Nothing good comes easy – Hauwa Baba

 Hauwa Baba Idris is the ninth child out of 31 children. She is a mother of four, three boys and a girl; a wife, a striver and an extremely loyal person. The Gassol Local Government of Taraba State indigene speaks to Tambari on her life and more.

Educational background

I attended many primary schools. My father was a civil servant and was always transferred from one place to another. He always travelled with me. I bear his mother’s name and I think that made us very close and he took me everywhere he went. On account of that, I attended many primary schools. I attended Tukur primary school in Jalingo; I attended Mustapha primary school Yola. I also went to ECWA primary school and EKAN Primary school in Ibi, Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State. 

I stabilized my primary education at Saint Mary’s Primary School, and got my First School Leaving Certificate there. I had my secondary education at Federal Government College Wukari and my tertiary education at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where I studied Pharmaceutical Sciences.  I moved on to become a fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists. I have also attended many professional conferences. I was in Scotland for The Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice conference, where I presented a paper on Malaria in Pregnancy. The paper was published in the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. I also attended a Supply Chain Management Course in the Netherlands and several other professional courses in Nigeria.

Career

As a pharmacy student, I did an attachment with Al-Hayat Pharmacy in Kano. I graduated in 1994 and proceeded for my internship at the Murtala Specialist Hospital, Kano. I served with the Specialist Hospital Bauchi. After service, I immediately started work with a private pharmacy called Yankari Pharmacy, in Bauchi. When my husband relocated to Abuja, I had to move with him and there I joined Fatwa pharmacy in Zone 6. From there I got an appointment with the FCDA. I joined them as Pharmacist 1. When I was with them, through the years, I worked with Wuse General Hospital, Garki General Hospital, Kubwa General Hospital and Maitama General Hospital. Then I left the FCDA in 2005 to join the National Assembly Service Commission. I started work there as a Senior Pharmacist. Through the years, I rose through the ranks and became an Assistant Director Pharmaceutical Services.

What growing up was like

It was enjoyable. Our mothers did some magic, I just wonder at how they did it. You know, in a polygamous home. It didn’t bother them, there was no segregation so we regarded all four wives as mothers. We all lived in the same compound and played together. We had age groups and did everything in such groups. We did things together, so that was how growing up was like. We created our own games; we had dolls made of bones and some made of wood and we made their clothes. We went to the tailors and got pieces of cloths and came back to fit them. It was such fun.

Challenges faced in life 

I don’t know why but I am generally misunderstood. If I don’t know you, I can be quite aloof and I think people misunderstand that for snobbishness. People think I am snobbish because I mind my business; but I don’t know if I am the one doing the misunderstanding. The most challenging time of my life was during my university years but the challenges drew me closer to God and I was able to overcome most and graduate. 

Initially I wanted to study medicine but I changed to pharmacy because I did not like the idea of taking call duties as a doctor. Being a wife and a mother was very important to me and I felt that would be a challenge. So I went ahead and studied pharmacy to escape from call duty. But lo and behold, I had practiced pharmacy for about five or six years and call duty was introduced. That was a major challenge for me. You don’t know that you can handle a problem until you get to it. I took call duties while I was still nursing my third son, so I would go with him to work and he would be sleeping in the bassinet while I attend to patients. I did what I had to do and that too worked out.

Over the years, my life lessons

The most important thing is to “tie your camel”; to be prepared to do all that needs to be done, do all your home work, work hard then rely on God. But do your part, I think that is one important thing I learnt in life. No matter what, life will go on. It is either you take it in stride and move on with life or you stay behind and you will rot. So life goes on no matter what you do. 

The only one you can rely upon, I have come to realize in my life is God. You can depend on people, a lot of the time people will come through for you but they will also let you down. God, on the other hand, no matter how you struggle, will always be there. To rely on God, you know, that is another important life’s lesson.

My aspirations growing up

The one thing I was sure of while growing up was that I wanted to be a mother; that was very important to me. I really wanted to be a mother and a wife but as I said also, I wanted to be a doctor, but I thought about call duty and being a mother and a wife. I did my calculations and I decided to choose pharmacy. I am quite happy with the pharmacy profession and it is a very fulfilling profession and generally as pharmacists, we always tend to try to improve our practice, at least most of the pharmacists that I worked with. Pharmacists always strive to find effective ways to solve patient problems. 

