MY SON SAID, “MAMA, YOU REALLY DEALT WITH US WHEN WE WERE SMALL, BUT THANK YOU FOR IT

I went to St Bartholomew Primary School and proceeded to secondary school at Gindiri in Plateau state. It was a whole new world for me. In those days, there weren’t very good roads, so sometimes we would have to go to Jos and spend the night before going to Gindiri the following day. Afterwards, I went to the School of Basic Studies and the Ahmadu Bello University, Faculty of Law, in 1976 and graduated in 1979. After that, I went to the Nigerian Law School and was called to Bar in 1980. Career I started my career in the Legal Aid Counsel in Kano for my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme from 1980 to 1981. After that, I joined a law firm in Makurdi. I was there until 1985 when I moved to Kaduna and joined the Ministry of Justice in 1986. I was there until 2002 when I joined the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice as Chief Registrar.

In the Ministry of Justice, I started as a senior state counsel. I joined six years after my call to Bar and rose to the position of director of public prosecutions. I held that position for several years. At that time, I was the most senior lawyer.One of the added advantages was that I was the director of public prosecutions, so I was made the solicitor-general and permanent secretary of the ministry. He did not appoint commissioners on time, so I found myself doing the works ofa commissioner for justice. I was there for about 11 months before he appointed his commissioners. Challenges The wonderful thing about that ministry was that I met women like me who were in the same age group, the same years at the Bar, from different parts of Nigeria, apart from Kaduna State. So the mix there was wonderful. The challenges were minimal because everything there was about winning your case. If you were the head of department, you had to be sure that the right pieces of advice were given, especially for prosecutions.

We had challenges like the public misconception of our duties. You would explain but they would never understand. So, if people on that level didn’t understand what the ministry stood for, it became difficult.

Which case stood out for you that you always use as a reference point?

I will give two, but let me first explain that although we were divided into departments, which was something I loved about the ministry, you were not limited to your department. The main departments were public prosecutions, civil litigations and drafting. You handled everything, which I honestly thank God for, especially the exposure and experience.

One of the cases that stood out was the one I prosecuted two armed robbers who were caught red handed. While in prison, one of them became blind due to an accident and lack of medical attention. That time, the punishment for robbery was death by firing squad, and we had a tribunal for that.

As the director of public prosecutions, I usually sat in the Prerogative of Mercy Committee. So their case came up and I advised that they should be pardoned, not released, but the death sentence should become life imprisonment. I did that because I felt that having lost his sight, he had paid something. There was no death, injury or harm to the victims. Unfortunately, the governor said he didn’t believe in pardoning such a thing. But such things didn’t happen immediately, so it took time; and luckily for them, another governor came before anything happened to them and they were given life imprisonment.

The second one was for a market. There was Sabon Tasha in Kaduna back in the day. It was a highly populated area and Kachia Local Government had part of it and they wanted to build a modern market. A group of people sued them and the case was dragging until it was assigned to me. In court, I had to be very blunt with them. First of all, I asked if they were Kaduna state indigenes and they said no. I asked why they felt they had a right to stop a whole local government in Kaduna State from building a market on its own land, just because it was in front of their house. Luckily, at the end of the day, we got judgement in favour of the local government. The market is still in full swing.

Can you tell us about Hope Afresh Foundation? How long has it been in existence?

We started in 2015. When I went into the hinterland of Taraba during the campaigns, I saw the extent of poverty and started thinking. Overtime, I saw the changing face of Nigeria. The villages have become bigger and more developed. Infact, I hardly see thatched roofs anymore. You see more of zinc. But in Taraba, to my surprise, you will see villages with 100per cent thatched roofs. And I thought: Isn’t that the reason behind democracy? We have local government chairmen, councillors, ward leaders, before you climb to the state government and commissioners, and all that. And all these people come from such villages, yet they will not do anything for them. So I said we had to find the root of that poverty and try to get in there. The first meeting I had with my staff was to discuss where we should start from and how we would go about it. But as soon as we started, we stated receiving a large number of requests. Some of the proposals were quite good, but I said that before I would settle down to start, I could be funding some projects like skillsacquisition and small loans. That’s how we started, hoping that as we move, we would be getting into those communities.

What impact has Hope Afresh Taraba made so far?

I can’t say I’ve gotten where I want to be. So far, we have trained 5,000 people in skills and other things. But for the quantum of poverty in Taraba, it is close to nothing. And interest is a big problem we have. I wanted to start with sensitisation - training people to realise that labour is honourable. I wanted people to have a change of mindset,but it has been a daunting task because they are not interested. If they are interested, it is because you are giving them empowerment through machines and other things. I used my personal money to buy these equipment, so I decided to train them instead and not give anything. So for those interested in learning, our doors are open as this is our offer.

Of all our trainings, there’s a woman who stood out, even among the good ones. She got tired of waiting for her husband to bring food home, so she came, learnt the trade and even made a full outfit for her husband. And for that fact, her husband bought her a machine, and that started her business.

There’s one provost of a college who was so interested in what we are doing that she wants us to further train them on Senegalese styles. She sent us two tailors; one from Senegal and one from Ghana. They were with us for two to three months. Everyone is welcome.

Though, I was very disappointed because I expected the candidates to come from the rural areas. But for the flagoff, we had over 400 people, and about 300 of them were from Jalingo. I told them that they were cheating their people in the villages. But they really don’t understand. For the few women who brought their people from the villages, their testimonies are wonderful. So we are still putting a lot of emphasis on the people from the villages to participate. Even if it means going round ourselves, we will do that to ensure that it spreads. Those are our targets.

In the course of your humanitarian work, what have been the challenges?

Lack of interest has been the main challenge. I discovered that people prefer to get free money. I tell them that unless you know how to invest, all you will be doing is receiving and spending. And what happens when you don’t receive? I will not consider finance as a major challenge because I do it when I have the money.

What are your plans towards sustaining your project after leaving office?

I am doing this as the wife of the governor. How would it look if another governor comes and I’m still working in the state? I’m supporting the work the governor is doing. Under what guise would I continue? Maybe we will change what we are doing to suit the moment. I still hope to get to all those unreached places. But to continue this project after leaving office, we’ll have to go back to the drawing board.

Are there international collaborations?

Yes, there are. I want to do rehabilitation of drug addicts, even after office. One of the things we did was sensitisation and we attracted the attention of UNODC. They came, trained both medical and non-medical staff on drug abuse and the likes. I was happy because they said if I could show that I was ready to go the whole hog, they would be willing to collaborate with me. One of the things they wanted me to do was to have a drop-in centre.

Unknowingly, I started a rehabilitation centre instead of a drop-in centre. We had a workshop and I noticed I was beyond what I was doing. The drop-in is a simple clinic conducive for addicts to seek help, with counselling and medical attention. But mine was a full-fledged facility, and it has been taking much of my money. But when I started the advocacy campaign against drugs, the government gave us a space in the hospital to make a drop-in centre. That’s what I would want to leave on ground. It will encourage all to go. We will show drug-related films and play games.