GIGM Women Empowerment event harps on Funmilayo Ransome Kuti’s legacies, lessons for female folks

The EbonyLife Place in Victoria Island in Lagos came alive on Friday June 28, 2024, for the maiden edition of the bespoke GIGM Women Empowerment Series 1.0.

The empowerment series with the theme: ‘The Strength of a Woman in Shaping Society’, drew lessons from the life and times of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a renowned Nigerian activist and mother of Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti.

The series turned out to be an inspiring session of community building and empowerment with selected speakers including Nollywood actress Adunni Ade, CEO of GIG Mobility Enahoro Okhae, and actress and humanitarian, Omowunmi Dada.

In her opening remarks, actress Adunni Ade emphasized that a woman’s strength extends beyond her physical capability on stage or in the various settings they find themselves.

‘‘The strength of a woman is not just in the muscles we flex on the stage or wherever we find ourselves; it runs quite deeper. It is the fire in the eyes of a young girl who dreams of becoming a doctor, an engineer, an architect, or an actor just like me.

‘‘The resolute courage of a woman propels her to fight for what is right even when the odds are stacked against her. We can see a testament to this strength in the life of the legend Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She is a woman of immense courage who imbibes the essence of what it means to shape society through strength and determination.

‘‘It has been long said that for a woman to have half as much credit as a man she has to work twice as hard and be twice as smart. And I dare say that we have responded powerfully to that flawed notion by working twice as hard and we are twice as smart. But have we always gotten the deserved credit? I would say NO. Women don’t get the credit that we truly deserve, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti didn’t have superpowers, her power came from her unyielding love for her nation.

‘‘She was moved by injustice in her fight to be the voice for the voiceless. She led a revolution, not with weapons but with the power of her conviction and the strength of her spirit. She was a trailblazer in education, a formidable political leader, and an unrelenting advocate for women and human rights”, the actress concluded.

Actress Omawunmi Dada who is best known for her role as Folake in the M-Net television series ‘Jemeji’ also shared her thoughts on the leading role that women are playing in society today citing the Nigerian movie industry as an example.

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‘‘I remember when I first veered into the male-dominated movie industry; women were just actors or were put by the side, But now, the dynamics have changed. Women are now leaders of their own in the movie industry; Bolanle Austin-Peters has revived the theatre culture, Mo Abudu is raising the bar in movie production while Funke Akindele is also doing well for herself as an actress and a movie producer.

As regards the impact made by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti in her time and beyond, Omawunmi said that it is a great disservice to describe the late activist as the first woman to drive a car.

‘‘Growing up, the only thing we knew about Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was that she was the first woman in Nigeria to drive a car. I think that description is such a great disservice to a woman as strong, passionate, and valiant as she was. She fought, she slaved, she cried and she sacrificed the love of her family so women could have their voice today.

‘‘Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was an enigma, she gave it her all and she was extremely passionate about the pains of the women around her. She understood that life is all about making people around you better. She understood that life is all for one and one for all. She also understood that there was no room for selfishness around her.

‘‘She built generations and I think without Funmilayo the Kuti family wouldn’t have had that strong bond, especially with all that she faced with Alake of Egbaland at the time and face-off with the colonial government and the Nigerian government at the time. Who she was, shaped her time; who she was made leaders to sit up, who she was made every woman at the time place themselves on a better pedestal.

While adding his voice as regards the real essence of the GIGM Women Empowerment Series 1.0, CEO of GIG Mobility Enahoro Okhae said that there is no way one can quantify the strength of a woman.

‘‘The strength of a woman equals the strength of a man plus some other things; a man can have mental strength and a woman can also have mental strength. A man can have physical strength likewise a woman but the difference is the nurturing, protection, and staying in the womb of a woman for nine months is the tiebreaker. A man cannot understand what labour pain is or what menstrual pain is all about.

‘‘That’s why the strength of a woman differs from that of a man; the reason behind showing the movie ‘Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti is that in years to come, one of you would remember that you were in the hall one day on the 28th of June, 2024, and I heard certain things that changed my life. We want young girls to have it at the back of their minds that beyond all the weaknesses they see about women on social media, there is a strength that can shape society.

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