By Zents Sowunmi
No doubt the movie Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, which is based on Mrs Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti after a lot of expectations finally made it to Amazon Prime and it became available worldwide for those in the diaspora.
Funmilayo is a movie I was hoping would portray the true story or history of the Egba byt unfortunately, it was so embellished, that some of the true history of the Egba Native Authority under Alake of Egbaland, Oba Ladapo Ademola, were omitted.
As a result, the movie created an unfriendly royal authority of Alake Ladapo Ademola over his subjects and that became unfortunate.
Whoever wrote the script in an attempt to make it all about Mrs Ransome Kuti failed to include the true positions of Egba history after the loss of Egba United Government to the British in September 1914.
The role of Alake of Egbaland, Oba Ladapo Ademola, who managed a post EUG in 1920 was ignored, and why the British again failed Egba6 in 1947 after the Ijemo war of 1914.
The movie in my view also failed to include the activity of Mrs Ransome Kuti as a member of NCNC as against what her people stood for at home at the time she went into politics.
Also, the movie in my considered opinion, did not explain if the women’s upheaval Mrs Kuti led created an unfriendly situation which made it difficult for her husband, Rev Ransom Kuti, to persuade the British she was against to establish the first University in Nigeria in Abeokuta and you wondered if Funmilayo and her movement was indeed one of the reasons the University was taken to Ibadan.
One would have expected the director, in the final stage of the movie, to sit with historians other than road side pick up stories on Egba or to be courageous to state that Alake Ladapo Ademola returned to the throne after one or two years after he was found not guilty or responsible for the problems created and he eventually became the President of Western Region’s Obas and Chiefs in 1959.
In my curiosity I wonder why the producer failed to name the markets like Itoku, Omida, and Ijaiye where the activities of the Parakoyi took place instead of a single place with less than 20 women most of the time.
The removal of all those historical facts from the movie denied the public the true positions of history of Egba with an unfriendly situation of Egba Royal authority and that left the public wondering why the one hour, 27 minutes failed to include Gen Obasanjo who ordered Funmilayo and her son Fela to be so treated.
More also if in future Funmilayo part two would be released to correct all these including how she was buried with her husband behind St. John’s Church in Igbein in Abeokuta something that could have improved tourism in Abeokuta.
As part of the write ups at the end of the movie, one would have expected to have included the role of Chief Akin Olugbade and Chief Coker and their wives and some of the Egba High Chiefs outside the Palace.
It is also unfortunate that the historical Centenary Hall building of 1930 did not even appear in a 1947 event in Egbaland and you wonder why?
Today, women in Egba indeed the whole of Nigeria, are not exempted from taxes, those in the market are even paying more than what Funmilayo fought against and you wonder if the fight was worth it, even at that time or if it was sponsored by those who really wanted an end to Egba traditional royal system after the end of EUG in 1914 or if Alake Ladapo Ademola did not understand if the mistakes of Alake Gbadebo over Ijemo war was the foundation of his own mistakes in how he handled the women upheaval.
The movie as historical as it may be, is still not the true position of the role Funmilayo Ransom Kuti in Egbaland or Nigerian history. She was bigger than that as Beere (first born) which was her nick name.
The movie would be rated a B in my view and the producer needs to return to the National Archieves for more information if she intends to prepare for a sequel.
** Sowunmi writes from New York
