Prof Olikoye Ransome-Kuti’s son : How my father cheated death when Fela tried to test potency of bullet proof charm on him

He is on record as the country’s longest-serving minister of health, the late Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti was a medical practitioner who was globally recognised for his works in child maternal health. His son, Dr. Dotun Ransome-Kuti, in this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO talked about his life and times. Excerpts:

What was his relationship with his brother, Fela?

Fantastic. Fantastic. They were extremely close. You should be with them when they were together and they were talking and laughing and joking. They would never stop laughing. That was when Fela would tell my dad all his adventures.

How he went inside the bush to get one jacket to protect against bullets from one Babalawo and then he would tell my father to come to his house to test the jacket and my dad would say, ‘No, let’s put it on the goat.’ He’d say ‘Brother Koye, please come.’

He’ll also ask Uncle Beko (Ransome-Kuti) to come and the three of them would meet and put the jacket on the goat and Uncle Beko’s friend would shoot the goat and the goat would go up, fall down and die.

After that my dad and Uncle Beko would quietly leave Kalakuta without making a single noise because they knew Fela was annoyed. So, that’s the kind of relationship they had right up to the end.

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