As long as there is life, there will always be hope of glory and honour. This saying has to be adjusted so that posthumous accolades can be fitted inside. Recently, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, determined that the late founder of Better Life for African Rural Women, Mrs. Maryam Babangida, deserved an award for planting the seeds for the recognition of women’s rights in Nigeria as we have it today.
Some days ago, Aisha Babangida, the daughter of the late First Lady, and current Chairperson of the Better Life for African Rural Women received a posthumous award on behalf of her late mother. This bestowment was carried out as one of the events organised to commemorate the 2022 United Nations International Day of Rural Women.
To be sure, women in Nigeria are seeing great improvements as regards the expression of their rights. In very few places are there still oppressive atmospheres for women, and this is the handiwork of many people. Because of the great contribution of the late First Lady Babangida to this cause, the award delivered by Tallen and received by Aisha was well-deserved.
Before asking the audience to observe a minute of silence in honour of the late matriarch of the Babangida family, Tallen justified why it would be foolish and unrealistic to celebrate the 2022 United Nations International Day of Rural Women without acknowledging the late founder. She explained that it was the late Maryam that first realized the value of rural women in any nation, and made great strides to set up a social infrastructure for it. Tallen also acknowledged the work of Aisha, who continues to hold the touch of transformation after her mother.
Just like Tallen explained it, the late First Lady set the pace for the great work that many others (her daughter, Aisha, for example) are doing now for women, especially rural women. Thus, she deserves every recognition and award, posthumous though they will be.