The best thing for me about pharmacy is helping people; helping people with their drugs problems. Usually doctors don’t have as much time with their patients as we do and also patients are easily intimidated by doctors. When they come to us, we relate closer to them. A lot of the time we get facts from them that the doctors need and then we now interact with the doctor that ends up changing their treatment for the better. When you get something like that and you work on the problem and the patient comes back with the problem solved, that is the best thing I think about my profession; helping people to solve their health and drug problems.

Fond childhood memories

That playing together, that togetherness, yes I miss that. We used to eat in age groups. All of us will eat together from a bowl of food. I had a special relationship with my dad. I used to eat with him and that’s not very common in my culture. 

My husband and I

I met my husband in school in ABU Zaria. He tells me that I had gone off campus and was walking back when he saw me. He told me that was the first time he saw me, while walking back to campus on foot and he followed me without saying anything to me until I reached the hostel. I think it was a week later or so that he approached me. Unfortunately, like I said, I was daddy’s girl and grown to be a typical northern girl – avoid boys. So I was a bit aggressive and unapproachable; very unwelcoming. It took him a long time to get me to come around. We met in school and we got married immediately I graduated. I was doing my internship when we got married.

Most cherished attribute of his

What I like about him most is his doggedness. If my husband bites into an idea, he will see it to the end. If he bites into something, he doesn’t let go of it, he will make sure he sees it through. He is very dogged, determined and he is fearless. What I mean by fearless is not that he will get entangled with a lion or something like that. But if he decides to do something, he doesn’t look at the problem that can deter him; he was working with the National Hospital here and then one day he just decided that government work wasn’t working and just dumped it. That was quite scary because we had kids. I was extremely scared. He just left it, went and opened his own pharmacy and that is where he still is. Alhamdu lillahi, he is not doing badly. 

Most cherished gift

The best gift I have received from anyone is not material; my children. That came from God and my husband. They are the best gift I have received. I have only one daughter. She is nine now but when she was seven, she wrote me a letter in her poor handwriting she just wrote “Mummy I love you. You are the best mummy a child could ever have”, I still have that. That was two years ago, I still have it in my purse. I go around with it too. One of my best material gifts is my iPhone. I like my i-devices, my husband got it for me and he upgrades it for me.

Fashion accessories I always have  on me

Rings. I love my rings no doubt about it. I like watches too and I can save for a year to buy a bag. I like bags.

Best travelled destination 

I like Dubai, because it is reasonably affordable. Dubai accommodates all kinds of people. Dubai is one travel destination that has fun places for women alone. There are certain parks they close to men on certain days so you can go and relax and take off your hijab and do your thing. Whatever you want to do in Dubai, there is something for everybody. 

How I relax

I relax by watching TV and also reading good books. The last good book I read is by Umm Zakiyya. She is a Muslim author. It is not prose, not a book per se. It is a collection of her random thoughts; a kind of diary. Its called “Pain: The Diary of Umm Zakiyya”. She talked about a lot of things. She seemed to be talking about my life.

My best kind of dish

That is eba, I love it a lot and I can eat it three times a day especially with ogbono soup. I like my Northern food for example, zogale soup, I love it. I also love karkashi. It is one of my favorites. Coke is my favorite drink but as I grow older, I am trying to stop it. At some point, I was addicted to it and would have to wake up at midnight, sometimes to take it. It was that bad but am cutting down on it. I take just one bottle a week now.

Style I am comfortable with

Hijab. My favorite designer is Islamic Design House, UK. There is an outlet that represents them here in Abuja. You can easily access them from Mid Kollections. I either order from them directly or I buy from Mid Kollections.

Favorite perfume

I like Red by Giorgio Beverly Hills which has a very strong scent but Wish by Chopard, which is very soft is another favorite.

