After watching Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s Biopic on Prime, I now understand why many people were resolute in erasing the role Funmilayo played in Nigeria’s political history by painting her only as the first woman who drove a car—as if she didn’t do so much more.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (1900-1978) was a prominent Nigerian educator, political campaigner, and women’s rights activist. She played a significant role in advocating for women’s rights and social justice, particularly for the Egba women in Abeokuta, Nigeria.
The recently released Biopic portrayed as a series of flashbacks narrated by Joke Silva, who played an older Funmilayo, follows Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti from her youth as the first female student at Abeokuta Grammar School, her meeting of and marriage to Israel Ransome-Kuti, her career as an educationist and the formation of the Abeokuta Women’s Union (initially called the Abeokuta Ladies’ Club) which led to the revolt against the patriarchal colonial and traditional rule in Egbaland, Abeokuta.
Kehinde Bankole, who played Funmilayo in adulthood, stunned in her role. The movie, which went on to be the highest-grossing Biopic in West Africa, was not only wildly entertaining but also thoroughly inspiring and educative. It is a must-watch for every girl and woman who dares to inspire and propel change.
Here are four lessons from the Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti biopic that will remain evergreen for anyone who intends to be a trailblazer and live a life of purpose.


1. Everything You Want in Life is on the Other Side of Fear
Fear stops you from living. Funmilayo was out there slapping men who harassed the market women. She was out there meeting male authorities, looking them in the eye and diplomatically letting them know how incompetent they were. She was out there debating her soon-to-be father-in-law, a clergyman, on how it made no sense that he worshipped the same God imported by the white people who oppressed them. She was out there challenging her peers who were too scared to help less privileged women. Imagine if she was too scared to stand for what she believed in.
The rulers attempted to instil fear in the hearts of the protesters by flogging them and jailing them. Fortunately, even though the women were downcast and tearful while imprisoned, they returned stronger than ever. Not only did more women join the protest the next day, but they also came back with the zeal to breach the palace’s gate while chanting a badass warfare song: “You’ve used your manhood as a mark of authority over us. We will use our vaginas to rule you now”. Ultimately, the wrath of these women sent the Alake fleeing.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the lioness of Lishabi, as she was popularly called, enjoins us all to live boldly and authentically. Certainly, no woman is getting a biopic for playing by rules, submitting to men, and living a quiet life that touches nobody.
2. Find Your Tribe of Women, They Will Save You
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a Yoruba woman, observed how the Alake of Oyo was taxing the market women and her fellow Yoruba women and causing them hardship. Mere knowing that these women were her kin propelled her to intervene. The market women, in turn, recognized Funmilayo as their own, and together, they were able to put a stop to the unfair taxes levied against them.
These women rubbed minds together on how best to go about the protest—even going as far as sewing asoebis for each day of the protest. Also, they all contributed the food that lasted them throughout the protest. While camped outside the Alake’s palace protesting, he sent the Oro and Ogboni masquerades—it is a taboo for women to look at them—to disrupt the protest.
In retaliation, the older women in the protest laid bare their breasts for the masquerades—it is equally taboo for men to look upon a naked older woman. Even after this incident, when the king’s soldiers beat and jailed the protesters, the next day, more women— even women from outside Egbaland—came en masse to join the protest. There was strength in their numbers, and it rattled the traditional rulers, who were initially bothered.
Your tribe of women doesn’t have to literally be from your cultural tribe. Find like-minded women who love you and genuinely want to see you have a better life. Nurture friendships with women who prioritize your growth and watch how transformative things will get.
3. Doubts are a Normal Part of the Process; Keep Going
Before the market, women accepted help from Funimlayo Ransone-Kuti and the other elite women. They seriously doubted if they could make the traditional rulers submit to their request. Some women among them even pointed out that Funmi lived in a bubble and could conveniently run back into it if things didn’t work out. Yet, even with their backs against the wall, market women decided to trust the process and not accept defeat.
At various points in Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s life, she doubted herself and wondered if she was doing the best thing for the market women. At her lowest moments, if she had let the voices telling her she wasn’t good enough win, she wouldn’t have finished the commendable work she started.
Everyone has doubts. In fact, if you are not doubting yourself, your dreams are probably not big enough. Remember, every great achievement begins with small steps, often taken with uncertainty. Embrace your doubts, for they are a sign that you are challenging yourself and growing.
4. If You Must Partner With Men, Find the Ones that Lift You and Push You Closer to Being the Best Woman You Can Be
As a married woman, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti may not have lived a full life and stayed true to her purpose if her spouse had been unsupportive. She lived in a period where women were popularly regarded as inferior to men. Girls weren’t allowed to go to school, and for the few who went, fewer were allowed to reach the university. Girls were mostly nurtured to be homemakers. This wasn’t the case for boys.
As a woman at that time, if you weren’t someone’s daughter, you had to be someone’s wife. There was little space for them to have an autonomous identity outside the role they played for their fathers and husbands. Many men at that time would have sabotaged any woman who attempted to be as brazen as Funmilayo. In the movie, the king himself inquired how many children Funmilayo had. When he was satisfied that four children weren’t enough, he suggested her husband impregnate her more often so that she could be busy taking care of kids instead of entering his palace to challenge him. It’s scary when you realize even to this day, men trap women with kids.
However, Funmilayo chose to love a man who understood her yearning for knowledge and passion to create change. And he, in turn, never for once tried to clip her wings. She and Isreal Ransome-Kuti met at Abeokuta Grammer School, where he used his position as the Head Boy to help her ward off bullies. When the Abeokuta Ladies Club—a group of elite Yoruba women—reached a deadlock on the best approach to helping the Egba market women, Israel offered her some guidance. He didn’t stop her when she led the protests against the traditional rulers and colonial government. During that time, he was sick with cancer, yet he kept his failing health from her so that she could focus on liberating the Yoruba women.
Funmilayo was literally the only girl in her secondary school. She was pretty spoilt for choice when it came to men. As any smart woman should, she chose someone who was kind, understanding, and helpful. Through Isreal’s characterization (played by Ibrahim Suleiman), the bio-pic conveys a salient message to women in Nigeria and across the globe: to go far in life, dump that dusty boy today; he is weighing you down.