• ISSUE FIVE/2000 • << Glendoro Books Supplement 18 UNAMIR to be given enforcement powers under chapter Vl 1 of the Charter of the UN. Considering the fiasco in Somalia this was not a feasible option. The second alternative was essentially a reduction in the force strength down to a small group to be headed by the force com- mander and to remain in Kigali to act as in- termediary between the two parties in an attempt to bring them to an agreement on a ceasefire, in addition to assisting in the re- sumption of humanitarian relief operations. For this reduced mandate, the Secretary- General estimated a force strength of about 270. The third alternative, which the Secre- tary-General had stated clearly that he did not favour, was a complete withdrawal of UNAMIR. This he feared would amount to a complete abandonment of the people of Rwanda and a total betrayal of all the ideals of the UN and hopes of collective security. In the end. the Security Council by its resolution 912 (1994) authorised the reduc- tion in the force strength. I believe this was a collective failure of all members of the inter- national community and in particular mem- bers of the Security Council. One could ar- gue with a lot of justification that the Secre- tary-General did not identify his preferred alternative and push for its acceptance by the Council. Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali would have to live with that criticism. Nonetheless the Council had the option and, 1 believe, the responsibility, if there was the necessary political will on the part of its members, particularly the bey members, to have authorised the deployment of addi- tional troops which the situation desperately warranted, in order to put an end to the violence, before it became genocidal. Some delegations, lifee mine that was a non-per- manent member, argued hopelessly against cutting down and running from Rwanda. We were of course overwhelmed and presented with a fait accompli in the form of deserting peace-feeepers. and had to go along with the resolution. However, with the benefit of hind- sight the Nigerian delegation should have abstained. Its statement in the Council dur- ing the explanation of the vote pointed to a disagreement with the import of the resolu- tion. To underscore the point about Iacfe of political will, it is enough to consider how long it tool? it to get the force strength of UNAMIR 11 up to the authorised level of 5,500, following another Security Council resolution of May 1994. The Security Coun- cil resolution establishing UNAMIR 11 was adopted in May 1994 during Nigeria's presi- dency of the Council but it took more than three months to have the batch of troops put into the area. The anger of the present Government of Rwanda at the abandonment of their people by the UN is understandable and well justified. Nonetheless. logistic problems were also responsible for the time lag between the authorisation of the expanded UNAMIR, the contribution of sufficient numbers of troops and their actual deployment in Rwanda. The principal lesson here is that even when Afri- can States were persuaded to contribute troops to an international peace-beeping force (some countries outside the continent are reluctant to do so when conflicts in Af- rica are concerned), the constraints posed by logistic problems such as equipment for the troops, air-lifting, communication facili- ties, are enormous. For example, as Anyidoho has pointed out in his narration, the Zambian troops for the expanded UNAMIR toob a ridiculously long time in ar- riving Kigali (my italics). The elements of the Zambian troops trained on Dutch equipment arrived on August 26.1994 but their colleagues who proved less fortunate, the advanced party of the same battalion, did not arrive until October 30, 1994. Gambari, a professor of Political Science was Nigeria's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN The Lioness of Lisabi BY OMOWUMI SEGUN Cheryl Johnson-Odim and Nina Emma Mba. FOR WOMEN AND THE NATION: FUNMILAYO RANSOME- KUTI OF NIGERIA. University of Illinois Press, (Nigerian edition, Crucible Publishers, Lagos). 1998. 198pp. T HIS publication gives a general account of women's participa- tion in Nigerian politics over the years. Of greater significance is the fact that it chronicles the life of a remarkable, nay phenomenal Nigerian woman - Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (nee Tho- • ISSUE FIVE/2000 mas). Described as a feminist and political activist, the study recognises FRK's efforts to subvert social and political norms to become an active participant in the political affairs of her community and the nation. Her role in shaping the course of our political history is undeniable and unparalleled even in con- temporary times. Fondly remembered as Beere meaning first born daughter, Cheryl Johnson-Odim and Nina Emma Mba have recorded her story - intertwined with the story of Abeobuta, and the nascent nation. For Women and the nation offers the reader a feminist perspective on FRK's life in 179 pages of an extensively researched study which documents the fact and provides in- depth analyses of FRK's unending quest for justice, equality and the emancipation of Ni- gerian women. The first chapter, which gives a historical bacbground of Abeobuta from colonial times to the present, is of particular interest in set- ting the record straight by drawing attention to the position of women within the political hierarchy previous to colonial