Hajiya, can you tell us about your background?
I was born in Daura town in 1958. I had my primary education in Daura town. I finished my primary school in 1969 and started my secondary school in January 1970 at Government Secondary School, Kankiya, where I did my WASSCE and obtained my certificate. And from there, I moved to what they called at that time College of Advanced Studies, Zaria and I did my A-Levels there. I obtained my IJMB certificate and proceeded to Bayero University, Kano and studied Hausa as a language and obtained my degree in that university. I graduated in 1980 and did my service in 1981.
How did it feel growing up in those days as compared to now?
Ah! Growing up at that time was so much fun. There was no electricity, no NEPA or PHCN. So what we did, all the children, for entertainment, we would gather in any one of our houses. In my own case, my dad was very strict. We don’t go out at all, at all except to go to school and come back. So what I I did was to lure my peer group to come to our house and we would play until bedtime, then they would disperse and go to their own houses. In the mornings we would go to school, you know. We grew up being brothers and sisters to everyone. On the way from school or on the way to school, it was fun all along. You gist, you go to your friends’ houses, you wait for them to finish, you go along or if they had finished earlier than you, they came and wait for you in your house and then you go to school together. So, all the time you had someone close to you – if not a relation then a good friend.
So how would you compare that with nowadays?
Well, time has changed. On a personal note, the way I see the kind of friendship that exists now is different from what it used to be. In those days, there was very minimal chance of choosing your friends. Your friend could be anybody. It could be someone from your social status or not. It could be within the family or not. But these days, you find out that children tend to choose who will be their friend. They have to be in the same social class, which [is something] we didn’t know before. Majority of my friends were not on the same social class as I was and it didn’t matter. Your friends are your true friends. But these days, you look at the status of that person, do they have a car, do they have a satellite in their houses, does the person have an expensive mobile phone? It’s very funny.
So how do you think the culture of friendship nowadays affects growing up?
Well, it looks like we have lost so much with regards to our cultural values. Earlier on, from my own point of view, maybe because of globalisation, any person old enough to be your father can correct you anywhere he sees you. Any woman old enough to be you mother can tell you when you are wrong and can correct you and you accept. If your teacher reprimands you, you don’t go and report the teacher and then somebody will now come and challenge the teacher. But look at what is going on now. You cannot even talk to a child you are seeing doing something wrong because you fear that the parents or brothers of that child will come and challenge you. Even the child himself can challenge you. So, if you look at it, morally, culturally, things have changed, there is no doubt about it.
Speaking about culture, you have been recently turbaned the Ayana of Daura; can you tell us more about that?
Well, Ayana was the old lady who received Bayajidda [the legendary founder of the seven Hausa states] when he came to Daura. According to legend, he came in the night and she received him. [He had asked for water and she told him there was a snake in the village well that prevented people from drinking. The stranger went to the well, killed the snake, got the water and returned to tell the old woman what happened] She was the one who went to report to the queen that I have a visitor in the house and this was what happened. And from then, she became part and parcel of that palace.
Obviously, the title has some deep historical background. What went through your mind when you got news of the title being awarded to you?
[Laughs] what came to my mind? Well, I started asking myself what the emir saw in me that he felt I deserved this title. But on the day we had the ceremony, he said it all. What he told everybody that time was that, what this woman did [the old woman] her name should not be left to be forgotten like that. There is no way you mention Bayajidda without mentioning that woman. So I pray I have some of the good characters of this woman that made me get this title. So, that’s what went through my mind.
It has been some weeks now since you were confered the title. Reflecting on it, what comes to your mind now; is it the weight of expectations or the belief that you can do something for your people?
Well, the weight of expectation… if people in my village were earlier on looking at me as just Hindatu who comes around to offer some little help, now it had been confirmed. I know my people are expecting me to do something more from what I have been doing. What I have been doing is I have been praying that God should give me that strength and wisdom to meet their expectations, at least at some level. If I can’t meet their expectations 100 per cent, then let me see if I can make 90 or 80 per cent. But I know that people definitely will have a high expectation.
Obviously you are not a politician and of recent the practice has been for politicians to be given all sorts of chieftaincy titles. What do you make of this?
Well, I know mine is not connected to politics at all, at all. I am not a politician but recognition can be for anybody, not necessarily a politician. To say that somebody did something and people recognise it, I don’t think the person must be a politician. The same thing if you did something wrong, people will notice. You don’t have to be a politician. So it is with human beings. Recognition, appreciation are for all sorts of people. But why we tend to hinge ours on politicians is because the ones for politicians are more. People tend to believe that is only the politician who can be recognised but I don’t think it’s true. We recognise people anywhere, anytime.
But don’t you feel there is a decline in the value of these chieftaincy titles because some people sort of buy these titles for themselves?
