I can die fighting injustice —Yemisi Ransome-Kuti
By KATE HALIM
Saturday, November 28, 2009

Yemisi Ransome-Kuti as it is now, is the eldest of the Kuti’s family known for fighting injustices and opposing wrong government policies. Yemisi, 62, is the former staff of Institute of International Affairs. She is also a stakeholder and Civil Society Organizations Advisor to World Bank.

Highly meticulous and orderly, you can’t help but notice her love for books. Married but divorced twice, though she wouldn’t talk about it, Ms. Ransome-Kuti has four children and two grandchildren. Still bearing her maiden name, she tells you with pride that her father is the late Mr. Olusegun Ransome-Kuti.

Caught in a relaxed mood at her Lagos Island home, she welcomes you with a smile and readily tells you she loves young energetic youths. Speaking to Saturday Sun recently, she reveals why she will not give up the fight for good governance and her duties as Director of the Nigerian Network of Non-Governmental Organizations (NNNGO).

On what spurred her into activism, the soft-spoken woman says the easy answer is that she is a Ransome-Kuti. According to her, nature and nurture are the two things that mould a person in life. “Naturally, if your family is prone to react in a way to issues or engage in certain activities either good or bad, there is a tendency that you will also go along that path because it is in your gene. Your environment also nurtures you because if you grow in an environment where people are outspoken, they are encouraged to challenge ideas or issues, it readily restructures what you already have inside”.

The fact that she went to school in England while she was 11 further sharpened her activism traits because the British jealously guarded their rights and made sure it was not infringed upon unlike what obtains here. She said that the environment doesn’t worship wealth but forces you to build yourself, as the leaders there want you to challenge their position because of the next generation.

This is because they are conscious that their generation will pass and will be succeeded by a younger one. “The aim of encouraging them to challenge government issues and policies is to fully equip the younger ones by allowing them develop ideas that will bring progress. That way, these young ones learn to stand on their own and cause change to happen as the environment stimulates the brain to solve problems and all these challenge to fight for change in Nigeria”.

While growing up, Ms. Ransome-Kuti noted that Nigeria was a lot more progressive, tolerant, safe and secured. “We all played in the streets, interacted with each other, there was no distinction between the rich and the poor and the environment builds a character that would not tolerate injustice in any form.” She cherishes the experience and bemoans what the nation has turned into today with the level of poverty and insecurity threatening the sanity of the populace.

Aptly describing herself as someone who abhors injustice, she stated: “I cannot stand myself being cheated or anybody else being taken advantage of. I wonder why Nigerians allow themselves to be manipulated, oppressed and deprived of what is rightfully theirs. Nigerians show tremendous courage in the face of adversity and oppression. Some few people are standing to fight injustice but where are the suffering masses? Are they suffering and smiling? I will challenge anyone who interferes in my space without enlightening me on why my space has to be disrupted even if no one supports me. I am willing to die doing that.”

As an Executive Director and Trustee for Nigeria Network of Non-Governmental Organizations (NNNGO), she has to ensure that standards remain and that the organization keeps her goals, mission and vision on course. In addition, her duties entail ensuring that NNNGO’s national and international spread is strengthened and that they are able to encourage energetic and dynamic young people to take up responsible positions at the state and local government levels. Another duty of a trustee, she revealed, is to ensure that the organization does not lose the purpose for which it was established in the first place.

NNNGO was primarily set up as a national network and the first national network of civil society. “In the past, people were structured in their thematic groups such that someone working on HIV/AIDS does not know what is happening either in the agricultural sector, educational sector or in governance. But all these issues are interwoven as one rubs off on the other. The idea of setting up the network was initiated by 50 NGOs in the 80s and was registered in 1992. Since then, it has grown tremendously with membership and affiliates worldwide.

According to her, the aim of the network is to ensure cross-fertilization of ideas, sharing of ideas with governance, the civil society and with the international donor organizations. “We identify NGOs wherever they are with a directory that anybody can assess. NNNGO initiate training workshops for members for better skill acquisition, valuing information so much as we make our members aware of what is going on in the nation.

We mobilize people around to understand relevant issues, no matter what their NGO is about, they must be abreast of relevant issues affecting the nation and the world. Every year, people all over the world are encouraged to speak out, advocate change and the local name for that campaign in Nigeria is make our money work for us. NNNGO identify the change agents in the various sector of the economy and work with them to achieve a better result in the nation”.

Commenting on the state of the nation, she said that Nigeria is not yet a failed state but a fragile one, and advises Nigerians to take up the responsibility of building the nation in every situation they find themselves. “Our leaders should move away from amassing wealth for themselves to serving the people and the populace in turn should make their leaders accountable whether they like it or not.”

On the achievements of the organization as a networking outfit, she revealed that they have stood the test of time without much external or international support. This is because there is no funding for networking other people. “We make sure we communicate to people whether they are members or none members of the network of potent issues that affect the people and the nation at large. We have also identified some key areas of intervention, which is our interconnectivity programme, which involves going to local government and seek to bridging the gap, which the military has created.”

“Issues are discussed and communicated to the people, needs are discussed for national and economic empowerment of the people. In most local and state governments the organization has partnered and worked with, joint planning and strategy for progress by both the leaders and the followers, which create transparency for accelerated development have been created.

She advises the youths in Nigeria to take up the challenge of the future because it belongs to them. “They should not be concerned with the immediate pleasures of today of partying and celebrating the richest man or woman around never minding how they got their money, which leads to immediate death but should be more focused on nation building as a tool for creating a better tomorrow.”

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