Women’s role in nation building as well as the importance of education in the North- Laylah Ali Othman

Permit me to begin by quoting this beautiful Hadith sourced from Sahih al Bukhari (5626) and Sahih al Muslim (2548)

Abu Huraira reported: A man asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “Who is most deserving of my good company?” The Prophet said, “Your mother.” The man asked, “Then who?” The Prophet said “Your mother.” The man asked again, “Then who?” The Prophet said, “Your mother.” The man asked again, “Then who?” The Prophet said, “Your father.”

This is just to show you the importance of a mother as posited by Allah (SWT) through His most beloved Messenger Muhammad (SAW).

From conception till birth, from being a toddler till you start walking, from childhood to adulthood, your mother is there every step of the way, it’s safe to say that a mother’s influence over her child can nit be over emphasised.

From the day a woman conceives, she’ll be deprived of her peaceful night sleep due to constant kicks from a child growing inside of her, then comes the process of delivery which is perhaps the most painful aspect of all, then breastfeeding, constant interruptions in sleep due to diaper change, or any other thing that makes the child uncomfortable, the only time she sleeps is when the child has fallen asleep, you’re no longer your normal self.

From 2-3 years depending on the society you find yourself in a child starts going to school, a mother wakes up to bathe him/her, prepare breakfast, lunch box and ensure the school bag is intact, with all assignments checked, upon return from school, she bathes him/her again, provide lunch, and put the child to sleep for siesta, at 4 or there about in our northern setting the mother makes the child ready for Islamiyya school and bids them farewell, mind you the intervals she gets when the kids are in school she’s not asleep, she’s busy with house chores, cleaning, doing the laundry preparing meals e.t.c, when they return from Islamiyya dinner is all set for them, they eat watch TV and sleep, at night some kids will bed wet and the mother will wake up and clean them as well as their sleeping mats all to give them utmost comfort through the night, at the expense of her own comfort!! I can go on and on, the job of a mother is the most difficult job in the whole wide world unarguably! One might be wondering where a father comes in, don’t worry it’s a story for another day.

Now the social ills we see today coming from our youth can not be unconnected to lack of sound moral upbringing, we see our viable youths committing all sorts of atrocities that beats human imagination, in my view it’s due to several reasons but for the purpose of this write up I’ll narrow the issues down to the problem of lack of women empowerment.

People often misconstrue women empowerment and see it from the perspective of those in government where elected or appointed members of governments just buy sewing machines, grinding machines or doll out N20,000 and tag the program women empowerment, No in my view it goes way beyond these, women empowerment has to do with protection of rights, educating young women, going against the norm and promoting women inclusiveness on government and giving them proper free representation in matters pertaining to violence perpetrated against them, we need to wake up as a society collectively to lend our support to all the young women around us, let parents take the responsibility of educating their female children in all aspects of life, especially as it relates to marital life.

Some women keep mum over abuse meted out to them in their homes because of societal pressures, they always narrow their thinking to that house hoping it’ll end, no it’ll not end, you’ve to learn to speak up, have confidence in yourself there’s nothing wrong in crying out, how can one in all honesty expect a mother to raise her child properly if she herself is leaving in pain, fear and agony, don’t forget for a woman to be able to give her children the best of this life she has to also be treated right, she’s not an object that can be used and replaced, without women our society will fall into disarray, no woman will be proud of a drunkard as a child, no woman will be proud of a prostitute as a child, every woman wants the best for her child but she needs to be properly equipped to undertake such enormous task.

Women are the back bone of any successful nation!! Unarguably

Laylah Ali Othman writes from Abuja, Nigeria.