El-Rufai is Softhearted- Hadiza

“My husband is not what many people think he is. He is the opposite of their views. Some Nigerians seem to think he is wicked, but in reality, he is softhearted and gets emotional whenever he sees people suffering. This, people may not believe, but you can take that from me!”

Her Excellency Hadiza Isma El-Rufai hails from Kano, North West Nigeria. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Master’s of Science (Architecture), and Master’s of Business Administration degrees from the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. She also holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, United Kingdom.

She is multilingual and a woman of many parts. She was a lecturer at the department of Architecture at Kaduna Polytechnic, a civil servant at the defunct National Electric Power Authority, a Philanthropist, a Nigerian writer (novelist) and a wife to the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

She is the founder and Executive Director of Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation (YELF), a non-profit literary organization to nurture creativity in children, “particularly the girl child, between the ages of eight and nineteen” and young/adult women, providing them resources with teachers and the books that they need to enhance their literacy. In 2017, she published An Abundance of Scorpions, a novel inspired by her volunteer work at an orphanage and her desire to write about an orphan. The book is a heartbreaking tale of loss and an uplifting story of a woman’s strength and determination.

Her Excellency, Hadiza El-Rufai, in this interview with the team of the PEACE magazine explains why she focuses on Creative Writing and Women Literacy Programs through Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation (YELF). She also unmasks her husband, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

Do you not think there is a need for more female voices to speak for Nigerian women?

I think it is very obvious, there is compelling need because the female population in Nigeria should be above 50% the population of the country and it is a disservice for the men folks to continue to ignore half of the Nigeria’s population. Women voices just have to be heard louder in all sectors of Nigeria enterprises. No one can tell a woman’s problem other than the woman.  Their voices are suppressed, and this cannot go on forever. It is time for them to speak for themselves and put their challenges in the front burner to be addressed and resolved by the Nigeria State. We want a change and to achieve this change the men folks and the society at large must encourage Nigerian girls and women to go to schools, empowers them to be financially independent and take their rightful place in the society. In the North the women voices tend to be suppressed more, perhaps because of the cultural orientations of her people. Generally to achieve the change it will require extra push from the women because some men naturally like to put women under their control and make them financially independent.

Are you satisfied with the current efforts of Governments on the Girl-child education and her well-being?

In my opinion managing the needs of a girl’s child in Nigeria is a serious challenge. The three-tiers of government might be doing what they perceived as being the best, but for me it is not enough. I would have loved to see every Nigerian girl-child in school and out of the streets permanently but the current situation says the opposite. Perhaps the inability to go all hog for a girl child from the government perspective is because the government has limited resources. However the current plight of a Nigeria girl child should not only be viewed against government intervention, but also the parents of such child.  In reality some parents are to be blamed. You know we have too many of these children on the streets begging, hawking and into menial jobs. Why should any parent gives birth to a child and allows him or her to go on the streets? Parents are not helping with their behaviour. Your children are your primary responsibility and not the government. And it is not just about feeding them but also about their upbringing and well-beings. Like I always say we all want our children to be educated but how practical are we towards that? Instead you find out that people do not care about that but they just keep having children and sending them to streets.  Sometimes we just have to tell ourselves the truth either it is palatable or not, the government may not able to do more that it is currently doing. It is almost impossible for the government to do more. The ongoing population explosion in the country, where the population of three million gets to ten million within a twinkle of the eye and resources is not increasing made nonsense government efforts.

Why do you think Nigerian women are not many in politics and elective positions?

The truth is that, unless Nigeria implements to the letter the Beijing declaration on women and makes provision in the constitution that allows certain percentage of the country’s elective posts for women there might not be many women in Nigeria’s politics. As it is today, we are at a disadvantage, not in terms of intelligence, character, and administrative acumen, but because of deliberate actions from the men to put women at the back seats. We are often not giving the same opportunity as the male gender. We are not talking about dumping merits for nepotism but fair playing fields and equal opportunities with men. Except in Rwanda and Senegal where women take active parts in making decisions and laws for their countries, through their high numbers in parliaments, it is a general situation in Africa, for women to be relegated in participatory governances but Nigeria’s situation is awful considering our population. Ironically Nigerian women are more vibrant than the women in Senegal and Rwanda, yet the Nigeria system continue to relegate women participation to fewness. I think there must be a kind of affirmative action from Nigerian women that will ensure more women that are willing to participate in politics and occupy elective positions are allowed to do so. If the participatory conditions are fair enough, Nigerian women shall be ready to take leadership responsibilities.

Are Nigerian Men fair to their wives?

What a question! Honestly, if you see the way some women live you will know that some men are not fair to their wives in many ways. Many women in their husband’s homes are being abused on daily basis without them having any other choice than to cope in such disdainful situations and locked up in their rooms crying. Do you know that if these women have a choice, I am telling you, many of them would opt out of their marriages? Regrettably, they cannot leave probably because their parents are poor, dead or they already have many children that they cannot figure how to start again. I feel for these women. I think only western education and a fringe of vocational training can emancipate them from the situation. Their education can include Islamic education especially in the Northern states but importantly the western education that will enable them to be financially independent, exercise their rights, and demand fairness as regards marital rights from the man is desirable.

Do you not think peoples mind set on procreation is influenced by culture and religion?

I think so culturally! But for religion I do not want to talk about its influence, because I am not learned enough to say anything about that. Unfortunately in Nigeria a lot of factors come to play when it comes to procreation.. Sadly the women are at the receiving end. There are cases of women that from the moment they get married into their husbands houses they will never see the outer walls of their husband’s homes and confined to procreation acts. There are cases where a marriage breakdown the man just take the children and tells the woman to go away and he throws the children on the streets. I would not like to say much being a politician wife. Many a time people will start abusing you and telling you that: the mouth God created, He will never deny it food. So sometimes we keep creating problem for ourselves as a people.

