HH Queen Zaynab of Nigeria
PGMAG: You are a fierce advocate for women and children, what changes have been made in Nigeria during the pandemic?
HH: When you consider the numbers, you realize that even in a situation where there is no pandemic, with the high percentage of the poor there is a dire need for the advocacy of humanitarian support. Now with this pandemic, the consideration should not be what has been done, but rather what desperately needs to be done! Women and young girls, because of their place in the society as natural caregivers, are the most affected by this pandemic. Girls are the ones who care for old relatives who may be sick either of
COVID-19 or any other disease for that matter. They are the ones who have to stop school to go stay with ailing grandparents etc. There are no detailed statistics available, but if COVID-19 is transmitted by proximity to infected people, then I know that women and young girls would be most at risk. According to UNICEF, Nigeria’s 40 million women of childbearing age (between 15 and 49 years of age) suffer a disproportionately high level of health issues surrounding birth. While the country represents 2.4 percent of the world’s population, it currently contributes 10 percent of global deaths for pregnant
mothers! The latest figures show a maternal mortality rate of 576 per 100,000 live births, the fourth-highest on Earth. Each year approximately 262,000 babies die at birth, the world’s second-highest national total infant mortality currently stands at 69 per 1,000 live births while for under-fives it rises to 128 per 1,000 live births. More than half of the under-five deaths – 64 percent – result from malaria, pneumonia, or diarrhea.
These are figures made possible by the fact that 1 out of every 3 Nigerians live below the poverty level. Now, these are compounded by the COVID-19 which has brought about the lockdown, further reducing the capacity of rural mothers to earn money to feed their children and themselves. There is no internet in rural areas to facilitate online learning, even where there is internet via mobile telephony, there is no power supply. Where it was a great advocacy effort to persuade parents to send the girl-child to school, the lockdown has now made it easy for the achievement’s advocacy in previous years to slide downhill.
There is the challenge of access to clean and safe water, nutrition, primary health care, insurgency, the list could go on. On our part, we are never relenting on our sworn efforts at advocacy, supporting the case of underprivileged women, girls, and children. We have been able to organize various programs where food and money and medicines were given out to as many rural women as we can reach. During the lockdown, we had a program where 10,000 Nigerians were given 10,000 nairas each as it was difficult for people who live on daily earnings to survive. Beyond that, I will tell you that a lot still needs to be done. I have always believed that to eradicate poverty shared wealth is important especially in a country like Nigeria where 70% of its population live below the poverty line. 2-In your quest for peace and unity, share your relations with the USA.
The United States of America has always served as the benchmark for standards on equality, equity, and balance in inter-human relations across gender and socio-economic divides. Despite whatever may be the global perceptions currently about the happenings in America, the USA has always been a deep source of inspiration and hope to all advocates of freedom, peace, unity equity, and justice. especially developing nations. I have received awards and recognition from different states and counties in the USA in recognition of my humble efforts at humanitarian services. Currently, we are working on a lot of things to further map outlines of best fit for economic interactions that will result in a win-win situation for start-ups in Africa and Investors in the USA, while at the same time linking humanitarian efforts in USA with
needy receptors not only in Nigeria but in Africa. The COVID-19 incident, unfortunately, has slowed down a lot of things but so far we have made great efforts with help from the USA to bring global visibility to the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Boko-Haram insurgency ravaged parts of Nigeria.
PGMAG: Your Highness, please share a few stories about the women and children that have touched your soul.
HH: There are so many stories that one can not begin to mention each of them as time would not permit but one of such stories is that of a woman who left a high paying and comfortable job as an Art Director for the British office of the commonwealth of British Nations, to set up the only hospice of its kind in Nigeria. Known as the Hearts of Gold Hospice in Lagos, this is a place where she keeps children that are deformed, terminally ill, and mentally challenged and cares for them all by herself. Without her efforts, all these children would definitely be dead! Even parents could not care for them and they were simply abandoned to die, sometimes in trash bins! I cannot think of that woman without tears springing to my eyes. Such stories inspire me to be solely involved in humanitarian service. I know of orphans who were picked up by other orphanage owners who grew up to become medical doctors and are working and funding their alma-mater orphanages to assist others like them. I know of barren women who gave
their lives caring for children born to other women who simply did not appreciate the gift of God in the ability to birth a child. I know of mothers who ran small convenience food businesses set up with less than 50 dollars and were able to see 3 kids through university with their proceeds. I know so many inspiring people, and they are the driving force behind my desire and will to continue to stand in the gap.
