Olikoye Ransome-Kuti
BMJ 2003; 326 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.326.7403.1400 (Published 19 June 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;326:1400Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, who has died in a London hotel while attending a World Health Organization (WHO) conference, was one of Nigeria's foremost health experts. A specialist in paediatrics, he burst into the national limelight when former military president General Ibrahim Babangida appointed him as health minister in 1985.
The two had met at the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies a few years earlier, before Babangida seized power. The general was at the institute for a course when Ransome-Kuti came to deliver a lecture. The lecture had such a gripping effect on Babangida that when he became head of state, one of his first tasks was to offer the professor the health ministry.
Ransome-Kuti did not disappoint and made his mark through the rapid introduction of a comprehensive national health policy. He revolutionised …
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