Are the Religious organizations helpful in supporting the Orphans in our communities?

I will say no! Religious organizations strived but it is never going to be enough! There are many orphans roaming our streets as street children. I will count the ones living in orphanages as being lucky, because some how their needs are fairly met, but I don’t know how Muslims are going to do it but we need to do more. Adoption of these children comes to my mind. I believe capable Muslims should adopt and same for Islamic organizations as a body. Although I do not know the actual Islamic doctrines on it, but for humanity sake, Muslims should not shy away from adopting children into their homes or maintain them in the orphanages, pay their school fees and give them the chance to grow as normal children in a family environment. You know, certainly one cannot compare that with a child living in a family setting with the ones in orphanages because of large inmates in there. If Muslims adopt these children and put them in the Islamic path it is a plus for the Islamic society after all one cannot adopt a child that will be different from ones faith.

What does Yasmin Foundation do?

I started Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation YELF basically in memory of my daughter whom her creator took away. We basically do two things, Creative Writing and Women Literacy Programs. The foundation’s Women Literacy Programs targets women who need a second chance to be economically empowered through western education. The Foundation cares for most of the young girls and women that found themselves out of schools and help them brush up their literacy levels. Emphases brush up because our centres do not admit illiterates. We only admit girls that were probably taken out of schools for early marriage, those that stopped at primary schools or dropped out of schools as results of other factors, like financial challenges or death of parents but are enthusiastic about having a second chance to brush up from where they stopped. We teach these women numeracy, computer skills and basic knowledge that can enhance their statuses and support their business acumen. Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation feels if these women are computer literates, they would have the knowledge to surf the internet and access beneficial information that will change their lives for better. The numeracy knowledge helps them to be more efficient in their business and keep their business accounts intact. I can say, the Foundation is impacting with our style of intervention because many can now help their children with their schools’ assignments the popular home work and no longer push their children to neighbours, which might turn out to be a life-time error as any of these children can be molested or violated by the so called neighbours. This I am happy we have achieved. The second focus of the Foundation is the creative writing training program for boys and girls, where we encourage them to become writers, poets and book readers. After the training, some become authors of plays, novels and poetries books that cut across interesting topics of human endeavours. YASMIN through this creative writing program has discovered and nurtures young talents in the fields of writing who are now bold to exhibit such talents in hitherto conservative society like the Northern Nigeria. Initially, it was challenging  for us to get students because such skills was not valued amongst us, but today the youths now have a space to display their talents.

The Drug menace we learnt is challenging in the North, what are your takes on it?

The drug menace in the north is huge. In the past, we invited the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA to a programme and at the event; the NDLEA officers narrated to us the challenges and their efforts to combat the menace. They came with all kinds of drugs samples available in the markets and easy to access. I was shocked over the different categories, grades and destructive contents of the drugs as presented to us by them.  Before then, I never imagined we have such narcotics circulating in the country. NDLEA narration on the drug challenges in Nigeria as a whole is terrifying. Honestly, I do not know how we are going to curb it. It will surely need a multi-faceted approach. The parents have to be actively involved, but then even if the parents are more circumspect towards their children guidance, monitoring and counseling the youth’s exposures to the internet and other influencers can make parents efforts futile. I can only say every responsible Nigerian should join the fight against this national problem and keep advocating for uprightness among our children. We have also failed as a society, because how can somebody import drugs that could be harmful to other people just because he wants money and such person roam freely in the country?  Nigeria government should rise up, perhaps through harsh laws and speedy trials, the activities of these evil people can be curtailed.

How easy is it to support a man like Nasir El Rufai, whose strides are breathtaking?

I will say it is has been a challenge. But I try to separate the home front from his political activities which makes it manageable. Generally it is expected from a woman to support her husband in whatever profession the husband might be doing and he also support the wife, which is what marriage is all about. Of course, I kept the home front intact for him and put extra efforts to keep our children together. In his public service, I have to up the game to support him especially to counter derogatory things about his activities. Sometimes people will abuse him and others will praise him, in that situation, I work to let people to see reasons for his actions or inactions. Honestly through him I have understood leadership to be a difficult thing, because  often the reactions of the public to his official activities  puts him under a lot of stress, especially when some section react with unbridled abuse. As a wife when lot of things are been said about your husband that are not true one feels the pain more. I will advice; we rather pray for our leaders than malign them. To lead in a nation like ours come with untold challenges, because, no leader can please everyone in the society. Some will be happy and some would be sad. It is not an easy life task to be a wife to a Governor like my husband.

Who is Malam Nasir El Eufai and what is it that many Nigerians do not know about him?

Malam El –Rufai is my husband and he is the best husband in the world!  He is not what people think he is.  Some Nigerians seem to think he is wicked and draconic (laughs), but in reality the Governor is the opposite of their views. He is very softhearted and he can get so emotional whenever he sees people suffering. People should take this from me as a sincere assessment of his personality.  Alhamdullilah.

How about managing his Children?

How do you mean managing his children for him? Do not tell me you are a male chauvinist. We both have the children and by Allah’s permission the Children belong to us and Alhamdulillah we are at our best with them.

Editor’s Comment

This interview was originally published on our website, in the year 2023, but unfortunately the website, suffered hackers attack and we lost the contents. Thus we feel obliged to publish it again, for posterity. 

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