PGMAG: Tell us about your project “SIWAJU” and the hope for the future.
HH: “SIWAJU” is a Yoruba word that stands for “Forward”. It was symbolically coined to give the target subjects then, the mental push and cognizance of the objective of the project, which is to save them from stagnation by giving them a ‘forward-push’ economically.its an initiative under the QUEEN ZAYNAB FOUNDATION (QZF) We started out with skills acquisition platforms whereby these women were trained in all kinds of crafts and enabled to hone their skills to global standards. Then they were given start-up funds and enabled them to start their own businesses. As we have formed cooperatives to enable us to empower a group of rural women monthly to start up small scale businesses. But I am more encumbered now by giving visibility to the plight of Nigerian women in extreme poverty through advocacy. Sourcing help for them in other ways beyond but including economics to cater to issues of their survival such as health and security.
PGMAG: What do you want the world to know about Nigeria?
HH: Nigeria needs help to get its leadership right! Unfortunately, this appears to be the only thing that no other country can do for another. It is customary and fundamental that every country evolves through its own mistakes to create its own unique and suitable structure of governance. But Nigeria seems to be finding this extremely difficult. Nigeria has the potential of becoming one of the greatest economic powers of the world. With over 180 million people, including some of the most intelligent and educated and skilled human beings on the planet, the country is still ruled by some of the most corrupt leaders the planet has ever seen! As a result, with every natural resource under the sun in abundance, including riceless oil wealth, the country is still one of the poorest in the world. When I look at Nigerians dying from poverty while funds looted by their leaders are developing other countries around the globe, my heart bleeds. but yes, if there is one thing I want the world to know about Nigeria, I would say with all it’s glory of a wide pool of intelligent people, blessed with natural and Human Resources it is also for
the world to know that the poor people need to be remembered as It has now become a humanitarian crisis.
PGMAG: Your Highness, please share your work with domestic violence victims in Africa.
Traditional Nigerian society frowns at women speaking out about their ordeal in the hands of abusive spouses. It was seen as destructive to the family. Women are supposed to bear their husband’s abusive treatment in silence for the peace of the family, in order not to sever the good relationship between their parents and her in-laws and so forth. Well, when you look at it, ancient African societies in whose cultures were the foundations of these social attitudes were laid, were much better places to survive in than what obtains now, in so many ways. Then there was no unemployment, everyone had jobs in the farms, elders were respected because they did not depend on younger working generations for sustenance, thus certain acts such as gross infidelity were checked naturally by traditional institutions. Today, there is gross unemployment, money now rules our world, elders are no longer respected because most have also sold out their values. There is a general breakdown of traditional institutions as a result of wrongly skewed development and the society suffers from so many traumas. Thus, men now feel comfortable beating their wives to death, and no one says anything, this was hitherto a total taboo, capable of earning a perpetrator outright death or total banishment from the tribe! Yet people still expect women to keep quiet in the face of such peril as though it were in earlier times when even such extreme violence was not obtained. I helped to jerk the Nigerian society awake to the new consciousness,
namely, men are killing women and women’s voices need to be heard. I was the first monarch ever to march on the street in Africa to raise awareness about domestic violence. I created hotlines on which women experiencing abuses from their spouses can cry out and get help. I elicited the help of Nigerian police in arresting and prosecuting abusive spouses. It was a huge sacrifice for me because of the price I
had to pay for coming out to speak about a subject that everyone shy away from and kept secret. But it was worth it for me and if I gave it to do again then I would gladly do it. And so with a Queen who was supposed to be a custodian of the culture of silence and respect for the ‘sanctity’ of the matrimonial home, marching on the street, shouting about domestic violence, a new paradigm shift is gradually taking place in the country now. Domestic violence is no longer a crime only in law books, but a crime boldly
registered as such in the public consciousness.
