I was 16, a stark illiterate, when I married Bauchi gov — Wife

Mrs Aishatu Mohammed, the wife of Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, said on Saturday that she had had no formal education as of the time she married her husband.

Mohammed stated this in Bauchi at the occasion of the “Naija Youth Talk”, Organised by the Bauchi Field Office of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF)

“I was 16 years old and a stark illiterate when I married my husband.

“We were 100 girls in our family; none went to school; I only started school after my third child,” she said.

She decried the high rate of illiteracy and early marriage among young girls in the state, blaming the situation on parents who believed formal education for the girl-child was a mere waste of resources.

“We were 100 girls in my family, but none of us had a formal education; I had never been to primary school in my parent’s house.

“This is because our parents never believed in educating the girl-child; I struggled to go to school, but they refused.

“I picked the challenge to be educated from my brothers and after I had my third child, I insisted my husband get me a home teacher.

“That’s how I started and I later went to secondary school. Today I am a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Abuja,” she narrated.

Mohammed who emphasised the importance of educating not only the girl-child but young people in the society, added that such a move would curb crimes and social vices in the society.

She called on relevant government agencies and organisations to ensure that parents and caregivers were adequately sensitised on the need to allow young boys and girls to go to school.

“The crimes in society cannot stop until we give proper education to women and youths in the society.

“So, I call on relevant agencies to go into our communities and sensitise parents to allow their children, particularly the girl-child, to go school,” she advised.

She also admonished young people to go into meaningful ventures that would enable them to become self-reliant, rather than wait for white-collar jobs.

“One of my sons is today a farmer. His father was a former senator, minister and today a governor, yet he is doing farm business.


“Same goes to his sister who is into catering. I always encourage my children to be self-reliant, so I am I challenging all of you here today,” she advised.

(NAN)

Residents of Ajao Estate in the Isolo area of Lagos State are in mourning following the death of a mother of four, Mrs Chibuzor Balogun.

Chibuzor, whose 14-year-old son, Uche, said was a little above 30 years, died at their residence, No. 2 Raji Aliu Street, off the Airport Road, Ajao Estate, last Wednesday.

According to Uche, his mother had been complaining of general weakness of the body for some days and the family thought that it was a minor thing.

He added that Chibuzor started excreting loose stool and vomiting and it was at this point that they realised it could be something serious.

Uche stated that his father, Isiaka Balogun, aka Gaddafi, rushed his mother to a clinic, where she was placed on certain medication and she was discharged later.

He said when they got back home, her condition worsened, noting that before they could get a vehicle to convey her to hospital, she died.

The teenager stated, “She told me that she was vomiting in the morning after I left for school. When I returned from school in the afternoon, I met her in bed; she looked pale. She told me that she had been excreting loose stool and vomiting. I asked my dad to take her to hospital. And when he took her to hospital, they gave her an injection and he brought her back home.

“She was still experiencing pains as was excreting and vomiting after returning from the hospital. I had to get her 7Up and added some salt to it and gave her to drink to see if it could give her strength since the doctor said it was cholera.

“My dad had to take her to the same hospital but they rejected her. We had to rush her to the General Hospital, Isolo, and when we got there, the doctor examined her and told us that she couldn’t make it. One of our family friends and I had to return home, leaving my father behind.”

Uche added that in the afternoon, he received a call concerning his father’s health and he and some of relatives and friends quickly went to the hospital.

He said they tried to ensure that Isiaka was admitted to the general hospital, but he was rejected by doctors and nurses there.

As a result, they moved him to the Jericho Hospital in Mafoluku, where he was admitted.

Uche added, “He was on the second drip when I noticed that the drip had stopped and he began to breathe heavily.

“Out of apprehension, I called the doctor, who pushed me out of the room and asked me to stay outside.

“Due to their delay in coming out, I went inside to check what had happened. When I asked the doctor again if my dad was breathing, he told me that he couldn’t make it.

“Now we don’t have a mother and a father. We are four boys – the youngest is two, while I am 14. How am I going to take care of these ones?

“This house, which was my grandfather’s house, had been sold. I learnt that my father used part of the money he realised from the sale of this place to build a house at the tollgate area. I don’t know the area. I only know that he did not complete the house; only one part of it has been roofed as I was told."

However, some residents of the estate are worried by the cholera outbreak.

One of the residents, who identified himself simply as Ajala, appealed to the government to come to the aid of the people urgently before death from cholera would spread and become an emergency matter.

Our correspondent, who went round the area, observed the poor sanitation in the compound, where the deceased lived. The house with 14 rooms and shops has only two pit toilets.

One of the tenants, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that they had between now and December to remain in the house as it had been sold.

The Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said Chibuzor died of malaria and typhoid, while the diabetic husband died of shock following his wife’s death.