Kaduna — Adamawa State's First Lady, Hajiya Zainab Murtala Nyako, holds a master's degree in education.

Born in Jimeta, Adamawa state, Hajiya Zainab attended the Native Authority Primary School, Jimeta, Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, Ilorin, G.S.S Maiduguri, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and University of Lagos. In this interview she narrates how she got married to the soldier-politician, her priorities as the first lady and other issues.

WT: When and how did you first meet your husband?

Zainab: We met through a friend when I was in my last year in the university and we got married after my graduaton. Some years after my marriage I attended the University of Lagos where I did my postgraduate diploma in education as well as master's degree also in education with specialization in Guidance and Counselling. But after my NYSC programme in Niger state from 1977 to 78, I worked in the cabinet office in Yola as an administrative officer for a year. Then I moved to Lagos where I went to teach at the United Secondary School in Apapa. I later joined the Federal Ministry of Education for three years where I rose to the position of Senior Education Officer in the women education unit. Then I moved to the then National Provident Fund which later became the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund as manager in charge of training, where I rose to the rank of state co-ordinator better known as Principal Manager in charge of Adamawa and Taraba states. After that I retired five years ago to be a housewife.

You have been a wife, a mother and career woman as well. How were you able to balance the demands of your various activities?

It has not been easy especially when one wants to have a career. I thank God that I was able to do it and reached a certain level. It is not easy as a mother to leave your children at home and go to work especially since you encounter problems with the people who take care of them for you. But for a woman, working is important because it is one of the factors which improve her status in the society and it makes her become more economically independent.

Can you tell us about the situation of women in Adamawa State now?

Zainab: The situation in Adamawa is really pathetic like in most states in Nigeria. As you know, Adamawa State is one of the poorest states in Nigeria, going by the recent World Bank report. As you know, women are the most vulnerable in the society. I have been living in Adamawa since my husband's retirement and I have been to almost all the rural areas. I have seen how women suffer especially in the rural areas. Also, there is very low literacy rate among the women of Adamawa.

What plans do you have for the office of the First Lady in Adamawa?

My plan for women in Adamawa is basically to have a programme that will take care of some of the basic needs of women such as poverty, education and gender inequality. I am trying to register a non-governmental organisation to take charge of all these. It will focus on women education and economic empowerment. I have a name for it, although it is still with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for registration but it will be called Women Education and Empowerment Initiative and hopefully I think it will be accepted.

Have you gone down to the grassroots to determine what the women really need because some times what you think are people's needs may not be what they actually need?

During the cause of my stay in Adamawa, I got to know of the type of suffering women go through even though like you said, I cannot determine what they need unless I go to them to find out and I am planning to start doing that. Next week I will be going on tour to all the 21 Local Government Areas of Adamawa state to interact, sensitise and create awareness among women on education, poverty and other problems related to women as well as find out what they want the government to do for them and what they want my NGO to do for them.

How do you think the programme will impact on the people of the state?

I think the project I have in mind will definitely have a positive impact on the people especially women who are my focus. We have statistics on the rate of enrolment of girls into schools. I will advocate for girls to go to school and I will monitor along the way any progress that has been made in the four years we have. By God's grace I will make sure enrolment of girls into schools changes dramatically, reduce drop out rate of girls from school and giving functional education to women who have not had the opportunity to be educated at the end of my husband's tenure in office. I am already in a partnership and I am talking with organisations like the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to come and run programmes for women in my state and there are so many other areas I am trying to explore. Also, I am trying to develop more partnerships with other organisations such as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Productivity Centre to improve productive capacity of our women. I have also visited the Universal Basic Education Commission and I am talking on how they could come and partner with us and assist in developing our educational system.

As the president of NOWA ( Naval Officers Wives Association) you were very much aware that it received a lot of criticism then. Some people were saying government was funding it. How do you plan to fund your project so that there won't be such criticism?

I have noted the criticism when we were doing the Better Life Programme but then we were not very exposed but now things have changed and we have new perspectives on things. You can register an NGO and source for your funds through the NGO. That is exactly what I intend to do. I am going to use my personal resources first of all, before I source for assistance from other sources especially responsible corporate organisations such as banks, financial institutions and multi-national organisations. We have sent letters to the MTN and Globacom soliciting for any kind of support they can render us. I also want to source for funds from international donor agencies because there are many of them out there funding projects as well as organisations that offer any kind of services in the area.

What problems do you anticipate in running this programme and how do you plan to confront them?

I think the major problem I anticipate is in finance. As I have told you I have started sourcing for funds. At least that would be taken care of even if not adequately. Second, the delicate area I may have problem is with the social and cultural factors that may affect acceptance of my project, coupled with the issue of religion, because a lot of the women I am going to meet face cultural barriers that may prevent them from coming out to participate in the programme. In the course of my tour, I hope to talk to the men to convince them allow their women to come out and benefit from the project.

You have talked about educating women, the girl-child as well as empowering them as part of your project. What about the issue of rape which is becoming a national issue?

I have watched cases of rape on the television and the visit of the Niger State governor's wife to the speaker of the House of Representatives on the issue. It is not a problem in my state because it has not been in the open in Adamawa. But it is a woman issue, therefore, it will also be part of my project. Hopefully when the bill is signed, rape will be made a punishable offence.