The philanthropic journey of Maryam Baba Muhammed, the founder of Women In Leadership Initiative (WILI), has never been easy considering how she takes it upon herself to ensure that the life of vulnerable women and girls and other less privileged people become meaningful.
Maryam said WILI was birthed out of her desire to empower, emancipate and advocate for the rights of women, the girl child and youths following the realisation that many communities in Jos, and Plateau in general, had been experiencing ethnoreligious crises where hundreds of people had been rendered homeless.
She said, “I grew up in a community ravaged by crises for over two decades which led to the displacement of so many people, especially women and girls. Apart from that, I went through so much with little or no support throughout my education period.
“Coming from Northern Nigeria where women are treated unfairly in various ramifications; which arguably has rendered them vulnerable, we know that the rising cases of rape and domestic violence and conspiracy of silence and inadequate push for prosecution of offences against women have become the order of the day in the region.
“So, these experiences pushed me to develop the idea to see how life can be meaningful to the victims of Jos crises, and other downtrodden people in various communities of Plateau State and beyond, as well as contributing my quota as a progressive to support and improve lives.”
Maryam explained that after identifying lack of education as one of the problems associated with affected communities and Northern Nigeria as a whole, she started with girl child education campaign through the media where parents were encouraged to enroll their children in school and ensure their proper upbringing.
She said, “Some five years back, after the idea was conceived, I established a free community library for people to come and read. The library is meant for everyone irrespective of their ethnoreligious affiliation. Most times, we read together with those who can’t read; to teach them how to read, and I believe this is the best thing you can give to humanity to become productive and self-reliant.”
Realising the rising cases of rape and domestic violence in Northern Nigeria and the conspiracy of silence, Maryam went further to set up a counselling centre where youths who are into drugs would be counselled on the need to stay off hard drugs and engage in positive thinking.
She said, “From inception to date we have done lots of programmes such as girl child education, visits to orphanages and almajir houses to provide clothes and food. At the orphanages, we teach basic school subjects to make them feel at home. We engage in other programmes ranging from campaign against gender-based violence, rape and domestic violence. Women empowerment through microfinance, mentorship, and training for youths, and we give free trauma and psychological counselling.
“We often receive cases of gender violence and domestic violence. These are issues that are rampant in our various communities that require firm intervention because women are being silent. We sit the victims and advise them on how to overcome their problems.
“In some case, if they are married, we invite their husbands and preach to them on the need to take their responsibilities as husbands serious because many of them don’t hold their wives as good partners. They only believe that they are the husbands and therefore can maltreat their wives.”
In the case of rape, Maryam said, “WILI has been the voice for the voiceless. When a girl is raped, we file the case at the court to ensure that justice is done to the victim. Even in the case of domestic violence, we engage the services of lawyers. We are taking this upon ourselves to tell the world that the girls, especially those from poor backgrounds, should have the right to bring out their problems, particularly when they are cheated.
“Girls of young age often become victims of rape by older people who are parents to them. So, with the effort of organisations like WILI, reports will know that they cannot simply use whatever advantage to abuse girls. It is time we begin to protect the dignity of our girls, but we don’t, and that is why there are huge cases of rape in most of our communities in the North. Women cry out and we just have to help them because they are vulnerable. We can’t continue to cover these kinds of abuse. Pursuing rape cases has not been easy, but we just have to do it to protect our women.”
Hajiya Maryam who said she started the programme as a community project in Jos, noted that it had been extended to six states; believing that the problems associated with Plateau communities are similar to other communities in the North.
She said, “Apart from Plateau, our activities have been extended to Bauchi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano, Zamfara and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
As a result of Maryam’s passion for the movement and the need to see her dreams for the girl child become reality, she has dedicated time to acquire knowledge through books, interactions and traveling to to tap experiences.
She said, “It was as a result of this that I met amazing people who became pillars of support and motivation during the establishment of the counselling centre and the free community library.”
On how she manages her activities considering that the organisation has zero financial support, Maryam said, “I dedicate part of salary as a nurse to finance the activities of the organisation and pay the salaries of my staff. I don’t have any external support in terms of finance, although I have friends and colleagues who also feel for the vulnerable. Sometimes when I tell them that I have a programme to embark on; they contribute. But the journey has not been easy.
For the residents of Jos, the activities of the organisation have been impactful and they hope that well-meaning individuals will support the initiative.
Joyce Oladele, a resident of Jos, said the establishment of WILI was of the first of its kind in Jos, and that the activities of the organisation had been impactful in various communities.
She said, “The organisation has been an advocate for women. The library has been helping students to engage in academic research which has exposed students to a lot of educational experiences. The organisation has employed many people in Jos.
Barr Lawal Ishaku, another resident of Jos, said he appreciated the commitment of the organisation, calling on Jos residents to support the founder in whatever aspects, assuring that their effort would go a long way in developing the area.
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