Fatima Aliyu is a humanitarian, a girl-child and women’s advocate, a 2020 Mandela Washington Fellow, and the Head of Programmes of Bridge Connect Initiative Africa (BCIA). In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, she speaks about her humanitarian work, girls’ and women’ rights, among other things.
How was life growing up? Was there any childhood experience that sparked your passion for humanitarian endeavours?
As the last child of my parents. I was pampered, even by my siblings, who were much older than me. If there is anything I miss about my childhood, it is that I didn’t play much. I guess that’s why I’ve grown into a playful adult. I can’t say that anything about my childhood inspired the work I do. If there was anything I wanted to be, it was a journalist. I was inspired by the likes of Eugenia Abu, Fatima Abbas Hassan and many others. I enjoyed seeing them on television, and I envisioned myself being like them some day. But then, I grew up and reality set in.
You studied Mass Communication. How does your knowledge of mass communication help your advocacy and community services?
It helps with the way I relate with people, in terms of public relations, effective communication and in the way I’m able to take the voices of the people to the ears of the government, and vice versa. I felt that the fact for that I’m not into journalism proper, I was never going to love what I do. But in the process of doing my work, I saw that I was doing a part of mass communication. So, somehow, I’m still engaging in mass communication and I absolutely love what I do.
Your areas of advocacy are gender, reproductive health, and open governance. How long have you been involved in these engagements?
I started volunteering in the civic space in 2014 when I was in 100 level in the university. I had the opportunity to volunteer with the British Council through their Active Citizens programme, and that opened my eyes to community service. Aside this organisation, I’ve also volunteered with many others through which I’ve built important professional skills and networks. I would say I’ve been in this space for seven years. But, professionally, it’s been three years, and it has been a great journey.
You are the Senior Programmes Officer of Bridge Connect Initiative Africa (BCIA). Tell us about the initiative.
Bridge Connect Africa Initiative is an organisation that creatively engages young people towards amplifying and building voices around women’s rights, adolescence and youth reproductive health and rights, as well as girl-child education in communities. The organisation’s mission is to empower young people, women and girls with reproductive health information so that they can make informed choices and decisions about their sexual reproductive health and against other harmful traditional practices. We’ve done a lot in empowering women with life vocational skills so that they can live life free from abuse and reach their full potential as human beings.
Explain the latest work BCIA undertook, and how the beneficiaries of the work gained from it.
So far, our organisation has been able to reach over 20 million people, both online and offline. We have been able to amplify the voices of women and girls through our multimedia products, community engagements as well as policy engagements. We have also been able to create impacts at different levels. In partnership with the Population Reference Bureau, we have created a lot of multimedia products to draw policy makers and public attention to issues around child marriage, gender-based violence, family planning and other sexual reproductive health issues. Recently, we’re in partnership with Connected Development on a project sponsored by the Canadian High Commission to educate and train 30 Kano women on gender-based violence advocacy, and also to develop ways and relationships within the public space as a way of ending gender-based violence in Kano.
We also have been able to train girls in rural communities on self-esteem management, menstrual hygiene management, and vocational skills through which they are making a living from. For example, through the Aurburn Girls project, we trained 40 young girls in Dambatta local government area of Kano State on menstrual hygiene and how to produce sanitary kit. We have empowered some Kano women with soft loans to help them return to businesses after the COVID-19 lockdown. We have been strongly involved in building women and young people’s skills and capacities to lead better lives and make informed choices, among others.
How have girls/women benefited from your work on reproductive health?
We have spread our messages on reproductive health far and wide, and we’ve a lot of women in Kano State who now understand that they have the right to choice when to reproduce, if they want to produce through our advocacies and awareness creation on child spacing, which is very essential for maternal and child health. In 2020, during the lockdown, we intervened in over 76 cases of gender-based violence. Though our organisation doesn’t provide services but information we did more of referral of these people to the right channels for them to get the right intervention. We’ve been involved in finding justice for survivors of gender-based violence, among other things.
