Hadiza Abdullahi, formerly worked with the Millennium Development Goals Office, the Presidency, tells Adetutu Audu why the MDGs are yet unattainable and why the country is ripe for female presidency.
TWO years into the 2015 time line, are you not shocked that the Millennium Development Goals programme which you are a part of is almost becoming a failure?
I am sorry but I do not associate myself with failure. It will be hard for me to agree with you and call the programme a failure. However, I can only speak about the time I was there and we were making good progress. During the reign of the former Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals, Haj Amina Az- Zubair, whom I worked under, the office had great programmes and projects. It would be unfair to say it’s a failure just because all the eight MDGs are not met. While I was in the office, we had actually reversed some trends and lowered incidences. Collectively, some successes may not be great, but when we take the individual targets and look at them, a lot has been achieved. But if what you say is true, then, of course, there is no one who was part of a project who wouldn’t be saddened to see their hard work derailed. I believe I speak for everybody who had worked tirelessly day and night for the success of the MDGs.
After five years as an active driver on the project, where would you say Nigeria got it wrong?
It will be out of place for me now to talk about what I am no longer part of. But I know for sure Haj Amina Az-Zubair must have done something right for her to have been appointed as a special advisor to the current UN Secretary-General.
Did this account for your frustration and eventual exit from the MDGs Office?
No, I just felt it was time to move on and spend more time with the family. We were led by a very dynamic person, and whatever we learnt still lives in us. So, although she is no more, there is still some institutional memory in the organisation. I am confident that the old staff would have passed on the know-how and experience.
We have had other failed development attempts in the past such as the NEPAD, NEEDS and now, the Vision 20:2020 is about to be unrealistic. Can we ever be serious about development?
Once again, regime changes and policy inconsistency. Governance should be a continuous process. Nigeria, I am sure, has carried out numerous and extensive Needs Assessment exercises which should by now have enabled the production of a blueprint. That is what we require; the needs assessment let us know where we are now, and where we need to be by a certain time frame. If only successive governments would commit to execution of an action plan based upon the identified gaps, we would have significant progress by now.
So, what is the difference between Nigeria and those other countries you had been to in the course of trying to galvanise global development?
Commitment to serve; it’s all about service, not what you can get – selfless service. Citizens of other countries are patriotic. They are citizens first before they are either Muslims or Christians, or before identifying with a certain cultural background.
As an economist and development specialist, what would be your blueprint for bridging the development gap in Nigeria?
Wow, you have asked me a question that I could speak on forever, but I will just sum it up to entrepreneurship. All over the world, small and medium scale businesses are driving the economy.
That the youths are the leaders of tomorrow is almost becoming a cliché now. Are you satisfied with the level of youth engagement in governance?
To be honest, we are still waiting for that tomorrow to come. But when will it come when people that were in leadership roles while my dad was serving are still leading? It’s like we will never get our opportunity. Maybe we will have to snatch it. Have we as youths given ourselves completely to governance? No. Are we making an effort? Yes, we are. We have to take the bold step and get involved, as in physically involved, not by just complaining to your neighbour in your bedroom.
After the MDGs Office, where are you dreaming of conquering next in the political space?
I pray and hope to God that Nigeria will be ready for a female president before my time. It is worrying to imagine that we won’t have a female president before our generation. I am optimistic. I can’t imagine doing anything else, to be honest. I have wanted to work in some development capacity since my early years, long before I knew there was a term to describe it. This provoked in me the need to make a difference and culminated in the set up of an NGO for orphans with a friend and sister at the tender age of 14.
After receiving an award for Outstanding Service and Contribution for Community Service during my high school graduation, my commitment and love for development grew and influenced my choice of course in the university BSc. Economics and Politics. Economics, to understand the workings of the economy, and politics, to educate me in governance to enable me pursue my dream of development with a huge slant towards good governance. On my return back to Nigeria from the university, I was at a crossroads as to what path to take next. I was fighting an internal battle between treading the public or private sector route as I had returned with a preconceived notion that government doesn’t work. However, I saw the former Senior Special Assistant to Mr. President on the MDGs, Hajiya Amina Az-Zubair, speaking on the MDGs, and her passion and commitment was infectious. So, I guess I will just keep doing what I know how to do best.
Gender equality has always been an issue in Nigerian politics. Have you ever been unduly disadvantaged because you are a young woman in governance?
Oh, we face challenges every day. In the course of my work in my office I have definitely not been disadvantaged. On the other hand, the line of work inevitably necessitates interaction with a wide range of people and one will sometimes encounter backward-thinking people who are quick to write one off simply for being a female. But as a citizen, yes, all the time. Being northern, Muslim and female checks all the boxes for discrimination. For example, I walk into a hospital or bank in Abuja and the attendant is offering to help me write my name, or speaks Hausa to me (and I am not even Hausa). In this time and age, and my crime is that I use the veil.
How then have you been able to inspire others, particularly young women, to aspire to the kind of success that you have recorded so far?
My success in whatever measure isn’t mine to claim. All I can say is Alhamdulillah. I did the work and what was expected and prepared myself for anything that happened. I am still motivating myself to reach higher. Just by being the best me I can be, I believe, in itself, is an inspiration. I will give you an example. While I was with the MDGs, I was a Technical Assistant in a LG in Kwara State that shared a border with Togo. Part of the MDGs goals is Universal Basic Education. I visited nomad settlements to try to convince them to send their children, especially the girl-child, to school. By virtue of being an educated and visibly northern female, the parents were able to dispel all those religious excuses that are used to stop the girl-child from getting an education. A girl and her father walked up to me and the girl said she wanted to be like me and I used the opportunity to tell them both that education was the only thing standing between her and that goal.
Tell us about your family life and growing up.
I couldn’t have asked for a better family and I am very thankful. Whatever it is I have become now, I owe it to my family for their love and support. We are very close. My siblings and I were raised to believe that nothing is beyond our reach and our parents gave us wings and lots of encouragement. My dad demonstrated the qualities of hard work and discipline in spite of his elevated intellect and my mum taught us the virtue of patience. For us, impossible is not a word. My parents understood the importance of education from the outset and made sure we had the best. I have a whole network of support. I am surrounded by people who believe in me, people who are go-getters themselves. I have no choice but to attain my potential.
How are you able to blend the marriage and career?
My husband is a pillar of support. He has encouraged me to consistently aim higher. You know when they say women somehow end up marrying people that remind them of their fathers? I think I have done just that. I really strive to be like the two most important men in my life. They always achieve what they aim for. They never give up, and that is the same encouragement I get from my husband. He sometimes acts as my sounding board. I bounce some ideas off him and in return I get very useful feedback.