PGMAG: Share your vision for “the BRIDGE” the Arab Africa Economic Development Initiative (AAEDI)
HH: The Arab Africa Economic Development Initiative is an organizational effort to create a mutual organic development between the Arab world and Africa, through synergistic cooperation among businesses located within both climes. The idea is to create a link between businesses whose comparative advantages when combined can achieve greater profits for all concerned. We are interested in Tourism, Agriculture, Medicine, Finance, and alternative power generation as well as infrastructure and transportation. We have the support of major economic players across the board and are currently affiliated with 22 countries. Our vision is an Afro-Arab subcontinent where business cooperation creates jobs, harmonizes social relationships, and lifts the societies out of poverty through carefully managed cooperation.
PGMG: As a leader who is passionate about helping others, how can the world unite for a better tomorrow?
HH: If everybody in the world is to think more of others than themselves, the world in which we live will be a much better place to live in. Almost all the evils of human society can be attributed to selfishness and supremacist and superiority complexes. Humans need to see their superiority as a function of their ability to lift and support the less fortunate and not an attribute that gives them more rights to the good things of life than others. If everyone in the world is to see his neighbor as someone to love, help, and support, we will have a better and more united world.
PGMAG: Give us your views on women’s rights in Africa.
HH: This is a very delicate question. I do not want to dive straight into an exposition of the disparities in rights between men and women in Africa, as might be expected. Of course, there is no doubt, a lot of issues to be addressed. Women still have to come to parity in access to funds for their businesses. There is a great need to lift up the educational opportunities of the girl child. Access to quality jobs after school is not equal for both men and women in Africa. Sometimes women do not earn as much money on the same job as their male counterparts! Allowing more women to participate in politics. Now, these are all issues to be addressed by advocacy. But all these being as they are, there are also qualities that the modern African societies have that are lacking elsewhere. In Africa, we have strong family systems. Divorces are rare because of traditional conflict resolution structures that are designed to uphold the sanctity of marriages. Community living and a deep-rooted family support system. These are great attributes that must not be thrown away like the proverbial baby with the bathwater! But that’s not to say as women we have arrived. No! We still have to do twice as much to be heard and seen in any giving career or profession. Even Successful women have a lot to prove and defend. I have always been an advocate for equity.my believe is to give everyone what they need and deserve to succeed regardless of gender.
PGMAG: Do you ever entertain the idea of going into politics?
HH: It’s hard to wear multiple roles in life as it becomes a clash of identities. First and foremost, even as a young girl growing up, I have always known that my calling is for uplifting the underprivileged. This is a lifetime calling, not a careerist foray of a few years! I know that it’s not easy and at the end of the day, you have only touched the lives of a select few that God has brought your way. But if that is what God has laid out for me, fulfilling that role is all I want to achieve and nothing more. Having said that, I know that African women need to step up their games in Politics. When strong women of will step into politics and leadership, things change forever! Apartheid may not have been wiped out if not for the spirited efforts of Winnie Mandela during the ANC struggles. The war in Liberia may not have been laid to rest totally if not for the motherly ambiance of Mrs. Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, now that country is forging a new future for themselves. African women in politics is what Africa needs to get rid of corruption and move the continent forward. Women are naturally honest, responsible, and have a strong conscience and a fear of crime. If more African women are involved in African politics, we will definitely have a future for our generations that is great and successful.
PGMAG: What lessons has life taught you?
HH: That every day is a new day to start over. And every ending is an opportunity to write a new story as you see fit. That the most important aspect of life is to treat everyone as you would like to be treated. And lastly between getting born and dying there is something we are all here for and we must strive to find our path and live our destiny.
