Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti  Nigerian doctor, bold human rights
campaigner and prisoner of conscience Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, who
has died aged 65 from lung cancer, was a thorn in the flesh of
the Nigerian ruling class for many years. Among the most
consistent, staunch and fearless human rights campaigners in
Africa, he began this work as a concerned 23-year old doctor
fighting for poor Nigerians to have access to good medical care.
Returning home in 1963 after studying at Manchester University,
he immediately joined a children's hospital, where he started to
persuade his colleagues that medical care should be the right of
every Nigerian."When I was involved in medical politics, the
army was involved in ridiculous things, such as appropriating
national funds," he recalled. "I would go to doctors in very
high positions and ask, why don't you do something about this?"
To many who knew him, Ransome-Kuti was following the family
tradition. He was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria. His mother,
Funmilayo Kuti, battled against ind