Going by the words of Julius Caesar, the great emperor of the Roman Empire, “I came, I saw and I conquered” Bene Madunagu could best be described as a woman with conclusive victory and end.
Born as Benedicta Afangide on March 21, 1947, to the family of Chief Michael Afangide of Afanga Esang, Madam Angelica Afangide of Ikwek, Afaha Obong both in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, she started the journey of life and academics.
She was educated at the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan, before venturing into teaching as a career. She was an assistant lecturer at the University of Lagos before moving to the University of Calabar in 1976.
Bene, a professor of Botany, retired from the University of Calabar after years of mentoring generations of students in her department and ideologically influencing students in other faculties.
However, it was not without the challenges of ensuring social justice and equity. In the course of her struggles for progress and a humane social order, for instance, she and her comrade and spouse, Edwin Madunagu, were sacked from their jobs at the University in 1978 along with scholars and activists in other universities and establishments.
This was in the aftermath of the nationwide student protest against “the commercialisation of university education” by the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo.
The protest is famously known in history as “Ali Must Go,” about the call for the removal of the then federal commissioner for education, Ahmadu Ali, an army colonel by Nigerian students.
The sacked couple were later fully reinstated by the government of President Shehu Shagari a few years later. Undaunted, Bene remained active in the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), becoming the first female chairperson of the University of Calabar branch of the union, and a member of the ASUU’s national executive.
She was also a member of several scientific bodies, including the Botanical Society of Nigeria, the Science Association of Nigeria, and the Association of African Women for Research and Development.
She was a leading light of the ‘Nigerian Left’, participating in various efforts towards the formation of a formidable organisation of socialists, Marxists, and progressives, among others as a platform to offer alternatives in the making of a better Nigeria.
Her commitment to popular democratic struggles was total, and her consistency of purpose was exceptional. As a Marxist, Bene was active in the feminist movement nationally and internationally.
She was part of the formation of the feminist movement, Women in Nigeria (WIN). She was the chairperson of the executive board of the Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), an organisation focusing on the health and empowerment of girls and women. She was also a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation.
The scholar cum social justice advocate was a receiver of many awards including that of Cross Rivers State in 2005 as “Erudite Scholar and Advocate of Equality and Girl Child Rights” and that of the Centre for Reproductive Rights of the University of California in the United States.
According to a statement signed by Biodun Jeyifo, for Bene Madunagu’s funeral planning committee, the revolutionary activist, scholar and feminist, who died on November 26, 2024, will be buried on Friday, January 17, 2025.
The interment will be preceded by a celebration of her life and times on January 16 in a programme that will feature a feminist forum, funeral conference, cultural performances and tributes from comrades, friends and well-wishers.
She is survived by Edwin Madunagu, her comrade and spouse for over 50 years; and children including Unoma Madunagu-Agrinya, Ikenna Madunagu and Michael Madunagu, and indeed her many comrades on the Nigerian Left.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
