Towards the girl-child upliftment

The greatest contribution a parent, guardian or benefactor can make to the life of his child, ward or dependant, it has been said, emanates from the impartation of sound, solid and durable moral and ethical knowledge, advice and education that would stand such a child or ward in good stead to confront and overcome the vagaries and vicissitudes of our existence in this challenging world.
Without much ado, it must also be stated that the girl-child is more vulnerable than the boy-child to the temptations and tempestuousness of the outside world, by virtue of her physical, psychological and physiological composition and attributes.
It is against this background of the vulnerability and precocity of the girl-child that we fondly recall the ever present memory of our redoubtable Mama, Hajiya Fatima Maikasuwa, the resilient matriarch of the aristocratic Maikasuwa family in Keffi Emirate, who was a mother, mentor, inspirer, motivator, uniter and most pro-active and most compassionate role model-par excellence to the adults, youths, women, especially the girl-child.
Indeed, Mama’s special attention to fostering the development and advancement of the girl-child, physically, educationally, and most crucially, morally and ethically, cannot be over-emphasized. She took it as a cause celebre to ensure their upliftment to the highest level of human endeavour without any limitation or mitigation whatsoever.
A highly progressive and broadminded Mama never believed that the girl-child should lag behind the opposite gender. On the contrary, she was of the heart-felt conviction that all children, no matter the gender composition, could and should rise to the highest level in life and only deserved encouragement to attain such level of ambition as the case may be.
However and crucially, Mama saw it as an irreducible sine-qua-non, the unequivocal moral and ethical upbringing of the girl-child to prepare her fortitously for her future role as a mother, guardian, protector and custodian of family and community values, as it is often said that he who trains a woman trains a nation.
In this regard, a visionary Mama went the extra mile to inculcate sound moral values in all her girl-children, both within the Keffi Emirate and beyond, always emphasizing the vain gloriness and vanities associated with material and pecuniary pursuits.
Our illustrious and dearly beloved Mama,who passed on to heavenly glory exactly two years ago, told us in no uncertain times that the lure of material lucre was the easiest path to the moral decadence of the society, particularly the girl-child, urging us to shun those that attempted to entice us with financial or material inducements.
Mama always tutored us on the necessity of seeking the truth, integrity and contentment with what one has been bestowed upon by the Almighty Allah, while at the same time seeking to better our worldly lot through hard work, perseverance, endurance, thrift, prayer and above all faith in his commandments and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (SAW).
To a great extent, Mama’s undiluted emphasis on moral, ethical, educaitonal and character upliftment and advancement of the youths, adults, women , especially the girl-child, has tremendously assisted in shaping, re-invigorating and rejuvenating modern Keffi as we know it today. May Allah grant her kind and gentle soul Aljannat Firdaus, amin
Hajiya Zainab Buba wrote in from Garki, Abuja. [email protected]