‘Keep an open mind, learn new things – Aisha Dikko’

Hajiya Aisha Dikko is presently the Attorney-General of Kaduna State. She was the Special Adviser to Governor Nasir el-Rufai on Legal Matters before her appointment as Commissioner for Justice. Aisha, who has lived in Kaduna State most of her life, shares

Interview by

Family background My late dad, Lieutenant Colonel U. I. Dikko retired from the military and joined the public service in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He was also a pharmacist. After working in the NNPC for some time, he started his pharmaceutical company called Arewa Pharmaceutical Limited. My mum, Hajiya Binta Dikko, was a housewife. I am the fifth out of seven siblings. I have four elder brothers, a younger sister and a younger brother, who sadly passed away in 1999. I have lived in Kaduna all my life. Educational background I started at Adrao International School in Lagos, then I went to Command Children School, Kaduna and I moved to Kaduna Capital School, where I completed my primary education. I then proceeded to Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC), Bakori, for my secondary education. After secondary school, I moved to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria for a degree in Law, and later proceeded to the Nigerian Law School for my BL. I went back to Kaduna for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. Career Immediately after my national youth service I started working in the Habib Nigerian Bank. I was fortunate to gain employment there after my youth service. I was posted to their Legal Department. At that time, their head office was in Kaduna. I worked in that department for 16 years, starting frome 1990. I left the bank in 2006 as manager and head of the legal unit in the regional office. I later opened my own chamber here in Kaduna. I was working there before I was called by the governor to serve in his cabinet as special adviser on legal matters, then as attorney- general in the state.

How was growing up like?

Alhamdullilah, I think I have had a very blessed life. My parents were the best I could have asked for. I didn’t lack anything. I and my brothers felt their love.

My brothers were very protective of me. They have been taking care of me, up to this day. We look out for one another.

I have had a very blessed life, and I thank God for that. I did not realise that I was that fortunate until I grew up and started going into the

Challenges One of the challenges I have faced in life was the death of my younger brother in 1999. It was very devastating. He just got married. Thankfully, he left a daughter, who is with us now. Also, you know the office of the attorney- general is very sensitive and important. There are a lot of challenges, but we are working hard to address them. And we shall be successful, insha Allah. The recent one is the release of the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) by a Kaduna State High Court. It is sad that after putting up a very strong defence, the accused persons were discharged by the court. It was a very shocking development for us and the ministry because we knew we had put in a lot of work and was expecting to get a fair verdict, but unfortunately, this happened. So we are very disappointed. But we intend to challenge the ruling of the court at the Court of Appeal, and I hope we would succeed. Life lessons We need to keep an open mind and try to learn new things because cornewhen you are in one corner you will think that everything around you is what is happening. Learn how the world works. Treat people better. I can be a bit