Neusroom’s Obituary Of Aisha Al-Hassan, The Lawyer Who Changed The Landscape Of Politics In Taraba State

At the time of her death on May 7, 2021, Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan was pondering the next phase of her life, having taken a break from actively participating in Nigeria’s political space. She may have lived for only six decades, but the former Minister for Women Affairs would be remembered for her fearless approach to politics. She defied gender barriers and broke the glass ceiling, earning her the nickname “Mama Taraba.”

Her Early Life

Al-Hassan was born on September 16, 1959, at Jalingo in modern-day Taraba State. Her father, Abubakar Ibrahim, was a member of the House of Representatives in the First Republic, and currently bears the traditional title of Sarkin Ayukan Muri. Her brother, Abubakar Ibrahim (Jnr.), would go on to represent Taraba Central Zone as a senator from 1999 to 2007.

She had her elementary education at Muhammed Nya Primary School, Jalingo, and LEA Primary School, Tudun Wada, Kaduna. Between 1973 and 1977, she had her secondary school education at Saint Faith College (now called Government Girls Secondary School) at Kawo in Kaduna.

Education

In 1978, Al-Hassan enrolled as a preliminary student at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria’s School of Basic Sciences. Soon after, she contested for the position of SUG Vice-President and won, becoming the only woman in the SUG Executive Council, and the only person who wasn’t an undergraduate.

In 1979, she married Professor Ango Abdullahi, who would later become the Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University. One year later, she switched disciplines from the sciences to Law. She juggled motherhood with her studies, graduated with a law degree from the university in 1985, and by 1986, she had been called to the Nigerian Bar.

Early Career

In April 1988, Al-Hassan was recruited as a Magistrate Grade II in the Kaduna State judiciary. In 1991, she was admitted to the Fijian Bar and enrolled as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Fiji in 1991. She quickly rose through the ranks, and in 1991, she was promoted to Magistrate Grade I.

In 1996 she became the first female Chief Magistrate at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. In 1997, she was appointed as the first female Attorney-General of Taraba State. In 2002, she became the female secretary of the FCT Judicial Service Committee, and by 2003 she had become the first woman to rise to the position of Chief Registrar of the FCT High Court. She remained there until 2009, when she retired to face politics.

Becoming “Mama Taraba” And Frequent Cross-Carpeting

In 2005, Al-Hassan signed up as a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In January 2011, she indicated her interest to run for the position of senator at the PDP primaries and emerged victorious at the expense of the incumbent senator, Manzo Anthony. In April 2011, flying the flag of the PDP, she contested against Jolly Nyame, former governor of the state who was representing the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and won convincingly, earning 114,131 votes to Nyame’s 92,004.

Al-Hassan’s political strategy was largely based on mobilising the women and youths in her state, frequently engaging them in public conversations and launching small-scale empowerment schemes. Her approach to grassroots politics in the state, her support for the state’s football federation, and the fact that she was as popular with Christians as she was with Muslims, earned her the title “Mama Taraba.”

In 2014, Al-Hassan ditched PDP and joined the All Progressive Congress (APC). In March 2015, she emerged as APC’s preferred candidate for the governorship elections in Taraba State, but lost to PDP’s Darius Ishaku. She challenged the results via a petition, and in November 2015 the election tribunal ruled in her favour, on grounds that Ishaku was not validly nominated by PDP. This decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal, and when Al-Hassan headed to the Supreme Court, the unanimous decision was that the APC could not query the validity of Ishaku’s nomination, a ruling which meant that she had lost out.

Shortly after Muhammadu Buhari stepped into office as president of Nigeria, he appointed Al-Hassan as the Minister for Women Affairs. She held that position until July 2018, when she resigned from the cabinet and announced her intentions to run for governor of Taraba State once again, under the platform of the APC.

In 2017, Al-Hassan was heard expressing support for the presidential ambitions of Atiku Abubakar, who served as Vice-President during the Obasanjo administration. This angered stakeholders, who formed the impression that she wasn’t loyal to Buhari. That video came back to haunt her in September 2018, as she was disqualified by the APC from contesting the Taraba State governorship primaries on grounds that she had been involved in “anti-party activities.”

After being thrown under the bus by the APC, Al-Hassan joined the United Democratic Party (UDP), and in October 2018, she was unanimously endorsed as the party’s governorship candidate in respect of the 2019 gubernatorial elections in Taraba State. However, she lost out once again in the February 2019 elections to Darius Ishaku. In September 2019, she defected once again to the PDP, claiming that the majority of her supporters across the 168 wards in Taraba had influenced her decision to jump ship.

Death And Final Respects

On Friday, May 7, 2021, Aisha Al-Hassan died at a hospital in Cairo, Egypt after a brief illness. She left behind an aged father, her husband and three children from her previous marriage to Professor Ango Abdullahi. On Sunday, May 9, 2021, she was buried according to Muslim rites. She was 61.

From all over the country, tributes have poured in for the former judicial officer and political juggernaut.

“I am grieved by the death of former Minister of Women Affairs, Senator Aisha Al-Hassan. I asked about her condition this afternoon after I called her number without a response! Inna lillahi wainna Ilaihi Rajiun”, Atiku Abubakar wrote on his Twitter account.

In a press statement, the Presidency described Al-Hassan’s passing as a huge loss. “Both in office and out of office, her concern for the education of the girl child, especially those of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, who were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, shone through. Her death is a huge loss not only to the female gender activist community, but to the country as a whole.”

The current Minister for Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, described Al-Hassan as an amazon for women emancipation.

“We have lost a woman who left her name on the sands of time”, said Tallen, during a condolence visit to the late politician’s family. “She fought for the cause of women and children. We have lost a great gem and we pray that Allah will grant her eternal rest.”

Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, among other things, was a woman who was not afraid to break new grounds. At a time when women participation in politics was nearly non-existent, she pushed boundaries, played the grassroots game to perfection, beat a former governor to a senatorial ticket, and almost became a governor herself.

When the time comes to document the women who contributed towards improving political participation in Nigeria, it would be a travesty to leave her name out. It is not for nothing that she was called “Mama Taraba.” Critics may point to her frequent cross-carpeting, but it takes a lot of guts to serve under an administration and be opposed to the second-term bid of the said administration. Politics in Nigeria was a lot better with her in it. Taraba State mourns, and rightfully so.