Hajiya Naja’atu Muhammed is the widow of Dr Bala Muhammed, Political Adviser to Second Republic governor of Kano State, Malam Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi. Muhammed was murdered 28 years ago by a mob which went on the rampage after Rimi issued the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero a query. She is reputed for her progressive views very much like her deceased husband.
Hajiya Naja’tu Muhammed, popularly known as Hajiya Naja is without doubt, a woman of substance. She is renowned for being a vocal, radical activist especially in defence of democracy, women and human rights in general. She is also better known as wife of yet another late activist Dr Bala Muhammed. Until his demise, Dr Bala was the Political adviser to the late Governor Abubakar Rimi regime in Kano state in the 80’s. Naja has remained a force to reckon with on the political scene both in Kano state and the national level.
Literally speaking, activism is in her blood. During her undergraduate days, Naja emerged as the first woman President of the Students Union at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. It was a remarkable achievement for a northern Muslim. And, it’s even more remarkable for a woman given the obstacles women face in the daily battle for survival in the North.
But the Amazon appears to know how to clear hurdles and go ahead to thrash men to their game. A major test came during the late General Sani Abacha years. Naja forwardly surprised many conservatives by seeking to contest an election into the Senate. Sources said the Ulamas and some entrenched forces such as the erstwhile highly powerful National Security Adviser; NSA Ismaila Gwarzo opposed her senatorial ambition. But the highly politically active Kano people wanted her and that was it. And they voted for her at the polls. She became senator-elect for the Kano Central Senatorial District. She thus emerged as the first woman to be voted into the Senate from the entire North. Through the Abacha-era, her senatorial ambition became still-born as it was never inaugurated. This Amazon however, left her indelible mark in the sands of time.
The true test of her political skills came in 2003 when there was heavy opposition to the ruling People‘s Democratic Party, PDP whose candidate and serving Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso wanted to be re-elected into office in 2003. The people of Kano wanted change and Naja among other political activists in the state joined forces with the masses to ensure that Kwankwaso was not re-elected. They stood at the barricade and mobilized the people of Kano.
The epic struggle for change culminated in the emergence of Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigerian People‘s Party, ANPP as the new governor. The icing on the cake of that battle was that Naja was among the key people including retired General Bashir Magashi who stood firm to ensure that the people‘s mandate was not stolen in 2003. Kwankawaso became a minister in the President Olusegun Obasanjo regime. Those conversant with Kano state politics said the forces that ensured victory for Shekarau have long splintered in various directions as the former ANPP governor made new friends afterwards.
Understanding the sea- change in Kano in 2003 would require a deep knowledge of the Muhammadu Buhari factor which became a rallying point for opposition politicians. Hajiya Naja equally played an active role within the Buhari circle. In fact, she was the director of campaign for the Buhari-Okhadigbo presidential organization. She also headed the electronic media campaign team for the Buhari/Okhadigbo organization in 2003.
A turning point that however made her part ways politically with Buhari came afterwards: Some key politicians had been meeting to form a major political party aimed at checkmating the People‘s Democratic Party, PDP. Those involved in the discussion, it was gathered, included Atiku Abubakar who was then an embattled vice president, Muhammadu Buhari, the ANPP presidential candidate .Others included then Abia state Governor Orji Uzor Kalu and Bola Tinubu who was at that time, Lagos State governor. Their group was called G-4. The G-4 decided to form an alliance and delegates were chosen by the G-4 members for the alliance talks.
Naja was chosen to head the North West delegation representing General Buhari in the alliance talks. And she became an active participant in the group’s activities. She had been assigned to mobilize people in the North West. She was doing exactly that when someone who apparently heard news broadcast on radio told Naja that General Buhari had pulled out of the group for which she was mobilizing furiously in the North West zone. She felt surprised that the General who delegated her to represent him in the alliance talks would opt out of the group without letting her know. She chose to take her destiny in her own hand by remaining with the group which later became Action Congress, AC.
In the course of time, she also became a prominent admirer of the principles that Nuhu Ribadu, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC boss and former Action Congress of Nigeria, A C N presidential candidate in the 2011 national elections stood for. And she always said at public functions that the battle to rid Nigeria of corruption was a fight that must be kept alive. She is one of those utterly disappointed now that the anti-corruption war is grinding to a halt.
How has she fared after the death of her husband? “I think the experience is quite normal. As a mother, I survived the trauma. I subsequently got married, had children, and went to school, work and trade. I think it is quite normal, except maybe from the political aspect. This is because I went into politics after the death of my husband and I started off from the university and became the first woman in Nigeria to lead a students’ union. I was President, Ahamadu Bello University Students’ Union. Then, I went to contest the senatorial election in Kano, which I won. I have been in and out of politics. Not much has changed in my life, really”, she said
Hajiya Naja believes that the God-given role of a woman is to nature and nurture the human being. The responsibility for the continued existence of the human species has been put on the woman. So, that primary and God-given responsibility is one of the reasons why women cannot go into mainstream politics.
Speaking on her political career, she said, “Before I thought of contesting elections, I had to think of all the school fees, feeding, my mother and father. So, there is that basic responsibility. But men are so self centred. They will just put on their agbada, abandon everybody and go into it. Women cannot do that. Then, a lot of women that have the strength to go into it are not educated. Thirdly and unfortunately so, those that have acquired Western education don’t want to soil their nails in the mud of politics”, she added.