There is a greater need for women in medicine – Dr Rakiya
Tell us about yourself? I was born in Jakara, Kano City. I started Islamic education in our area, Jakara, as all children normally do, and was enrolled into Jakara Primary School when I was 5 years old. I was in Shekara Girls Boarding Primary School for a year (Primary 5). I completed my primary education […]
Tell us about yourself?
I was born in Jakara, Kano City. I started Islamic education in our area, Jakara, as all children normally do, and was enrolled into Jakara Primary School when I was 5 years old. I was in Shekara Girls Boarding Primary School for a year (Primary 5). I completed my primary education at Bayero University Staff Primary School. Then I went to St Louis Secondary School, Bompai, Kano, for secondary education. We were the first set of students to start the 6-3-3-4 system of education. It was a beautiful time. I started Medical School at Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto (UDUS), I however completed at University of Maiduguri (Unimaid) due to non-accreditation of the medical school of UDUS by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria that time. I then did my internship, initially at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and completed at ABUTH, Kaduna. I started my residency training at National Hospital Abuja, but moved to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital to complete the training. I did a Masters in Public Health from University of Liverpool. Currently I am a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ilorin and undergoing training in Gynaecology Oncology and also a PhD in Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Why did you choose to be a doctor?
I always loved to be a doctor, particularly when I discovered that it affords me the opportunity to help people directly and make them happy most of the time. There is no greater joy than the one you get when you manage to help a very sick patient. I also know that there is a great need for women in medicine.
As a female did you face any challenge from your relations?
Not much challenges. That is because I have the most supportive parents on earth. Our father believes that the girl-child must be adequately trained and educated. Islam encourages everyone including the girl-child to be educated well. That support gave me so much empowerment that I felt nothing could be in my way. That kind of total support helps you to have focus in whatever you are doing.
What is your unforgettable moment during your school days?
One of my lecturers told us, “the best days of medical school are the day you get in and the day you graduate.” This is true. Very true! The day I graduated was very special to me. I got so many prizes including Provost’s prize for the overall best student in my class, Paediatric Association of Nigeria’s prize for the best student in Paediatrics, Best student in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Best student in Internal Medicine. So you see why it was a special day. And above all, my whole family was there to witness my graduation. Another moment was when I graduated from the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria as a qualified Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist in May 2006. My husband and my father, the two most important men in my life were there.
How supportive were your parents?
We have extremely supportive parents. You know the kind of support that makes you feel emboldened to face just about anything! That is how it was. Our father could spend his last kobo for our educational needs. From primary school, up until today (even though I am a mother myself) I continue to get support from them. I remember very well in secondary school, our father goes to make sure he got our books himself, from Zamani Bookshop to ensure quality. In the university, he traveled to Ibadan and Lagos and sometimes even to the UK to get our books and medical equipment required by us as medical students. He even submitted our registrations to Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (to register as medical doctor) and even my initial registration into residency training. When we were transferred to Maiduguri from Sokoto, he went to Maiduguri, to arrange accommodation for me! And when I couldn’t cope with caring for a baby and being in school, they gladly accepted to take care of the baby (who is also a graduate now). They are the most amazing and dedicated parents anyone could wish for. When I graduated as a specialist, my husband was very happy and said, “you know I promised your father that I would not be in the way of your education, that was one of his requests before he gave me your hand in marriage.”
Do you have intention to raise a doctor from among your children?
I’ve got two boys (who all do not want to be doctors) and two girls. The youngest daughter wants to be a dentist and the older girl a doctor. So I watch and see what they eventually decide. May Allah guide them to choose what is best and of benefit for them both on this earth and the hereafter.
What advice do you have for both parents and female students with regard to girls’ education?
Parents should support their girls to have good education (both Islamic and western education). Allah (SWT) created all of us, men and women alike for the sole purpose of worshipping him. He said in Suratul Taubah, verse 71: “The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give Zakkah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those – Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is exalted in Might and Wise.”
Worshipping Allah is not possible without education. In Islam education is not only a right, but also a responsibility for all males and females. Prophet Muhammad (Rasulullah Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim.’’ (Narrated in Al-Bayhaqi and Ibn-Majah). The Prophet, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, also made it a duty for parents to ensure that they educate their girl child because she will eventually marry and assume the important role of wife and mother. Where the parents fail to educate her, then it becomes the responsibility of the husband to educate her, either by himself if he is capable or allow her to seek knowledge elsewhere (since not all men are sheikhs!). One of the greatest women in Islam, A’isha radi Allahu anha, the wife of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was described by one of her students, Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, he said: “I did not see a greater scholar than ‘A’isha, radi Allahu anha, in the learning of Qur’an, obligatory duties, lawful and unlawful manners, poetry, literature, Arab history and genealogy.” It is time Muslims start to look up to their responsibilities regarding women and girls, both as fathers and as husbands. Having ignorant women is not just one of the things the Islamic community should condone.