rule. The au- thors note that there was a 'gendered divi- sion of labour' which gave women access to economic and political power as exemplified in the case of Madam Tinubu whose thriving arms trade provided Egba warriors ammuni- tion which gave them victory over their en- emies in the 1864 Abeobuta-Dahomey war. As a result of which, Madam Tinubu was re- warded with the title of Iyalode of all Egbaland. This was the apex of women's in- volvement in the socio-political affairs of society. The balance of power shifted under the colonial administration's deliberate policy of relegating women to the purely domestic sphere of life thereby excluding them from bodies such as the advisory ENA council, native courts or bureaucracy. De- spite attempts to suppress them, the biogra- phy reveals women's incursion, once more, into the arena of politics long before FRK began her political career. For instance, in 1940. Alimotu Pelewura led the Lagos mar- bet women's protest against the payment of taxes in Lagos. This was prior to FRK's politi- cal career. Political action by women was therefore not unprecedented in Yorubaland. In the second chapter, the illuminating facts of FRK's ancestry are noteworthy. Her ancestral bacbground provides us with the bnowledge of tradition and societal values that influenced and helped to mould her personality. The most prominent of her an- cestors was her paternal great-grandmother, Sarah Taiwo, whose life was marbed by vi- cissitudes. Captured and sold into slavery. Women who were jailed for six months in 1948 for protesting against poll tax. Fourth on fourth row (sitting) is Mrs Kuti. And first on the front row (sitting) is Eniola Soyinka,playwright Wole Soyinfea's mother. ©The West African Photo House, Abeokuta, Nigeria Glendora Books Supplement 19 • ISSUE FIVE/2000 << Glendoro Books Supplemenl 20 shipwrecked on the coast of Badagry, wid- owed twice, Sarah Taiwo eventually returned to her native land in Abeobuta. Sarah Taiwo's resilience in life can very easily be Iibened to FRK's tenacity and struggle in politics. Sarah Taiwo's son by her first husband. Ebenezer Sobowale Thomas, was Funmilayo Thomas' grandfather. The biography tabes a glimpse at Funmilayo's early childhood, telling rather than showing that she had an early tendency to be assertive and daring. The reader is very libely to meet with disappointment as the biography dbes not probe further but focuses on FRK's career development, which dim even the courtship between Israel Oludotun Ransome Kuti and Funmilayo that lasted thir- teen years. This could have been accorded more attention, especially as there seems to be a question about FRK's femininity which comes to fore in the third chapter. The fact is that FRK's public image tends to overshadow her personal life to the extent of rendering almost futile the authors' attempt to depict her femininity by stating that from '...her courtship correspondence with her fiance... emerges a portrait of a woman of deep senti- ment and feeling.' Not even the evidence that her concern with her appearance in- cluded the use of imported hair dyes and other toiletries, such as perfumes and cos- metics...' is libely to change public opinion. However this is as much insight as we get into her personal life. For much of the perspec- tive on FRK's relationship with her husband is related to their mutual support for each other's public activity. Theirs was a true part- nership in which both 'operated from a sense of equality' This consciousness was raised in the Ransome-Kuti children, especially the boys who were taught the culinary art and involved in domestic chores. FRK's relation- ship with her children is discussed in greater detail than is her personal relationship with her husband. It is noteworthy that her two eldest children resented their mother's po- litical activities as it deprived them of her full attention. Although there are divergent views on her capabilities as a mother, there are in- stances that suggest that she was very sup- portive of her children. For instance, when Dolu became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter Synod Frances while studying in En- gland, FRK always sent money and routed herself through London to see the child on her international trips. In the chapters that follow, the public personae of FRK is given more prominence. Her political growth - firmly rooted in her feminism - is supported with heaps of facts that testify to the painstabing research car- ried out over almost a decade. However, the authors appear to be bound by the limita- tions of biography. The reader is obliged to wade through a deluge of facts where fac- tion (a melting of facts with fiction) might have enhanced the narrative style. This tech- nique, for instance, is employed in Wole Soyinba's autobiographical novel, covering the same period, events and personae Abe, the result of which is a more vivid represen- tation of the same reality and a greater in- sight into the women's protest against taxa- tion. Minor issues aside, the fourth chapter marbs the beginning of FRK's feminist con- victions. Her early exposure to western edu- cation and her subsequent trips to England prepared FRK for her role as feminist and nationalist. Her feminism toob root in the Abeobuta Ladies Club and libe her husband was a staunch believer in education being the ticbet to freedom and emancipation. She pursued this vigorously conscripting her chil- dren, nephew and cousin as tutors. The study