HighLife
One can jabber on about certain people, but the truth is that no number of words is too much, no deluge of compliments is too much, and no loudness of praise songs is too much. For people like Erelu Aisha Babangida, people who are quietly changing the world, charming, graceful, purposeful, words fail and compliments fall short. Thus, as she hits 52, one can only sigh in admiration, and nod in resignation.
To be honest, there are scores and scores of fabulous Nigerians that are over the golden age of 50 years. There are also women, visionary women, within the same category whose narratives of glory and virtue cannot be captured in a few words. Nevertheless, all these fabulous people and visionary women can only hold a candle near Aisha. Even though she will be taking her second age step since she entered her golden years, she has done—and is doing—really amazing things.
When you have a mother like Maryam Babangida of blessed memory, you generally have to struggle first out from under her shadow before making a name for yourself. What Aisha did was stay in that shadow and do her things. The result of this decision was that her name eventually extended outside of her late mother’s shadow until it took on a life of its own.
Now, the world recognises Aisha as the founder of the Women Enterprise Alliance (WenA). The world sees her as a visionary, compassionate leader with more sympathy for women and children than she has for herself. Thus, in her more than 20 years of active participatory work with non-profit organisations, Aisha’s image has grown firmer and larger in the hearts of other people.
As she clocks 52, she remains the neighbourly lady in the eyes and hearts of relatives, friends, and beneficiaries. She has touched too many lives to be hailed only as a matron of humanity. In many ways, she is what a woman is: graceful and gracious, great and glorious.