Well, I don’t know anybody who bought a title. I didn’t pay a kobo for mine, so I didn’t buy it. I would plead that if people are buying it let them stop it. Let it be left purely as it was for recognition of good behaviour, for recognition of good work in either a man or a woman.
Being the first Ayana of Daura, are you going to have an office in the palace?
(Laughs) I don’t have to have an office. I could be anywhere and if the emir needs my attention, when my people need my attention, I have to give it whether I’m in the office or not. So it does not mean that I have to be given an office. Anywhere in town is my office, my house is my office, if I go to the palace, it is my office. Even outside if anyone needs me to do anything connected to my being there as the Ayana of Daura, I will do it in the physical office or not. I take anywhere in the emirate as my office.
Being an educationist almost all your life, what challenges have you faced?
Well, as a teacher, you face challenges. There are challenges from the pupils themselves. You know, some of them are not very serious. They don’t want to go to school, they don’t want to read, they don’t want to do what brought them to that place. Those are challenges. Administering the students itself, you face challenges with the teachers, your colleagues, because not all of them want to do that job or have the passion for it, they are just there one way or the other. And coupled with the nature of human beings, we are not all the same. And then coupled with challenges of the facilities you have to work with, the infrastructure, they may not be what you want them to be. So in all those areas you face challenges that you have to look for solution. So in all areas, there are challenges depending on what you want to do.
It is obvious, Hajiya, you have a passion for education especially as it regards the girl child. What brought this about?
Well, honestly if I will tell you the genesis, I may not get it right. I just found myself with this passion. But partly, I come from the northern part of this country; I had my education at the time girls were not fully allowed to seek education. As we grew up, I continued and my friends didn’t. I now found that there is a huge difference between me and my peer group in the same town, in the same area, who did not have the opportunity to go to school. And I believe that the opportunity I had to go to school greatly helped me to where I am today. If all of us, the girls at that time, were allowed to go to school, you can imagine what it could have been like, the kind of contribution we could make. So that was partly what gave me the passion to see that yes, it is mandatory, it is obligatory for every girl – not just every girl but for every child, to acquire education that is of standard.
Now, being the Ayana of Daura and being an educationist, how do you intend to blend the two?
To be candid, I have been doing my little bit on the side to ensure that the children of my people, especially the girls, attend school. Now being the Ayana, I feel that I am much stronger, more empowered to do what I have been doing before. I feel that it is mandatory on me to ensure that all the girls in Daura Emirate attend school and are allowed to further their education accordingly.
There has been this clamour for constitutional role for traditional rulers and now being officially part of the traditional institution, what would be your position on that?
(Laughs) My position is that we follow the constitution. The constitution of the country should be strictly adhered to. If those reviewing the constitution feel that traditional rulers be given a place, they should be given a place. If you look at it, they [traditional rulers] play a very big role. Not minding my title now, go back to the bigger traditional title holders, they bridge the gap between the governed and those who are in government. They serve as a bridge also from top to bottom. They are closer to the common man, closer to the community in their respective areas. I think if there is anybody or group of persons playing that kind of role, there is no harm if you give him constitutional recognition because that role is very important because if you allow that gap, things may not move smoothly. I think it will give them a boost and make them stronger to carry out the responsibility they have been carrying out so well.
You have been a mother of your children and now you a mother to an entire community. How are you going to handle all of that?
Insha Allah, Allah is going to help me because He knows why I was given that responsibility in the first place. If you look at it, I’m not the only woman in that place. If you are talking of educated women, I’m not the only educated woman from that place, some are even my relations but God has his own way of choosing who he wants to do what he wants. It is not going to be my strength. It will be the strength of my creator. I know He will not forsake me. He will give me the courage and fortitude to carry out the responsibility.
Do you see the possibility of other women getting similar titles from other emirates?
Insha Allahu. My prayer is that let me see more and more of Ayanas and even higher Ayanas in various places because honestly, it’s not giving the title but anyone who has done anything worthy of recognition, there is no harm in recognising such a person. So it is my prayer that I will see more women being recognised in their domains at community, state, national and even international level.
Any last words?
I will just add my sincere appreciation to my creator. I thank Allah for making me who I am. I thank Him for even giving me the opportunity and ability to do the little I have done for people to see and appreciate. I thank my brother, the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar for choosing me and giving me this very important title. There is no doubt about it, I will also thank my loving husband for giving me the chance all along because if you look at our society, if I were in Kulle, you would not even see me here. I worked in various places, he didn’t complain. So I thank him most sincerely for the support, the care and the love he has been giving me. My children, for their understanding. At times, I will abandon them when they need me to attend to national assignments and they understand. I thank my community, my friends from far and near.
