Zahra Nanono: Tribute to a philanthropist

Born in 1952 to the family of late Nuhu Wali and Khadijah Nuhu Wali at Yakasai Quarters in Kano Municipal Council, Zahra did her primary school at Masallaci and Shekara boarding and primary schools respectively. Her secondary school was in Government Girls Collage, Dala. After her secondary education she got admission into the Bayero Universit,y Kano, then an affiliate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, where she obtained her first degree in Hausa in 1977.
Zahra started her career as a lecturer with the Kano State College of Arts and Science; from there she was posted to Women Arabic Teachers College, Goron Dutse as principal. She held the position for ten  years. She later joined the Kano State Executive Council as Commissioner for Health, Education and for Women Affairs and Social Development. She retired from service in 1992. She has also served as board members in several places.
After her retirement, Hajiya Zahra could not just sit at home; instead she decided to establish girls’ college as disclosed by her younger brother Alhaji Aminu Nuhu Wali. The Ansar Girls College took off in 1994 and till date, the college is adjudged the best in Kano in terms of quality education and moral training. The school combines both western education and Islamic education so that by the time a student completes the SSCE, she would have also completed the recitation of Glorious Qur’an.
Hajiya Zahra had led an enviable life as a result of which  she has touched on many lives. Her husband Alhaji Sabo Nanono said the years he spent with her were wonderful. “Our 23 years together were wonderful years. Her trade mark was honour and integrity. A very hard working woman to the core,” he said.
He further described her as a very generous woman who gives without fear of poverty. Though she did not have her own children, Hajiya Zahra has trained all the 11 children her husband had from another woman and she did it as though they were her biological daughters as noted the husband. Apart from her husband’s children, she also trained other daughters and got them married.
Alhaji Aminu Nuhu Wali said the virtues of his sister are too numerous to mention. “She was like a mother and father to all of us. She sponsored our education at all levels, bought houses for us, gave us good money and sponsored our pilgrimages to Mecca,” he said.
Wali said his late sister was the first to start Qur’anic competition among students when she was a principal and interestingly according to him, the last activity she has done and after which she died was the Qur’anic competition in her school where she at the end of it gave hajj seat to the first winner.
He further enumerated some of the good things his sister was known for. “She was always assisting the needy, giving scholarship to orphans and children of the less privileged. During cold weather, she would buy blankets and distribute to relatives and people on the streets. She supported Qur’anic competitions wherever they were organized, assisted patients who were unable to pay their hospital bills. She also built a very big mosque in an area in Kaduna State worth millions of naira which is about to be commissioned, but as God would have it she dies without commissioning it,” said the younger brother.
Hajiya Kaltume Umar who was a friend and also a relative to the deceased said she was a highly focused personality, very generous and religious. “Hajiya was an embodiment of goodness.”
Kaltume said the deceased was a reserved person who spends most of her time in worships or assisting others. “You would never see her chatting at the gatherings. She wasbusy among other things organising Qur’anic recitations. She is not materialistic and could give out anything as gift to others.”
“Among her charitable works were sponsoring marriages for those who could not afford. In the discharge of her duty, she was hardworking and highly disciplined,” Kaltume said.
As recounted her brother, when she was opportuned to meet the late former Head of State General Sani Abacha, the only thing she could ask from him was that he should establish Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in the state. General Abacha then asked if she has any other request apart from that and she said that was her only request. He was so baffled and impressed that he commented that she was the only person who had ever met him on behalf of her people only.
Hajiya Zahra was not different in her school. In fact, the school is renowned for its high discipline so much so that spoilt children are not taken to that school by their parents. She ensures strict discipline and would punish without fear or favour.
Hajiya Ladi Abdullahi Abubakar is a member of the parents Teachers Association of the school. She described the late commissioner as a disciplinarian who would not be swayed by the wealth or position of a student’s parent. She cited example of how a student was dismissed from the school for possessing a cell phone which was banned. “She could not succumb to the plea of all those who begged on behalf of the student and that was how the girl left the school,” said Hajiya Ladi.
While praying to God to forgive and have mercy on the deceased, Hajiya Ladi expressed fear about maintaining the status quo now that the proprietress is gone.
Weekly Trust also learnt that because of her passion for education, students whose parents are unable to pay their school fees were allowed to continue up to graduation.
She is survived by her husband and many relatives.