She is the first female professor from the old Sokoto caliphate. This area comprises the states of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara. Her area of specialisation is Educational Psychology, and it is a field for which she is particularly fond. Her enthusiasm for the field is real, and it can be felt in the room as we speak. In addition, she is the only female professor in the current Sokoto State Executive Council.
Hear her “I saw the area to be an interesting field, most especially as a woman, as a mother. I thought the course would be of use to me, to my children, and the community itself. Psychology is all about the study of human behaviour, the how, what and when. By the time you meet with people and you are able to read them, then half of the problem is solved.”
The interview takes place at the Rehabilitation Centre, Ibrahim Dasuki Road, Sokoto. It is a hot Friday afternoon and a huge crowd has gathered to receive a regular payment from the state government. It is hard to move from one point to the next on account of the human population. Many are physically disabled and have to be ferried about on wheel chairs, and some are carried in wheel barrows. There is a huge population of women present from various local government areas. Some use crutches, others are obviously infirm. Very soon the crowd quietens and the interview continues. This is the complex real world which she has been called upon to reform, heal and improve, and it is a task which she takes seriously. Isa, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Social Welfare, is a mother of six children, and has twelve grandchildren.
She mentions that 6,979 disabled persons have been identified across the 23 local government areas of Sokoto state, each is paid 6,500 Naira each month. There are a total of 42,000 disabled persons in the state, and just a small part of this number receives the monthly stipend. According to the Commissioner “Despite the economic situation, not only in Nigeria but across the globe, Governor Tambuwal has made it a point of duty to keep to his promise of paying the disabled 6,500 each month, and that is what we are doing currently.”
Isa provides some insight into the work of her ministry “Previously, we used to go to the local governments to pay them. But because of the fuel crises now, we are unable to do that. Currently, in addition to the fact that we want to transfer the payment, instead of cash payments, because of security issues, we are now transferring them to banks.”
The ministry does a form of follow up to see how the disabled persons are utilising the amount paid. Previously, the amount was paid monthly, but later because of the economic crises, there was a period when a five month allowance was paid at once. On another occasion three months allowance was paid at once, but the gap has since been bridged.
Orphans come under the care of her ministry too. Hear her “We have orphans directly under our care. We have two orphanages in Sokoto which have a total of 59 orphans. The orphans that are outside receive some assistance when they come. This can be at Sallah, at Christmas, or when we are fasting. Those that are under the care of the state government are being taken care of one hundred percent.”
Isa who holds the prestigious OFN holds forth on aspects of her work “We don’t have the mandate to go on the streets and start picking the orphans. They are only brought by the courts. It’s safer for us when we have a mandate from a court to pick a child.” She mentions that an orphan who was in the orphanage for many years, just got married and that the ministry would like people to come forward to take responsibility for the orphans while they are still at a tender age. The orphanages have some success stories revolving around some of the recent inhabitants. Some have become engineers as well as photographers.
The Sokoto state government recently gave automatic employment to thirteen (13) orphans. She adds that the government has started domesticating the national policy on disabled persons. It has gone through the state assembly. The governor has assented to it and it has resulted in the commission for the disabled. In addition there is the already existing special adviser on disabled persons.
Numerous challenges confront the ministry of Social Welfare in the course of its work. According to Isa “When you are giving out money, the tendency is for more and more persons to come, wanting to be paid. That has been a challenge. We cannot take care of the entire population of the disabled in Sokoto state. What we are trying to do now is to reduce the tension; we are trying to do that. The second challenge is in the area of movement from one local government to another local government carrying this huge amount of money. Some of these local governments don’t have banks. In the absence of banks, we have to take raw cash, it has been a challenge. We are able to control it since we have the banks that are ready to take them in so they have accounts, and money will be transferred to their accounts.”
She now comments on the link between her area of specialisation and the disabled whom she relates with. “There is a strong link. You can see even this group we are dealing with. It has always been said that no two individuals are the same. When you are interacting with these, especially the disabled, those with special needs, small things often trigger anger. If you don’t study them very well, you are most likely going to face a lot of problems. You can see we are disbursing the monies peacefully, without any tension. This is because we have studied them. We know their likes and dislikes.”
Isa now turns to the special field of child development. Her words “If you know the stages of child development, you know at each stage what is expected of that child, and what you are expected to do to the child. This has greatly helped me in dealing with the orphans. How do you relate with the delinquents? You have to apply some of the psychological principles in dealing with that.”
Shedding light on some reforms within the sector, she says “I was able to broaden the scope of social services being rendered by the ministry. Initially, it was narrowed down to management of orphanages, remand homes and the social welfare office. Now, the scope has grown. Social services are not just limited to the social institutions we have, but there are some medical conditions that don’t require drugs. What they require is discussion. I felt there is the need to establish medical social welfare units in our health facilities. That is why we now have, in collaboration with the health ministry, social welfare units in all our health facilities.”
She opens up on other supports provided by her ministry “We give to the less privileged not just to those with special needs. We identify critical people that are really less privileged. In each local government we identify a minimum of a hundred, fifty males, fifty females, and we expose them to some small training and at the end of the day we give the women soya beans, ground nut oil, and a token sum to start a business.”
A much needed safety net is now in place, and it is slowly turning around the lives of thousands in the state.
