Legbeism from the Lioness of Lisabi

Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (Mrs Kuti) was a teacher who became an activist when she recognised the severity with which colonialism had disenfranchised market women. “She was also an internationally known figure who allied with many women’s groups throughout Africa and abroad from China to Black America” (Martin, 2016:70-73). She mobilised women against the colonial regime and fought for Nigerian independence, as well as women’s empowerment, in the Federation of Nigerian Women’s Organizations, which she founded in 1953 (Johnson-Odim & Mba, 1997). Her life was multifaceted and can be discussed in terms of some of her most notable work which is in her organising for women’s rights, leadership of the Egba women’s war, international outreach, non-political thought, and nationalism. Her activism aligned with the principles of legbeism which is a theory of gendered self determination. As a legbeist, she cultivated audacious solidarity among women, viewed women as authoritative individuals who had a right and responsibility to cultivate equity in the society, believed in working in a synergistic effort with men toward national independence, and worked toward correcting the consciousness of the people to establish cultural pride and indigenous sovereignty. Elements of legbeism, especially the a wa niyen ethic and authoritative equity, are reflected throughout Mrs Kuti’s anticolonial activism.