discusses the formative years and the raison d'etre of the ALC at length such that the reader becomes acquainted with the stages of re-orientation of the ALC which started off more or less as a social club whose aim was to teach western educated Christian wives social graces. In 1944, the ALC was expanded to accommodate the aroso - marbet women - who were been on learning to read and write. In 1945. barely a year after the literacy classes toob off. the marbet women began to complain about seizure of their rice and the degrading and inhuman treatment meted out to victims. FRK's rage is almost palpable in the rash of protests that follow, culminating in the abdication of Oba Ademola as Alabe or bing of Abe - a feat that earned FRK the appellation of Lioness of Lisabi. FRK's fearlessness and disdain for op- pressive traditional practices is captivating. Enraged by the impunity with which the tax agents carried out their acts of intimidation, she not only stands up to tradition but sub- verts it through the 'appropriation of the man-exclusive cult - oro.' FRK was a western educated woman who believed in traditional values in as long as they did not suppress women. Whereas she changed to wearing wrappers and began to speab mainly in Yoruba in consonance with her anti-colonial stance, she refused to bneel down to anyone including her husband. FRK's feminist nationalism fuelled her inexorable campaign against colonial rule, and her struggle for the emancipation of Ni- gerian women. Her political convictions spurred her to tour the country, thus inspir- ing the formation of branches of the Nige- rian Women's Union (NWU) of which she was president. FRK was also relentless in her ef- forts to enhance the political status of ISSUE FIVE/2000 • << women. To this end. she convened a meet- ing of all women's organisations under the Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies (FNWS) with the aim of consolidating her political agenda of obtaining franchise for women as well as proportional representa- tion of women in government. She. however, fell prey to her ideals of universal feminism and loyalty based on gender solidarity and failed to win the support of all the women's organisations including her bid for one of the Egba constituencies in the 1959 federal elec- tion. Undeterred, the indefatigable FRK went on to form The Commoners People's Party, a mainly feminist party which failed to take off properly. It would appear - as the authors rightly note that - 'FRK was more effective in the politics against the colonial regime than in the ethnicised party politics of indepen- dent Nigeria.' Nonetheless, FRK will always be remembered in the annals of Nigerian his- tory as being one of four female members of the Abobuta Urban Council (AUDC) created in 1950 as well as the only female candidate in the 1951election. She was also the only woman selected to be part of the delegation to Britain to protest the Richards constitu- tion. Perhaps, what is most remarkable in FRK's political life is the fact that she showed herself to be an astute and pragmatic politi- cian whose skillful manouvers in the inter- national political arena helped to mobilise public opinion in her campaign against the payment of water rates imposed on women in Abeobuta. She was a principled person until the end of her life, but this did not pre- vent her soliciting help from organisations of different ideological persuasions in the attempt to further her political campaigns. FRK left a legacy not only for her chil- dren - particularly Koye. Fela and Bebo who embraced her ideals - but also for Nigerian women. Yet two decades after her death, FRK's vision for Nigerian women has not fully been realised as the political horizon contin- ues to be clouded by men without mettle. For Women and the Nation would appear to be a boob about the past, it however con- tains facts that are even more relevant for the future. Segun, a librarian, is also a novelist. Dripping with fire and gutter BY ANKE WEILER-ODUNTAN Toyin Adewale (German translation by Bettina Obrecht) DIE AROMAFORSCHERIN (EXPLORER OF AROMAS), POEMS AND SHORT STORIES. Edition Solitude. Stuttgart. 1998. 100pp. I NDEED. this collection of about thirty po- ems and three short stories throws us into a world of rich imagery and exploration, not only of aromas but also colours and visions. The collection deals with manifold topics such as womanhood {Woman ofCush) exile and experiences abroad, civil unrest and dis- order (A Tale of Two Vultures. Ken Wails). experiences with fellow writers but also with getting to term with failed relationships ( House Cleaning and. on a more philosophi- cal level, with hope. This review is basically going to focus on the aspects of the image, aroma, as men- tioned in the title of boob and the transla- tion of the poems into German language. The three short stories are only in German and therefore are not discussed here. It has to be mentioned, however, that they are rather weab in comparison to the poems which might be due to the translation. Aroma and Smells The colourful and nearly impressionistic intensity of smells into which the reader is thrown reminds us of the streaming of imaginists. The topic of exploration of aro- mas is introduced in the first poem of the collection 5a/a/v(dedicated to the writer and human rights activist Ogaga Ifowodo). When Adewale writes 'through the dust searching for your aroma/your safari heart, that curi- Glendora Books Supplement 21