Fatima Shiru: Portrait of a Mother With a Heart of Gold

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Behind every successful man, there is a credible, dependable and supportive woman.

The wife of sole administrator of Lokoja local government, Hajia Fatima Shiru Lawal, just turned a year older. Happy birthday. Madam, to celebrate this milestone, you are indeed be described as a mother with the heart of gold given your uncommon philanthropic gestures and your  genuine concern for the plight of mothers and children in Lokoja.

A mother could be described as a protector, disciplinarian and the first friend and companion of the child. She is a selfless, loving human who must sacrifice her all so that her child could survive even under the worst of conditions.

A mother works hard to make sure her child is kept away from harm’s way and is adequately equipped with the knowledge, skills and abilities to make it a whole, competent and capable human being that can survive on its own. She often showers unconditional love on the child just as she doesn’t spare the cane in bringing up the child.

Hajia Fatima fits all the above-mentioned attributes.

Since the inauguration of her pet project nearly two years ago, she has embarked on the execution of many laudable projects and programs in the local government particularly the traditional wards providing Community health services, sanitation, skills acquisition, advocacy and sensitization, education as well as empowerment.

The major objectives of her  initiative include: To contribute on improving access to qualitative education of young girls and boys (more emphasis is given to the girl-child education); Engage women and young people both married and unmarried on developing the spirit of entrepreneurship skills and training (Skills acquisitions/Income generation activities); Engage women in agribusiness across the entire value chain; Create awareness/enlightenment campaign on dangers of drug abuse and contribute towards reducing the issues of drug abuse and trafficking among young people; Improve quality health care services at low cost to the community people through creating awareness, enlightenment campaign and capacity building to the service providers.

Others include: Educate and create awareness as well as engage the community people on the importance of environmental sanitation and good hygiene; Support, initiate, develop, implement programs that will promote and improve the general well-being and development of women and children; Improve knowledge, practice and install positive behavior change issues on Reproductive health (HIV/Aids, STIs, gander base violence etc) and reducing maternal and infant mortality rate as well as any other related health issues and to Liaise and corporate with state organizations, Individuals and agencies in order to achieve the organizational goals and objectives.

Hajia Fatima Shiru lawal activities are conducted through grassroots participation and always utilizes participatory and social marketing approach which she  is using the existing Governmental structures such as community health centres and auxiliary health and social workers who serve the public/community people.

The Centre is also conscious of the religious and cultural sensitivity of target communities. Therefore working towards improving the lot of women and children addressing issues and policies through a myriad of programmes such as the implementation of inclusive and gender-sensitive policies that will uplift the standard of their lives especially for those at the gross-root level.

The Centre enjoys enormous support and goodwill from individuals, public institutions and development partners in achieving its stated objectives.

Thus far, the organization has successfully carried out the following interventions: Distributed 200 Cooking Stoves and 200 solar-powered Lanterns; Sensitized 500 women on antenatal care, child spacing methods and child immunization against polio as well as Nutrition for infants and pregnant women; Provided health care support to victims of sickle cell anemia; Supported 250 women with micro-credit for small scale businesses; Organized enlightenment campaign on HIV/AIDS and other Reproductive health issues such as STIs to 150 women; Trained over 64 SS3 students on JAMB Computer-Based Test (CBT) Examination; Trained 600 young men and women (on environmental sanitation and personal hygiene).

Other areas of intervention include Campaign on drug abuse in secondary schools, with more than 4 schools benefitting from the programe; Trained and equipped 30 traditional birth attendants; Trained and empowered 260 women on soap making, petroleum jelly, shoe and bags making; She organized workshop on drug abuse with the theme “Community Sensitization Campaign Against Drug Abuse which made over one hundred drug addicts to repent and submit themselves for rehabilitation.

All these, she was able to do with the support from the State government through the office of her excellency Hajia Rashida Bello. As a great mobilizer of human and material resources, Hajia Fatima  leveraged on her vast network of friends, associates and well-meaning indigenes and other kind-hearted Kogites to raise funds for the activities of her initiative. Her initiative  is overtly committed to effectively reducing the vulnerabilities of rural communities and to empower women and youth in the rural areas of Lokoja , and through them households and rural communities so as to enable them gain greater control of their own lives and resources.

As you mark your birthday today, I wish you happy many more years to come with good health, strength and wisdom as you are always improving quality of life and living standards of Lokojans especially the women.

– Abbas Yahaya


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