Fashion accessory I cherish 

This bag that I have was bought for me by my husband when we took a trip to Paris. My feet are very large so it is very difficult for me to get shoes of my size. The only shop that I get shoes my size is Evans. In fact I found shoes that are too big for me in Evans. All flat, I feel as if I am too tall to be wearing heels and then I have an issue with my back so I can’t wear them even if I wanted to.

Mum’s advice that stuck

My mom always tells us, make sure that you don’t depend on someone else to survive. So I grew up knowing that I had to be independent if push comes to shove. I have always known my mother to be gainfully employed. I watch her trekking to work and then she bought a bicycle and then she moved  on to this motorcycle they call “Lady’s” and she was one of the first women in my town that I knew drove a car. She bought all those on her own. 

She has always thought us to be independent. “Don’t depend on any one for survival.” 

My dad was very keen on maintaining relationships. He always ensures that we kept in touch. When we were kids, during long vacations, my dad will take us to his brother’s house so that we will relate with our cousins. If they did not come, he usually took us to them and generally, most of us ended up growing up at our uncles’.

Favorite sport, colour and weather

I am not very sporty. While growing up, but I participated in some field events like javelin and shot put. Now, I like to take long walks. I can walk for an hour now though my knees are giving me issues. But I try as much as I can to do it every morning.

My best colour is red. I just love red and brown I don’t know why but I guess the colour is just right. 

I like harmattan. I don’t like the rainy season, I don’t like wetness. Harmattan is cooler.

My favorite car is a Honda CRV. Of all the cars that I’ve driven, my CRV which my husband sold to a relation was my favorite. I still see it with him and joke that he should bring back my car.

Favorite day of  the week

My favorite day of the week is Friday probably because I am  a Muslim. Also in my office, traffic is slow on Friday so I get to do all of the work I need to do without much interference. 

Beauty routine

I don’t know if it has developed into a routine but there are certain things I try to do regularly. I try to eat fruits, as the most important beauty routine is what you put on the inside. I think workout too is a good beauty routine. I try to workout a lot. As much as possible, I try to wash my face before going to bed. I try to scrub my face once a week.

My advice  for younger women

They should be determined. If they identify what they want, they should work hard towards it. There is no room for laziness in this world. Things don’t happen automatically. As much as you will like to pray and God will help you, you still need to do your part; work hard and be determined. As a lady from the North, you have a lot of challenges but don’t get caught up in them, just decide that they don’t matter and that they are not going to stop you. 

Of course nothing good comes easy but decide that they are not going to stop you; they are there but they don’t matter and you will cross them and you will definitely be whatever you want to be and you should do what you have to do.

Looking back, what I will tell a younger me

If I was to find a younger me, I will tell me to not worry, eventually, things will work out. I will tell me to not be so afraid and to be more outspoken and state my opinions.

My favourite kind of music

I love all kinds of music except Rap because I don’t understand what they say. My favorite song incidentally is jazz, is called ‘High Life’ by Wally Badarou. Since my secondary school, I have listened to it endlessly  and then there is song by Patoranking, a Nigerian artiste, “My Woman” I like that one. I listen to traditional songs. I and my daughter, we can dance to reggae for hours.

First app and last app I check every day  

The first app I check is Qur’an majeed. As soon as I finish my prayer, I check my Quran majeed and the last app I check at night is either instagram or whatsapp because before I sleep, I like to respond to all my messages.

Five top 5 on my wish list

One important wish of mine is world peace. I wish the world will be at peace, there is so much conflict everywhere. Secondly, to see my children happy and doing well. My third wish is to visit Morocco. I have read a lot about Morocco and will like to experience it. Fourth on the list is to one day be empowered enough to engage a big construction company to build my family home for my old mothers to make it as comfortable as they have ever had it.

My role models 

My mother is a role model to me. She has been a strong woman. I love strong women, I relate with them. So my mother, in her own right, is an Amazon. She did a lot of things in her life. My father is also a big role model. He had 31 children and not one of us was left uneducated. I love Khadija (may Allah bless her) the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him). 

Also, Maya Angelou is another woman, an American poet. She too struggled a lot in her life and she went through a lot but in spite of all her hardship, she remained positive. I heard her saying that she doesn’t allow swearing in her home that even her furniture absorbs swearing. So her guests are not allowed to swear in her home.