10 selfless Nigerians that should inspire every Nigerian youth

Nigeria has had a fair share of activists, revolutionaries and visionaries who dedicated their lives to the liberation of the people from political oppression, social or civil injustice through selfless activism and goodwill.

These are 10 of the most selfless Nigerians who have sacrificed their lives and resources that should inspire every Nigerian youth:

1. Chief Gani Fawehinmi

As a lawyer, Gani sacrificed all he had to fight for the masses and the oppressed in Nigeria. He stood up to the dreaded military regimes of General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha while paying the ultimate price of freedom on numerous occasions.

Gani was arrested, beaten and charged to court several times. His law chambers were repeatedly invaded while his books were also confiscated by the military government. His library at Surulere, a suburb of Lagos, was also set ablaze.

He fought side by side with late M.K.O Abiola after his June 12 mandate was stolen and was journalist Dele Giwa’s lawyer, when the latter was killed in a bomb blast under suspicious circumstances in 1986.

At his point of death in 2009, Gani rejected the honour of Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) – one of the highest national honours that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Nigerian government. The rejection was in protest against the many years of misrule since Nigeria’s independence.

2. Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

Before her son, Fela began ruffling feathers among political elites, Funmilayo had made a name for herself as a fierce and fearless activist in Nigeria. She led marches and protests to fight for women’s rights, demanding improved representation of women in local governing bodies and an end to unfair taxes on market women in Abeokuta.

In her later years, she supported her sons in their criticism of military governments in Nigeria and in 1977, she was thrown out of a window by soldiers who ran rampage on Fela’s Kalakuta Republic over the release of his critically acclaimed album, Zombie.

Funmilayo, who was part of the group that negotiated Nigeria’s independence in 1960, died from her injuries from the military raid in 1978.

3. Ken Saro-Wiwa

Saro-Wiwa died fighting against the environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland in Niger Delta by the multinational petroleum industry, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company.. In 1992, Saro-Wiwa was imprisoned for several months, without trial, by the Nigerian military government over his activism.

He was later accused, along with eight others, of inciting the murder of four Ogoni chiefs in May 1994. Even though Saro-Wiwa had been denied entry to Ogoniland on the day of the murders, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging in 1995.

After his execution, some of the witnesses who testified against him in court, recanted their claims, stating in the presence of Shell’s lawyer that they had been bribed with money and offered jobs with the company to give false testimony.

4. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti

Fela dedicated his life to fighting oppressive governments through his music and was a constant thorn in the flesh of political elites. He suffered military brutality on numerous occasions as a result before his death in 1997.

When Fela released his album, Zombie to massive acclaim in 1977, infuriated soldiers ran rampage on his Kalakuta Republic, beating him mercilessly and throwing his elderly mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti from a window. His mother later died from injuries sustained from the military raid. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela’s studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed.

The attack didn’t deter him from being vocal against the political establishment in Nigeria. Again, in 1984, he was jailed by Muhammadu Buhari’s military government and was released 20 months after, during Ibrahim Babangida’s military regime.

5. Tai Solarin

Tai was very vocal about corruption in the Nigerian military government and fought for the rights of every Nigerian child to attend school. He founded Mayflower School in Ogun State as part of his contribution to provide education for children.

He was once arrested by Yakubu Gowon’s military administration for criticising Gowon for carrying out a lavish state-sponsored wedding party in the middle of the Nigeria-Biafran Civil War. He was subsequently arrested and incarcerated numerous times for brazen protests against military rule which included standing at Campus Square in Lagos to openly criticise the government. In March 1984, during the Buhari-Idiagbon military regime, Tai was again arrested at his home and incarcerated at Abeokuta Prisons for 18 months.

6. Imam Abubakar Abdullahi

At the height of a herdsmen crisis in Plateau State in 2018, Imam Abubakar risked his life to provide shelter for over 200 Christians at his mosque. The 83-year-old Muslim cleric was able to prevent the fleeing locals from rampaging bandits by locking the doors of the Mosque after the Christians had entered while he stayed outside.

He refused to open the doors for the assailants who demanded for the chance to go in and slaughter the fleeing locals, telling them that they could do that only after they had killed him.

7. Margaret Ekpo

Like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Margaret was an active member of the group that led active political and socio-economic movements that culminated into Nigeria’s independence in 1960. Ekpo also worked with Funmilayo to protest the killings of the leaders of a local group that protested against the practices of the colonial owners at an Enugu coal in the early 1950s.

She dedicated her life to fighting against the discriminatory and oppressive political and civil role colonialism played in the subjugation of women and also founded the Aba Township Women’s Association in 1954.

8. Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti

The Kutis are known for their activism for social justice and Beko was also a prominent voice in the struggle against oppressive military governments. He was incarcerated alongside Fela by Buhari’s military administration in 1984, and in 1993, he helped to form Nigeria’s first human rights organization, the Campaign for Democracy, which in 1993 opposed the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha.

He was again sentenced to life in prison by a military tribunal in 1995 before gaining freedom in 1998 after the military ruler’s sudden death.

9. Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh

Adadevoh’s selflessness during the breakout of Ebola in Nigeria prevented the spread of the deadly virus and she ultimately paid the price with her life. The medical doctor had placed an affected Patrick Sawyer in quarantine and valiantly prevented him from leaving the hospital despite pressures by the Liberian government who wanted the patient to be discharged.

Adadevoh also provided staff with relevant information about the virus, procured protective gear and quickly contacted relevant officials, thereby prompting the government into action to contain the spread of the virus.

Her heroic effort curbed a wider spread of the virus in Nigeria but she contracted the virus in the process and died weeks after.

10. Wole Soyinka

Soyinka’s activism for social justice has been mostly through several publications, but the Nobel Laureate was very vocal against military dictatorship and was once charged with treason in 1997 by former military ruler General Sani Abacha’s government. He was also forced into embarking on an exile in 1994, fleeing from Nigeria through the border with Benin and then to the United States.

Soyinka was also a political prisoner for nearly two years during the Civil War in 1967 when he was adjudged to have secretly and unofficially met with the military governor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Enugu in a bid to try to avert the war.

Soyinka has continued to lend his voice to social and political injustice in Nigeria.

This story was first published on January 21, 2020.