Fatima: Teenage advocate against child sexual abuse, helping the needy
Fatima Mohammed Habib, 22, hails from Borno State but is resident in Abuja. A graduate of Political Science from the University of Maiduguri, she is passionate about advocacy against child sexual exploitation and is a promoter of girl child education, all of which she developed a fondness for from a very tender age of 14.
In 2016, she founded an NGO, Advocacy for Human Value Foundation, that has been impacting the lives of many indigents through funding and enrolling children in schools.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Fatima said her foundation is engaged in four different aspects of human lives.
She said: “Currently, we work in the areas of health, education and the environment. In the aspect of education, we’ve assisted many people. We have given scholarships and we recently built a school with the Ministry of Communications and Digital economy and Huawei Technologies Nigeria. We just completed the building of a charity school – primary to secondary levels.
“And for health, we are assisting people who can’t pay their hospital bills. So, we post it online mostly. In 2018, the then minister of health saw some of our posts and made sure that one of the boys we were assisting was given the care he needed.
“For the environment, you know the northeastern part of the country has been prone to conflicts, especially Maiduguri. We have been providing aid in IDP camps and communities affected by criminalities.
“In the area of sanitation, we provide boreholes. For the females, we sensitize them on child sexual exploitation and provide them with sanitary pads to enhance their menstrual hygiene among others. That is water sanitation and hygiene,’’ she explained.
Fatima said her NGO last year built 12 classrooms for primary and secondary schools at Pantami Quarters in Gombe metropolis.
“We just completed it and we provided scholarships to 24 students for both primary and secondary schools.”
On how the NGO is funded, Fatima said they mostly contribute money among themselves. “You know, when you are going to start something it is just you and your mindset. So, when I started I was just one trying to fund it with my pocket money but as it is growing, we started making things and started contributions among ourselves. As word went round about our activities, we then started having funding from other organisations from both inside and outside Nigeria.
“When people see that you are doing well, they will approach you to see if you are transparent and accountable. Everything we do we is recorded, and we issue receipt; so people always want to help. People see that we have been really helpful,’’ Fatima added.
On how she runs the NGO she said, “I have six workers now and we have several volunteers that I can’t count their number. And we are working in branches now in Nigeria. Our NGO is currently functioning in 12 states in Nigeria and all the branches are doing the same thing.’’
She added that recently she got a proposal from someone from outside the country. “I have been to training and I met some women who want to get involved. So, they want to do it their country in the name of the organization, so we are moving from national to international.’’
Being a female child, she encountered a lot of challenges as people were initially criticizing her “being Fatima, a small child.” Because of their notion that the child knows nothing; so why would you engage in such kind of work. And when the ‘child’ thinking isn’t working; they’ll move to you’re a girl and why are you doing that?
“So, society won’t stop talking. And also the issue of funding and all of that.”
Fatima said she’s however unperturbed by the challenges because of her firm belief that society won’t stop talking. “No matter what you do people would talk so I just work and do what I know is right.’’
She said she wants her NGO to grow into an institution capable of helping people like decent lives. “I don’t want my people suffering again though I can’t rule that out as it is in the hands of the creator.
“When I started the NGO, it was small but now it is an organization and I want it to grow into an institution that can give aid and assist people in need, just like in the developed countries where you have a line to call and help will be provided to you instantly.
“We also hope to see that we establish a fully functional office in Abuja because that’s the headquarters for everything. We sometimes rent an office if when we have to work there over a long period.”
She urged other youths to gear up and not wait till later to contribute to community’s peace and progress. “If you want to start anything that will help others you should do it now because no one is going to do it if you don’t start.’’
The young advocate stressed that her main motivation is realizing the suffering of people, noting that the way things are if young people won’t stand up to tackle them, nobody would do that on their behalf.
“I was born in Maiduguri, and then looking at how things are bad in my state and everything there… if a person from the state doesn’t work for the state…, then who will? Can we order people from the other states to come and work for us?
“So it’s better if we involve ourselves in order to help those that are in dire need of aid.
“So, I will say on my motivation that it is the pitiable condition of the people and the burning desire to assist them that motivated me. The situation of the people actually affected me. We have to help and amplify their voices even if there’s some work that I can’t do obviously.”
According to Fatima, her parents are her promoters as they always influenced her advocacy. “My parents are my support and backbone and without them, I could not have done anything. They have been really supportive. When I am faced with one issue or the other, my dad will say no problem.
“When I started, I was just giving aid and before you know it people were calling me to also give public speeches. And some were telling my parents that why would you allow a girl child to give public speeches in front of people which is really difficult. But my parents kept saying that is what she wants and it is her life. Let her do it as long as she is on the right path.” I remain thankful to them and all those supporting our effort.
