By Bashir Aliyu
As a retired civil servant and successful businesswoman, Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim has been on the media’s spotlight for years due to her affable sense of humour, and desire to put smiles on the faces of economically disadvantaged people from different walks of life. The impact she has made on people is huge as she has been described by many as a motherly philanthropist who silently comes to the aid of people in distress without expecting anything in return.
Due to her huge number of followers on social media, she is also known for her Facebook account to campaign against deteriorating insecurity, domestic violence, and girl-child education in Nigeria.
As part of our series of articles to highlight the impacts of notable women in northern Nigeria, Daily Review is featuring Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim, and how she is impacting lives in the region.
“I only met Haiya Fadima Ibrahim on social media six years ago, and over the years I am a witness to how she is always there for people,” said Siraj Ibrahim who has been a fan of the philanthropist for several years.
Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim has over the years helped hundreds of out-of-school children get back to school by buying them uniforms, paying their school fees, and tackling the key factors that force many of the kids to drop out of school, such as poverty and near-absence of guardians who would supervise the kids.
Another milestton Hajiya Fadima Fadima Ibrahim has managed to achieve was the prominent roles she played during the raging humanitarian crisis in Zamfara because of banditry which affected thousands of people and forced thousands more from their homes.
Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim was praised for spending millions of naira to buy medications, clothes and cash hand-outs to the Internally Displaced Persons in a bid to alleviate their suffering.
One of the beneficiaries who did not want to have his name mentioned, said the assistance he received from Fadima Ibrahim was life changing.
“Our village in Maru was attacked in 2023, and I had to flee to Gusau with my four children and their mother. We left everything behind because we were fighting for our lives. We stayed in Gusau for weeks living in a temporary accommodation for IDPs. We were in our third week as refugees in Gusau when one Good Samaritan whose name I could not recall just brought children clothes for my daughters as well as cash hand-out for me and my wife. I could not prevent tears from running down my cheeks because I never expected that somebody somewhere would come to our help,” he said.
According to him, he and his wife used the money to engage in selling tomatoes and groceries which helped them feed their family, and after three months of saving and austerity lifestyle, they managed to rent a small apartment in Gusau and settle down. “I cannot forget what Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim did to me. I only pray that Allah rewards her in kind,” he said emotionally.
Aside from helping the needy, Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim is a staunch advocate of girl-child education. She has been using her social media account to call for more actions to tackle the continued deprivation of girls of access to education. To talk the talk, she has silently managed to support hundreds of children in Kano, Bauchi, Zamfara and many other places.
Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim’s passion for empowering people is worthy of emulation because she has done all this for the sake of Allah, and she has never for once expected any form of gratitude from people.
Hajiya Fadima Ibrahim is not a politician, and she has no political ambition whatsoever.
Changing people’s lives and giving them a helping hand to grow is one of the few pit projects that only few people undertake.
Our hope is for other able women emulate the humble virtues of Hajsiya Fadima Ibrahim.
