By Sulaiman Maijama’a
As the saying goes “behind every successful man there is a woman.” I do not have an iota of doubt looking at it from the religious perspective. When the first revelation of the Glorious Qur’an to our beloved prophet, Muhammad (SAW) panicked him, he rushed to his dear wife, Nana Khadeeja where she gave him words of courage, subsided his fear which in turn made him emboldened. The contribution of Nana Khadeeja to the success of the prophetic mission of our noble prophet, throughout the Twenty Three years prophetic period, was tremendous.
In an authentic tradition, the prophet says, “the world is enjoyment and the best enjoyment in the world is a righteous wife.” When a man is blessed with such a wife, surely, his affairs outside the home will be smooth and successful. In this, I would not do justice to myself, until I humbly and categorically submit the tremendous achievements the executive governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed is recording, to a greater extent, connected with the matrimonial support from his dear wife, the First Lady, Hajiya (Dr) Aisha Bala Mohammed.
We have now reached a point where all and sundry, from across the political spectrum, no longer argue about the amazing metamorphosis Bauchi state is undergoing under Bala Mohammed. The point of argument is, who are the people propelling the boat?
To the best of my understanding, without internal support, external success is impossible. However, the level of success the governor records, the first person to be given credit is his dear wife, being the driving force. This has not come with a surprise, knowing the well-regimented family background she comes from.
Born on the 7th day of May 1968 in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Hajiya Aisha Mohammed grew up in a loving and deeply religious family. This is perhaps where she got the inspiration of generosity, because, since childhood, she exhibited philanthropic traits which later grew and blossomed, giving birth to a full-blown foundation that is helping the helpless, the poor and the needy.
As it is with tradition in Northern Nigeria, little Aisha was enrolled into Islamic school to acquire robust spiritual education. Hajiya Aisha obtained basic education and later got married to her husband, Senator Bala Mohammed at an early age. She was relentless not to let the rigours of matrimony deter her from continuing her education.
After giving birth to her third child, she enrolled at the Junior Secondary School Garki, one of the numerous public schools in the FCT and on completion, proceeded to the Senior Secondary School Tudun Wada, Wuse, Abuja. She was not satisfied with secondary school education, Hajiya Aisha Mohammed proceeded to the University of Abuja where she secured her first degree in Public Administration.
The First Lady is a philanthropist; she has been, for over a decade, rendering support to people through her foundation, Al-Muhibbah; “a Humanitarian and charity organization that was founded to address the issue of derelict burial grounds as well as caring, assisting and supporting the less privileged in the areas of health, education, poverty Alleviation etc. over the years several youths and women are trained in various economic skills and some money is disbursed to enable them to start their businesses.
However, the foundation undertakes activities for the socio-economic uplift of women/youth to enable them to become self-reliant. supporting and encouraging education in rural communities through scholarship, donation of educational materials and upgrade of school facilities is also not left out. providing clean and accessible drinking water to rural communities through the provision of motorized water system/boreholes are, all among the humanitarian activities carried out under the umbrella of the foundation.
Hajiya Aisha Bala Mohammed is, now, a champion of girl-child education. She proposed in different points the need for a policy that will make girl-child education compulsory in Nigeria. Out of her passion to curtail the menace of sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), she has always been a proponent of the enactment of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law.
In recognition of her giant stride, she has received dozens of honours, titles, and awards, among which include: Gimbiyar Garkuwan Matan Jiwa, Best Human Capital Builder, awarded by International Leadership and Management Development Summit ILMD, Durban, South Africa. Humanitarian Services Award was conferred on her, by the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ); Inter-Faith Leadership Award, by the Joint Faith Peace Initiative, Abuja; Life Fellowship Award, by the Nigerian Federation of Muslim Women.
Others include Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree, awarded by Ahfad University for Women, Khartoum Sudan; Award of Honour in recognition of outstanding support for Islam and Humanity, by Muslim Corpers Association of Nigeria (MCAN) Abuja; National Award on Peace Living and Youth Development, by Jamaatu Shababuddaawa Wattarbiyya, Bauchi State branch; Award for Excellence in Service to Humanity, by the Nigeria Union of Journalist FCT Chapter; Award for Peace, by UFUK Foundation, Turkey, et al,…
Show me your First Lady!
Maijama’a writes from the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano
sulaimanmaija@gmail.com
