| When road repair becomes
curse
• As students honour Borno first lady
By TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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•The
first lady of Borno State, Mrs. Fatima Sheriff being
honoured
• PHOTO: Sun News Publishing
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The sight of an assemblage of students chanting solidarity
slogans was akin to a student union congress, where a showdown
with the authority was being hatched. However, the mood at
the Conference Hall of the Maiduguri State Hotel, on that
fateful Thursday, November 29, was not caused by the spirit
of Aluta, as student unionists often call it. Rather the students,
drawn from all the higher institutions in Nigeria, had gathered
at the El-Kenemi city to honour a woman they considered as
their mother, the wife of Borno State governor, Mrs. Fatima
Ali Sheriff.
They gave her the award of the Great Political Achiever of
the Year and as Grand Ambassador of Nigerian Students.
Though, the occasion was devoid of any overt political colouration,
the political relevance of the woman behind Senator Ali Modu
Sheriff, who won the governorship seat of Borno State for
the second time against known tradition in the state, like
the biblical lamp, could not be hidden under a bushel. Her
handling of the women wing of the ANPP and rigorous campaigns
during the April 2007 electioneering instantly became a reference
point of how the Nigerian male-dominated political landscape
can be altered. The party was said to have handed over to
her the governorship campaign machinery in Jere and Maiduguri
metropolitan councils, believed to be the largest in the state.
And she delivered them in an unprecedented manner.
The national president of the National Association of Nigeria
Students (NANS), Comrade Femi Osabinu, insisted the first
lady’s political prowess and electioneering successes
were not the only considerations for her investiture as Grand
Ambassador of Nigerian Students. He maintained that NANS had
painstakingly followed her campaigns in favour of girl-child
education, polio immunization for children, anti-HIV/AIDS
campaigns among others.
“We are also convinced that this noble woman of beauty
and brain was instrumental to the appointments of more women
into the executive council of the state and other political
appointments,” the students’ leader said.
Dignitaries on the occasion showered encomium on her. They
recalled her distribution of over N65 million loans to women
in the state to start small-scale businesses after participating
in skills acquisition training organized by her. She was said
to have renovated a medical centre and directed that free
healthcare services are provided for women and children in
addition to the sinking of boreholes in rural areas as well
as free drugs for de-worming of children.
Yobe State Governor, Senator Mamman Ali, who was the special
guest of honour, said “NANS has decided to honour the
woman to whom honour is due,” adding that she deserved
to be honoured having encouraged more women in the state to
participate actively in politics.
Chairman of the occasion and deputy vice chancellor of the
University of Maiduguri , Prof. Sunday Bwala, lauded Mrs Sheriff’s
tireless campaigns against HIV/AIDS and other social ills
among the youths.
Secretary to the Borno State government (SSG), Ambassador
Baba Ahmed Jidda described her as the rallying point for women
politicians having persuaded her husband to appoint more women
into key positions in the state. He noted that the women in
the state have never had it so well in the area of appointments
into political offices until recently.
At the moment, there are one local government chairperson,
three vice chairpersons, three women senior special advisers,
four special advisers, three general managers, permanent secretaries
and women permanent members of the state civil service commission
and three female commissioners in the state cabinet.
Responding, the first lady described the occasion as the happiest
moment of her life, which spans over 40 years. She said the
two awards were impetuses to make her rededicate her life
to greater service to the people.
She advised students to shun cultism and all anti-social behaviours,
while equally appealing to them to exhibit seriousness in
their academic pursuit.
“There is no substitution to being properly educated
to equip you to face the challenges of the modern world,”
she admonished.
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