A woman’s voice can change the world – Hajiya Rahmatu

Hajiya Rahmatu Abubakar is a woman ahead of her time. Her voice defied custom and broke northern traditional barriers early when she insisted that her children and step children enrol for western education at a time when it was unusual for women to challenge their husband’s decision.    This grit from a woman with no […]

Hajiya Rahmatu Abubakar is a woman ahead of her time. Her voice defied custom and broke northern traditional barriers early when she insisted that her children and step children enrol for western education at a time when it was unusual for women to challenge their husband’s decision. 

  This grit from a woman with no formal education has today brought about a paradigm shift not only in her immediate family but among other relatives in her home village of Laru in Lame District of Toro LGA, Bauchi State.

“It was my husband’s tradition to send his children to almajiri school to memorise the Holy Qur’an and when they graduate, he would then give them some capital to start a business. 

“I married him as a third wife and when I had my first child and shortly after, my co-wife also had a child, he wanted to send them to almajiri school but I objected, I insisted they must study western education,” Hajiya Rahmatu narrated. 

Now in her 60’s, her biological and step children say they are most grateful for her tenacity and sacrifice. “Imagine if she had not spoken out, we would have been denied this life we are enjoying now. Today we have professionals in the family, some have graduated from university while others are in the university. Indeed we are happy she made her voice heard,” said Ismail Hussaini, her step child.  

 Rahmatu’s voice has today echoed in her home village, a small Fulani community and gradually, many have gotten inspired by what she and her children have accomplished. 

Born to a village head in Laru, Ramatu grew in the midst of 13 siblings. Her boldness manifested early in life when she rejected her marriage to an old aristocrat the District Head (Hakimi) of Lame who then lived in Gamau, a nearby community. The marriage had been arranged by her father’s younger sister, which made it impertinent for her father to oppose it. However, Rahmatu didn’t love the ‘noble man’ and didn’t only protest the arrangement but found every opportunity to run back home. “Most of the time I ran back home until my father sat me down one day to apologise for the inconveniencies but explained that he had only agreed to his sister’s wish based on tradition which made it an offense for him to refuse her wish.”

 “That day, I went to my step mother and begged her to take me back but she initially refused on the basis that I would still run back home but I assured her that it was going to be different from that day because I had made up my mind to endure it and I did,” she said.

Rahmatu stayed with her husband for six years, never running back home and because she never conceived, her father allowed her younger sister to live with her. “My husband showered my sister and I with all the love in the world.” But after her father’s death, the die was cast and Rahmatu approached a court to nullify her six years childless marriage.  

“At that time, aristocrats didn’t go to court to defend marital cases, so after paying some money I got by selling one of my goats, the judge dissolved the marriage and I finally got separated from my first husband.” 

Not too long after, she married Alhaji Hussaini Na-Malam Mato, a farmer and a merchant of farm produce from Ganye village in Toro LGA as his third wife. It was here that Ramatu made her thoughts about western education open and was able to convince her husband to allow their children pursue formal education. 

“While I was married in Gumau, I observed that the rich people never sent their children to school while the poor families struggled to send their’s to school. At the end of the day, it was those that went to school that returned as leaders and they had money. Someone even became an Ambassador, while those who initially came from rich backgrounds later lost most of their fortunes. I wanted that education for my children,” she said.

After much persuasion, her first son and stepson were enrolled in Jama’atul Izalatil Bid’ah wa Ikamatis Sunnah school for Higher Islamic Studies, for both Islamic and western education. Her son had then aligned more to his father’s line of thinking but her persistence had seen them complete their secondary education at Command Day Secondary School in Rukuba, Jos. 

“My son came back again that he had completed his education and wanted to go into groundnut retailing between Toro and Jos but I opposed it and insisted that he must finish his studies. He told me that the only school he wanted to attend was the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) which was only open for very influential people. I didn’t know anyone influential so we sent him to our relatives in Zaria to see how they could help and before long, he wrote the exams, passed and gained admission into NDA.” 

“That first son is today a Lieutenant Colonel while his step brother is a banker,” said her son, Hussaini Hussaini who is a legal practitioner. “There have been several family members, grandchildren, and family friends who have lived in our house, to learn a trade and to study both Islamic and formal education because of the change in our family’s life style,” he added. 

“With the girls, it was another story, my husband had agreed to send the male children to school not the female but I insisted and when our daughter began to perform better than the boys he was so proud and used to say she would be a medical doctor,” she narrated.

With her husband and co-wives now late, Rahmatu, became the family matriarch and has been raising all living 37 children as hers. Surrounded by some of her children in their Yan Kwaba, Anguwan Rogo home in Jos, she advised women to make their voices heard. 

“Women have an active role to play in the community; we can start from the home. Just speak out, share your thoughts and knowledge with your husbands, it may just make a difference; a woman’s voice can change the world,” she said. 

“I think I would have been a doctor, had I gotten western education. Hmm, I would have gone far in my education. I wanted one of my children to be a doctor but it hasn’t worked out, perhaps I will get to see one among the grand children,” she said with a smile.