Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf Strutted Here, And Left…By Yusuf Ozi-Usman

Her death struck like a thunderbolt in an empty hall. It was a resounding din that left many of those who knew and admired her way in sudden disbelief, shock and gnashing of teeth as if death never ever occurred before or would never ever occur.
Yes, there were as many as 750 of such death in one fell swoop at Jamrat in Saudi Arabia on that fateful Eid-el-Kabir day: a day after the pilgrims have ‘climbed” mount Arafat, but, her own death symbolized some significant points which a very few people are endowed with. She etched her presence in the consciousness of the people of goodwill with her pen and with her actions that were bereft of needless noise or acrobatism of a Jezebel. She was a silent worker.
Here was a woman who lived life, as Prophet Muhammad enjoined, as if she would die the next minute and simultaneously, as if she would never die in the next 100 years. She worked.
Here was a woman, who clung to her religion, and therefore, her God and at the same time pursued things of the world without losing focus. She, it was who showed a clear consciousness of what the life itself signified: vanity upon vanity.
That Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf died just as she was coming from Mount Arafat should be a thing of joy, and even envy for those who are conversant with the promise of Allah: that anybody who stays in Arafat for the whole day praying would be regarded as if he or she is just a new born baby – without sins. And therefore, let it not be a matter of wailing that her death and death of other more than 750 was a tragedy. Far from it!
It was, if truth must be said, Holy Death.
However, being human, we have to feel grieve because, to us, Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf had not fully fulfilled her potentials or would anybody, like her, have?
And, in any case, what would anyone want Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf to achieve again that she had not achieved?
This was a woman who was the first and only female gender that had served as the Editor of the then most powerful Northern newspaper, the New Nigerian Newspaper. The newspaper was one of the legacies of late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. And when the newspaper was waxing, even stronger men feared to sit on its editorial chair because of the political and social milieu that surrounded it. And Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf sat on that seat with grace, comfort and confidence. She left unscathed.
This was a woman who was the only female that had served as editor of the Triumph newspaper; establish by late Imamun Change – the first civilian Governor of the old Kano state, Mohammadu Abubakar Rimi, for Kano State. Triumph editorship too was not meant for lily livered senior editorial staff, not for men with faltering steps or giddy sight or uncoordinated thoughts, knowing the stuff for which Rimi was made of.
This was the woman who was the only female that had ever served as editor of a powerful privately owned Magazine, the Citizen, which was almost like the Northern version of the Newswatch then. Rubbing shoulders with such earth-shaking Journalists like Kabiru Yusuf, Adamu Adamu, Mohammad Bomoi and their likes in the Citizen, was no mean a gargantuan achievement for Bilkisu Yusuf.
Here was a woman who got stronger, more creative, involved more in social and diplomatic services to women social network, the North, international communities and above all, to Islam as she aged.

Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf was listed amongst the 100 Prominent Muslim Women across the world by an international online platform “Muslim Women” and was said to be extremely well educated in Islam, and that she used to observe fasting every Monday and Thursday throughout her adult life. It was said that she absolutely would never shook hands with men as prescribed by Allah. She had strong ties to Islamic scholars in Sudan and used to travel there frequently. She was described as being friendly, and open in discussions.

She served on several national and international boards and wrote 20 chapters in published books on subjects ranging from Women’s rights, media, gender, Islam, politics and maternal and child health.

She was married with children.

As a matter of fact, when I left New Nigerian in 1987 after serving as its Kano State Correspondent for six years, I thought I had lost touch with Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, but, being a prolific writer that she was, as she was always in demand, she had remained in the public domain, so much that she could be reached anywhere anytime.
Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, despite her exploits in journalism and several national and international None Governmental Organisations (NGOs), was a complete personification of humility, simplicity, honesty, God-fearing, devotion to all that she enjoyed doing and believed in, without conflicting with her femininity.
She studied and got her B. S Degree in political science from the famous Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and a Masters of Art Degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin. She also studied journalism at the Moscow Institute for Journalism and International Relations and earned an Advanced Diploma in journalism and international relations.
She was a founding member of several NGOs, including Women In Nigeria (WIN), the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), and Advocacy Nigeria, where she was the executive director. She was a consultant and trainer in media, gender, and conflict management and peace building. She was on the board of FOMWAN, the Nigerian Interfaith Action Association Against Malaria (NIFAAM), Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria, (HERFON), ABANTU for Development, Vision Trust Foundation, and many others.
Indeed, I had always felt some kind of attachment to Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf either because she bore my first name as her surname as if I was her father or husband. Though, most times we did not physically meet for months and or years, I had always been reading her lucid English in her column in the Weekly Trust and Leadership newspapers. She, like Mohammed Haruna and of course, my role model in Journalism, Mr. Dan Agbese and my good friend, Mahmud Jega, are four of a kind: writing to communicate.

To Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf is this dirge from Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written In A Country Church-Yard:

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
And then Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf’s candle went off, phew!

She died!

So what?

                                                                                      Yusuf Ozi Usman

? [myad]