Child marriage is rampant in the north. Tell us how your initiative advocates against child marriage, with a recent example from your work.
Child marriage is usually as a function of poverty, even though often given a religious backing. This has caused many girls to lose their potential as humans. We’ve been advocating for the Child Protection Bill as the most sustainable way of ending child marriage, because if this bill is passed, it will help to address child hawking, criminalise child marriage, make education compulsory, and free for all Kano children. It’s a very important bill that has to be signed, and we’re not giving up on the struggle until we see that the Child Protection Bill is signed in Kano State.
A recent news article stated that one in every six persons in Kano is a drug addict. Does your initiative have programmes for youth/women drug addicts?
Drug abuse is a big challenge in the north. Unfortunately, there are a significant number of women abusing drugs. Women in the north are faced with a lot of challenges. Many are divorced and emotionally shattered. Some are passing through trauma as a result of past or ongoing abuse, among other challenges, and as result, they rely on drugs for ‘sanity’, happiness and succor. This is why women in the north are trapped in the problem. As an organisation that is concerned with women and girls issues, we have particular focus areas; that’s to say we’re not working on drug abuse for now. But in the future, it’s something we might want to consider working on to see that drug abuse among women comes to an end in Kano State.
If you have the power to end one societal vice in the north, what would the vice be?
It would be kidnapping. It’s no longer safe to travel on Nigerian roads. It takes the miracle of God to travel and come back safely. It’s a huge challenge that’s affecting various sectors of the country, businesses and lives. Most times, when women and girls are kidnapped, they are killed or raped. If our government must effectively and genuinely address kidnapping, they must sustainably address youth unemployment and poverty. It’s important the government creates avenues of engaging young people meaningfully.
If you were the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, how would you ensure that girls’ and women’s rights are respected?
I would ensure there are functional policies and laws that recognise and respect the rights of women in schools, at homes, at public places, anywhere they go to ensure they get the respect and dignity they deserve, not just as women but as human beings. Respect for women and their rights should be taught right from childhood, whether at home or schools. Gender equality will be a thing to study right from primary schools and not just at tertiary levels to encourage mutual respect of all genders among children while they grow up.
You are a 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow (MWF). Tell us about your MWF experience.
I was selected in 2019 for the fellowship, and was supposed to be in the U.S in 2020. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the journey was not possible. So, we had to go on a virtual fellowship for six weeks. It was a great experience relating with other fellows, American citizens and people from the American government, and having people in the U.S. government mentor me and, sharing and learning about our cultural differences while building great professional skills. I still have somebody coaching me in my area of interest, even after the fellowship. I’ve been exposed to a lot of grant and personal development opportunities, as well as partnership. I just concluded the programme this year on the 6th of August, and I’m looking forward to the longer impact of the programme that I’ll be getting in the nearest future.
Apart from BCAI, what other job(s) do you do?
I serve as a support facilitator with Jobberman where I train people in their thousands in Kano State. I’m also a professional transcriber. I just rounded up a professional Master’s programme in Developmental Studies from Bayero University, Kano. And, in addition, I’m a wife.
What keeps you going in your line of work and how do you manage the associated stress?
It hasn’t been a smooth ride. There were times I just wanted to give up. But then, what keeps me going is the impact that I’m creating. Aside from that, my husband, family and colleagues keep pushing me, even when I feel like I don’t want to keep going. The fact that I have not reached where I hope to see myself, as far as women’s right advocacy is concerned, keeps me going. I keep reminding myself that I’m not done with this work until I’m truly done.
As regards how I manage stress, sometimes, I take days off work to relax and pamper myself, and it’s working for me.
What advice do you have for young people, especially girls, who are aspiring to be like you?
You need to be intentional about your growth. You need to know what you want in life. You need to put God first in everything you do. You must know how to balance between your life, career and mental health. You need to create good and meaningful relationship with people. Challenges will come, one way and the other, but be focused and keep going against all odds. Lastly, be intentional about your search for a spouse who’ll appreciate your type of person and support your passion.
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