I became a doctor to fulfil my father’s dream – Dr Sa’adatu
Can you tell us about yourself?I am Dr. Sa’adatu Sa’idu Bala. I was born in Jakara quarters in Kano State. I attended Jakara Primary School from class 1-4 then I went to Shekara Girls Boarding Primary school where I completed my primary education. I proceeded to St Louis Secondary School and graduated in 1980 and […]
Can you tell us about yourself?
I am Dr. Sa’adatu Sa’idu Bala. I was born in Jakara quarters in Kano State. I attended Jakara Primary School from class 1-4 then I went to Shekara Girls Boarding Primary school where I completed my primary education. I proceeded to St Louis Secondary School and graduated in 1980 and then went to Zaria School of Basic Studies but while I was there, we had a serious riot which made me to change my mind and go to University of Sokoto to read Medicine. Actually, University of Sokoto was not among my three choices but I was convinced by a colleague, Malam Daha Ashir, so I went to UDUS in 1981 where I graduated with MBBs in 1986 and I did my houseman ship in 1987 and my NYSC in 1988. I started work as a Senior House Officer at Sokoto University Teaching Hospital. I was married to a Sokoto man and I had three kids with him before he died. When I came back to Kano, I was convinced to go into public health because I have a lot of passion to for HIV/AIDS patients. By the way, I first joined Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital and later Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Hospital also known as Nassarawa Hospital when I came back to Kano from Sokoto. I also worked as a personal physician to the then Kano State Military Administrator, Col. Dominic Oneya, Col. Isa Kontagora and Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso during his first tenure, but my stay with him was very short because I had an accident.
It was while I was in Nassarawa Hospital that I took interest in public health. I choose public health because it is more diverse. For example, if you have a million naira that you can spend on a hundred patients, that million naira can serve a community if you do public health because public health is prevention and the clinical medicine is creative so I was interested in public health specifically because of HIV/AIDS patients and that is why I went and did my masters in Public Health at ABU Zaria in 2006 then I went to South Africa where I did a Post Graduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS management, Masters of Philosophy in HIV/AIDS management and I am currently doing my PhD all in South Africa. I am also a member of African Centre for HIV/AIDS management which office is also in South Africa. Right now I am the Director General of the Kano State Agency for the Control of AIDS.
Being a female, how did you find the job as personal physician to three governors?
It was actually quite challenging particularly when the governor is going outside the state. It is alright if I am his personal physician at home, but the challenge comes when the governor is going somewhere and that was why after serving the time of Col. Oneya, I asked for a male doctor that will deputise for me so whenever Col. Kontagora was going out of Kano my deputy will join the crew and that was how we continued during Governor Kwankwaso even though I stayed with him for a very short time.
Why did you choose to be a doctor?
I chose to because my father wanted me to be, because he has passion for girls’ education. My father has passion for girls’ education unfortunately he did not get a child at his younger age. So because of his passion for girls’ education, one day he took his niece to school but her father who is an uncle to him cautioned him about his action, saying he took her to school just to spoil her life. My Dad was not happy with his uncle’s reaction. So when I was born, he was very thankful to God because he wanted to demonstrate to them and indeed to the society the importance of girls’ education to the society and we were very lucky I was good in the sciences. I had wanted to be a nurse but he told me that instead of nursing why shouldn’t I read medicine and that was how I developed interest in medicine. So I received so much support from my dad to the extent that while I was in the university my father has never sent somebody to visit me it was always himself. So I can say I read medicine to fulfil my father’s dream.
As female from the northern part of the country where culture affects girls’ education, what challenges did you face during your studies?
Well, the major challenge that I have faced actually was the side talk by relatives that I was too old then without marriage but apart from that I did not face much challenge because our father wanted us to study. I was also very lucky that during our time strikes were not as much as they are now and that is why I graduated at the age of 20. So there weren’t many challenges actually.
Were you married before graduation or after?
No. I married before graduation. I was married at the tail end of my studies because I married a Sokoto man, late Wamban Sokoto, Alhaji Aliyu Kyari Gwadabawa but my marriage did not affect my studies at all because my husband was a customs officer working in Lagos so he was in Lagos and I was in Sokoto. So there was no distraction at all.
What is your unforgettable moment during your school days?
My unforgettable moment was in secondary school – that was when I was in St Louis Secondary School. I am grateful to the management of the school because if not for the fact that I went to that school, I might have been married off in village and maybe I will have had 12 or so children by now and that will have made it impossible for me to study. Actually, my sight defect was detected when I was in Shekara Girls Boarding Primary School but because of our belief in reading glasses that it will spoil eyes, when I told my father about my condition he did not believe me and instead of taking steps to address the problem he brushed it aside. So when I went to St Louis I almost failed my examination and when I showed my father the result he insisted that I must stay in that school despite the failure. It was in the school that my class teacher realised that what they wrote is not what I wrote and she saw me blinking my eyes while writing. So she took me for eye test and the doctor advised my father that I need a reading glasses but my father still refused to acquire it for me so one Monday, one of the teachers took me along with my luggage to my father and she told him that there was no need to waste my time in school with bad eyesight. So my dad agreed and I was provided with one. It was when I used the glassed that for the first time ever I realised that my mother had special marks on her face. It was also when I put on the glasses that I saw things the way they were. So that was the most memorable moment that I have because it was as a result of using the glasses that I saw my mother’s marks and started seeing things the way they were. So the most precious support I enjoyed during my studies was my father’s support.
What advice do you have for both parents and young women with regard to girls’ education?
Girls’ education is fundamental and in fact necessary because females as mothers raise children and you can see the difference between an educated woman raising a child and an uneducated one. Also in so many other aspects of life, particularly in the hospital, you will not like a male nurse to treat your wife so I think female education is very important. So the saying goes, ‘if you educate a woman, you educate a society but if you educate a man, you only educate that single individual’. So I am advising parents to send their children to school irrespective of their gender. There are professions that suit women, for example working in hospitals or teaching.
So I am advising parents to enrol their daughters in school if not for anything you will improve the quality of the society as a whole. Girl child education is the best thing that you can give to your female child because education increases the value of your child, the family and the society as a whole. So parents should try hard to see that they educate their children if not all of them the females.
Do you have intention to raise a doctor from among your children?
Unfortunately I have only three children who have already chosen their carriers. My last daughter wanted to be a doctor but she was unable to get admission so she is studying applied chemistry now. But for my grandchildren, if I live to see that time, of course I will encourage them to become doctors, God’s willing.