed a quick recording session in Los Angeles that would later be released as The 69 Los Angeles Sessions. After Fela and his band returned to Nigeria, the group was renamed The Afrika 70 and he then formed the Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for the many people connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state. He also changed his name to Anikulapo, stating that his original middle name of Ransome was a slave name. Felas music was popular among the Nigerian public and Africans in general, in fact, he made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over Africa, where the local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As popular as Felas music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere, it was very unpopular with the ruling government. During 1972, Ginger Baker recorded Stratavarious with Fela appearing alongside Bobby Tench, around this time, Kuti became even more involved in the Yoruba religion. In 1977, Fela and the Afrika 70 released the album Zombie, the album was a smash hit and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his mother was thrown from a window
11.
CMS Grammar School, Lagos
–
The CMS Grammar School in Bariga, a suburb of Lagos in Lagos State, is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society. For decades it was the source of African clergymen and administrators in the Lagos Colony. The seed funding for CMS Grammar School, Lagos was made possible by James Pinson Labulo Davies who in April 1859 provided Babington Macaulay with £50 to buy books, with the seed funding Macaulay opened CMS Grammar School on June 6,1859. In 1867, Davies contributed another £100 toward a CMS Grammar School Building Fund, other contributors to the CMS Building Fund were non Saros such as Daniel Conrad Taiwo AKA Taiwo Olowo who contributed £50. Saro contributors also included men such as Moses Johnson, I. H, cole, James George, and Charles Foresythe who contributed £40. The CMS Grammar School in Freetown, founded in 1848, served as a model, the school began with six students, all boarders in a small, single story building called the Cotton House at Broad Street. The first pupils were destined to be clergymen, the curriculum included English, Logic, Greek, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, History, Bible Knowledge and Latin. The first principal of the school was the scholar and theologian Babington Macaulay and he was the father of Herbert Macaulay. When the British colony of Lagos was established in 1861, the authorities obtained most of their African clerical
12.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti
–
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, MON, was a teacher, political campaigner, womens rights activist and traditional aristocrat of Nigeria. She served with distinction as one of the most prominent leaders of her generation and she was also the first woman in the country to drive a car. Ransome-Kutis political activism led to her being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria, early on, she was a very powerful force advocating for the Nigerian womans right to vote. She was described in 1947, by the West African Pilot as the Lioness of Lisabi for her leadership of the women of the Egba people on a campaign against their arbitrary taxation and that struggle led to the abdication of the high king Oba Ademola II in 1949. Kuti was the mother of the activists Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a musician, Beko Ransome-Kuti, a doctor, and Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti and she was also grandmother to musicians Seun Kuti and Femi Kuti. Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas was born on 25 October 1900, in Abeokuta, to Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas and her father was a son of a returned slave from Sierra Leone, who traced his ancestral history back to Abeokuta in what is today Ogun State, Nigeria. He became a member of the Anglican faith, and soon returned to the homeland of his fellow Egbas and she attended the Abeokuta Grammar school for secondary education, and later went to England for further studies. She soon returned to Nigeria and became a teacher, on 20 January 1925, she married the Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti. He also defended the commoners of his country, and was one of the founders of both the Nigeria Union of Teachers and of the Nigerian Union of Students, Ransome-Kuti received the national honor of membership in the Order of Nigeria in 1965. The University of Ibadan bestowed upon her the honorary doctorate of laws in 1968 and she also held a seat in the Western House of Chiefs of Nigeria as an oloye of the Yoruba people. Throughout her career, she was known as an educator and activist and she and Elizabeth Adekogbe provided dynamic leadership for womens rights in the 1950s. She founded an organization for women in Abeokuta, with a tally of more than 20,000 individuals. Ransome-Kuti launched the organization into public consciousness when she rallied women against price controls that were hurting the market women, trading was one of the major occupations of women in the Western Nigeria at the time. In 1949, she led a protest against Native Authorities, especially against the Alake of Egbaland and she presented documents alleging abuse of authority by the Alake, who had been granted the right to collect the taxes by his colonial suzerain, the Government of the United Kingdom. He subsequently relinquished his crown for a due to the affair. She also oversaw the successful abolishing of separate tax rates for women, in 1953, she founded the Federation of Nigerian Women Societies, which subsequently formed an alliance with the Womens International Democratic Federation. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti campaigned for womens votes and she was for many years a member of the ruling National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons party, but was later expelled when she was not elected to a federal parliamentary seat. She was the treasurer and subsequent president of the Western NCNC womens Association, in the 1950s, she was one of the few women elected to the house of chiefs
